The Chemawa American, February 01, 1914, Image 4

THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
H. E. WADSWORTH, Superintendent
VOLOME 17
FEBRUARY, 1914
NUMBER 5
BASKETRY
A P A SSIN G IN D IA N AR T
N a recent num ber of th e O regon S unday Jo u rn al the
follow ing in terestin g article on In d ian B asketry,
w ritten bv Inez Filloon, appeared:
T h e In d ian village, situated w here T he Dalles now
stands, was know n to th e natives as W in q u att.
T h is was th e trad in g place for the red m an, and in
h u n d red s he and his fellows gath ered here d u rin g
th e fishing season every year for barter and sports. T he influence of
the W ascos, who inhabited th is district, was g reat, h u t th ere w ere I n ­
d ian s from m any other tribes there also. T hose from th e north and
east brou g h t horses to trade for buffalo robes, furs and dressed skins,
rope m ade of wild hem p, and buffalo m eat. T hose from the south fre­
qu en tly w ere accom panied by hostages from am ong th e Modoc, P itt
river and S hasta In d ian s, w ho were disposed of as slaves.
I t w ould be in terestin g for us of today to be able to step into the
m idst of such a g ath erin g ; to view first hand the m anners and custom s
and dress of the In d ian s before they had come into contact w ith the
w hite m en. A great deal is know n, to be sure, of th eir tribal rites and
cerem onies, and of th eir mode of living, and m any of the practices of
prim eval days are observed in part by the In d ian s of today, including
the art of basketry.
It is the basket w eaving of the women th a t is of especial significance
as a forem ost exam ple of native A m erican a rt, an art that is bound to
vanish, and w hich, in fact, has, in a large m easure, already disap­
peared .
In all clim es, civilization has found women en jo y in g th e know ledge
of the art of bask etry . T hey know all the tex tile plan ts, and are sk ill­
ful in w eaving th eir stem s and roots and leaves into baskets, m atti.ig
and other sim ilar p roducts w ithout m achinery. Basketry was very
nearly universal th ro u g h the w estern hem isphere before Colum bus d is­
covered it, w hile at least one-half the area was devoid of p o ttery .