Boas] APPENDIX 451 
seldom obtained equidistant arrangements and the last design came 
out too close to the first; also defects became more glaring as the 
work advanced. Some women did not seem to care about this, but 
most of them considered it ugly, even some who would not take the 
trouble to measure carefully but were content with approximate 
spacing. A few made a rough estimate of the distances by measuring 
with the fingers and then measured backward from each point where 
a pattern was inserted to see if the right distances were being main- 
tained. When once all were started, no further attention was paid 
to this point. 
According to this informant, bottoms of flat coils or wooden slats 
are all of late introduction, and were copied from Lillooet work. 
They were considered inferior in appearance, strength, and dura- 
bility by the Thompson but were employed by some women because 
it required less time to make them. Katie had never used them. 
Ring coils were formerly unknown, at least at Spuzzum, but later 
became common. They were introduced by her sister about 1890 
when she was making a very fine basket to order for a white man. 
She finished the rim with a ring and it was not long until others 
copied her idea. 
No basketry trays or spoons were made there long ago, and the 
only unusual shapes were cups and rattles. 
There was not much mystery attached to dream designs and prob- 
ably most of them were not really connected with guardian spirits. 
Katie thought that women were naturally thinking much about the 
designs which they intended to make, and consequently sometimes 
dreamed of them. When a woman dreamed a design and used it, 
other women readily copied it if they liked it without fear and with- 
out asking permission. All the women copied one another’s designs, 
more or less, some exactly, others purposely altering the details. 
No. 30. Mrs. York, aged 50, had also made baskets ever since she 
was a very small girl. She and her parents lived at Spuzzum. She 
was still producing a number of baskets every year and had fashioned 
all kinds of shapes. She said that she had made almost every design 
known to the tribe, which included many varieties of “ arrowhead,”’ » 
“7igzag,” “packstrap,” “blanket,” “step,” “mouth,” “grave box,” 
“leaf,” “fern,” “butterfly,” ‘“flower,” “berry,” ‘“‘fly,’’ “cross,” 
“stripe” designs, etc., perhaps over a hundred in all.‘ Occasionally 
Mrs. York used the same pattern on more than one basket, but 
she preferred to try new designs and combinations which she might 
see on baskets made by other women. When she copied patterns 
‘ Since the sketches of Thompson designs include about 800, it would seem that even those women who 
are best informed on the art possess, after all, but a slight idea of its range. It might be argued that Mrs. 
York’s idea of 100 was perhaps vague, as in the sense of ‘‘many.’’ 
