Since its first publication in 1901, this pioneering study by George Wharton James, once a leading collector and authority, has become a valuable source book for American Indian basketry.  From Poma mush baskets to Paiute dicing trays, Indian Basketry traces the origin, development and fundamental principles of Indian basket design for the major tribal units in the Southwestern United States and Pacific Coast, with occasional comments on the basket weaving of a number of other North American tribes.

Indian Basketry is a valuable aid for the artist, designer and craftsman, or even for the beginner, who may wish to recreate authentic and often extinct basket forms and decorative motifs.  It is also most useful to the collector, cultural  historian, ethnologist, scholar, or buff, who desires to know  more about specific aspects of Indian basketry, or about Indian arts in general.  As an important contribution to the historiography of American Indian culture, this may be one of the most practical Indian basketry books that you could own.