Boas) BASKETRY OF NEIGHBORS OF THE THOMPSON 353 
YAKIMA AND KLickITAT BASKETRY 
The following account of Yakima and Klickitat basketry is by 
Mr. Teit, who completed his study during the summer of 1909. 
He says: ‘‘I visited the people on Yakima Reservation last summer 
to obtain interpretations of their basketry designs, particularly those 
represented in the basketry collection of the American Museum. I 
did not make minute inquiry on any other subject. As I was provided 
by the Museum with very good photographs of all specimens of 
baskets and bags, identification and interpretation of the designs 
was effected without much difficulty by showing the photographs to 
various women who were considered to be authorities on the subject. 
From these women and others | also gained in the time available as 
much information as possible regarding the material used and data 
of value relating to basketry and other industries. I was successful 
in obtaining interpretations of nearly all the designs occurring on 
the Museum baskets. In this I was aided by Peter McGuff,’ who 
- was with Doctor Sapir as interpreter. He speaks both the Wishram 
and Yakima languages. I obtained the following information mostly 
from the Klickitat, who are the principal basket makers on the 
reservation.” 
Bark baskets.—According to the Klickitat no birch-bark baskets 
were made by them, and very few, if any, by the Yakima, Wishram, 
and other tribes near by. However, cedar-bark baskets were manu- 
factured by both the Klickitat and Yakima, and were much used by 
them for gathering blueberries on the mountains. Most of them 
were of kettle shape. They were of various sizes, and roughly made 
out of a single piece of bark. They were generally designed for 
temporary use, and were seldom kept around the home. They 
had no ornamentation of any kind, and were generally stitched to- 
gether with split root. I did not see any specimens. 
Woven baskets —Several kinds of woven baskets were made by 
the Klickitat. One variety was plaited (in some cases they appear 
to have been twilled) and had a braided rim. The material con- 
sisted of narrow strips of maple bark from the part lying next to 
the sapwood. In some, different shades of bark were so arranged as 
to produce a decorative scheme, but the majority were ornamented 
with elk grass in three colors, with designs of similar character to 
those on other basketry. Elk grass, in its natural color, gave white; 
dyed with wolf moss or root of Oregon grape, a pale yellow; and 
stained by smoking, a dull black. These baskets were flexible, 
had a somewhat rounded bottom, were all of one shape, and did not 
vary much in size. At the present day very few of them are made, 
owing, it is said, to the difficulty of procuring the materials near 
61 Peter McGuff, a man of remarkable intelligence, died in 1928. 
