The herald., 1894-04-29
opening, which WAS very much smaller
than the largest circumference.


bcttles, pappoosa bath tubs, packing
baskets and all sorts Of domestic uten'
sils made Oh basket work. The fiat,
| round baskets are used as tTaya Whsn
the dark-skinned women wish to enjoy
gambling, OF which they are very fond.
For dice they use the half oi an English
I walnut shell hllsd with pitch, into
which are pressed colored beads to indi-
cate the dice spots. There was basket
ueed in the ghost dance by the Tehach-
cpl Indians, and two baskets decorated
with gods having three and Eve wings
each came from the Pima tribe in Ari-
zoua. Professor Wilson OF Washington
has two baskets Of unusual interest.
! One is from the Moqui Indians, in Ari-
zona, and the otner came from the
northern part OF Iudia. Both baskets
are exactly alike, and Mrs. Jewets has
in her collectiUn one like them.
WOVEN ON STRONG GRASSES.
InG:an baskets are woven on strong
grasses with fiue strips pseisd from the
delicate outer skin OF covering OF various
reedasnd grasses. Thsso delicate strips
| of grass fibre are laid on the ground in
rowBa and covered with bird manure and
| left there to, be colored. The longer
they remain the darker they become
| changing from this original soft cream
-calor to black after assuming various
| tones OF reddish brown. They are drawn
! from ths pile as required By the weaver.
| The color is absolutely fast--not even an
acid will change il. Some Of the basket
! work 10 exceedingly fine and firm; the
8 decoration .e Of course from familiar OBJ
! jscts, such as arrow heads and feathers.
! One large dish showed an attempt at
history, having circle of black warriors
woven in, all holding hands. Above
this WAS a much larger circle OF figures
OF the same s;zs and shape, only minus
heads. The story WAS that few Of the
Indians OF hero tribe battled with q
larger number fFcm another tribe, and
the inglorious defeat of the latter is re-
corded by their hesdess condition on
this curious basket.
PRIVATE MARKS.
Each basket bears the private mark
of it's maker, who can thus claim her
work at any time OF place, One old
Modoc squaw, though nearly blind thus
recognized a basket in Mrs. Jewett's
hands after q five years. separation.
These Modocs are considered the beat
work. Several baskets with the Greek
chain woven in as border, found near
Cooks inlet, were suggestive of some
common origin for races now 80 far
apart. A large old blood stained basket,
known as q sacriicial basket, was
horrid trophy. 1t had small but per-
feet black star in the very center of the
bottom outside. 1t was used in some
sort OF a war dance after battle and
held the blood OF victims. Thfs wes a
particularly rare specimen. Mrs.
J0wett adopted ell sorts of methods to
secure her treasures, usually going per-
Ronally TO the wig @ams and aesrching
herself under the blankets and beds and
-arnong their possessions for the baskets.
They never opposed her investiga-
t!ons, though often loAth to part
with their baskets, which frequently be-
cams helrlnoma and were handed down
fran one generation to.another. Some
times she would work two and ona- half
h9urs for single small basket, Offering
bsada, trinkets, gold. and Increasing ths
Cffer until she secured the prize. Once
edo found under bed in q wiEwam an
old valuabie basket flied with grease,
rhisshe determined to pessessr and ieil'
ing to secure il by the usual offer, she
resprtcd to dancing end singing. which
finally so charmed the old squaw that
sho yielded up her treasure, greaRs and
all.
FEATHER oRNAMENTATIoN.
Did l tell you that the fine feathers OF
the teal duck are used, as well Us bright
other biYd4? They sometimes uEe horse
oft hlnrty T. hra
the maiden-hai fern. | saw a basket
from Egypt and one from Alaska having
precisely the same stitch. The high
value OF these baskets is due of course
to their increasing scarcity. There are
now only four aquaws left who weave
them. They are very old and belong to
tbs Tule Indians. The young equaws
refuge to learn, because the work is 30
very slow and tedious, and the neces-
city for their use has passed away.
Each year shows an increased valuation
OF the Indian baakets, which promise
soon TO be worth their weight in gold.
OTHER OBJECTS OF INTEREST.
With her valuable collection OF baskets
Mrs. Jewett has also very many other
Indian offsets of interest. A leglet.
formerly worn by old Corn Planter OF
the Eenecas OF New York state. is crowded
with deer toes so strung and attached to
the leather as to rattle not unmusicRll7
in the walk and war dance OF the old
| chief. A coil of rope 80 feet long, made
wholly OF horsehair, is of special service
at night, when it forms circle on the
ground within which the sleeping wav-
! rior is entirely safe from his enemy the
snake, which cannot pass the stiff
! bristling rope. A crude csnteen of pot
terry from the Zuhi Indians OF Arizona
was OF particular interest. A lady re-
Gently visited Mrs. Jewett's collection
who wore curious ring set with a stone
taken from an Egyptian mummy. Some
characters on the stone attracted tine
collectors eye, and taking it in her hand
Hhe Uncovered on the other side of the
stone three curious lengthwse marks or
craven characters which were exactly
like the decoration on her Zuni cAnteen.
/ One is lad to question ii this same form
/ OF decoration found upon the ancient
/ Egyptian amulet and the Zuili canteen
must not have had q common origin in
the long, long ago of this world, which ia
now so gridroned with rails and 60 con-
qusred by steam and electricity that the
hanGiwork OF the dead past and the
living present from remote points upon
opposite sides OF our wonderful world
meet in the beautiful San Gabriel val
ley OF our great observation-disclosures.
/. 9.
! T9,-e.--,, Tor II ssicf.ff.c