C Hews Eetter
KODIAK. ALASKA. MARCH 1017 V..1, XVII. No. 14
The Making of a Basket
The following article* ia hii may
written by an eighth grade girl, and
printed in “The Veratovian,*' the
paper published by The Seldor lack
son School *i Sitka.
“The first thing to think of ia what
kind of roots are we going to use for
making a bnaket. The native women
do not plant roots in gardens aa white
people plant things for different uses,
neither do they use any kind of roots.
The beat are the roots t f the spruce.
In getting these roots women have
to leave their homes and go out in a
row boat to different, places far from
town, among the islands or on the
main land, where they think the beat
place is for picking or nulling roots.
In picking roots a woman has to dig
down into the ground or mud with
her own fingera end lmiid. She does
not um a pick, shovel or ail)' kind of
a tool todig the mud with. A woman
that ia very akilful in picking root*
never doea uiind the amount of cuta
she gets on her baud, or how worn
her finger naila are by digging with
them. She ia very careful about not
breaking any ao ahe uaea her hand.
All day'a picking will only make a
dollar fifty or two-dollar baaket.
An open fire ia built out doora, the
fire bar to be kept burning ateadily
while the bark of the roata ia being
removed. The roota are tied in amall
skeins jnat enough to handle them
over the fire. After they are well
■teamed the bark il pulled off hi
quickly k« possible. If it it slowly
done different parti of the root will
dry and will be tpoilfd After the
bar's of the root* have been removed
it it again split down in the middle,
and tied iuto ttnall tkeint, then it it
hung in a place where the heat of the
tun or fire will not. touch it. When
the root* are well dried it is carefully
handled, to that it will not break,
and it it again put into cold water
for a few minutes so that it will be
easily handled while splitting After
being well dampened it is now ready
to split into several different parts.
Now all the work has been done on
roots. They are ready to be made
into a basket, the roots ha/e to bn
measured in the size the woman pre
fers to weave. After the measured
roots are done they are bunched and
the weaving bey'"is with one large
root, keeps a going round and round
till it forms the right size of a basket
wanted, then it is turned up and the
weaving continues, till it is ready
for putting in the pattern.
In putting on the pattern there’s a
certain kind of straw used and is
colored in hemlock bark, or in vege
table dyes. The straw is split into
narrow strips. In weaving the roots
have to be kept damp by dipping the
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