BOAS] FORMS AND PURPOSES OF BASKETS 201 
section on “handles” (p. 195). If the load is heavy and the basket 
does not fit the back well, small pads of bunches of grass, some brush, 
or a folded shawl or sack are laid across the small of the back. 
Group II. Kerrtes anp Bow Ls 
The circular forms of the second group were used principally for 
holding liquids. Of many variations of this general type, the kettle 
basket, .nkd’rten (fig. 27, e), is the most common. It is the general 
basket used for cooking, or was until the white man’s kettle sup- 
planted it. It also held water for household purposes, but was then 
called xaié’ka. There were sizes for all possible uses, in which the 
degree of flare varied considerably. The smaller bowls were given 
the general name .nko’korten, but when used by shamans in cere- 
monies were called kairksten (thing for dipping the hands in).! 
Special names were given to baskets employed about the house, 
according to the use to which they were put, rather than according 
to size. They held food, water, oil, berries, or medicine and were 
used as dishes, washbowls, or mortars. They also were filled with 
Sefouren: faiot 
Fic. 27.—Types of kettles and bowls 
a 
water and placed beside the cooking basket, and into them the house- 
wife dipped her hot stones to cleanse them of ashes before dropping 
them into the cooking kettle. Sometimes the larger kettles had hoops 
of wood fastened near the rim to assist in keeping them in shape and 
as an aid in lifting them, but this is more characteristic of Chilcotin 
than of Thompson baskets. The large sizes were 35 to 50 cm. high 
and 50 to 70 cm. in diameter at the mouth, which was about double 
the size of the bottom. Like the large burden baskets they were 
sometimes requisitioned for bathtubs. 
The sketches, Figure 27, a—d, show different forms of bowls down 
to the smallest, which were used as cups. Figure 27, f, shows a pail 
which resembles the earlier bark baskets from which it may have 
been copied. It is rather rare at the present time. 
Baskets, shallow and wide at the mouth in proportion to the 
height, served as basins. They were made by the Upper Uta’mqt and 
19 When the shaman treated a sick person the bow! was filled with water and placed near him. He dipped 
his fingers into it and transferred the moisture to his mouth while performing the ceremony. The same 
type of basket was used in the sweat lodge for holding water which was sprinkled on hot stones, These 
two kinds were specially decorated and kept separate, never being used for secular purposes. There were 
others which were used by youths and maidens during their training, but most of these were of bark. Al- 
though the sizes merge into one another almost imperceptibly to our eyes, the Indians differentiate them 
more particularly than we should be apt todo. Figures 156 and 157 and Plate 35 in Mason's “‘ Aboriginal 
American Basketry” represent some common shapes, 
