. How to make Indian and other baskets . hus each locality yieldedto its weavers the materials required for the exercise of their artNow while it is not essential that white weavers of baskets shouldclosely confine themselves to material they personally gather, someof the chief benefits that should accrue from basket-making are lostif they do not largely do so. The powers of observation are stimu-lated, knowledge of local materials gained, and, where the art is used HOW TO MAKE INDIAN AND OTHER BASKETS. 15 to help the poor commercially, hitherto useless material is convertedinto a financial be
. How to make Indian and other baskets . hus each locality yieldedto its weavers the materials required for the exercise of their artNow while it is not essential that white weavers of baskets shouldclosely confine themselves to material they personally gather, someof the chief benefits that should accrue from basket-making are lostif they do not largely do so. The powers of observation are stimu-lated, knowledge of local materials gained, and, where the art is used HOW TO MAKE INDIAN AND OTHER BASKETS. 15 to help the poor commercially, hitherto useless material is convertedinto a financial benefit, which is a new and direct gain to the commu-nity. There are few really useless things under the sun, and the (history ofall commercial growth is largely the detailing of how the useless wasconverted into the useful by invention, imagination and skill. Thisprinciple should be applied to this art. In some instances there can be but little question that the locationof materials for the pursuit of the art of basket weaving has deter-. FIG. 8. SWALE GRASS TRAY, DESIGNED ANDMADE BY GERTRUDE ASHLEY, DEERP1ELD, MASS. mined the settlement of a tribe of people. The Chemehuevis, for in-stance, have a tradition which clearly points in a measure in that direc-tion. We know that among civilized races habitat is largely determinedby commercialism. The miner locates i>n the desert, canyon or moun-tain camp because there he finds the precious metal. The cattlemanlives near the range where his cattle roam; the foundryman near thefoundry which employs him; the clerk near the store in which he isengaged. i6 HOW TO MAKE INDIAN AND OTHER BASKETS. So the Indian womans voice was naturally raised in favor of alocation where her basket-making material was easiest obtained. This hint can be made interesting by teachers of the art, in stimu-lating the imagination of the child. It can also be used to excellent
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjamesgeo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1903
