PLATE VI. 



(Mason. Basket-wort.) 



Fig. 9. Alaskan Indian coiled basket. The outer portion is so covered with ornament 

 as to conceal the texture of the basket, which is built up by whipping a 

 coil of rushes or small splints with splint or birch bark. The bottom of 

 this basket is not a coil, but a number of straight foundation rods sewed 

 into a rectangular mat, around this the sides are built up by coiling. The 

 elaborate ornamentation is described under Fig. 10. Collected in Alaska, 

 by J. J. Maclean, in 1882. Museum number, 60235. 

 Fig. 10. One square inch of Fig. 9, showing the elaborate ornamentation. The imbri- 

 cated 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 con- 

 ceal the manner of attachment. 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. 



