188 



THE VIMA INDIANS 



[ETH. ANN. 20 



Fig. 01. Bnskot with scroll decoration. 



variant that was seen in a few shallow l)askets and which occasionally 

 appears in the upripjht forms, as in plate xxx, j. It resembles a gigan- 

 tic pictograph upon an ancient altar near Sacaton, the largest picto- 

 graph the writer has seen in Arizona. Baskets e and/, and also a, h, 

 and c, plate xxvi, contain designs that are perhaps the most abundant 



to be found in Pima basketry. The 

 patterns are who rled fretswith many 

 modifications. The decorative effect 

 is enhanced by the addition of the 

 triangular element, to which the same 

 name, mi)'Clmvitcka, "triangle," is 

 applied as to the terrace. It is seen 

 to be an independent element com- 

 pleted by an extended hook. In 

 plate XXVI, a, c, the triangle at the 

 margin is relieved with white, but in h 

 it appears in its more common form. 

 In plate xxv, /, the mode of origin 

 of the triangle is seen in the termi- 

 nal enlargement of a segment of the terrace. The triangle gives color 

 balance to the whole, as in 6, and also fills space due to the elements 

 of the main figure being carried as a whole nearly straight to form 

 an ecjual-armed figure on a spherical surface. These designs are 

 iisually in fours, though sometimes in threes and fives. Figure 61 

 includes two designs with dissimilar elements which adapt equally 

 well rectangular designs to a hemi- 

 spherical surface. The design, while 

 clumsily made and unsymmetrical, 

 is 3^et pleasing by the at least par- 

 tial harmonj- of design and form. 

 The motive in tlfis design will Ix' 

 recognized by students of Califoi- 

 nian basketry. The basket shown 

 in figure 62 is a rarelj'^ beautiful one. 

 having simplicity of design pleasing 

 by its rhythm or repetition and colors 

 well proportioned. 



Plate XXVII contains several exam- 

 ples of good baskets. The seconil 

 has many triangles, those along the margin suggesting a mode of 

 origin of what is known as tlie " top-knot'' design. The outer band 

 on this basket has the appearance of having been added as an after- 

 thought, but such was not the case, as the device is not uncoimnon 

 and occurs in the unusually fine basket shown in c. The latter is the 



Fig. 02. Basket with scroll-feet decoration. 



