446 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



ship between the two remains to be studied out. The specimen Cata- 

 log'ue No. 2138 in the U. S. National Museum, w^as collected b}^ 

 Dr. .1. L. Fox, U. S. Navy, of the Wilkes Exploring- Expedition. 



The Pacilic slope branch of the Athapascan family is found in the 

 northwestern corner of California and far northward into Oregon. 

 On the Hupa Reservation were placed, in 1864, a number of bands 

 scattered around Trinity River, the names of which ma}" be found in 

 the Smithsonian Repoi-t for 1SS6, Part 1. As late as 1850 the Hupa 

 are said to have lived in pristine simplicity. Autumn supplied the 

 all-important acorn, large quantities of which were collected and kept 

 in store for use during the winter and spring. The vegetable food is 

 gathered chiefly by the women. The outfit of the primitive gleaner, 

 miller, and cook was chiefly in basket work. While no edible root or 

 food was despised, the oak furnished the chief l)readstufi^. The acorns 

 were gathered in an osier hamper about 16 inches high and 20 inches 



Fig. IGl. 



OLD FEATHERED BASKETS FROM OREGON. 

 Collected by Dr. .1. L. Fox, U. S. Navy. 



in diameter, made in twined weaving. It was used l)y the women in 

 carrying loads, supported by a band across the forehead. Filled with 

 acorns, this hamper was placed on the back and held in position by 

 means of a carrying pad consisting of a disk of mat 5 b}^ 4 inches. 

 About the middle of Octol)er the Indians beat the acorns from the 

 trees with long poles and carry them home in these baskets. The 

 squaws remove the hull by giving it a slight tap with a pestle. The 

 nuts were then dried and beaten to powder in a mill with a basket 

 hopper. The flour was soaked in a hollow scooped in the sand and 

 cooked into a kind of mush in baskets by means of hot stones and 

 were baked into l^read in an underground oven. 



If the harvest were of seeds instead of acorns, they were winnowed 

 in another basket of close-twined weaving which the good woman 

 had not failed to decorate with graceful patterns, following that 

 unconquerable artistic instinct which is the heritage of all the peoples 

 who breathe the air of the Pacific Ocean. Under the heading of 



