BOAS] FORMS AND PURPOSES OF BASKETS 205 
‘ ? 
Another peculiar shape was the “underground house,” so named 
from its resemblance to the winter lodge. It had bulging sides, 
long sloping shoulders, and a small mouth, and was used for storage 
purposes, even very long ago, but was not very common. It differs 
from the nut shape in its greater size and broad base. Figure 28, f, 
gives a conception of its general outline, which is not fixed, but takes 
two forms, as may be seen from the sketches. Its capacity was com- 
parable to that of a large burden basket, or of the large, old-style 
nut-shapes. When the base was small it was quite similar to a nut- 
shaped basket. There was a tendency to decorate ‘underground 
house”’ baskets with ladder designs, representing the notched ladders 
of the semi-underground lodges; and also to apply a vertical stripe 
design which pictured the posts used in the construction of the house. 
Some informants think these shapes were given their names on 
account of their resemblance to the objects; others say they were 
actually imitations of such objects and were necessarily so called. 
The Lytton band was evidently more ingenious and original than 
some of the others, if they may be judged by the variety of shapes 
they invented. They are responsible for all the ‘‘fanciful’”’ shapes 
as well as for the triangular, oval, and heart-shaped forms. 
Group IV. SroracE BASKETS 
To the last of the four groups of old shapes belong the .stlik or 
storage baskets, often called ‘trunk baskets” by the whites. It will 
be remembered that the ancient types were rounded, and _ that 
angular forms are a modern development. Figure 29, a—e, represent 
the old styles, while f represents a new form. Usually they have lids 
which are provided with buckskin hinges. Plate 15 gives excellent 
illustrations of three specimens of this type. The largest equal in 
capacity a good-sized trunk of white manufacture. Their use was 
formerly confined to the bands around Lytton, who used them for the 
storage of clothing, blankets, and robes, while among the Upper 
Thompson bags took their place. These large sizes were seldom 
taken away from the village, but the smaller ones, which were used for 
food, were carried along. Very small ones are longer in proportion 
to their height than the large specimens (fig. 29, e) and serve as 
women’s workbaskets or for treasure boxes in which to keep valuable 
feathers, small feather headdresses, necklaces, and fragile trinkets. 
The trunk-shaped baskets were also made among the adjoining tribes 
west of the Cascades in western Washington, and by the Coeur d’Aléne 
and Lake tribes of the interior. It seems doubtful whether they were 
1% See also pls. 8, c; 9, c; 10, a, b; 11, b; 12, a, b; 17, ¢; 18, b; 26, hy 35, e; 38, a, b; 42, g; 50, d, e. 
