138 COILED BASKETRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA LETH. ANN, 41 
The tribes of the Flathead group, the Flathead, Coeur d’Aléne and 
Lake, describe all of their old baskets as round, some of them having 
convex bases, others being flat. The Coeur d’Aléne made a number 
of shapes. Among these were the bottomless mortar such as was used 
by the Sahaptin and southern groups and the small elongated form 
similar to the old Thompson “ trunk,’ which was used for storage 
purposes. The Lake tribe also manufactured a number of shapes. 
These were (1) a burden basket similar to the Thompson but less 
angular; (2) the cylindrical “pail” with flat base; (3) a small cup; 
(4) a form with flaring walls like the Thompson kettle; (5) a “nut” 
shape with small mouth; (6) a large size with more extended orifice; 
and (7) a long, low form like the small Thompson trunk. 
The Columbia tribe report having had baskets shaped like the 
Thompson burden basket—less rectangular although not round. 
After the introduction of the horse, the higher, more circular Klickitat 
shape with a small bottom came into common use because it was 
considered as being better adapted for packing on the backs of horses. 
The Columbia tribe had the kettle and nut shapes, while trays were 
probably made by many tribes, especially the Sanpoil and Colville. 
Other types of technique-—Most of the tribes were acquainted 
with types of technique other than coiling; twined baskets, plain 
or twilled, plaited and wickerwork were used. Usually split cedar 
twigs, strips of cedar bark, slats of vine maple or cedar sap, spruce 
root, basket grass, and the young shoots and leaves of the bulrush 
furnished the materials for these types. No birch-bark vessels were 
made in any part of western Washington and of the coast region, but 
temporary receptacles of rough construction fashioned from a single 
piece of bark were used by all the tribes, and were quite similar to 
those employed by the Salish and Sahaptin tribes. 
The Thompson wove mats similar to those of the coast Indians. 
For making nets, threads were twisted from the bark of Apocynum 
cannabinum. ‘They had a wooden netting stick for sizing the meshes 
which were secured with a double knot. 
Bags, woven of bark, grass, or rushes, were in general use, as well 
as occasional specimens woven of wool or hair. 
In the woven bags the warp threads were composed of a two- 
strand twine made of bark fiber. The bags were woven in simple 
twilled two-ply twine. In other words, the technique consisted of 
twining two woof elements about each other as they passed before 
and behind pairs of warp strings. Each successive row of twining 
divided the warp pairs of the previous round so that new pairs were 
formed composed of one warp string from each of two adjacent 
groups. 
In weaving the bags were held upside down and woven from 
bottom to rim. The bags were widened where necessary by the 
