454 KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



Plate 173 illustrates a coiled basket of the Ponio Indians left unfin- 

 ished to show the workmanship. The foundation is in the style called 

 Tee weaving, twined work, described and illustrated on page 239 and 

 in fig-. 27. These structural features are clearl}^ set forth in the plate. 

 In the foreground the vertical and the horizontal warp, as well as the 

 twined weft, appear in their true association. The bod}' sewing is 

 done with white splints of mu le or redbud {Cerels occulentalls); the 

 figures, representing mountains, are wrought with brown splints of 

 cercis. It is 10 inches in diameter, collected b}^ Dr. J. W. Hudson, 

 and is Catalogue No. 200013 in the U. S. National Museum. 



In feather work, each feather is plucked from the prepared skin of 

 the bird and neatly caught under a stitch, which is then drawn tight. 

 They are used either to heighten the color without aiding the design 

 or the design is in the feathers and not in the stitches. For the former 

 quail plumes and the red feathers from the woodpecker's head are 

 employed. The red feathers are placed regularly but thinly on the 

 stitches of the upper half of the basket and the quail plumes scattered, 

 or below three rows of shell disks (kaia) on the upper edge of the 

 basket. In the feather basket proper there are two varieties called 

 '"tapica" and '"'epica.'"' The tapica is the so-called sun basket; but 

 Purdy insists that the word means "red basket."" The oldest speci- 

 mens are saucer-shaped baskets, covered with red feathers, decorated 

 with pendants of kaia and abalone, with circles of shell money. The 

 use of other feathers tharf red is a charming innovation. The Ballo 

 kai Pomo name for feather baskets in any other shape is "epica.'' 

 When the Pomo use shell disks (kaia) to decorate coiled basketry, a 

 thread is carried along under the stitches and the disks threaded on as 

 needed. Beads are usually applied in the same way, but in some 

 examples the}" are threaded on the sewing filaments. (Carl Purdy.) 



There is no more interesting group of Indians in America than the 

 Pomo with respect to the variety of technical processes in basketry. 

 They not only understand many of the processes common among 

 other tribes, but have introduced one or two types of manipulation 

 peculiar to themselves. The following classification, prepared by 

 J. W. Hudson and Carl Purdy, shows the variety of basket work 

 made l)y them: 



TWINED WOKK (tSHAMA) 



.1. Pshukan (Shakan, Purdy), coarse twined work of shuba or hazel. 



2. Pshutsin, wrapped weft, happily called backstitching by Hudson. 



3. Bam tush, plain twined weaving. 



4. Shuset, twine over two warp rods, diagonal. 



5. Sheetsin, three-strand braid or twine. 



6. Lit, Makah style, wrapped weft twined (figs. 20, 21). 



7. Tee, twined weaving over lattice foundation. 



