466 KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



feather design on the Dixon baskets^' may be those on arrows, which 

 in some California tribes are notched. This is only a suggestion. One 

 of Dixon's most intricate feather patterns has narrow lines between, 

 resembling the letter H, whicli might be either the rib of the feathers 

 or the owner's mark on the shaftment of the arrow. The association 

 of this notched half feather design with the symbol for arrow points 

 would be in harmony with this yiew. No other artificial object enters 

 so profoundly into Indian art, gaming, lore, and ceremonj' . 



On the map of California, covering a small spot at the angle of the 

 eastern border, are the Washoe Indians (Washoan family). They 

 extend into the parts of Nevada adjoining, occupjdng the mountain 

 region in the extreme western portion of the State about Washoe and 

 Tahoe lakes and the towns of Carson and Virginia City. They for- 

 merly extended farther east and south, but were driven back by the 

 Paiute, who conquered them and reduced them to complete subjec- 

 tion. Their basketry is the same general type as the Maidu, just 

 north, but in execution it is far above. The material is willow, 

 Datill-yah-wee; the brown or reddish tint is that of the bark of moun- 

 tain birch {Cercis occidejitalls), Et-ba-sha, and the black is from the 

 root of a mountain brake {^Pteridmm aqulllnum)^ mes-a-weg-a-see, all of 

 lasting qualit}^, and they acquire with age a richness that makes them 

 incomparable. The sewing is faultless. Stitch after stitch, over and 

 over, increases in width and length with the swelling and shrinking of 

 the basket like a harmony in music. The form of the specimen is 

 charming, and the ornamentation ideal. The recognition of worth in 

 the Washoe basketmaker is encouraging, for the price of a few pieces 

 reaches into the thousands of dollars. The author heartily acknowl- 

 edges the aid of Mrs. A. Cohn, of Carson City, Nevada, for information 

 about the Washoes and for photographs. 



The tiny Washoe offering or gift basket (Sing-aru-mi), when used 

 to propitiate the harvest spirit, is filled with choicest grain or seeds 

 or acorns from the last crop to insure a future good harvest. One or 

 two of the large storing or household baskets (Da-gee-coop) will hold 

 the winter supply of grain or nuts. The flat cradles (Bicose-modi- 

 mi-odi) are for the papooses (now gung). If the child's father is a 

 famous brave or chief, the basket is covered with buckskin and gaily 

 decorated with beads, trinkets, tasseled fringes, or feathers. The 

 ornamentation of the little sheltering cover for the head tells the sex 

 of the occupant.* 



Plate 179 represents three basket bowls in the U. S. National 

 Museum labeled Washoe. They all show the characteristics of uni- 

 formity and plain ornamentation referred to. The lowest in the series 

 has also a margin of feather work which allies it with the t3^pe of the 



« American Anthropologist, April-June, 1900, pp. 266-276. 

 6 Clara MacNaughton, Out West, XVIII, 1903, p. 438. 



