Pomo Indian baskets and their makers . would call the basket fad is one of rapidly grow-ing interest, and at the beginning of the twentieth centuryprices are willingly paid for the finest creations of fiber andfeathers which seem fabulous when compared to those of a fewyears ago ; yet which are not an overpayment for the skill andindefatigable patience shown in their manufacture. Suchbaskets will never be cheaper, but will rather appreciate invalue as a greater number of people of taste and means come toobserve their beauty and seek the best. Before beginning to describe the materials used in
Pomo Indian baskets and their makers . would call the basket fad is one of rapidly grow-ing interest, and at the beginning of the twentieth centuryprices are willingly paid for the finest creations of fiber andfeathers which seem fabulous when compared to those of a fewyears ago ; yet which are not an overpayment for the skill andindefatigable patience shown in their manufacture. Suchbaskets will never be cheaper, but will rather appreciate invalue as a greater number of people of taste and means come toobserve their beauty and seek the best. Before beginning to describe the materials used in Pomobasketry, and the shapes, uses and designs of the baskets, Iwould emphasize the fact that by Pomo baskets I mean thebaskets of all of the thirty or more tribes grouped by Mr. Powersunder that name ; while all of the words which I use are fromthe dialect of the Ballo Kai Pomo of Potter Valley, Mendocinocounty. The Pomo of today lives in the valleys occupied by his an-cestors, on lands purchased by his tribe or occupied by the per-. POMO INDIAN BASKETS. 21 mission of some white friend. He has his mission school andhis church, owns a horse and wagon and often a buggy, dresseslike a dude in civilized garb on gala days, lives in a cabinoften neatly built, and has chickens and a garden. He worksindustriously as a day laborer, and often takes a contract to carefor a crop for his white neighbors. A ride on the railroad isnot a novelty to him. If he is young he often has white bloodin his veins, and shows it. He is cheerful and happy, and by nomeans improvident. There are no Ramonas or Alessan-dros in his village, but occasionally one who has been sent tothe Indian training schools in Nevada or Oregon. By the sideof a neat cabin can be seen a house on the old model where hisold mother and father live as their ancestors did, surrounded byall the aboriginal implements and devices. They are used tothe new civilization, but prefer the old savagery. They weavefrom the native fibers, and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectindianb, bookyear1902
