362-182<BR> Coiled squat-shaped basketry jar; plant fibers, yucca; d. 13,5 cm., h. 8,5 cm.; ca. 1883.<BR> Such early coiled jars as this one collected by Ten Kate at Hopi in August 1883, probably on Second Mesa, are relatively rare. Coiled jars gradually became more popular when transcontinental travelers visited the Four Corners area in increasing numbers after the completion of the railroad across northern New Mexico and Arizona. New shapes developed, some with lids and handles, referred to as the cornplanting type (Tanner 1983:58-59). This specimen displays a light-and-dark colored triangular design.<BR> 362-170 through 182 Coiled basketry<BR> Much Hopi basketry is woven in a coiling technique in which round bundles of twigs and plant fibers are wrapped with thin splints of yucca leaves into a thick strand which is then coiled in a circle, and sewn together with a bone, wooden or metal awl. The first coil and last coil taper to facilitate the beginning of the basket at the bottom and finish it in a smooth manner at the rim. For the starting and ending coils, yucca is used as a filler because of the flexibility of the fibers, while for the remainder Galleta grass (Pleuraphis; Hopi: sühü or takashu) or rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) is used. Because this type of coiled basketry is prevalent among the Hopis, Pimas and Papagos, a Hohokam origin has been suggested for this technique, the prehistoric occupants of the Gila and Salt River areas in south-central Arizona.<BR> In the coiling technique Hopi women created flat plaques, shallow trays, deep bowls, and a great variety of small and large baskets in various shapes. Sometimes lids and handles were added, often based on external examples. Patterns emerged by using colored strands of yucca for the wrapping of the coils. Natural yucca colors were olive green from outer leaves, yellow from sun dried leaves, white from new center leaves which were frozen to bleach them. By using a variety of vegetal dyes, yucca strands could be colored black (black sunflower seed) and red.<BR> The art and craft of coiled basketry survived especially on Second Mesa which was also the traditional center of manufacture. Coiled basketry was produced increasingly for the external market after the completion of the transcontinental railroad through northern New Mexico and Arizona in 1883. However, an even earlier type of innovative coiled product made since about 1872 were sombreros. Old coiled basketry was recovered during excavations at Walpi (Mason 1904:503-505, plates 30,93,215-216; Hough 1915:91-92; 1919:266-267, plate 38-41; Colton 1965; Mori 1972:55-80; Adovasio and Andrews 1985:37-54,91-99; Wright 1979:66-68; Tanner 1983:50-63; Whiteford 1988:144-149; Teiwes 1996:10-29).<BR> 362-170 through 185, 362-188, 189, 190 Hopi basketry<BR> The sedentary and horticultural Hopis produced a vast amount of basketry in different techniques, a tradition reaching back into prehistoric ancestral times labeled "Basketmaker I, II and III" by archaeologists, because of the prevalence of basketry artifacts at these sites. This era stretched the period from 1 A.D. until 700/750 A.D. Coiling, plaiting and wickerwork were the main weaving techniques for baskets, with twining a minor technique used for mats to wrap wedding blankets. The Hopis obtained twined baskets from the Utes in trade, but also traded their own baskets with neighboring tribes (Hough 1919:251; Morris and Burgh 1941; Adovasio and Andrews 1985).<BR> The plant materials used in Hopi basketry offered a variety of natural colors and shades. Yucca splints from outer leaves are olive-green. Bleaching in the sun turned the splints yellow, while fresh inner shoots gathering during the summer months are almost white, and freezing these turned them even whiter. A variety of vegetal and mineral agents were used in boiling the splints to provide them with a various colors: kaolin limestone (white); sunflower seeds, sumac, navy and kidney beans, soot, lignite coal (black); navy and kidney beans, sunflower shells, trade indigo from Meso-America (dark blue); larkspur (Delphinium) (light blue); greenthread or Hopi tea (Thelesperma megapotanicum; Hopi: hohoisi), Navajo tea (Thelesperma subnudum; Hopi: siita) (orange-red); Thelesperma grass, alderbark, sumac berries, cockscomb (Rhinanthus minor) flowers, iron ochre (red); pink corn, amaranth, cockscomb, pigweed (Cycloloma atriplicifolium) (pink); cockscomb, sunflower seeds (violet); rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus; Hopi: siváapi) flowers, flowers of fetid marigold (Pectis angustifolia; Hopi: tu'i'tsma), ochre (yellow); rabbitbrush bark, copper carbonate (malachite and azurite) (green). Vegetal dyes tended to fade rapidly in sunlight. To assure the effective bonding between the fibers and dyes, and render the colored fibers more color proof, a variety of mordants were used, including alum, limonite, rock salt, copper carbonate, tannic acid, human urine, sheep manure, and smoke (Hough 1900; 1919:265; Whiting 1939:26-28; Colton 1965; Teiwes 1996:23-29,42-49).<BR> Designs on traditional Hopi basketry are primarily symbolic, and only secondarily aesthetic. Most designs refer to religious ideas about fertility and include birds, feathers, clouds, rainbows, lightning, planets and stars, snakes, butterflies and flowers, and kachinas. These are represented in abstract and geometric form as well as more naturalistic ways, with a tendency towards the latter, especially in coiled basketry, where production for an external market is involved. This external market expanded rapidly with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1882 (Hough 1919:268-270).<BR> The Hopis used their basketry for a great variety of utilitarian, social, and ceremonial purposes. As domestic containers they held corn, flour, bread, beans, fruits, nuts, seeds, etc. In their ceremonies basketry sometimes played a significant role. Marriage customs involve reciprocal gifts of coiled plaques, laden with food, between the families of the bride and groom. The women's Lakon Society performed the Basket Dance, carrying several varieties of baskets, and distributing them at the end of the ceremony. At the occasion of the Powamu or Bean Dance, baskets are given to girls, and baskets are buried with eagles that are ceremonially killed. Part of marriage rites is the giving of basketry plaques, some with a specific marriage-design, by the bride's family to the family of the groom, in exchange for the wedding dress (Stephen 1939: 323,837; Wright 1979:64; Breunig 1982:10; Tanner 1983:49; Whiteford 1988:150; Miller 1989).<BR> (Hovens 2008-09)<BR> <BR> Gevlochten mand.