THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 313 



In general, the mats of the southern Indians are made of soft, red, plia- 

 ble cedar bark, while those of the northern are stiffer, coarser, lighter 

 in color, and bordered with black strips interwoven into the texture of 

 the fabric. 



Baskets. — The most expert tribes in basket making are found at the 

 extremes of the northwest coast. In the south the Makah excel all 

 others ; in the north the Chilkat. The method of weaving is, however, 

 radically different. Amongst the Makah and other tribes of the Waka- 

 shan stock the pattern is that show^n in Fig. 168, Plate xxxii, described 

 by Prof. O. T. Mason as follows : 



It may be called the " fish-trap style," since without doubt the finer basketry is the 

 lineal descendant of the rude wicker fish-trap. Imagine a number of stakes driven 

 into the ground pretty close together. A horizontal pole is laid against them in the 

 rear, and by the wrappings of a withe around the pole and each upright stake diag- 

 onally on the outside and vertically on the inside a spiral fastening is produced. 

 This stitch crosses the two fundamentals in front at an angle and the horizontal frame 

 piece in the rear at right angles, or vice versa.* 



Patterns in geometrical figures are worked on the baskets in black, 

 yellow, drab, red, etc., in dyed straws. Amongst the Haida and the 

 Chilcat and northern Tlingit generally the method of weaving basketry 

 is by that known as "twining;" that is, twining two woof strands 

 around a series of warp strands. This is illustrated in detail in Figs. 37c 

 and 37d, Plate xii, which represent the same method used amongst 

 these Indians for rain hats. Different varieties of Haida and Tlingit 

 baskets are shown in Plates xxxvi and xxxvii, and Figs. 180 to 189, 

 inclusive. Fig. 180 of the first-named plate represents a Tlingit 

 " coiled " basket, of which Fig. 185 is another variety. This method of 

 construction differs from the " twined" basketry. The bottom of this 

 type is made of a number of straight rods sewed into a rectangular mat, 

 around which the sides are built up by coiling. " The mat-like bottom 

 is ornamented by sewing on straws longitudinally with stitches wide 

 apart, so as to show a checker pattern of straw, and stitching. This 

 method of ornamenting the bottom is often pursued over the whole 

 external surface of the basket."! Figs. 185 and 186 are from Pro- 

 fessor Mason's article on basketry just quoted. Fig. 186 shows the 

 method of covering up the coiled work of the sides bj an ornamental 

 arrangement of bark and straw. The concealed texture is " built up by 

 whipping a coil of rushes or small splints with splint or birch bark. 

 * * * The imbricated effect upon the surface is produced by sewing 

 on little loops of bark and straw, white and brown, with blind stitches, 

 in such a way as to conceal the manner of attachment." t (See Fig. 

 186.) Fig. 180 is a top view and Fig. 186 is a side view of this type of 

 coiled basketry. Four styles of twined baskets of ornamental pattern 



* Smithsonian Report, 1884, Part ii, p. 297-298. Mason. Aboriginal Basket-work, 

 t Smithsonian Report, Part li, 1884. Mason. Aboriginal Basket-work. Plate vi. 



