130 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 
baskets for the tourist trade, using for such baskets the | 
white, bleached leaves of a yucca. Their older baskets, 
however, were of willow, as are those of the Pima. This 
white material covers the body of the basket and forms 
the background for the designs, which are in black or 
dark brown. This dark material is derived from the 
fruit pods of the martynia or catsclaw. 
The designs consist chiefly of narrow stripes which 
zigzag and radiate from the bottom of the basket toward 
the rim. One noticeable feature of these coiled baskets 
is that the beginning is of plaited work while similar 
baskets in other parts of the Southwest begin by the 
same coiling method which is used in the main portion 
of the basket. 
The Pima and Papago also make large storage 
baskets by a coiling method which does not involve the 
use of a second element to hold the coils together. 
They are bound together by an interlocking of the twigs 
which make up the succeeding coils. 
One of the important uses to which baskets are put 
throughout western North America is a container for 
small objects which are to be transported on the backs 
of the women. The Apache have such baskets, which 
are usually made by twining, not by coiling. The Pima 
and Papago do not make or use burden-baskets, but 
have instead a net of twine supported on a frame of 
poles called kiaha. The fiber for the twine is secured 
from the leaves of the sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri) and 
probably also from the narrow leaved yucca. Thenetis 
made by a method of interlocking of stitches, known as 
lace coiling. The supporting frame consists of sticks 
fashioned from the ribs of the giant cactus. A hoop of 
willow holds the mouth of the net open. Twine made of 
human hair is used to bind this hoop to the projecting 
ends of the frame. This carrying net is not only an 
Bi ats nd = 
7 
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