Chippewa Customs

MAKING OF PITCH

DENSMORE) CHIPPEWA CUSTOMS 149 that neither these nor the snowshoes made entirely of wood were ever used by the Chippewa of Minnesota. MAKING OF PITCH A necessary commodity in the economic life of the Chippewa was the pitch used to cover the seams of articles made of birch bark, rendering them water-tight, and also used for torches. The gum of any evergreen tree could be used in making pitch, but Endusogijig said that trees growing near the water had the best gum. It was the custom to go to the woods in summer and scrape the bark from portions of selected trees. The gum would then ooze out and the Indian would return later and gather it. The gum, with the pieces of bark to which it adhered, was put in a bag woven of basswood fiber (pI. 55, a), and boiled in a kettle. The texture of the bag was open so that the gum escaped and was skimmed from the surface of the water, the bark and refuse remaining in the bag. The writer saw this process at White Earth. The gum, having been boiled, was placed in a birch-bark dish for storage and a piece of birch bark tied on as a cover. At a subsequent time it was boiled to the proper consistency for use, and when it was almost done a quantity of charcoal was added to make the pitch firm. This charcoal was from cedar chips and was pounded to a fine powder. Pitch is applied to canoes with a paddle or spatula of suitable size and to small articles with a small spatula. (PI. 55, c.) TORCHES Birch bark and pitch were the materials used for glvmg light at night, various forms of torches being made from them. (a) The most common torch was a piece of tightly twisted birch bark. The torch illustrated (pI. 56, a) is 15 inches long and it is said would burn while a person traveled about a mile. If it burned low it was brightened by lowering and shaking it a little, after which it was held erect. (b) The women's torches were of the same type. They usually were lighted at the fire and carried by the women on errands about the camp. If a woman's work required a light she stuck this torch on the end of a stick placed upright in the ground. These torches (pI. 56, b) are almost the same length as the former torch, but much smaller in diameter. (c) The torch used for fishing was of a differ'ent type and is described on page 129. (PI. 45, c.) (d) A pitched torch was used in huntingc deer, which were attracted by its light. (PI. 56, c.) This torch was made by taking ...