572.05 FA n.s. no. 28

lELDIANA

ropology

NEW SERIES, NO. 28

An Ethnographic Collection from

the Northern Ute in the

Field Museum of Natural History

James W. VanStone

August 29, 1997 Publication 1486

PUBLISHED BY FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

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Croat, T. B. 1978. Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Stanford University Press. Stanford, Calif., 943 pp

Grubb, R J., J. R. Lloyd, and T D. Pennington. 1963. A comparison of montane and lowland rain forest in Ecuador. I. The forest structure, physiognomy, and floristics. Journal of Ecology, 51: 567-601.

Langdon, E. J. M. 1979. Yage among the Siona: Cultural patterns in visions, pp. 63-80. In Browman, D. L.. and R. A. Schwarz, eds.. Spirits, Shamans, and Stars. Mouton Publishers, The Hague Netheriands

MuRRA, J. 1946. The historic tribes of Ecuador, pp. 785-821. In Steward, J. H., ed.. Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 2, The Andean Civilizations. Bulletin 143. Bureau of American Ethnology Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

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ILLINOIS LiBRA; ATURBANA-CHAf/IL

onni/CTArvr

FIELDIANA

Anthropology

NEW SERIES, NO. 28

An Ethnographic Collection from

the Northern Ute in the

Field Museum of Natural History

James W. VanStone
Curator Emeritus Department of Anthropology Field Museum of Natural History Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496
	THE LIBRARY OF THE
	OCT 2 4 1997
Accepted December 12, 1996 Published August 29, 1997 Publication 1486	UNIVERSITY OF lUINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

PUBLISHED BY FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

ISSN 0071-4739

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

( ^

A

Table of Contents

Abstract 1

I. Introduction 1

George Dorsey as Collector 2

II. The Collection 2

Subsistence 3

Tools 5

Household Equipment 5

Clothing 9

Personal Adornment 12

Ceremonial Equipment 12

Games and Toys 14

Miscellaneous 15

III. Conclusions 15

Acknowledgments 17

Literature Cited 17

Appendix 18

List of Illustrations

1. Map of Utah 3

2. Arrows 21

3. Metate, arrow smoothers, arrow straighteners, pestle 21

4. Pestle, "beaver bait bottle," "grinding stone," winnow and parching tray 22

5. Rope twister, awl, "rubbing stone," "knife," parfleches 23

6. Rope twister 23

7. Parfleches 24

8. Parfleches 25

9. Basketry water bottles 26

10. Berry basket, basketry water bottles 26

11. Bags 27

12. Pouches 28

13. Bow loom 28

14. Meat platter, bowl 29

15. Cup, ladle 29

16. Cup, ladle 30

17. Woman's half-leggings, woman's moc- casin-leggings 31

18. Woman's leggings, moccasins 32

19. Woman's leggings 32

20. Man's leggings 33

21. Woman's moccasin-leggings 34

22. Moccasins 34

23. Moccasins 35

24. Armbands, brush, necklaces, hair par-

ter 36

25. Buffalo robe 37

26. Whistles 38

27. Navel cord cases, pouch, toy or model shield 39

28. Rasps 40

29. Flute, arrowhead charms 40

30. Model shield with cover 41

31. Headdress (?) 42

32. Stick dice, handgame bones 43

33. Counter sticks 44

34. Basket dice 45

35. Shinny sticks 46

36. Quirts, shinny balls 47

37. Juggling balls, sling, "bone imple- ment," bull-roarer 48

111

An Ethnographic Collection from the Northern Ute in the Field Museum of Natural History

James W. VanStone

Abstract

The ethnographic collections of the Field Museum of Natural History contain 109 objects collected among the Northern Ute by George Dorsey in 1900. The artifacts in this collection are described and illustrated. For comparative purposes, information is included from previous studies of the Ute and their neighbors in the Great Basin and on the adjacent Plains, most notably a study of the Northern Ute by Anne M. Smith (1974).

