Chapter XXX: Things to Think About

Look at all the uncolored baskets that you have a
chance to see and select the basket that you think is
the best. Why do you think it is the best? What is it
used for? How is it woven?

Look at the baskets that are made of two or more colors
and select the one that you think is best. Why do you
think it is best? How do you think the colors were
made? Can you tell how the pattern is woven in this
basket?

Can you think of any colors that the Cave-men could use
in their weaving before they learned to color reeds
and splints?

Can you think how they might have found a way to
stain their baskets? Do you ever get stains in your
clothing? What stains will wash out most easily? What
stains do not come out easily? Which ones would you
like to use to stain a basket? Do we have anything in
our houses that we stain on purpose? What do we use
to stain with?

Have you ever seen colored earth? Can you think what it
is used for? Why do you think the Cave-men liked to
find colored earth?

Where do you put water to boil it? Why did the Cave-men
learn to roast food before they learned to boil it?

Did you ever see anybody make dyes? Do you think people
could make dyes before they learned to boil water?

Can you think of ways in which the Cave-men might have
changed the color of grasses, splints, and reeds
before they learned how to boil water and to make
such dyes as we use to-day? Why do you think they
would wish to color them?

_How the Women Colored Their Baskets_

The women took a great deal of pains in weaving baskets.

They wove the ends in carefully so they would not pull out.

They bound the rims on neatly, so as to make the baskets strong.

But for a long time they did not try to ornament their baskets.

They wove their baskets so carefully that they were beautiful without ornaments.

At first they wove each woof strand under and over each strand of the warp.

Then they began to weave each woof strand over one and under two.

This made such a pretty pattern that they tried other ways of weaving.

They soon learned to use strands of different sizes, and after a while they learned how to color them.

But they could not make such dyes as we have until they learned to boil water.

Sometimes they found bright-colored leaves and feathers and wove them with the splints and reeds.

Sometimes they stained the finished basket with the juices of fruits and berries.

Sometimes they painted patterns on it with paint that they made of colored earth.

Then they learned to dye the splints and reeds in a very simple way.

They soaked them in water before they used them, so as to make them pliable.

They found that willow stems that were soaked in water were colored light brown by the bark of the stem.

Splints buried in the leaf-mold of the brooks and marshes were colored a dark brown.

When charcoal was mixed with the rich leaf-mold the splints were colored black.

Green grass became white when soaked in water, and yellow if soaked for a longer time.

The women used these and other ways of getting pretty colors.

Then they worked the colors into pretty patterns, many of which we use to-day.

THINGS TO DO

_Weave uncolored splints or reeds so as to make
different patterns._

_Find a fruit that will make a durable stain, and stain
some splints for a basket, or make a pattern by
staining an uncolored basket._

_See if you can find how to take fruit stains out of
clothing._

_If you can find colored earth, see if you can make
some paint to use in ornamenting your baskets._

_Try different ways of changing the color of grasses,
splints, and reeds, by soaking them in water or
burying them in different kinds of soil._