[1] Hist. Virginia, John Smith. Richmond, 1819, vol. I, p. 130.
[2] Memoires Historiques sur la Louisiane, George Marie Butel-Dumont. Paris, 1753, vol. II, p. 104.
[3] Mœurs dea Sauvages Ameriquains, Père Joseph François Lafitau. Paris, 1724, vol. I, p. 286.
[3] Op. cit., vol. I, p. 244.
[5] Hist. Louisiana, Le Page Du Pratz. English translation, London, 1763, vol. II, pp. 228-229.
BASKETRY.
Types of Basketry.
Perhaps no branch of the textile art was of greater importance to the aborigines than basketry. This term may be made to cover all woven articles of a portable kind which have sufficient rigidity to retain definite or stable form without distention by contents or by other extraneous form of support. It will readily be seen that in shape, texture, use, size, etc., a very wide range of products is here to be considered. Basketry includes a number of groups of utensils distinguished from one another by the use to which they are devoted. There are baskets proper, hampers, cradles, shields, quivers, sieves, etc. There is frequent historical mention of the use of basketry, but the descriptions of form and construction are meager. An excellent idea of the ancient art can be gained from the art of the present time, and there is every reason to believe that close correspondence exists throughout.
Baskets.
Lawson refers to basket-making and other textile arts of the Carolina Indians in the following language: