Chippewa Customs

CLOTHING

30 BUREAU OF AMElRICAN" ETHNOLOGY [BULL. $(1 Two photographs were secured showing the typical sitting posture of the man and the woman in the wigwam. The man sat "crosslegged ." He said this position was the most convenient for a man's work. The woman "sat on her right foot" with the left foot extending out at one side. She said that in this position a woman could rise easily to "reach things," and the position of the left foot avoided a cramped feeling. If a woman were doing some handwork, her position would naturally conform to the implements used, but this was the ordinary position in the wigwam, as during the winter evenings. In winter the family slept with their feet toward the fire, removing their moccasins and loosening their other clothing. If the weather was very cold, an old man or woman usually kept awake and smoked and watched the fire, keeping it burning and watching that the sparks did no damage. In summer the Chippewa frequently slept in the open. CLOTHING (a) Mate'l'ials.-The most primitive materials used as clothing by the Chippewas were tanned hides, the green leaves of plants, and a cl'Oth woven of nettle-stalk fiber. The latter was woven in "lubular form" like the yarn bags (pI. 67) and used for underskirts by the women. The leaves were used as a protection to the head in hot weather, and the tanned hides were used for making garments. The implements used in place of thread before the advent of the traders were nettle-fiber twine and sinew. A woman who wished to sew would often say to the children, "Go get me a stalk," and the desired twine would bequickly made. It is said that" there are lots of thread plants at deserted Indian villages." The nettle fiber could be twisted into fine or coarse thread, as occasion required. Every woman kept a piece of dried sinew (pI. 9, a (f» ready for work upon leather. Moose sinew was rather coarse and was used for heavy work, b'ut deer sinew could be split into exceedingly fine strands, and was used for fine sewing or with small beads. In place of needles the women used various pointed implements (pI. 9, a (e», making a hole in the material with the implement and passing the sinew or twine through it. The thorns of the thorn-apple tree and the "splint bone" of a deer could be used without preparation. (PI. 9, a (a, b).) Other materials were set in a handle or otherwise prepared for use. Wooden awls were the earliest form, followed by awls with a metal point set in a wooden handle. (PI. 9, a (e).) The first yarn brought by the traders was too fine for weaving, and two strands were twisted together by the use of a distaff. (PI. 9, a (d).) A woman kept her sewing materials in a bag. The type of workbag illustrated (pI. 9, b) DEXSMORE] CRIPPEWA CUSTOMS 31 was in much favor, as it could be placed upright on the ground beside the worker. It is made of the hide of four deer hoofs, and the fiat piece at the base is about 6 inches in diameter. liVhen obtained this bag contained a good supply of thorn-apple thorns and sinews in various forms which had been left by its former owner, dead these many years. The tanning of hides (chiefly those of the deer) was the work of the women and was done in an expert manner, the hides being soft and colored a golden brown. An old woman said, "rabbit skin was a great help to the Indians." She said that the women hung the hides on bushes for several days and part of the soft fur was blown away by the wind, but the" firmer" hair remained. Hides prepared in this way were used inside a cradle board and inside children's moccasins; they were also used in the making of children's caps. Rabbit skins were sewed together in patches to make blankets. The Mississippi Chippewa did not make woven rabbit-skin blankets like those used by the northern di.visions of the tribe. (b) Garments.-In early times the clothing of a woman consisted of a single garment made of two deerskins, one forming the front and the other the back of the garment, the two parts being fastened together at the shoulders and held in place by a...