BASKETRY AND TEXTILES
The outstanding art of the Indians of California was their basketry. In
fact the excellence of California basketry generally is not exceeded
elsewhere in North America. Size varies from that of a pea to that of a
bushel basket. Both weave and ornamentation were very diversified.
Basketry of the Lassen area, especially that of the Atsugewi and
mountain Maidu, was of good quality. Both coiled and twined types of
basketry (to be described below) were made by mountain Maidu, but the
Atsugewi did not learn the art of coiled basketry from the Maidu until
the early 1900’s. Yana and Yahi wove both types but twined baskets were
by far the more numerous. This is due to the fact that these tribes were
akin to the twining tribes of the north. Close contact with the
neighboring Wintun tribes of the Sacramento Valley resulted in the
addition of limited amount of coiling technique in their basketry making
over the years.
[Illustration: Technique of the three willow rod (or rib) coiled
basketry (after Otis T. Mason). Note that the lashing strand anchors
the three new ribs “a”, “b”, and “c” to the top rib “d” of the
preceding three “d”, “e”, and “f” group]
[Illustration: Simple twined basketry technique employs two weft
(lashing) strands, but when overlaying with another material is done
two or more layers will make up each of the strands “a” and “b”
(modified from Otis T. Mason)]
Coiled basketry itself had some technical variations with which we shall
not concern ourselves. The coiling technique was characteristic of the
central and southern part of the California area. Mountain Maidu used
three willow rods in a parallel group which ran as a core in a
continuous spiral starting at the center of the basket. This was the
warp element. The bundle of three willow ribs was lashed to the
preceding basketry by a strand or weft (filler) of the inner bark of
redbud. This was accomplished by poking an awl through the preceding
row, and separating the stitches. In doing so, the awl was passed under
the topmost of the core or warp of three coiling willow ribs. A redbud
bark strand was then slipped through the awl hole, thus lashing the
three loose willow ribs down by passing the strand around them and
through the next awl hole in the preceding row. Recent Atsugewi coiled
basketry technique is similar in all details, having been learned from
the Maidu.
[Illustration: Variations of the simple twined basketry technique:
a, method of starting the round root-cleaning basket; b, detail of
side wall of basket showing open work weave. (Garth)]
Twined basketry consisted of willow ribs radiating from a common center.
These twigs were the warp. The weft of filling and binding stitches were
split pine root strands. Dixon states that mountain Maidu sometimes dyed
pine root black by burying it in mud mixed with charcoal. Pine root was
tightly woven in to make the bottom of the basket which was normally
undecorated. More and more willow ribs were added as the basket became
larger. The willow ribs were curved up when willow rib additions were
decreased. As the sides began to be built up on these twined baskets,
each pine root stitch, both inside and outside, was covered with a
whitish strand of bear-grass or squaw-grass. The tops of baskets were
often left unfinished after the unused willow warps were clipped off.
The basket did not unravel in use. However, the best baskets were
finished by adding a marginal strengthening ring of choke cherry or
willow which was bound to the basket body firmly and neatly, usually by
wrapping with strands of redbud bark. During weaving willow withes were
fastened inside of the basket to help it retain its shape, but these
were removed upon completion of the basket.
[Illustration: Side outline shapes of Maidu baskets (after Dixon).
The plan of virtually all Maidu baskets was circular. Twined storage
baskets are up to three feet in diameter for holding seed, meal,
etc. Open twined construction was used for storage of whole acorns,
fish, and meat. Flatish circular basketry plaque was for “vibration
sifting”.]
_FOOD BOWL _STORAGE
DIPPING COOKING_
GENERAL UTILITY_
_FOOD BOWL _STORAGE
DIPPER COOKING_
GENERAL UTILITY_
_COOKING_ _STORAGE
COOKING_
_FOOD BOWL _STORAGE
DIPPER COOKING_
GENERAL UTILITY_
_COOKING_ _BURDEN_
_FOOD BOWL _STORAGE
DIPPER COOKING_
GENERAL UTILITY_
_TRAYS or large BASKET COVER_ _TRAY or BASKET COVER_
Some utility baskets were undecorated, being made merely of pine root
and willow, or, if coiled, of redbud and willow. However, most baskets
bore some designs. They were all named and were inspired by the objects
of nature about these outdoor peoples, and not the product of their
imaginations. Nevertheless, the designs are quite stylized, often to the
extent that recognition of the inspiration is difficult or impossible.