I. Introduction

The Shoshonean-speaking Ute Indians formerly occupied the entire central and western portions of Colorado and all of eastern Utah, extending into the drainage of the San Juan River in New Mexico. From roughly 1650 to 1850 Ute groups were organized into large summer hunting bands, usually named after a geographical feature of the territory they occupied or for a subsistence re- source that they exploited. Before the Indians ob- tained horses, gathering was a more important subsistence activity than hunting. Basic material culture elements during that period included bas- ketry, the brush-covered dwelling, the bow and arrow, nets, and hare-fur clothes (Jorgensen, 1972, p. 29; Callaway et al., 1986, pp. 354-355).

In the 17th and 18th centuries Ute bands raided in New Mexico, where they stole horses from the Spanish. By 1770 the Utes of the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains were full equestrian bands. Also by this time several Plains tribes, in- cluding the Arapaho and Cheyenne, had acquired horses in sufficient quantities to allow them to en- croach on Ute hunting territories in the mountain valleys. The introduction of the horse allowed the western Ute to hunt conununally, which was more efficient than the efforts of individual hunters. Mounted hunters were able to surround and kill large game animals and transport their carcasses to a central location. Communal hunting encour-

aged the development of bilateral bands and po- litical unity, the latter strengthened by the need for protection in warfare (Jorgensen, 1972, p. 29; Callaway et al., 1986, pp. 354-355).

Although game continued to be plentiful in Ute traditional territories, the western Ute pursued bi- son herds on the Plains east of the Rocky Moun- tains where they also traded, captured horses, and harassed villages. There they learned Plains war patterns from the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Wind River Shoshone, and others (Jones, 1955, p. 237).

By the 1830s, fur traders were numerous in eastern Utah; the Indians received repeating rifles at about this time. In 1847 the area was settled by Mormons, who appropriated the well-watered val- leys that were best suited for farming. This re- sulted in a reduction in the number of food ani- mals and pelts for trade on which the western Ute had depended. Pressure from Mormon farmers caused some Ute bands to turn to raiding, and between 1 850 and 1 870, occasional warfare erupt- ed between the two groups. By 1870, most of the western Ute had become dependent on govern- ment rations for much of their subsistence. The first Christian mission among the Ute was estab- lished at Whiterocks in 1897 (Jones, 1955, pp. 237-238).

The people known today as the Northern Ute live in northeastern Utah on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, which is a combination of two ear- lier reservations. The original Uintah Valley Res-

FIELDLANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, N.S., NO. 28, AUGUST 29, 1997, PP. 1-48

ervation was established in 1861 for the Uintah band, which was displaced from its traditional lands, which extended from Utah Lake east through the Uintah Basin to the region of the up- per Green River (Fig. 1). After 1864, most Ute living in central Utah were also forced onto this reservation. The White River Ute from eastern Colorado were relocated to the Uintah and Ouray Reservation after 1880. Also in 1880, a govern- ment treaty forced the Uncompahgre Ute to sell their land in central Colorado and move to an area just south of the Uintah Reservation; there a new reservation, named Ouray after an Uncompahgre Ute chief, was established in 1882. Thus, by 1882, nearly all the Ute north of the Colorado River and the Uncompahgre Ute south of the Colorado Riv- er were living on the present Uintah and Ouray Reservation. Although hunting was increasingly curtailed, few Indians wished to give up the chase to farm and raise livestock (Jones, 1955, pp. 237- 238; Jorgensen, 1972, pp. 49-50; Callaway et al., 1986, p. 339). It was on this reservation, in the summer of 19(X), that George Dorsey made the collection of ethnographic material described in this study.

George Dorsey as Collector

George A. Dorsey joined the staff of the Field Columbian Museum (later the Field Museum of Natural History) in 1896 as curator of anthropol- ogy. During his first 10 years at the museum, he concentrated on building the North American In- dian collections, an effort accomplished through a series of expeditions that he undertook himself or entrusted to various assistant curators. Dorsey firm- ly believed in concentrating money and energy on selected locations to fill in the gaps in collections from the World's Columbian Exposition acquired in 1893 to estabhsh the new museum.

