Collecting Indian Baskets 
by Clarence E. Shepard 
O UT in California dwell the remaining few members of the 
Porno, Yokut, Maidu and Hoopa tribes of Indians, whose 
handiwork in basketry has at last been accorded the appreciation 
that it rightly deserves. The Mission Indians are virtually ex¬ 
tinct, and the remaining tribes that are noted as basket makers 
are slowly but surely disappearing. A collection, therefore, of 
the designs of these primitive artists is distinctly of greater value 
than the ordinary collections such as occupy the minds and usurp 
the energies of many amateurs. In addition they make exceed¬ 
ingly attractive adjuncts in the interior decoration of a home. 
Within a radius of sixty-five miles about Ukiah live the 
Pomos, who have the reputation of being the best basket weavers 
in the world. Basket Number i is an example of their skill and is 
called a Tsai or one-stick piece. The figures represent “Trees on 
the Hill." Number 2 is a Shi-bu or three-stick coil basket, 
which is said to be one of the largest and finest of that type in any 
collection. Number 3 is also a three-stick basket and is the best 
specimen I have been able to find of a young woman’s work in 
five years’ collecting. It is interesting in showing that basket 
weaving by young Indian women need not be considered a lost 
art. The basket is one of their trinket receptacles and is half 
covered with the feathers of the red-headed woodpecker, with 
three groups of quail top-knots on the edge. It has fifty-three 
stitches to every inch space on the coil. A packing basket or 
burden carrier of bamtush weave is indicated by Number 4 on the 
illustrations. This basket is hung with a net similar to a fish¬ 
net over the shoulder and supported by a band across the bearer’s 
forehead. The basket marked 5 is a fine Shuset weave which was 
probably made as a baby’s toy. I got the basket at what is 
known as a “Basket Burning”—a ceremony occurring at the 
funeral of the departed owner. A so-called “sun basket” is 
Number 7, which is solidly covered with tiny red woodpecker 
feathers, into which a star pattern has been woven. The feathers 
are as smooth as upon the breast of a living bird, and are further 
ornamented by showy beads and abalone shell pendants. 
The home of the Yokuts is in Tulare and Hern counties — the 
western slope of the great pine-covered Sierra Nevadas. Fortu¬ 
nate indeed is the collector who owns any good Tulare baskets, 
for the tribe has sunk very low and has lost its skill in weaving. 
A Yokut dance basket used at the annual “Dance of the Virgins” 
at harvest time is Number 8. Numbers 9 and 10 are Tulare 
bottle-neck baskets. The smaller one with the common rattle¬ 
snake pattern is the so-called “witch basket” which was supposed 
to have about it such an evil influence that no woman of the tribe 
would handle it. It is a curious thing that any basket weaver 
would voluntarily set such a stigma upon her own handiwork. 
A Tulare bowl is indicated by Number 11. It is marked in bands 
of perfect Maltese crosses, but is called “Butterflies in Flight.” 
The Tijones, Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara Mission Indian 
tribes are virtually extinct. Number 13 is a Santa Ynez plaque 
or meal tray, of which there are, to the best of my knowledge, 
only a few in existence. A Hoopa squaw cap is shown by Num¬ 
ber 14. It was made to serve the double purpose of a hat dur¬ 
ing the day and a plate from which to eat mush at meal time. 
The home of the Maidus embraces the counties of the north 
and south gold mine belt of California. An old Maidu mush bowl 
is shown at Number 15. A basket of this kind was half filled 
with pinole, the staple food of the California Indian, made from 
pine knots pounded into a meal and mixed with water. This 
mixture is then cooked in the basket by dropping red hot stones 
into the mush. Number 16 is a meal tray which I secured from 
an old woman high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 
( T 99) 
The opportunity for acquiring specimens of the handiwork of the Indian basket weavers is fast disappearing. A collection of this kind is interesting 
not only from the art side but also with the idea of effective decoration in mind 
