a —_

70 BRITISH COLUMBIA.

METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION AND DECORATION.

The baskets are constructed by a method closely akin to that devised by a
potter in the far-off past. The “ coil ”’ consists of carefully prepared “ splints ”
made from cedar or spruce roots, oversewn, so that the stitches interlock. ‘This
stitching material may vary from one-half inch in width to threads so fine that
one hundred stitches cover but 1 inch of the coil.

The baskets are decorated by the distinctive method called “ imbrication.”
This word is derived from the Latin “ imbrex ”—‘‘ that which is laid over as a
cover ’’—which exactly describes the process of laying strips of a coloured sub-
stance, usually red cherry bark, over the sewing which holds the coils; the effect
is that of mosaic-work.

The oldest surviving baskets show that early decorative efforts were influenced
by still older quill-work, and were limited to simple “ beadings”’ and lines to
form geometrical figures. But the vivid imagination and inventive capacity of
the most skilled workers later introduced more elaborate figures, sufficiently
realistic to convey the underlying ideas.

MATERIALS EMPLOYED.

The Lillooet women made their baskets with coils of split cedar roots and
imbricated them with strips of wild wheat or cherry bark dyed black or red.
The Chilcotin, whose baskets were used chiefly for berry-picking or burden-
bearing, used spruce root, covering most of the surface of fine specimens with
designs of wild geese or deer, or perhaps a design of horses above and a hexagonal
net pattern below. “The upper edge had a strengthening rod, made in former
days of porcupine quills. Loops were attached for the head-band by which

these baskets were carried. BIRCH BASKETS.

Easy to fashion and light to transport these deserve more than passing refer-
ence, for they are well adapted to a people who still lead a more or less migratory
existence. The birch-tree is available where cedar and spruce are absent and the
bark permits of fairly quick manipulation. Experience is called for when
handling the sheets as they are stripped from the tree. ‘The shape of the baskets
desired is cut from a set of ‘“‘ patterns,” then stitched together with previously
prepared threads of spruce root. “The rim is strengthened by a hoop of willow
twigs, after which the basket is ready for use; fine specimens are occasionally
decorated with incised or painted designs.

QUILL EMBROIDERY.

This art is now lost, but in former days the Thompson, Lillooet, Carrier, and
Tahltan women excelled in its use on buckskin clothing, before contact with white
traders introduced quantities of cheap and crudely-coloured beads as substitutes
for quills. ;

The quills employed were those of the porcupine, swan, and goose, enhanced
by the beauty of the soft-hued vegetable dyes with which they were coloured.
The warp scarcely showed in the best woven specimens of this work and the weft
was invisible, concealed by the slight corrugations in the quills where it cut across
them. [hese were used in a moistened, pliable condition, becoming once again
hard and stiff when dry. When the work was completed the protruding ends
of the quills were cut off close to the weave, the whole showing a high standard
of finish. The old geometrical designs produced admirable effects by rhythmical
repetition in harmonious colours; and some idea of this fine art may still be gained
from their modern reproduction in beads, despite their harsher aniline tints and
less elaborate designs.