Dorsey 's views on collecting are evident in his correspondence with various field workers sent out under his direction (Rabineau, 1981, p. 34; VanStone, 1983, pp. 2-6; 1992, pp. 2-3; 1996, pp. 2-3). He considered it important to "clean up" reservations because he did not believe that most regions were worth a second trip when many other areas were poorly represented in the muse- um's collections. Dorsey thus sought to collect broadly, but he insisted that collections made by his colleagues be as well documented as possible. In addition to his museum colleagues, Dorsey also encouraged collaborators, such as H. R. Voth with

the Hopi, to engage in collecting and research for the museum.

In 1897, the year following his employment by the museum, Dorsey made his first field trip for his new employer. On May 12, 1897, he and Ed- ward Allen, the museum's photographer, left Chi- cago on a 4-month trip that included visits to the Blackfoot (Blood), Kutenai, Flathead, Haida, Tsimshian, Hopi, and Zuni reservations. The pur- pose of this expedition was "to secure ethnolog- ical and physical anthropological material for the building of groups which would adequately por- tray the culture and physical characteristics of these tribes" (Field Columbian Museum, 1897, pp. 186-188).

Three years later, from May to July 19(X), Dor- sey undertook another ambitious trip through the western states with similar goals in mind. He vis- ited, among others, the Shoshone and Arapaho reservation in Wyoming, the Bannock and Nez Perce reservations in Idaho, the Paiute reservation in Nevada, the Umatilla and Klamath reservations in Oregon, the Assiniboine and Yanktonai reser- vations in Montana and North Dakota (VanStone, 1996), as well as the Uintah and Ouray Reserva- tion in eastern Utah. During this whirlwind tour of western reservations, he collected more than 1,8(X) ethnographic objects, but documentation is sparse for all of them. Although an exact itinerary is lacking, Dorsey could not have spent more than a few days at each location.

II. The Collection

In the collections of the Department of Anthro- pology, Field Museum of Natural History, the Dorsey assemblage of Northern Ute ethnographic artifacts (accession 699) is assigned 118 numbers representing the same number of objects. Paired objects, such as moccasins and leggings, groups of identical artifacts (e.g., arrows), and composite artifacts (e.g., rasps, games) have one number and are counted as single artifacts. At the time this study was begun, nine objects could not be locat- ed in storage or on exhibit. Of this number, four were "unaccounted for," four were sold, and one was "disposed of." In the catalog, 101 objects are described as having been collected at Whiterocks and are identified as "Uintah," and an additional 17 were obtained at Ouray and are designated "Uncompahgre." Dorsey's handwritten list of the objects he collected includes the price paid for

FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY

UTAH

100 km

Fig. 1 . Map of Utah.

each, though three objects have no associated price. These prices are included in the Appendix. Dorsey spent a total of $51.30 for the collection. Except for proveniences and this information about the money spent on acquisition, this collec- tion is undocumented.

Northern Ute artifacts in the Dorsey collection are described within the following use categories: subsistence, tools, household equipment, clothing, personal adornment, ceremonial equipment, games and toys, and miscellaneous. Descriptions of the artifacts which follow should be read while

examining the accompanying photographs. Pub- lications in which Ute artifacts are described and illustrated are few. For comparisons I have, of ne- cessity, relied heavily on Smith (1974).

Subsistence

The collection contains a single self bow of hardwood. The front of the stave is convex, the back flat, and the grip is slightly thinner than the limbs. There is a single U-shaped notch at the end

VANSTONE: ETHNOGRAPHIC COLLECTION FROM THE NORTHERN UTE

of each horn for the attachment of the bow string, which consists of two strands of twisted sinew. Because this weapon is on exhibit, its total length can only be estimated at about 90 cm. It shows no obvious signs of use and may have been made for the collector (catalog number 61035-1). Smith (1974, pp. 108-109) noted that juniper (Juniperus sp.), common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), or Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolid) were the preferred woods for bows and that in use the weapon was held nearly horizontal.

Because of their geographical location, the Ute shared subsistence traits of the Plains as well as the Great Basin Indians in that they hunted buf- falo {Bison bison) and elk {Cervus elaphus), as well as mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and hares (Sylvilagus sp.). According to Smith (1974, pp. 107-108), the bow made of mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis) horn was the earliest form of that weapon used by the Northern Ute. It was first replaced by the simple self bow and then by the sinew-backed, double-curved bow.

