134 COILED BASKETRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA [ETH. ANN. 41 
to be practically identical with those of the Uta’mqt (Lower Thomp- 
son).’* Form, material, and technique are the same, except that the 
Stalo show coast influence by creating a greater proportion of box 
shapes, and also prefer fancy shapes. The Stalo say that the Yale 
band and their neighbors adopted the craft many generations ago and 
that until recently it was largely confined to them. Gradually the 
fashion spread toward the sea, but so slowly that even at the present 
day the people living near the water do not make baskets. 
Thompson influence in basketry prevails as far down Fraser River 
as Agassiz and Chilliwack. At Harrison and below, Lillooet in- 
fluence predominates. Formerly little basket work was attempted 
near Chilliwack, but intermarriage and increased acquaintance 
with the Lower Thompson tribes have given an impetus to the art. 
Among the people of this region, however, as elsewhere, Uta’mqt 
women and their daughters who have settled there are considered as 
experts. The same is true of the Nootsak. Among the Squamish 
and Sechelt there are strong traces of Lillooet styles, which may be 
accounted for by the fact that these tribes intermarried and traded 
with one another. It is claimed that a small band of Lillooet settled 
among the coast people, and that their descendants continued to 
speak the mother tongue until a few years ago. In technique, shapes, 
and designs, as well as method of ornamentation, the baskets of this 
region are essentially of Lillooet style. Some of the old members of 
the latter tribe state that the coast people adopted their art. 
From the foregoing it seems that the direction of diffusion of the 
art in British Columbia was from the interior toward the sea. The 
fact that a similar transmission does not seem to have occurred from 
the Chilcotin to the Bella Coola is in part, at least, accounted for 
by the statement of the former, substantiated by information from 
the Shuswap and Lillooet, that the Chilcotin bands living nearest 
to the Bella Coola did not manufacture baskets. The Lillooet of 
the Lakes state that some Chilcotin learned the art from them, 
but if this ever occurred the latter have thoroughly transformed 
the style. This is not the case among other tribes that are known 
to have derived the art from the Lillooet, for in these cases the 
similarity in styles is very marked. It is impossible to say at this 
late date whether or not Chilcotin basketry resembled that of the 
ancient Shuswap. 
Present information indicates that the interior Salish were the 
leading manufacturers of coiled and imbricated basketry in the 
northwest and that the Athapascan people were only slightly cngaged 
in its production, and where so occupied were always in close contact 
with the Salish. 
The Willapa say that formerly they did not make coiled work, 
which agrees with the statements of their immediate neighbors. 
They adopted the fashion from the Cowlitz at a rather late period. 
la A recently received vocabulary suggests that the name is Uta’mkt, ‘‘ down river.” 
