least, and in spare time they gather and prepare their raw materials,
just as the Navajo woman has usually a blanket underway or the Apache a
basket started. The same is true of Hopi basketry; its methods, designs,
and symbolism are all a matter of memory and tradition.

From those who know most of Indian sacred and decorative symbols, we
learn that two main ideas are outstanding: desire for rain and belief in
the unity of all life. Charms or prayers against drought take the form
of clouds, lightning, rain, etc., and those for fertility are expressed
by leaves, flowers, seed pods, while fantastic birds and feathers
accompany these to carry the prayers. It may be admitted that the modern
craftsman is often enough ignorant of the full early significance of the
motifs used, but she goes on using them because they express her idea of
beauty and because she knows that always they have been used to express
belief in an animate universe and with the hope of influencing the
unseen powers by such recognition in art.

The modern craftsman may even tell you that the once meaningful symbols
mean nothing now, and this may be true, but the medicine men and the old
people still hold the traditional symbols sacred, and this reply may be
the only short and polite way of evading the troublesome stranger to
whom any real explanation would be difficult and who would quite likely
run away in the middle of the patient explanation to look at something
else. Only those whose friendship and understanding have been tested
will be likely to be told of that which is sacred lore. However, if the
tourist insists upon having a story with his basket or pottery and the
seller realizes that it's a story or no sale, he will glibly supply a
story, be he Indian or white, both story and basket being made for
tourist consumption.