The collection originally contained 25 arrows with hardwood shafts; one is missing. All but one are approximately 70 cm in length, and the shafts are circular in cross section. The notches are U-shaped, and the nocks are slightly bulbous. All of these arrows are fletched with trimmed hawk (Buteo sp.) or turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) feathers, between 13 and 17 cm in length. The barb has been removed from each end of the vane, exposing about 5 cm of the shaft or spine at the distal end and 2 cm at the proximal end. Each vane is parallel to the long axis of the shaft and is not spiraled. Fine sinew threads were used to lash the feathers to the shaft.

Nineteen of these arrows have triangular metal blades with straight or slightly concave bases and sharpened edges. They are inserted into the split distal ends of the shafts parallel to the plane of the notch. With three exceptions, the lashings are smeared with a pitch-like substance (61035-16, 20; Fig. 2b,d).

Five arrows lack inserted blades; they were simply worked to a point at the distal end (61035- 23,24; Fig. 2a,e). According to Smith (1974, p. Ill), these arrows were used for birds and hares, while those with metal points were for larger game.

A single arrow, measuring 80 cm in length and thus slightly longer than the others, is tipped with a steel spike that is inserted into a long slit in the shaft. The slit is wrapped with strips of rawhide

covered with pitch (60135-19; Fig. 2c). This ar- row is noticeably heavier than the others.

Eighteen arrows are decorated with bands of red pigment at or near the proximal end of the shaft. Three of these also have black bands just below the metal blades (60135-16,20; Fig. 2b,d). Smith (1974, pp. 109-110) noted that the deco- ration of arrows was a matter of individual choice and that red was the favorite color. She does not indicate that this decoration also served as own- ership marks. Arrows were sometimes made by the hunters themselves, but more often they were made by skilled old men, who traded them for hides or food.

The collection contains two arrow straighten- ers, one made of horn (60982; Fig. 3f) and the other made of bone (60989; Fig. 3d). Both have larger and smaller holes. According to Smith (1974, p. 1 1 1), an arrow was run through the larg- er hole when the wood was green to remove the bark. The wood was then dried and warmed be- fore being run through the smaller hole to obtain an even diameter.

A pair of arrow smoothers each consists of two identical pieces, with grooves along one side that were fitted together over an arrow shaft. Presum- ably the shaft to be smoothed was pulled back and forth in the groove until the desired smoothness was achieved. The more carefully worked smoother is of fine-grained sandstone (60990-1,2; Fig. 3c), and the more roughly finished implement is made of volcanic rock (60987-1,2; Fig. 3b). Traces of a brown substance, possibly wood frag- ments, occur in the grooves of both smoothers.

An object in the collection described in the cat- alog as a "beaver bait bottle'' consists of a sub- stantial section of wood, hollowed out for about half its length, with a wood stopper. The stopper is attached to the rest of the container with raw- hide thongs through holes on either side, just be- low the opening. A narrow ring of bark has been removed from the bottle near the center (60945; Fig. 4b). Possibly this bottle contained beaver {Castor canadensis) castor, which could be used for bait around traps set for these animals. Ac- cording to Smith (1974, pp. 57-58), in the days before traps, beaver were taken by destroying a dam and clubbing or shooting the animals when they appeared.

Smith (1974, p. 65) noted that a great variety of seeds ripening from early spring to late fall were used by the Northern Ute. Essential to the preparation of seeds was the winnow and parch- ing tray, one of which is in the collection. Ac-

FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY

cording to Smith (1974, p. 91), squawbush (Rhus trilobatd) was the preferred material for making all kinds of baskets and trays, but willows {Salix sp.) might be used for coarse work. This tray is diagonally twined, each piece of warp being en- gaged alternately at each weft crossing (Adovasio, 1977, p. 16). It is oval in shape, and one end is narrower, with an open space for the fingers. The final weft row is attached with separate strips of fiber to a rim that consists of a single willow twig curved to the shape of the tray and lap-spliced (60973; Fig. 4d). An almost identical Ute diago- nally twined winnow and parching tray is illus- trated by Fowler and Dawson (1986, p. 713, Fig. 4a).