In the case of twined baskets the designs were made by substituting
outer redbud bark for squaw-grass to produce a dull red instead of the
white overlaid stitches of the rest of the basket. As a result of the
double twining technique the designs were seen equally well on the
inside and the outside of each basket. Black designs were of overlaid
maidenhair fern (_Adiantum pedatum_) stems. However, mountain Maidu also
used common bracken fern (_Pteris aquilinum_) for black designs. Indians
to the north of the Atsugewi used roots and stems of certain sedges
treated with charcoal and mud or with ashes and water to produce
basketry materials of black and of warm henna-brown coloration
respectively. These were used on occasion by Atsugewi. The bear-grass,
redbud, and maidenhair fern decorative materials were most commonly used
by all tribes of this area. Atsugewi are the only local Indians to have
used feathers to adorn their baskets. They used the shiny iridescent
blue-green feathers from the necks of male mallard ducks. This was not
common, however, and by no means used as often nor developed to the fine
art and diversity of the famous Pomo feathered basketry of the Clear
Lake region of the California Coast Range. Atsugewi are also believed to
have occasionally adorned some basketry work with shell beads and
porcupine quills, but this must have been quite rare or more examples
would have survived to the present day.
Outer bark of redbud almost always decorated coiled baskets.
Concerning Maidu basketry Dixon states that the vast majority of the
articles are of the coiled type, twining technique being used only for
burden baskets and hopper or grinding baskets. For the radial ribs of
the former they used shoots of hazel (_Corylus rostrata_ var.
_californica_) when available. He points out too, the frequent use of
the feather, quail-tip, and arrow-point designs not only among the
mountain Maidu, but among all Maidu. A characteristic of this group of
Indians also, in contrast to other local tribes, is the tendency to
confine one design to a basket rather than combining designs. Maidu
employed a wide variety of designs. Many of them represent animals and
plants. A considerable number of Maidu patterns exhibit a more or less
obscure realism which becomes apparent only after one is informed as to
what the design means. The Maidu show a tendency also toward arrangement
of design elements in spiral or zigzag lines.
[Illustration: Atsugewi basket, twined and overlaid with bear-grass
and maiden hair fern.]
[Illustration: Maidu hopper, pounding, or milling basket of twined
construction on rock mortar slab. Diameter about eighteen inches
(after Dixon).]
[Illustration: Atsugewi general utility basket of twined
construction with lizard foot design. Underside shown to reveal dark
(actually tan-colored) area of bare split pine root weft without
bear-grass or maiden hair overlay.]
[Illustration: Coiled type Atsugewi hopper basket with flying geese
design. View shows pounding hole in bottom of basket, in this case
bound with buckskin.]
Dixon noted that “mussel’s tongue” (the fresh water mussel) is one of
the unique and peculiar basketry designs used by the Atsugewi.
Representation of intestines and deer excrement are also worthy of
special mention for this tribe. Other common Atsugewi designs in
basketry decoration are lizard, deer rib, owl’s claw, and flying geese,
as well as arrow-point. Two or more different designs are often combined
on a single basket. Among Atsugewi and Achomawi there seems to be no
restriction of certain patterns to baskets intended for special uses.
Like mountain Maidu, zigzag and spiral arrangements are preferred,
horizontal bands being rare. Curiously an Atsugewi design is often given
different meaning by different individual Indians. This is in contrast
to the uniformity of interpretation of a given design by all the Maidu
individuals, normally.
