PREFACE 
The work contained in the following pages is the result of an 
inquiry planned by me many years ago. The problem that I set 
myself was an investigation into the attitude of the individual 
artist toward his work. Much has been written on the origin and 
history of design without any attempt to study the artist himself. 
It seemed to me necessary to approach the problem from this angle. 
For many years I collaborated with Mr. James A. Teit, who seemed 
eminently fitted to carry through such an investigation, because he 
was not only on terms of intimate friendship with the Thompson 
Indians of British Columbia but because, furthermore, he had full 
command of the language of that tribe, one of the groups most 
prolific in the making of decorated basketry. The peculiar technique 
of imbrication, which has a limited distribution and a sharp local- 
ization of pattern type, seemed to make the research particularly 
promising. 
The keen interest of Mr. Homer F. Sargent, of Pasadena, Calif., 
in the work of Mr. Teit, and his thorough appreciation of the im- 
portance of ethnological work, made it possible to conduct an 
extensive undertaking in this area, which was financed entirely 
through Mr. Sargent’s liberality. 
A singular misfortune has hung over this investigation. I was 
unable to visit the field myself and I sent Dr. Herman K. Haeberlin 
to Mr. Teit to start the research and to discuss with Mr. Teit the 
essential points that seemed to deserve consideration. After his 
return, Doctor Haeberlin continued his inquiry by a critical study of 
the decorations of baskets found in museums and private collections. 
While these investigations were in progress Doctor Haeberlin suc- 
cumbed to an insidious disease, leaving his work incomplete. 
At the same time Mr. Teit was engrossed, for a time, in work 
undertaken for the welfare of the Indians of British Columbia, work 
which took up much of his time. Before he could resume his ethno- 
logical work consecutively he became ill and died without completing 
his notes. 
Under these conditions and on account of other work, not being 
able myself to complete the inquiry, I handed all the notes and 
illustrations to Miss Helen H. Roberts, who wrote the text of the 
present memoir, using such parts of Mr. Teit’s and Doctor Haeberlin’s 
manuscripts as were completed. She is largely responsible for the 
arrangement of the material and the method of presentation. 
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