Chippewa Customs

PATTERNS CUT FROM BIRCH BARK

188 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 86 tional, and there is evidence of painstaking care throughout her work. PATTERNS CUT FROM BIRCH BARK Every Chippewa bead worker has a box of patterns cut from birch bark or paper. These are the units which she combines in forming her designs and are chiefly used in applied headwork, but could be used in etching on birch hark or any other decorative work. a c FIG. 25.-'l'hree patterns for beadwork, representing three generations of workers. a, Native drawing of pattern (first generation) ; b, c, patterns cut with scissors (second and third generations) They comprise every sort of pattern which can be outlined, such as flowers, leaves, angular patterns, and double-curve motives. If lines are to he placed inside the pattern, as veins in a leaf, they are indicated by pencil marks. The earliest patterns of this sort were ('ut without scissors in the following manner: The outline of the DElNSMORE] CHIPPEWA CUSTOMS 189 pattern was pricked in birch bark with a sharp fishbone, the pricks being placed close together, after which the bark was cut along these lines with a knife. The Chippewa first secured shears from English traders, and it was said these shears were better than the shears brought by early American traders. Scissors were given the Chippewa with their annuities at an early date, and were carefully treasured by the women. Nawajibigokwe, who gave much of the information in this section, said that her grandmother had a pair of scissors that she kept hidden under all her belongings lest some one should use and dull them. It was with considerable difficulty that Nawajibigokwe, then a young girl, ob. tained the scissors and began her art work by cutting patterns from birch bark. The writer's best informants on this subject could not FIG. 26.-Stencil pattern for beadwork use a pencil easily, but could cut patterns with entire freedom. Cut patterns are of two sorts-those in the nature of stencils and those having no open space within the boundary lines. Among the angular moccasin patterns cut by Nawajibigokwe are several stencils, the opening in the pattern appearing as an inner row of beads, or as an area of beads in the finished work. (Fig.26.) A few of tEe stencil patterns cut by Mrs. Roy's sister show a square opening in the center of a conventional rose, while in others the outline extends a short distance within the pattern itself. This necessitates the folding back of part of the pattern when the design is traced. Mrs. Roy and her sister outlined their patterns with a pencil before cutting them, but their mother cut her patterns in the old way without previous tracing. (Cf. pI. 84, lower right corner.) The women seldom exchange patterns, but a good designer is often asked to trace patterns for less gifted workers. Frequent additions to the supply of patterns is made by bead workers, a few leaves of particularly pretty outline often being placed with the cut patterns. The writer has seen a woman pressing leaves for patterns when she 190 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 86 was visiting on a reservation, saying that such leaves did not grow near her home and that she wished to copy them in her beadwork. While this perception of natural beauty indicates an artistic sense the results have not the atmosphere of the old art forms. (See p.186.) A portion of the conventional flower and leaf patterns in Plate 84 was cut from birch bark by Mrs. Louisa Martin, whose Chippewa name is Ajawac. (See pp. 80, 81.) Others in the group were cut by Zozed of Red Lake, including four conventional designs of a rose berry. It is interesting to note the inheritance of artistic ability in five generations of Chippewa women at Red Lake. The oldest living members of this series are Magi'dIns and her sister Zozed, the former of whom said that she learned weaving and other handiwork from her grandmother, while the latter cut a scroll or whorl which she said that her mother originated and used in her beadwork. Zozed stated that she did not know what this represented. A whorl of the same proportion forms part of the design on the cover of a Montagna .is birch-bark box illustrated by Speck.ss Zozed cut many interesting designs which she herself originated. Her...