[Illustration: Maidu open twined “tray” or plate-like basket about
ten inches long (after Dixon)]
Yana tribes frequently substituted another material for willow ribs. The
identity of this warp is not certain. Reliable students believe it to be
hazelnut twigs, but to my knowledge that plant is scarce indeed even in
the foothill territory. Yana and Yahi had some other peculiarities in
their basketry. Designs were sometimes wrought in a negative way, that
is by merely leaving off overlay so that the design was thereby defined
in exposed pine root weft. Sapir and Spier found that these tribes also
used alder bark for dying basketry decoration materials a red-brown. A
reddish color was produced on peeled shield fern stems by passing them
through the mouth while chewing dogwood bark. They dyed pine roots, too,
on occasion with a red soil or with the powdery filling of spores from
the inside of a fungus obtained from certain coniferous trees. These
variations of basketry decoration do not seem to have been used by the
Atsugewi and mountain Maidu.
[Illustration: Maidu fish-teeth design on coiled basket.]
[Illustration: Mountain Maidu geese-flying design on coiled basket.]
[Illustration: Atsugewi lizard’s claw or lizard’s foot design.]
[Illustration: Mountain Maidu mountains designs on twined baskets.
The right hand treatment may be repeated in reverse to the right
making a symmetrical pyramid shaped design outline.]
[Illustration: An interesting unsymmetrical flower design.]
[Illustration: Atsugewi intestines.]
The basketry described above was all close-woven. In fact, so closely
were the twined baskets made that they held water with little or no
leakage even without linings of pitch or any other substance. There was
no pottery of any kind in central or northern California.
The art of basketry included also a third type—loose or open weaving,
sometimes of tules. The latter were also used extensively for making
mats for a variety of purposes. Open weaving at other times was done
with willow withes, split juniper twigs, or of another material
tentatively identified as hazel. Fish traps, carrying baskets, some
storage baskets, and bags were not infrequently of this type of
construction.
All basketry materials had to be well soaked in water, as they were
brittle when dry. After weaving and upon drying these materials set in
place, making the basketry firm, strong, and resistant to unraveling.
Collection of basketry materials was more arduous and required greater
know-how than might be suspected. Willow withes were only taken from the
particularly strong and supple shoots from Hinds or valley willow
(_Salix hindsiana_) which grows along stream banks up to 3000 foot
elevations and also from the similar sandbar, river, or grey willow
(_Salix fluviatilis_ variety _argyrophylla_) which also lines streams,
often growing in sandbars. These species are recognized by their long
very narrow silvery leaves and a grey bark, furrowed when mature. Willow
twigs were collected when the leaves were off of the stems in the spring
and in the fall. At other times the twigs were more brittle. Spring
picked willow withes “slipped” their bark easily, but those collected in
the fall had to be scraped to remove the bark. The willow ribs were
further dressed by scraping to uniform size.
Pine roots of either ponderosa pine (_Pinus ponderosa_) or digger pine
(_Pinus sabiniana_) were usually used. However not all trees had roots
of suitable strength and flexibility, so that it was necessary to “shop
around” for good roots. This involved digging holes to reach the roots
and then testing these by tugging on small strands until suitable roots
were located. Roots three or four inches in diameter were then cut off
with a small obsidian axe, if the individual were so fortunate as to
possess this rarity, or by using a sort of bone pick, or, more commonly,
by slowly burning through the green root with a small fire. Root lengths
of about four feet were gathered, taken home, and there roasted in hot
ashes. This made the pine roots very soft. They were then split into
quarters with digging sticks or stone choppers and finally were pulled
apart into thin strips using hands and teeth. The resulting half inch
wide strips were tied into bundles for storage. In use, these strips
were well soaked in water. Pine root strands of proper width were easily
split off by hand. The finer and smaller the basketry to be done,
naturally, the narrower was the material split for making it.
[Illustration: Atsugewi twined basket, deer-rib and arrow point
designs. Both are frequently used.]
[Illustration: Pit River (used by Dixon to include Atsugewi) popular
mussels’ tongue designs.]
[Illustration: Mountain Maidu mountain-and-cloud design on coiled
basket.]
[Illustration: Atsugewi pine cone design]
[Illustration: Atsugewi deer-gut design on twined basket—also a
popular pattern.]