The Ute employed the metate to reduce their seeds to meal (Smith, 1974, p. 98). The collection contains a single metate of fine-grained sandstone. It is flat, oval, and rimless, and appears to have been used on both sides (60992; Fig. 3a). The collection also contains a much heavier object of approximately the same size and shape, with a convex base, made of volcanic material. It is de- scribed in the catalog as a ''grinding stone'" (61048; Fig. 4c). Perhaps, like the metate, it was used for the production of meal.

Mortars and pestles are comparatively rare among the Ute and were often collected from ar- chaeological sites (Stewart, 1942, p. 262). They were used more for mashing meat, berries, and nuts than for grinding. The collection contains two objects identified in the catalog as "crushers" or pestles. The first is an elongate, rounded stone that is unworked but shows indications of use at both ends (60935; Fig. 4a). The second has been carefully worked to an oval shape with ridges on either side. It also shows signs of use at both ends (60934; Fig. 3e).

Tools

Tools are poorly represented in the Northern Ute collection. A large flake of fine-grained sand- stone is described in the catalog as a '"knife" (60967; Fig. 5d). It could have been used as a skinning tool. A water-worn, fine-grained stone is described in the catalog as a "rubbing stone" (60984; Fig. 5c); it does not appear to have been used as a whetstone.

A well-made awl has a long metal point in- serted into a bone handle. The handle is orna- mented with incised dots and lines filled with blue pigment (61036; Fig. 5b). Awls were used in the

construction of coiled baskets (Smith, 1974, p. 92) and to make clothing.

The collection contains a rope twister, a device that includes two pieces: a flat section of com- mercially prepared board, or spinner, worked to a point at one end, with a pronounced neck just be- low the point and a round perforation just below the neck; and a stick with four deep grooves at the distal end (61043-1,2; Fig. 5a). The four grooves will accommodate four strands of the ma- terial to be twisted. Rope twisting was usually done by two individuals. One end of a length of the material to be twisted was tied to the neck of the spinner and was held by one person. The ma- terial was then run out to the second person, who was holding the notched stick, wrapped around one of the notches, and run back to the neck of the spinner. Missing from this assemblage is an- other stick that would be inserted in the perfora- tion, allowing the person holding the spinner to spin it in a clockwise direction (Fig. 6). Spinning the spinner caused the individual strands to be twisted into a single strand (Kluckhohn et al., 1971, p. 97; Anonymous, 1993). Rope twisters were used in the production of horsehair, wool, and plant-fiber ropes.

Household Equipment

Smith (1974, p. 97) noted that the household possessions of a typical Northern Ute family con- sisted of "a painted parfleche and a buckskin bag for clothing, a buffalo hide parfleche for meat, two basket water jugs, a berry basket, parching tray, wood and horn cups and ladles, baskets (or pots) for boiling." The collection contains ex- amples of most of these items.

Plains-type parfleches were made of deer or buffalo hide. A whole prepared hide was staked out on the ground, and as many designs as would fit were painted on the hide before it was cut. The usual size of an envelope-style parfleche, when completed and folded, was about 30 X 90 cm (Smith, 1974, p. 96).

The collection contains seven parfleches made of tough, waterproof hide, probably cow, buffalo, or deer, but none of the envelope style. Construc- tion of the envelope-style of parfleche was said to have been rare among the Ute, although many were borrowed from neighboring tribes (Torrence, 1994, p. 157). Two Northern Ute envelope par- fleches illustrated by Smith (1974, PI. 26c) have painted designs similar to those on parfleches to

VANSTONE: ETHNOGRAPHIC COLLECTION FROM THE NORTHERN UTE

be described here. Three examples in the Field Museum's collection are cylindrical and four are flat cases.

