Case No. 5:
The art of making basket cradles is almost lost today. However, the
wooden cradle is still made and used extensively by many tribes; this is
especially so in the Pueblo tribes.
The following illustrates the use of baby cradles by some basket making
tribes: Hoopas, of California, used a sit-down type cradle—the baby is
seated in, and tied to, the cradle; _Hopis_, of Arizona and _Frazier
River_, of Washington, used the cradle for putting the baby to sleep
holding the cradle in their arms; tribes such as _Mono-Paiute_ and
_Pomo_, of California, and _Ute_ of Colorado, used the cradle by placing
it on the mother’s back.
There are more than six hundred Indian dialects. The _Ute_ word for
cradle is _Ahcacon_. When asked, what the Indian word for “cradle,” or
“baby board” is, it is impossible to answer. Because of the many
dialects it is easily understandable that there are numerous words for
this object, just as the word would be different in Spanish, Swedish,
German or Russian.
(See Plates 3a, 3b & 3c)
BLOW GUN AND QUIVER
_Cherokee_—North Carolina.
Case No. 1:
Made of wild cane and six feet long, this type blow gun was used for
shooting poison darts. Some guns are as long as twenty feet. A blow gun
is extraordinary in that it has for example, the power to shoot a dart a
quarter of an inch into a pine door. This power is probably due to the
choke bore design of the gun.
The darts are fifteen to eighteen inches long and are made of locust
wood. They are sharpened and hardened over a flame at one end and, at
the opposite end are wrapped at an angle with the silk from a thistle
plant. As the air is blown into the gun the thistle silk fluffs and
creates a shoulder to blow against. The dart is retarded in its movement
by the taper of the bore. It is not known what implement was employed to
produce this tapered bore.
Many years ago this type blow gun, with poison darts, was used in
warfare by the _Cherokee_, _Choctaw_, _Catawaba_, and _Houma_ tribes.
Displayed with the blow gun and darts is the basket quiver which held
the darts. These specimens were brought to Oklahoma before 1860, by the
grandfather of Jim Backwater.
(See Plate 21)
The Clark Field Collection of Indian Baskets is composed of one
thousand and ninety six specimens, as of date (1964), from throughout
North America and represents almost every basket making tribe of that
area. Due to the wide scope of tribal representation and the beauty of
these outstanding specimens, this collection is rated by the U. S.
Indian Arts and Crafts Board as the most outstanding Indian basket
collection in North America.