ABOEIGINAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 527 



in the pairs, the upper side of the leaf being outermost. At any 

 moment, however, these stri]>s may he separated and each member of 

 the pair do serviee for warp or weft separate!}'. 



The Yaqui of Sonora, Mexico, says Palmer, split the stems of 

 arundinaria for basketry by pounding- them carefull}' with stones. The 

 reeds divide along the lines of least resistance into splints of varying 

 width, which are assorted and used in diffenMit t(^xtures. They now 

 manufacture to order Hoor mats, porch screens, and the like, and sell 

 them in Guaymas. 



The lluichole Indians, living in the Statc^ of Zacatecas, Mexico, 

 belong to thcAztecan l)ranch of the great Shoshonean family. They 

 have been described by Lumholtz, and are living in a state of native 

 .simplicity. They make a basket '2 or ;-) feet long and oul}^ (5 inches in 

 height with a similar cover. The material is pahu leaf and the technic 

 is twilled weaving. Similar baskets are Avoven l)y the Tarahumara 

 (Piman). State of Chihuahua, and also by the Tepeguanos (Piman) in 

 Durango, Sinaloa, Chihuabua, and flalisc-o. These low, tra3'-shap(>d, 

 rectangular baskets with covers arc the conuuon packing cases among 

 these tribes mentioned of northern Mexico. (Ilrdlicka.) 



A wicker basket from Santa Maria del Kio, 1-f leagues soutli of San 

 Luis Potosi, jVIexico, is ('ataloguc No. 76925, U. S. National Museum, 

 made from the prepared stems of willow. The weaving is not after the 

 fasliion of tlie connnt)n market basket, but its parts are woi'ked .■![)irallv 

 in such manner that the smallei' ends of the stems terminate in a l)raided 

 l)an(l around the top of the Ixxly. (("ompare tig. l'.M».) This arrange- 

 ment reminds ont^ of Dr. Matthew s's Study in liutts and Ti})s." The 

 warp consists of groups of tine stems arranged in fours. As the bottom 

 is oblong, live of the groups pass straight across it widthwise, while 

 at the (nids others radiate from the foci of the ellipse. The weft of 

 the bottom is formed by means of fourteen stems, seven of which run 

 in one direction and seven in the other, the smallei" ends being fastened 

 oti' on the l)order. The ]»ody is built up in the same way. In the 

 ordiTiary wicker basket a stem is wo\(mi among the warps, and when 

 the end is reached another stem takes its place, and so on; but in 

 this example all the weft stems of the ])ody l)egin at the very ])ottom 

 and are wound in a spiral up to the up})er margin. At this border the 

 war}) stems are all bent to the right for an inch and a lialf and then 

 turned back again, l)eing intertwined in a sort of openwork diagonal 

 weaving. To form the handle se\'(ui stems on each side ai'e thrust 

 between the weft, and these bundles are wrapped about each other to 

 form the twisted handle, the smaller ends being deflected so that the 

 ends of the stems w hich form the body and the ends of the handle and 

 the stems of the l)ody are all woven together to form the braid-work 

 at the top. Collected by Edward Palmer. 



"American Anthropologist, Washington, V, 1892, pp. 345-350. 



