206 COILED BASKETRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA [ETH, ANN, 41 
copied from the trunks used by whites who were in the service of the 
Hudson Bay Company as suggested by Mason,” for they seem to ante- 
date by a long time the advent of these traders, and the earliest arrivals 
probably brought no baggage. In later years trunks may have been 
carried to the trading posts, but there were no such stations in the 
Thompson territory and many Thompson Indians never saw any posts 
previous to about 1860. It seems more probable that if they were not 
invented by the people for their own requirements, they may have 
been copies of the bent cedar wood or bark boxes made by the coast 
Indians, as Doctor Boas has suggested, although in this case the 
difference of form can not well be accounted for, since exact dupli- 
cates could have been just as easily made, as imitations of Lillooet 
ee 
TO 
Fic. 29.—Types of storage baskets 
forms are at the present day. The arrangement of the attached lid 
(pl. 12, a) seems to resemble flaps on woven or skin bags which were 
common enough among the interior tribes. 
Group V. Opp SHAPES 
In addition to the groups so far discussed, there were many odd 
forms used for a variety of purposes. The most numerous. among 
these types are trays and plaques, which were used as food dishes and 
eating plates and especially for passing food during ceremonies, as well 
as to toss dice on in gambling, and to fan the fire with. These, as 
their names suggest, have broad, flat bottoms and flaring sides which 
might better be termed rims, because of their insignificant height. 
Those intended for ceremonies have higher walls than those used for 
ordinary purposes. They are of various shapes, as Figure 30 shows. 
20 QO. T. Mason, Aboriginal American Basketry, p. 285. 