A small cylindrical parfleche is constructed from a single piece of rawhide, rolled to form a tube, and tapered slightly toward the bottom. The vertical seam overlap was secured by lacing a sin- gle thong through several pairs of holes at regular intervals along its length. The ends of the tube are covered with unpainted discs of rawhide, fastened in place by laced and knotted thongs. Traces of hair on these discs indicate that they were made from deerskin. One half of the outer surface of the cylinder is decorated with triangular designs in red, dark blue, and yellow pigment. Near the center of the undecorated portion of the cylinder is a short suspension loop of knotted thongs (60936; Fig. 7b).

A very large cylindrical parfleche has paired lashing holes at intervals of approximately 7 cm along one edge. The seam overlap is secured by knotted, single thongs in each pair of lashing holes. Along the sides are a number of small holes that appear to be placed randomly; their function is unknown. Slightly more than half of the surface of the tube is decorated; the colors used are red, dark blue, and yellow. The designs are geometric, with triangles predominating. There are a pair of crudely painted red openwork squares on the front. One end disc is ornamented with blue lines (61027; Fig. 8a).

The third cylindrical parfleche is the most elab- orate and the most carefully painted. It consists of two parts: a large cylinder and a much smaller one. On the large cylinder, the overlap was se- cured by lacing a single thong through several pairs of holes along its length. At the top is a disc of rawhide fastened in place with laced and knot- ted thongs. At the bottom, the cylinder is flat- tened, and there is an elaborate fringe cut from a single piece of soft, tanned skin. The uncut edge has been inserted into the seam and secured with lacing of the same material. Approximately 12 cm from the top on one side are a pair of suspension loops, one that is long and fringed, possibly for fastening the container to a saddle. On the small cylinder, which narrows toward the bottom, the vertical seam is sewn with a single thong, and a fringe at the bottom is secured in a manner similar to that of the larger cylinder. The disc cover at the top is attached with long, knotted strips of soft, tanned skin. Fringed strips are sewn into the seam, along with a strip of rawhide cut in an

openwork design. The small cylinder is attached to the larger one in two places with thongs.

On the large cylinder, the painted decoration completely encircles the tube and consists of squares, rectangles, and triangles in red, blue, green, and yellow pigments. There are well-de- fined borders at the top and bottom. The disc at the top is painted with red and blue pigment in a four-part design. According to Torrence (1994, p. 70), this ornamentation on the disc creates a cos- mological diagram that refers to "the four sacred directions and the supernatural powers with which they were identified." The small cylinder is dec- orated with five encircling bands of red pigment (61041-1,2; Fig. 8b).

According to Torrence (1994, p. 69), cylindrical parfleches were always associated with sacred ob- jects. These included medicine bundles, ceremo- nial clothing, and rolled feather headdresses.

The four flat cases in the collection are strongly constructed and could withstand hard wear. They were probably used for secular purposes. Two of these were constructed by folding a single piece of rawhide at what constitutes the bottom edge and lacing the sides, leaving a projecting end that was folded down to form the closure flap. The first of these is roughly square in shape, and strips of red wool stroud are sewn into the side seams with narrow thongs. The flap has a thong loop at the front edge. This small, flat case is painted on the front with triangular designs in red, blue, green, and yellow pigments. The back has a bor- der of red pigment and a pair of rosette-like de- signs in red and blue pigment near the top (60969; Fig. 5e).

The second flat case, possibly a saddle bag, is rectangular in shape, and fringes cut from single pieces are sewn into the side seams. The flap has a thong loop for closure. Painted designs are on the front only. They consist of rectangular and triangular designs in red and green pigments, and the design elements are outlined with thin lines of black pigment (60957; Fig. 7a). A somewhat sim- ilar case, collected by John Wesley Powell in the late 1860s or 1870s among the Uintah Ute, is de- scribed by Fowler and Matley (1979, p. 85, Fig. 78b).

The third case is square and differs from the two previously described in that the flap is a sep- arate piece. The loop for closure of the flap is a strip of cotton cloth. The design is a single unit , that reaches around the front and back, and is out- ? lined in black pigment. The colors used within the

FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY

boundaries of the black outline are blue, yellow, and red (60979; Fig. 7c).

