The clay, when cleaned, may be stored in a variety of receptacles (pottery vessels, sacks, or boxes), or, if it is the intention of the woman to use it within a few days, it is simply left in the shawl. During the fall the Indians gather great quantities of clay, and pile it on the floor in the corner of a room for use during the winter when the clay beds are frozen.
The preparation of the clay for use consists of two processes, mixing and kneading. The mixing, which as a rule immediately precedes the kneading, consists of the addition of temper (see page 21). This is done while both ingredients are dry. Different varieties of clay are not mixed together. The work is done on a piece of canvas, an opened cement-sack, or the inner side of a skin (usually that of a goat or dog).[8] Either the clay or the temper may be put on the mixing surface first; the other ingredient is then added, and the whole is sifted through the fingers until the mass is uniform in color. The Indians have no definite idea of the necessary proportions. They judge simply by the color of the resulting mixture. The proportions used by three different informants seemed to be about one-third temper and two-thirds clay. Before mixing, the clay is reddish brown; the addition of temper lightens the color several shades.
The scrapings from partly finished vessels (see page 54) and the ground-up fragments of pots which have cracked badly in the course of sun-drying are used a second time. This re-used clay, since it already has temper in it, does not need to be mixed over again. It is mingled with newly mixed clay just before kneading, or is kneaded by itself, as occasion demands.
The kneading is usually done on the same canvas or skin that was used for the mixing. If a large amount of clay is to be treated at one time, a quantity of water is poured into a hollow formed in the centre of the pile. Later, as the worked clay or paste approaches the proper consistency, water is sprinkled over it with one hand, just as clothes are sprinkled, at first copiously, later more sparingly. At the beginning, the entire mass is kneaded until the water has been thoroughly absorbed. When the paste is wet, it becomes of course considerably darker. It is then divided into masses which can easily be handled, about the size of two large loaves of white bread. The woman works the paste to a uniform consistency in exactly the same way that dough is kneaded ([pl. 12], a), and piles the masses, now ready for use in moulding, on a board or canvas, covering then with a piece of cloth to keep them damp until they come under the potter’s hands. The consistency is that of putty, just dry enough to crack if pinched. The mixing and kneading can be completed in half an hour.[9]
PLATE 10
a. Indian digging material for tempering pottery from an outcrop near the village.
b. Guaco, or Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, from the juice of which is made black paint for decorating pottery.