Nets were in use by the Indians of Florida and Virginia at the time of the discovery, and the ancient pottery of the Atlantic states has preserved impressions of innumerable specimens. The piece shown in figure 27 is from a small fragment of pottery picked up in the District of Columbia. The impression is so perfect that the twist of the cord and the form of the knot may be seen with ease. Most of the examples from this locality are of much finer cord and have a less open mesh than the specimen illustrated. The net illustrated in figure 28 is from a specimen of North Carolina pottery. Netting of this class was still in use among the natives of the Chesapeake region when the English colonies were founded.

The lesson of the prehistoric textile art of eastern United States is simple and easily read, and goes far to round out the story of native occupation and culture. Colonial records furnish definite knowledge of the woven fabrics and weaving of the nations first encountered by the whites. Graves, mounds, and caves give us an insight into the pre-Columbian status of the art, and evidence furnished by associated industries which happen to echo features of the textile art contribute to our information. Charred cloths from the great mounds are identical in material, combination of parts, and texture with the fabrics of the simple savage. Cloths preserved by contact with copper implements and ornaments characteristic of the art of the builders of the mounds do not differ in any way from the humble work of the historic peoples. All tell the same story of a simple, primitive culture, hardly advanced beyond the grade separating the savage from the barbarous condition.

INDEX

• Adair, James, on Cherokee basketry 16
  • weaving 23
  • Indian method of spinning 23
• Alabama, Fabric-impressed pottery from 39
• Apogynum, Indian use of, in weaving 23
• Arkansas, Fabric-impressed pottery from 42
• Art, textile, Memoir on 3-45
•  
• Bags, Woven, described 33, 34
• Bark clothing 17
  • fiber used in weaving 23, 24, 25
  • Mulberry, used for fringe 32
  • used in embroidery designs 28
  • net making 27
  • spinning 22
• Bartram, W., on council houses of mats 19
  • on sieve of Georgia Indians 17
• Basketry discussed 15
  • Earthenware derived from 11
  • Lack of pottery modeled from 38
  • rarely preserved by charring 36
• Beads used in embroidery 28
• Biloxi Mortuary customs of the 21
• Brakinridge, H. M., on Tennessee mortuary customs 21
• Bridges of wattle work 13
• Butel-Dumont, G. M., on Louisiana indian embroidery 28
  • featherwork 28
  • mortuary mats 21
  • sieves 17
  • Mobilian wattled biers 14
  • Natchez dwellings 14
  • rafts of poles and canes 15
•  
• Cages of wattle work 13
• Canes used for matting 18
• Carolina indians, Textile fabrics of 14, 16
• Caves, Fabrics preserved in 29
• Charring, Fabrics preserved by 35
• Cherokee, Basketry of the 16
  • Weaving by the 23
• Choctaw, Woven pouches and blankets of the 24
• Claws of birds used with embroidery 28
• Cleu, J. F., Split cane matting found by 37
• Cloth, Methods of manufacture of 22
• Conti, a Georgia Indian food 17
• Copper, as a fabric preservative 36
  • used in embroidery 28
• Cordage, Primitive manufacture of 21
• Costumes of Louisiana indian women 32, 33
• Cotton shawls of lower Mississippi 25
• Cradles, Textile, described 18
• Cresson, N. T., Remains of fish-weirs found by 15
•  
• Delaware, Remains of weirs in 15
• De Soto, H., Expedition of 25
• District of Columbia, Fabric-impressed pottery from 44, 45
• Du Pratz, Le. P., on Louisiana basketry 16
  • cane rafts 15
  • clothing 22, 25, 32, 33
  • dyes 20
  • embroidery 28
  • feather work 27
  • nets 27
  • sieves 17
  • textile cradles 18
• Dwellings of wattle work 13
• Dyeing of basketry by the Cherokee 16
  • embroidery materials 28
• Dyes, use of, by Louisiana Indians 20
•  
• Elwas, Knight of, on Georgia indian blankets 24
  • on Georgia indian costume 22
• Embroidery, Lack of remains of 12
  • of southern Indians 28
• Emmeet, J. W., mortuary fabrics procured by 30
•  
• Fans of turkey feathers 17
• Feather blankets of the Choctaw 24
  • weaving among Louisiana Indians 25
  • work described 27
  • Lack of remains of 12
• Fish-weirs of Virginia indians 14
  • of wattle work 13
• Florida indians, Nets made and used by 45
• Fossil fabrics discussed 28
•  
• Georgia, Fabrics from 36
  • indians, Textile fabrics of 17
  • indians,Remains of matting from 36
• Grasses employed in spinning 22
•  
• Hair used in weaving 22, 24, 25, 28, 36
• Hakluyt, Richard, on Indian sieves 17
• Hariot, Thomas, on indian costume 22
  • mat houses 18
  • indian fish-weirs 14
  • method of spinning 23
• Haywood, John, Mortuary fabrics described by 17, 29
• Hemp, Indian, in spinning and weaving 22, 23, 24, 25, 34
• Henry, Joseph, Description of cane matting by 37
• Holmes, W. H., Memoir by, on prehistoric textile art 3-45
  • on Peruvian feather-work 27
• Howland, H. R., Copper-preserved cloth found by 37
• Hunter, J. D., on Osage weaving 25
•  
• Illinoia, Copper-preserved cloth from 37
  • Fabric-impressed pottery from 41, 45
• Iowa, Fabrics from 36
• Iroquois, Nets of 26
•  
• Joutel,—, on indian use of mats 20
•  
• Kalm, Peter, on indian weaving 22
• Klett, F., Description of textiles found by 34
•  
• Lafitau, J. E., Illustration by, of council mats 19
  • on Pamunki initiatory shelters 14
• Lawson, John, on Carolina baskets 16
  • mortuary wrappings 26
  • Santee feather-work 27
  • wattled "hurdles" 14
• Lousiana, Split-cane matting from 37, 38
• Lye, Use of, in net-making 26
•  
• McGill, A. J., Mortuary fabrics procured by 30
• Mats, cane, Burial accompaniments found in 30
  • of Carolina indians 16
  • flags and rushes 26
• Matting, discussed 18
  • preserved by charring 36
  • of split cane from Louisiana 37, 38
• Missouri, fabric-impressed pottery from 42
• Mitchell, S. L., Mortuary fabrics described by 30
• Mobilians, Wattled biers of the 14
• Mortuary customs of the Louisiana tribes 21
  • fabrics preserved in caves 29, 30
  • wrappings 26
• Mound-builders, Character of pottery of 12
• Mouse-wood, Indian use of, in weaving 23
• Mulberry bark, used in weaving 24, 25
•  
• Natchez dwellings of wattle-work 14
• Nets of Florida and Virginia indians 45
  • Manufacture and use of 26
• Nettles employed in spinning 22
• North Carolina, Fabric-impressed pottery from 38, 45
•  
• Ohio, Fabric from mound in 36
• Osage indians, Weaving by 25
•  
• Pamunki initiatory shelters 14
• Paskagula mortuary customs 21
• Pemmenaw, Use of, in weaving 23
• Pliable fabrics described 21
• Porcupine skins used in embroidery 28
• Potherie, B. de la, on indian nets 26
  • sleeping mats 20
  • spinning 23
  • weaving 22
  • Iroquois ceremonial mats 21
• Potterie, Fabrics impressed on 37
  • Use of textiles in manufacture of 11
• Preservation of fossil fabrics 28
• Putnam, F. W., Textile articles found by 35
•  
• Rafts of poles and canes 15
  • wattle work 13
• Reeds used for matting 18
• Rope, primitive manufacture of 21
• Rushes used for matting 18
•  
• Sandal, woven, described and figured 34, 35
• Santee feather-work 27
• Sauteurs, Use of nets by the 26
• Shawls, Indian, used by Spaniards as sails 25
• Shelters, Fabrics preserved in 29
• Shields of Virginia Indians 18
• Sieves of basketry 17
• Sinew, Cloth of 22
• Smith, John, on indian costume 22
  • method of spinning 23
  • shields 18
  • Virginia indian embroidery 28
  • feather work 27
  • fish-weirs 14
• Smith, John, on Virginia indian sieves 17
  • wattled houses 13
• Spindle whorls as evidence of textile manufacture 11
• Spinning, Development of 21
• Strainers of basketry 17
• Sweat-houses made of mats 19
•  
• Targets, Woven 18
• Tennessee, Fabric-impressed pottery from 39, 40, 42, 43, 44
• Thomas, Cyrus, Mound exploration by 9
• Thread, primitive, Manufacture of 21
• Turquois among indians of lower Mississippi 25
• Tuskarora, Basketry of the 16
•  
• Virginia indian nets 45
•  
• Wattle work defined and described 13
• Weaving, Development of 21
  • Early descriptions of 22