Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-08-18
BASKETRY
IN ALASKA
AN INTERESTING ARTICLE IN
CHENIAWA AMERICAN WRIT
TEN BY NATIVE ALASKAN
GIRL.
(By Allah Madison.)

roots of trees and mountain grass
or bullrushes. The roots are split
until the right size is obtained; they
are then used as frame to hold the
basket up and to keep it as near the
shape as possible. The grass is then
woven over the roots. It is gath
cred in July or August and is dried
and bleached in the sun for about
two weeks.
Before the natives knew about
alkali dyes they made the different
colors the best way they could. I
will name a few of the many ways
they had of coloring their straw, or
shauk, which is the Thlinget or ma
tive name for it: The brown or
yellow color was made from the rust
of iron, and as a darker shade of
yellow or brown was needed more
rust was added. The black is made
by grinding blue slate rock, mixing
it with water, and then soaking the
straw in it. The blue, purple, and
the different shades of red were
made from berry juice in which the
straw was boiled until the right
shade was obtained. This usually
took about two days of steady boil
ing. Now that the Indian uses the
white mans dyes the work is much
lighter, as much time is saved. How
everever, the old-fashioned baskets,
colored with native prepared dyes,
are preferred by the collectors and
bring the highest prices
The best baskets are made in At
tu, one of the Aleutian Islands
The grass grows just the right
height in Attu. In Southeastern
Alaska the straw has to be cut in
places about a foot and half long,
while in Attu the grass seldom
grows any longer than a foot and
half
The reason that the baskets made
in Alaska cost so much is that the
work is finer than that of the bas-
kets made in the states and much
more time is required to make them.
In Alaska a woman with no educa
tion at all can make a living quite
as well as an educated woman. /
know this to be a fact, as my grand
mother has no education, and still
she is living very comfortably at
Sitka. I suppose you wonder how
she made living. 1t is all through
the art of making baskets. Her
children helped all they could and
when I was old enough to know
what TO do l learned to make bas-
kets also. I was about five years of
age when I made my first basket,
and although not very handsome, it
is still kept as a remembrance of
my first attempt at basket making.
The next thing is the sale of the
basket. Each year during the sum-
mer months many tourists visit
Alaska. Nearly every other day a
boat lands a large number of tour
lists. The average of passengers is
about 275 at a time During the
summer months there are always a
lot of tents from the wharf up to
the main street. These tents are
filled with baskets and various other
Indian curios that are made during
the cold winter months and are sold
to the summer visitors. Most of the
weaving is done in the winter, as
the basket makers are busy in the
summer time selling their baskets,
or gathering the grass for the next
winters use.
I think that IT some of the tour
lists who visit Alaska every year
could realize what it means to live
in Alaska and the time and patience
required to make a basket, they
would be willing to pay the prices
asked for them and not try to have
the poor Indian women lower the
price, which is usually a fair one
This basket (showing basket) was
made by an Indian woman in Alas
ka, assisted by her daughter, Sadie
Durkee, who was formerly a pupil
of Chemawa. 1t is a regular Thin
get basket, and is made up mostly
of roots. The foundation, or back
ground is the natural color of the
root. The colors in this basket are
regular Indian dyes. The purple is
obtained by boiling the straw in ber-
ry juice. The red is made in the
same way, water being added 10
make it lighter The white is the
straw after it is bleached, and the
yellow is obtained by boiling in iron
rust for a short time.
Although l do not have to make
baskets to earn a living. I am glad
that / know how to make them.
Won't NPP0 a (,putTI