The fourth case is somewhat different in con- struction. It is small and rectangular, and the fold- ed area is along one side rather than across the bottom. Strips of red wool stroud are sewn into the seams, and a strip of soft, tanned hide secures the flap. This case is decorated over its entire sur- face with triangles, rectangles, and squares in red, yellow, blue, and green pigments. The design el- ements are outlined with black pigment. On the back is a large thong suspension loop (60975; Fig. 5f).

The collection contains seven close-coiled bas- ketry water bottles. All are basically spherical in shape, with slightly convex bottoms and constrict- ed necks that flare slightly at the mouth. As noted previously, squawbush was the preferred material for all kinds of baskets. Five bottles are heavily pitched on the inside and four are pitched on the bottom, where they have been reinforced with drilling or canvas patches. Two bottles have some pitch on the exterior and are coated with white clay (60947, 60956; Fig. 9a,b). Two bottles lack pitch and are presumably unfinished (60968; Fig. 10c). All of the bottles have two or three suspen- sion loops of twisted horsehair just below the con- stricted neck. On one bottle, two twisted strands of horsehair connected to a pair of suspension loops are woven into the coiling at intervals around the vessel, and a long loop of rawhide is attached to the suspension loops. On the opposite side, a loop of soft, tanned skin is inserted directly into the coiling (60938; Fig. 9c). Another, smaller bottle has similarly twisted carrying straps (60996; Fig. 10b), and on a third, the carrying strap is a length of cloth (60947; Fig. 9a).

The coiling foundation for all of the basketry water bottles is a pair of stacked rods, and the sewing stitch is split on the non-work surface. The centers, visible on three bottles, are normal, with the foundation elements tightly wrapped with a single stitch and then bent into a circle. Two bot- tles have self rims, with the same type of stitch as the walls of the container (60938; Fig. 9c). On the other five, the self rims are modified with an alternating stitch pattern (60947, 60956, 60996, 60968; Figs. 9a,b, 10b,c).

Smith (1974, pp. 91-92) observed the manu- facture of baskets during her fieldwork in 1936 and 1937. She provided the following account:

A coiled basket was begun by tying two rods in a knot near one pair of ends; then the rods were bent around

the knot in a clockwise direction (viewed from the in- terior) and the sewing was started by pulling the sewing splint through the center of the knot. Sewing progressed from right to left on the near edge of the basket, the interior of the basket facing up. The work was held in the left hand, with the two rods, one on top of the other, pointing left. The awl was poked through from the out- side of the basket to the inside with the right hand. The splint was put through in the same way, and pulled back over the top toward the worker.

A new rod was introduced by sharpening the end with a knife, then poking it back under the last coil stitch on top of the old rod. In starting a new sewing splint the last inch of the old one was laid on top of the rods, the end being on the left, and the new splint was pulled through from the outside of the basket to the inside, leaving the last quarter inch projecting. The splint was then brought back over the top and put through the same hole, thus binding the loose end. . . . While working, the sewing splints were kept in a bowl of water to keep them pliable. The upper rod of the lower coil was sometimes split in sewing, sometimes caught in the stitch, and the stitch of the lower coil was usually split on the in- side. . . .

The rim of the coiled basket was constructed by grad- ually tapering the rods to nothing, then finished by an over-and-over stitch or by a false braid. . . .

Smith (1974, pp. 93-94) noted that basketry water bottles were still in use at the time of her fieldwork. Pine (Pinus sp.) gum was collected for the pitch and melted in a kettle until soft. Then it was poured into the basket, which was turned sev- eral times so that the pitch could fill all the inter- stices. Small pebbles were put in the pitch to pro- vide a solid coating for the interior. The white clay, a coating of which was rubbed on the out- side of some vessels, served only a cosmetic pur- pose. Stoppers, missing from the Field Museum water bottles, were usually a plug of sagebrush (Artemisia sp.) bark.

The collection contains 10 objects that are iden- tified in the catalog simply as "bags." Two of these are actually bags, but the remaining eight inight be more accurately described as pouches. The first bag is rectangular with a rounded bot- tom. It is made from a single piece of deerskin with the hair on and is sewn across the bottom and up one side with sinew. At the mouth, the skin is stretched over a wood rod, which forms the rim. The container is filled with grasslike fi- bers that mound over the opening and are held in place by narrow strands of tanned skin attached to the rim; those skin strands are then knotted over the contents (60963; Fig. 11a).

