152 COILED BASKETRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA [ETH. ANN. 41 
necessary to moisten material quickly, hot or even boiling water is 
poured over it and then the soaking requires only a very brief time. 
Often the splints are merely drawn through it once or twice, for if 
they are permitted to become too wet and spongy it is almost as 
difficult to sew with them as it would be if they were dry. Further- 
more, when soaked and swollen during sewing they are apt to shrink 
afterwards, leaving spaces between the stitches; and, since all basket 
makers prefer a practically water-tight product, precautions are 
taken to avoid all unnecessary shrinkage. By holding the splints 
in the teeth and working them back and forth with the hands, or 
by pulling them over the edge of a sharpened piece of a deer antler 
several times, much of the stiffness may be eradicated. 
Those who are called careless by their neighbors do not prepare 
their material in advance, but use it without much preparation. 
They may shave off the widest sections just prior to sewing or even 
after the splint has been drawn into place. Consequently, their 
work is very coarse, although in other respects, such as in accuracy of 
sewing or in shaping the basket, it may have merits. 
In addition to attempting to create a uniform thickness and width 
throughout the extent of the splint, there is an effort on the part of 
the craftswomen to have them all conform to one standard size, 
which entails much labor as well as waste, if the bundles secured in 
trade are not well graded. However, most packages are uniform 
enough for ordinary purposes, and wise purchasers look carefully 
to this point when buying. 
Other women, having acquired several lots, grade their splints in 
regard to width, and also, to a less extent, to thickness, sorting from 
different bundles. The narrow, thin pieces are put into fine work, 
or into smaller baskets, and the heavier and coarser ones are reserved 
for burden baskets and the like. 
GRASS 
As has been before stated, the grass stems that are gathered green 
usually are placed in the sun to dry and then in the smoke above a 
fire. Professional basket weavers next wash them in water, dry 
them again, remove the outer skin, cut them in regular lengths, and 
put them up in bundles. Grass dried in this fashion loses its color; 
therefore some women prefer to place it in a dry shady spot; thus 
the original tint is partially preserved. In olden times, at any 
rate around Spuzzum, grass was never dyed, but that is not the case 
now. The dyes have been discussed before." 
For backgrounds of designs very white grass is desired. When the 
outer surface is dingy the blade is sometimes split and turned inside 
out, for although the natural polish of the surface is then hidden, the 
added whiteness is considered a compensation. Boiling, according 
13 See p. 147. 
