. Bulletin. Ethnology. Beals] CONTEMPORAEY CULTURE OF CAHITA INDIANS 33. Another type of sash has an elaborate floral design worked in the same tapestry technique used for blankets. Floral sashes are said to be made mostly in Ahome, a fact I was unable to verify, but I bought one specimen made not far from Navojoa at Chukarit (fig. 13). The Yaqui formerly made sashes also (Hrdlicka, 1904, p. 65). The sashes are said to prevent rupture when lifting heavy weights, but in spite of this alleged virtue, they are rapidly being displaced by leather belts. Wider and longer woven bands faced with canva
. Bulletin. Ethnology. Beals] CONTEMPORAEY CULTURE OF CAHITA INDIANS 33. Another type of sash has an elaborate floral design worked in the same tapestry technique used for blankets. Floral sashes are said to be made mostly in Ahome, a fact I was unable to verify, but I bought one specimen made not far from Navojoa at Chukarit (fig. 13). The Yaqui formerly made sashes also (Hrdlicka, 1904, p. 65). The sashes are said to prevent rupture when lifting heavy weights, but in spite of this alleged virtue, they are rapidly being displaced by leather belts. Wider and longer woven bands faced with canvas at each end, are used as latigos for packing mules or burros (fig. 14). Maguey-fihQv weaving among the Mayo is almost entirely a man's oc- cupation, the women merely stitch- ing together the sides of the bags which are made from the woven ma- terial. At Masiaca, bag weaving is a regular occupation of many of the Indians, possibly owing to the close- ness of the hills with more abundant supplies of raw material. Some work in maguey fiber is also done on the north bank of the river, where the gravelly mesa soil supports a considerable number of maguey plants. There is some specialization. At Masiaca some men do nothing but gather the leaves of the plant and extract the fiber. Others only spin and weave. In extracting the fiber the leaf is impaled at its butt end on a nail on the under side of a 6-inch log set in the ground at a 45° angle. It is then brought around the end of the log and laid on the flattened upper surface. The pulpy part of the leaf is scraped away with a simple tool made of a steel blade set in the angle of a conveniently shaped tree branch, Wlien the pulp has been scraped away, the fiber is laid in the sun to dry. Spinning is always done by two men. The instrument which is said to be the older is a pendulumlike piece of heavy wood under a foot in length, which rotates on a small rod passing through a hole in the lighter end. The thread is started with the fi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectethnolo, bookyear1901