[Illustration: Another Atsugewi version of deer-gut design on twined
basket.]
[Illustration: Pit River (applied by Dixon to include also the
Atsugewi) deer excrement designs.]
[Illustration: Atsugewi flint design]
The chief overlay material—already mentioned—was what we call bear-grass
or squaw-grass. In truth this is not grass, but the leaf of a lily, the
well known bear-grass of Mount Rainier National Park, scientifically
known as _Xerophylum tenax_. This grows only in limited areas in this
region, hence Atsugewi had to make long trips on foot to obtain it. In
recent years, at least, bear-grass was to be found only in the territory
of the Shasta and of the mountain Maidu: a few miles west of Mount
Shasta and near Greenville in Plumas County. Bear-grass could be
collected only during about two weeks in mid-July. Earlier it was too
tender; later it was too brittle “like hay”. Only new central leaves of
each plant were plucked. The heavy mid-rib had to be removed from each
leaf with an awl before use.
Maidenhair fern frond stems were picked in August.
Redbud twigs collected in the spring would “slip” the red outer bark
easily in a thin layer. This was used for overlay pattern making on
twined baskets. The white inner bark, or, more properly, sapwood was
then stripped off for binding material and as the white lashing weft for
coiled baskets. In the case of fall-collected redbud twigs the red outer
bark adhered to the sapwood. This was used as the lashing strand or weft
where red designs were desired on coiled baskets.
Apwaruge, the eastern division of the Atsugewi, often made baskets of
tules. These were more flexible, softer baskets than those made by the
westerners, the Atsuge, and so there was considerable exchange of
baskets between the two divisions of the Atsugewi.
Atsugewi occasionally made openwork baskets from split juniper too,
especially for low scoop-shaped, round, or oval baskets for fishing,
root cleaning, et cetera, but as indicated earlier, willow ribs were
used for this purpose also.
[Illustration: (Yana) dogs ears]
[Illustration: Probably Yana House design]
[Illustration: Maidu quail tip design widely used but only on coiled
baskets.]
[Illustration: (Yana) crane’s leg]
[Illustration: (Atsugewi) meadow lark]
[Illustration: (Achomawi) flying geese or pine cone
(Yana) pine cone]
[Illustration: Maidu earthworm design on a coiled basket.]
[Illustration: Maidu bushes design on a coiled basket.]
[Illustration: Mountain Maidu duck’s-wing design on a coiled
basketry plaque.]
[Illustration: (Maidu) diamond
(Yana) wolf’s eye]
[Illustration: Mountain Maidu eye design.]
[Illustration: (Atsugewi) flint or arrowhead]
[Illustration: (Maidu) watersnake (?)
(Yana) bushes]
[Illustration: (Yana) bats]
[Illustration: Maidu design, probably sugar pine tree.]
[Illustration: A continuing zig-zag arrow feather design widely and
frequently used by Maidu in coiled basketry, sometimes this was
combined with the quail tip pattern.]
[Illustration: Single and double arrow point designs—the most
commonly used of all Maidu patterns. It was relatively easy to make
and very versatile.]
[Illustration: (Maidu) big tongues
(Yana) intestines]
[Illustration: (Maidu) quail tip
(Yana) root digger]
[Illustration: (Maidu) mountain
(Yana) root digger hand]
[Illustration: (Maidu) earthworm
(Yana) intestines]
[Illustration: (Maidu) earthworm
(Yana) intestines]
[Illustration: (Maidu) mountain
(Yana) root digger hand]
[Illustration: (Achomawi) mountain or bear’s foot
(Yana) root digger hand]
[Illustration: (Maidu) vine
(Yana) geese]
[Illustration: (Maidu) rattlesnake
(Yana) geese]
[Illustration: (Wintun) sucker tail
(Yana) long worms in rotten wood.]
