The pawpaw (_Asimina triloba_, L.) seems to have been universally used
by all the tribes who lived where it flourished. Its use was
apparently limited only by its distribution, for it was encountered
sixteen times in the prehistoric material examined from Kentucky,
Arkansas, and Ohio, as well as in historic objects made by the
Menomini and Wisconsin Potawatomi. In the University of Wisconsin
Museum is a bunch of prepared fiber (16422) from the caves of
Kentucky. This fiber was commonly used by the cave and rock-shelter
peoples of Arkansas for cords, mats, rope, and in all coarsely woven
materials. A woven mat from Bushwick Cave is a fair example (MAIHF
11-6243). The Ohio cave and rock-shelter dwellers used the pawpaw for
coarse bags and fabrics, for example, in a split bark bag (OSHAM
332-22). In the Milwaukee Public Museum are two bags in which this
fiber was identified, one, from the Menomini (4570) in which only the
weft is of pawpaw, and another (23287) from the Wisconsin Potawatomi,
entirely composed of it.