BOAS] BASKETRY OF NEIGHBORS OF THE THOMPSON 355 
natural or black willow bark. Occasionally elk grass was dyed red 
with a decoction of alder bark. (See pl. 66, o-r.) 
Woven blankets —Many old Klickitat people remember the weaving 
of goat-hair blankets. The thread was spun on spindles resembling 
those of the coast Indians. Dog’s hair was never used, but strips of 
the skin of rabbits, deer, fawn, or beavers made excellent blankets. 
The manufacture of these was discontinued at a much earlier date 
than that of goat-hair blankets. Square looms were used in the weav- 
ing of all kinds of blankets and their products were formerly sold in 
considerable numbers to the Yakima, Wallawalla, and other eastern 
tribes. The Cowlitz and some of the Snakes living near the Nez 
Percé are also reported to have made woven blankets of various kinds. 
Mats.—I did not try to gain much information about matting. 
The sewed tule mat was very largely used by the Klickitat and 
Yakima for covering lodges, and probably other kinds of mats were 
manufactured. 
Skin wallets —V arious kinds of buckskin wallets, bags, and pouches 
were made. Ornamentation on these was formerly in quill em- 
broidery, but beads have been so long in use that quillwork is now 
almost forgotten. Beaded pouches are still sometimes made, and 
silk embroidery is used to a slight extent. 
Coiled baskets —The ordinary coiled type of basket was used exten- 
sively, the coil consisting of the pliable roots of the cedar split into 
very fine strips and bunched together. The sewing was of the same 
material, but selected for length and regularity of width. The long 
trailing roots of the cedar were sought, those near the trunk being too 
brittle. Sapwood was never used for the coil. At the present time 
the roots are gathered in the Cascade Mountains when the Indians go 
to pick huckleberries, as no cedar is found on the reservation. Roots 
of spruce and other trees are considered inferior for basket making 
and were never used by these tribes. So far as the materials and 
manner of manufacture are concerned, there appears to be little differ- 
ence between the Klickitat and the Thompson Indians. The Klickitat 
and Cowlitz, however, seem to finish the rim coil invariably with a 
false braid, while among the Thompson people this is practically 
never done. The ornamentation for this type was imbrication in 
white, brown, black, and yellow. The materials were elk grass and 
willow bark. The former was gathered in the mountains to the west, 
where it grows about two feet tall, and was used in its natural white 
color, or dyed yellow with wolf moss and the roots of the Oregon 
grape. Willow bark was left its natural brown color or dyed black 
by burying in dark mud. It seems that cherry bark, tule, or corn 
leaves were never used. Coiled baskets are named according to their 
shape and size. I failed to obtain a general name for the technique, 
although one probably exists. 
