368 COILED BASKETRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA (ETH. ANN. 41 
however, is only a theory on the part of the writer. Other ex- 
planations for the origin of the technique might be found which would 
be as acceptable. 
There is another kind of porcupine-quill work described by Mr. 
Orchard which is identical with coil sewing in all its essential features. 
That is the spot-stitch work described by him on pages 11 and 15. 
Here the thread acts in place of the foundation, the quill as the sewing 
splint. 
At times a strip of rawhide or other padding is placed on top of 
the skin which is being embroidered and runs along between the 
two threads. The quill winds about this strip along with the threads 
during the process of sewing the padding to the skin, and in all 
essentials the actual method is very like binding the coil. 
Another observation which strengthens our suspicion that there 
has been some historical connection between the ornamentation of 
clothing in these instances and imbricated basketry was recently 
made by Mr. Teit,’ who says: 
I notice two or three points which may have some connection with the question 
of droppers. First, lines dropping from other lines or from other designs at 
regular intervals are found in embroidery and painting on the bodies and skirts of 
women’s dresses. Secondly, in fringes of garments, particularly along the bottoms 
of women’s dresses, there are often uncut pieces of fringing at intervals. These 
pieces are often painted with dots and designs or ornamented with punctures 
and pinkings. The Indians say that these pieces were sometimes embroidered with 
quills or beads. I notice the Tahltan and Kaska also have fringing of this kind 
on both bags and clothes. The Tlingit, Taku, etc., of the interior had the same, 
but the uncut pieces were usually unornamented. Thirdly, there are long or short 
flaps of embroidered skin, or, in their place, embroidered bands or stripes which 
extend from the shoulders of men’s shirts and coats. There are generally two in 
front and two behind, and they often connect with an embroidered or ornamented 
area on the shoulders. 
The sketches of such fringing sent in by Mr. Teit are given in 
Figure 114. A few of them, for instance, Nos. 1, 4, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 
15, 16, and 17, bear in the decorated uncut part of the fringe a marked 
resemblance in design to the vertical stripes and droppers which are 
- frequently used on Lillooet baskets. Knowing that old birch-bark 
baskets were formerly covered with skin which was bound around 
the rim, and that to the present day the Apache of our Southwest 
ornament their burden baskets with fringe of rawhide around the rim 
and the circumference of the bottom, a theory might be advanced 
that the skin on the old birchbark baskets was also fringed and that 
naturally the form of decoration would be taken over from skin gar- 
ments treated in a similar manner. While this may have been so, it 
is quite possible, as in the case of the development of imbrication, 
that other explanations might be offered which would be equally 
plausible. At least with the present scant amount of real knowledge 
70 Correspondence. 
