A MOJAVE INDIAN POUNDING MESQUITE BEANS IN WOODEN MORTAR
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
Neither history nor tradition goes back far enough to determine when the art of plaiting and weaving had its birth, nor can we find evidence of a period when the work of the weaver has been less perfect. Progressiveness in those lines has been at the expense of the quality of the article produced. While the Indian is weaving a single blanket the modern loom will produce thousands, but never has loom been invented which could produce a blanket equal in quality to the hand-made blanket turned out by some of the Indian tribes who inhabit the arid lands of the West.
Almost all the basket-weaving tribes—and that includes nearly every tribe west of the Rocky Mountains—have legends pointing to the antiquity of the art. The Pomo Indians of Northern California tell that when the progenitors of their tribe were created, the Great Spirit furnished them with food in conical, water-tight baskets which served them as patterns for future work in that line. The Navajos learned the art by patterning after the baby-baskets in which the infant gods of war were sent to them, and the Havasupais believe that the daughter of the good god Tochopa taught the art to her daughter, from whom the tribe descended.
The basket plays an important part in the affairs of the desert Indian. It is his cradle in infancy; it is necessary in his domestic life, baskets being used in which to store his grain, cook his meals, serve his food, and carry his burdens. It figures in religious ceremonies, in marriage festivals, and in funeral rites. It forms a part of the decoration of his home, and serves him as a repository for his precious turquoise, wampum, and other treasures. His water-supply is brought and stored in baskets, the history and traditions of his tribe are woven into basket designs, and of late years, since the curio hunter is abroad in the land, the basket has become a very fertile source of revenue, bringing, in some instances, actual wealth.
Indian baskets may be divided into four general classes:
1. Burden baskets, such as are used for the carrying of loads of various kinds. These are generally of coarse material and are quite likely to be the work of old men who are incapacitated for other labor, or of young members of the tribe who are learning the art of basket-weaving.