A NEW BASKET 133 
AN ALEUTIAN BASKET. 
—) 2)HROUGH Mrs. Mary Graham Young the American 
WE Museum has recently received from the Women’s 
National Relief Association, or Blue Anchor Society, 
a small Aleutian basket which is unique in its way. 
The Aleuts, the Indians dwelling on the Aleutian 
Islands, are considered a division of the Eskimo. 
Though now far advanced toward civilization, they still retain their 
native skill in the textile art. Their basketry first came to notice 
through specimens brought from the inhabitants of Attu Island, hence 
all baskets of this type usually pass under the name Attu. ‘Taking the 
recent gift as a representative basket, it may be interesting to know 
something of its making. 
The gathering and preparing of the material used in the weaving 
is an annual task of no small importance. Early in July a great har- 
vesting party of women starts out to get the wild rye, called “beach 
grass,’ which is the only suitable basket material to be found on the 
islands. ‘This is a coarse grass, with leaves about two feet long and 
half an inch wide, growing plentifully along the coast and on the hills. 
It is to the high land, however, that the women go to find the best mate- 
rial. Only two or three of the young and delicate leaves are selected 
from each stalk, hence this is no easy and rapid gathering, and it is 
with the greatest patience that the native women reap their harvest. 
The drying or curing process is a long one. First the beach grass 
is spread out in rows on the ground in a shady place. As it dries, it is 
turned frequently. This stage of the drying takes about two weeks. 
Then the grass is sorted as to size and taken into the house, the coarser 
leaves spht with the thumb-nail into three parts, the middle or midrib 
being discarded, and the fine leaves left unsplit, because still too tender 
for such treatment. Bundles are now made of all the material, and 
for a month on cloudy days these are hung out on a line. The final 
drying is done indoors and then the grass is separated into small wisps 
about the size of a finger, with the ends braided loosely so that the grass 
may not tangle when a thread is pulled from the wisp. ‘This single 
thread may be split by the thumb nail to any size desired at the time 
it is used. 