One side of the second bag is made from the badly damaged skin of a mustelid, probably a marten (Martes americana). The back is a piece of taimed buckskin with a lengthy fringe sewn in

VANSTONE: ETHNOGRAPHIC COLLECTION FROM THE NORTHERN UTE

at the bottom. Both sides form flaps at the top, which are edged with hght blue beads. A piece of red wool stroud is sewn across an opening, pos- sibly to represent the mouth, and the eyes are out- lined with white beads. The legs, one of which is missing, are wrapped with rows of white and dark blue beads. The bag was closed below the pair of flaps by a length of tanned skin passed through holes in the back. Ornamentation on the back con- sists of three vertical rows of connected diamond designs in blue, dark blue, white, and yellow beads. Beneath one beaded row a pattern outline, probably in dark pencil, is visible (61028; Fig. lib). The sewing throughout appears to be with thread. Among northern Plains people, similar bags frequently contained sewing and quill-work- ing materials.

The eight pouches in the collection are all heavily beaded and constructed of tanned buck- skin. With one exception, the heavy beading ob- scures the method of construction, but all have a back piece that extends to form a flap. Because each one is distinctive, they will be described sep- arately.

Three pouches are rectangular in shape, or nearly so, and may have contained small mirrors or ration cards. The first of these has a fringe of tanned skin at the bottom, each strand of which is covered with a metal cone. Long strands of tanned skin serve both to fasten the flap and, pos- sibly, for attaching the pouch to a belt. The prin- cipal decoration on this pouch consists of a styl- ized turtle design in red, white, dark blue, and yellow beads on a background of light green beads. There is a border of red and white beads sewn with an overlay stitch that extends around the sides and edge of the flap. On the back toward the bottom are two bands consisting of vertical rows of white beads sewn with an overlay stitch, with a triangular design in red, dark blue, and yel- low beads. The sewing of the main decorative panel on the front is with thread in a Crow stitch (61031; Fig. 12a).

The second rectangular pouch narrows slightly at the opening, and metal cones are attached to the individual elements of a short fringe. There are suspension and fastening strips of tanned skin. The decorative panel on the front consists of geo- metric designs in green, red, and dark blue beads on a background of white beads. Two rows of dark blue beads are sewn up each side, and the flap is decorated with yellow, green, dark blue, and light blue beads. On the back is a wide border of yellow beads with a decorative zig-zag line in

dark blue beads. The sewing uses an overlay stitch and is done with thread (60940; Fig. 12c).

The absence of beaded decoration on the back of the third rectangular pouch makes it possible to determine that the pouch is made from a single piece of skin sewn across the bottom and up one side. The flap is a separate piece, sewn on with thongs. A piece of red wool stroud is sewn into the seam on the back. There are suspension and fastening strips of tanned skin, the former extend- ing from the back of the pouch. Decoration on the front consists of elongated geometric designs in pink, yellow, black, and white beads. A separate triangular flap that extends from the bottom of the pouch is also decorated with elongated geometric designs in dark blue and white beads. The sewing, with sinew, is with a lazy stitch (60994; Fig. 12h).

Two pouches are keyhole shaped. On the round portion of these pouches, the beads are spot- stitched in circles, beginning at the center, while toward the opening they are sewn in parallel rows. On the first pouch, the geometric design elements are in red, yellow, dark blue, light blue, and green beads on a white background. The pouch is edged with light blue beads. There are closure strips of soft tanned skin, and on one of these there is a large faceted blue bead (60941; Fig. 12d).

On the second keyhole-shaped pouch, the geo- metric designs are in dark blue, light blue, red, and yellow beads. Most of this pouch is edged with translucent green beads, but the flap has a more elaborate edging of white beads, with cross- es in red and green translucent beads. On the re- verse is what appears to be a stylized floral design in light blue, dark blue, white, and yellow beads.