[Illustration: (Yana) wolf’s eye]
Basket styles varied little among the several tribes of the Lassen
region. Bottle shapes were never made until after the coming of white
man. Cooking baskets were bowl-shaped with high, convexly curved sides,
sometimes nearly globular in form. Baskets from which food was eaten
individually and general utility baskets were similarly shaped but
smaller. Boiling baskets were sometimes without decoration; their
dimensions of height and width were about equal. Storage baskets also
had about the same shape, curving less, sometimes, but were large, being
three feet or more in size. Some were of open work, but usually they
were of close or tight weaving.
Flattish bowls or somewhat curved trays were used for food platters as
well as for winnowing, parching, and cleaning foods by chafing. Some
were of open weave made of willow or hazel (?) only while others were
closely woven.
Basketry acorn grinding hoppers also called milling baskets or pounding
baskets, were usually regular twined baskets of suitable size and shape:
wide mouthed bowl or funnel-shaped. Having no central point from which
to start the warp, because of the open bottoms, hopper baskets were
started by twining three pine root wefts about the bases of many willow
warps to make a circle about five inches in diameter. Additional warps
were built up on the radiating ribs, proceeding then in the normal
manner of twining. Twined hopper baskets were usually reinforced by
lashing one or two strong rings of willow or serviceberry withes. They
might also be bound with buckskin along the bottom edges for improved
strength and durability as well as to decrease loss of acorn meal during
the pounding process. In recent years both mountain Maidu and Atsugewi,
also used coiling technique in making hopper baskets, for which purpose
it is well suited.
A recent innovation among Atsugewi has been the covering of bottles with
basketry and also the weaving of oblong shaped closely twined and coiled
baskets, as well as goblet shaped creations.
According to Garth, the seed beater “... was a paddle-shaped implement
from one and a half to two feet long with a willow warp and open work
twining, also of willow (spaced at three quarters of an inch between
rows) across the blade. The handle was wrapped either with willow
strips or with buckskin.”
Another important use of basketry was in the construction of cradle
boards, or more properly, basket cradles. These are generally known to
present day Americans by the incorrect term papoose baskets. The cradle
basket is discussed under the heading “Birth and Babies”.
[Illustration: (Yurok) flint
(Yana) zigzagging]
[Illustration: (Maidu) quail-tip
(Yana) “sitting up in a series”]
[Illustration: (Maidu) vine
(Yana) “braided”]
[Illustration: (Yana) mussels]
[Illustration: (Maidu) earthworm
(Yana) “braided”]
[Illustration: (Yana) mountains]
[Illustration: (Yurok) “sitting”
(Yana) “zigzagging and turning back”]
[Illustration: (Yana) wolf’s eye]
[Illustration: (Yana) trout or salmon tails]
[Illustration: (Yana) flint]
[Illustration: (Yana) guts]
[Illustration: (Atsugewi) skunk’s ear]
Beautifully made basketry caps for women, finely twined, spreading
bowl-shaped affairs were made by all tribes of the Lassen area. These
were nicely decorated on the bottoms—or rather tops—as well as on the
sides, a feature lacking on all other types of local baskets. Another
unique feature of the basketry cap was the fact that the inside of the
hat was abraded by rubbing so that none of the pattern remained visible
because all of the overlay on the inside had been worn away. It is
suspected that this made the inside of the hat less slippery on the hair
so that it did not slip off the head so easily. Removal of the
decoration from the inside of the basketry cap in no way altered the
appearance or permanence of the outside decorative patterns.
Mats were woven of viscid bulrush, more commonly called tule stalks
(_Scirpus lacustris_ or _acutus_). According to Voegelin, Atsugewi
sometimes sewed these together by piercing them with bone needles.
However the more usual method of manufacture was that of lashing
together the ends of parallel tule stalks laid next to each other. This
was done with double cords or strands in the regular simple twining
manner which shows up well in the sketch of Atsugewi tule leggings. Such
mats were extensively used as bed mats or mattresses, as earth wall
coverings, as doorway and ventilator hole hangings, and so on by all of
the tribes of the Lassen region. Mountain Maidu also employed
broad-leaved cat-tail (_Typha latifolia_) or narrow-leaved cat-tail
(_Typha angustifolia_) for such purposes on occasion. This tribe also
appears to have used a string weft in making at least some of the mats.