606 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



From the Alabama Indians now living in Texas I obtained the 

 following notes. They used the outside bark of a cane known as 

 ilane', which was stripped off, split into pieces of suitable width, and 

 cut into lengths measuring perhaps l^^ or 2 feet, which were then 

 woven into baskets. 



The dyes were red, yellow, black, and in later times blue, the last 

 probably a store dye. Black was made from the leaves of the dark 

 sumac, which were boiled in water all day, after which the dye was 

 allowed to cool and the cane placed in it and allowed to remain all 

 night. Black was also made from the black walnut. There were two 

 kinds of red, one obtained from the bark of the wild peach (ichoma') 

 and the other from the red oak. The outside bark of these trees 

 having been removed, the inside bark was scraped off and put into 

 some water along with the canes to be dyed, after which all was 

 boiled for 2 to 3 hours, when the canes would be colored red. Dye 

 was made from the black walnut in a similar maimer. Yellow was 

 made from the leaves and limbs of bushes called a'ci la'na (yellow 

 leaves) in a similar manner. The strips of cane were added just as 

 boiling began and they were found to be colored when the time was 

 over. 



Among the dyes used by southern Indians, Bartram mentions two 

 of those cited by my informants, i. e., if the bloodroot {Sangui- 

 naria canadensis) is identical with the tale'wa, bat this is doubtful. He 

 also speaks of the use of the low sumac {Rhus timphydon) . He adds to 

 these the red or soft maple {Acer rubrum) , and the poison ivy {Rhus 

 radicans). 



My principal Alabama informant, Charlie Thompson, did not 

 know that his people had woven double basket?, but this fact was 

 clearly remembered by a very old woman Celissy Henry. She added 

 that, if cane were lacking, they sometimes resorted to the outer skin 

 or stalks of the palmetto split lengthwise. She asserted that the 

 designs on baskets were not named. 



Charlie Thompson gave me the names of the following types of 

 baskets : 



tJilqo' calmeca', "knife basket," for the purpose indicated, 

 tcu'mltcofa', "sharp bottom," used for needles and thread, and other things, 

 tcu'ml tok'lo', "blunt point," also used for needles and thread. 

 Inkawa'sa, "elbow basket," used for knives and articles such as spoons and forks, 

 kobi't'a, the carrying-basket used for carrying potatoes, corn, etc. A rope or 

 cowhide string was passed over the forehead, and another one around the 

 waist, 

 kolbe', a flat close-woven basket for fanning corn, 

 sak'la', a flat basket sieve used for sifting corn the first time. 

 sak'l4 ticawa', a sieve with smaller holes for the second sifting. 

 sa'k'la pa'ta, a still smaller sifter used in making bread before the whites came. 



There is no early account of Choctaw basket-making. The anony- 

 mous French writer merely says that they made "cane hampers of 



