474 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



The distinction between the two groups seems to rest on a geograph- 

 ical basis, inasmuch as the In3x^-Kern tribes are all east of the Sierra- 

 Tehachapi range, and the other group. Ijoth Yokuts and Shoshoneau 

 Monache, west of the main divide. 



The Tulare-Fresno foundation is made of grass stems {Sporoholus 

 mlfa^ or Epicanvpes rigens). The Inj^o-Kern foundation is of willow 

 {Salic las/andra) or sometimes of the root of sumac {JRJnis irilolmtci). 

 For the Tulare sewing, roots of slough-grass {Ctjj>e7'a8 virens, or Cla- 

 dium marisGus) are used, while in the Kern, willow is usuall}' employed. 

 For the red of their patterns the Tulare-Fresno women employ the 

 redbud {Cercis occ/'de/ttal/.s), which is coarser than the root of the Jucca 

 arhorescens^ used for the same purpose l)y the In3'o-Kern and Pana- 

 mint. The Yucca root is of light yellowish red like willow bark, but 

 is sometimes as dark as cercis. In some of the Inirden baskets and 

 winnowing trays willow bark is used for red. The Paiutes do not 

 use redbud. For black the Tulare-Fresno women use the common 

 fern root [Pteridimn aquilinum\ while in In3"o-Kern and Panamint 

 the heart of the tule root (Sc/'rpns nevadensis) and Mart\'nia are 

 employed. In Inyo-Kern ware quail tips and red wool are rarely 

 used on baskets as they are on Tulare; but small private marks and 

 symbols are wrought with split pink quills from the woodpecker known 

 as redshafted flicker. The Tulare make many large bowl-shaped bas- 

 kets. In In3^o they are small, if of this shape. 



Plate 185 will emphasize the ditference hinted at in the foregoing 

 text between the coarser and liner weaving in the same area. The 

 upper figure in the plate is a Tejon bottle-necked jar in the collection 

 of E. L. McLeod, of Bakerslield. The ornamentation is the striped 

 pattern well known among the difl:'erent tribes in this area. The 

 foundation is laid up rather wide for the size of the basket and the 

 sewing far apart, the stitches not being crowded home. Compare 

 this with the specimen which follows. 



Fig. 2, catalogue No. 204851, U. 8. National Museum, is a tine 

 coiled basket bowl collected 1)3" Eugene Mead. The foundation is of 

 the three-stem type. The scAving is in splints of Cladimn. The 

 ornamentation is in the black fern root {Pteridmin CKjuilimmi). 

 There are nine rows of sewing and thirteen stitches to the inch, but 

 the most remarkable feature in this large bowl is that the three i-ods 

 foundation and the sewing together make a fabric not an eighth of an 

 inch in thickness. The designs are two serrated lines in black. On 

 either side is a combination of S3aiibolic figures which almost resem- 

 ble letters of the alphabet. There is no exact history of this basket, 

 but it is pronounced b3" Dr. Merriam to be the Fresno t3"pe of Yokut 

 basket. It is an intrusive form among the Owens Valley Paiutes, 

 captured l)v them on a raid into the interior side of the Sierra Moun- 

 tains a long time ago. Its height is 7^ inches, and diameter 15 inches. 



