46 ETHNO-BOTANY OF THE COAHU1LLA INDIANS 



the Chemehuevi, are ; and the manufacture of earthen ware was most 

 probably introduced into southern California by the tribes of Yuman 

 stock settling about San Diego or by contact with the Indians of the 

 Colorado. The Coahuillas most likely learned the art from the latter, 

 if they had not already acquired it before settling in this territory. 

 The pottery of the Cabeson valley, in its shape and decorations, is 

 identical with that of the Mojaves or the Cocopahs. Everything, how- 

 ever, points to the conclusion that the pottery now made by the 

 Indians of southern California is a native ware and not introduced by 

 the Spaniards. Its method of manufacture is distinctly aboriginal. 

 The clay commonly available for the Coahuilla potter is a poor, 

 gravelly stuff. It makes only a rough jar. Down on the desert a 

 much finer quality is obtainable. The maker provides herself with a 

 basket of this earth (tes-nit), a basin of water, a board a few feet long, 

 and two little implements used in shaping the jar. One of these is a 

 wooden paddle called ^.pak-pish; the other a molder and smoother, 

 usually a round pebble with one side well polished, called a pai-whal.* 

 The pot is built up in coils rolled out on the board and added to 

 the edge of the growing vessel. The coil is flattened and worked into 

 the body of the jar by holding the molder on the inside and slapping 

 the exterior with the paddle. This coil method of making was, on its 

 face, borrowed from the basket manufacture and is evidence enough 

 that the art was a native discovery. These ollas, in spite of their 

 rough finish, are perfectly symmetrical. They are polished somewhat 

 on the outside with the smooth "pai-whal." After drying for a day 

 in the sun, they are baked in a shallow pit with a quantity of cow 

 manure. The fire is kept up until a red color is obtained. The fire 

 is allowed to touch the pots in baking, a thing so carefully guarded 

 against in Pueblo pottery-making, and gives the olla various spots of 

 black and brown, which make rather a pleasing decoration in the 

 absence of any other. In the Cabeson valley, however, the pottery is 

 generally ornamented with patterns of dots and lines, marked on with 

 a black mineral earth before burning. These, as noted above, are pre- 

 cisely similar in material, form, and ornamentation to the pots of the 

 Cocopahs of the Colorado desert. Ollas are used for the cooking and 

 storing of foods and large ones for holding water. The soft nature 

 of the pottery allows moisture to exude through the sides, which, 

 evaporating, keeps the water cool. Ollas are called kow-a-mal-em. 



i As an evidence that the art of pot-making is a native discovery, the old rancheria sites from the 

 vicinity of Pasadena eastward abound in these smoothing stones. 



