TILIACEAE, Juss. (Basswood Family)
The bast layer from the basswood (Tilia americana, L.) seems to have been the fiber most commonly and universally used by the Eastern Indians, for it was encountered fifty-two times, in all areas from which specimens were obtained, with the exception of the extreme south. It was utilized for nearly all purposes, from the manufacture of bags to textiles. In the Milwaukee Public Museum is a Menomini bag (4586) made from the Tilia bast, carefully and thoroughly prepared to remove the gums and render the fibers parallel and capable of being spun into good yarn. A Potawatomi bag in this Museum (50.1-7091) is made from the same material. In the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, is a bag made by the Sauk and Fox (2-4966). In the Peabody Museum of Harvard University is a twilled woven garment (A5479B) made by the protohistoric Indians of Massachusetts. An Iroquois burden strap (AE 2963) in the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences is woven of threads from prepared fibers from this tree. In the Ohio State Historical and Archaeological Museum is a prehistoric fabric (957) containing Tilia and three other species of fiber. Hopewell mound and rock-shelter specimens in the same museum show the use of Tilia.
The above gives a general picture of basswood fiber usage. It was found in an untreated state, merely cut into strips, as well as thoroughly treated and spun into comparatively fine threads.