182 COILED BASKETRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA LETH. ANN. 41 
very recently, and it is doubtful if their use is ancient in any of the 
tribes. It is known that the Nicola did not have them long ago, 
but reliable information for the rest of the people is not available. 
Braided rims are common on Klickitat baskets, and probably 
also on those of the Cowlitz, Nisqualli, Wenatchi, and tribes near 
them, east of the Cascade Range. Whether they were ever more 
common there than now is a question. The Lillooet, Shuswap, and 
Chileotin do not seem to have made them; but Lillooet information 
is still fragmentary, while complete data from the Shuswap can not 
be obtained at this period. According to several informants, braided 
rims were used by the Lower Thompson and Lytton people, although 
not as commonly as plain ones, but they seem to have fallen more or 
less into disuse at the present day, for only one braided rim has been 
Fic. 13.—Braiding of rim; Klickitat 
found in Thompson collections and that has been added on an old 
basket (fig. 13, d). Recent information has it that a few women are 
again making the braided rim. 
From the sketches and specimens of Klickitat baskets it is evident 
that more than one method of braiding was known. Some inform- 
ants think that there was only one but are not sure. They stated 
that formerly, after the rim coil had been sewed on with plain over- 
casting, a false braid was stitched along the top, to lend additional 
strength as well as to serve as an ornament; in fact the former reason 
is more frequently given. One woman, however, feels sure that the 
braiding was the only sewing which covered the rim coil and that it 
was not applied afterwards. Although she had never made it her- 
self, she had seen her aunt and a few other people do so when she 
was a little girl While a few individuals did such work when they 
