The colors in the design have their significance. Red means triumph or success; blue signifies defeat; black represents death; white denotes peace and happiness. Colors are also used to designate the points of the compass. Yellow symbolizes the north because, as the Indians explain, the light of the morning is yellow in the winter season when the sun rises toward the north instead of directly in the east. Blue stands for the west because the blue waters of the Pacific are in that direction. Red is the sign of the south, for that is the region of summer and the red sun. White represents the east, for the sky grows white in the east at the rising of the sun.
A YUMA WOMAN WEAVING COARSE BASKETS
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.
With most tribes red is a sacred color. It is symbolical of blood, which is the life and strength of man, and is therefore the source of his success and achievement.
A variety of material is used in basket-making, and by observing the kind of material used the expert collector is able to determine very closely the authorship of the basket, as well as to read from the designs the purpose for which it was created. Different tribes use different materials, and, naturally, those found nearest at hand. Southern California Indians make use of tule and certain fine grasses found in that part of the State. The Pomos, who are exceedingly adept weavers, use a tough slough-grass, capable of being split, and willow shoots. Havasupais use willows and certain fibrous plants found growing in the strange cañon which is their home. The Hopi Indians use yucca and grasses, while the Indians of Northern California make use of spruce roots and fibrous barks found in that locality. The Panamint Indians of Death Valley use year-old willow shoots, stalks of the aromatic sumac, fibers of the pods of the unicorn plant, and roots of the yucca.
Color is gained by various methods. Sometimes the bright red, green, and scarlet plumage of birds is used. Natural colors are much employed. The brown designs are mostly made by the use of maiden-hair fern stalks. Black is usually obtained by dyeing the material used with martynia pods; red from yucca roots and certain berries; green from willow bark; pink and various shades of red from the juice of the blackberry, and other colors and shades from various barks and fruits.