HEAD-FLATTENING AMONG THE NAVAJO S. 537 



Fig. 1. Direct Superior View of the Skull of 

 a Navajo Indian Child of about Six and a 

 Half Years of Age, and probably a Female. 

 (Considerably reduced.) 



Upon every occasion where I was permitted to do so, careful 

 examinations were made of the heads of these people, both living 

 and dead, as well as the meth- 

 ods of strapping the infant 

 Navajos in their cradles, and 

 indeed all else that might 

 tend to throw light upon the 

 subject. 



Of some two or three dozen 

 children of all ages, from the 

 infant upward, that I have 

 thus examined, I have yet to 

 find a case wherein the moth- 

 er has not taken the special 

 precaution to place a soft and 

 ample pad in the cradle in 

 such a manner as to fully pro- 

 tect the back of the child's 

 head. Moreover, I have yet 

 to see a case, except for a few 

 days or more in the very youngest of babies, where the head is 

 strapped at all. On the other hand, this part of the body is al- 

 lowed all possible free- 

 dom, as may be seen in 

 Fig. 3, illustrating the pa- 

 per. This picture is from 

 a photograph of the Nava- 

 jo woman " Chuna," who 

 lives near Fort Wingate, 

 New Mexico, and it shows 

 exactly the general meth- 

 od employed by the moth- 

 ers of this tribe of Indians 

 in strapping their babies 

 in the cradle, and also 

 their mode of carrying 

 the cradle.* It will at 

 once be observed that the 

 head of the child is per- 

 fectly free, and that it has 

 been supplied by a thick 

 and soft pillow at the back 

 of it, whereas the body and limbs have been strapped up almost 

 to the last degree. 



* The cradle shown in this illustration is now in the collections of the United States 

 National Museum, at Washington, where it was deposited by the writer. 

 vol. xxxix. 37 



Fig. 2. Right Lateral Aspect of the same Skull 

 shown in Fig. 1. 



