Some Indian Ways 465 



sold at about 25 cents a dozen. These, when the tips are 

 dyed brown, make a good substitute for eagle feathers. 

 They are still more like if a little down from a white hen 

 be lashed on. 



The process of lashing a leather loop on the quill with a 

 waxed thread, and of fastening a red tuft of horsehair on 

 the top for the grand coup are sufficiently shown in the 

 above illustration. 



INDIAN COSTUME 



War shirt. Next to the Indian warbonnet, the war shirt 

 or coat is the most effective part of the costume. This 

 may be made out of leather, khaki, woolen stuff, or even 

 muslin. The finest ones used to be made of tanned deer 

 skin, but those are very expensive. Buff-tanned calf or 

 sheep skins, such as may be got at any leather shop, are 

 quite as good for our purpose. It takes two or even three 

 skins to make a war shirt. Sheep costs about 60 or 70 

 cents a skin, and calf at least double or even three times 

 that, so that a good strong khaki at one third the price of 

 sheep is likely to be more popular. 



The pattern for making the war shirt is much like that of 

 a common cotton shirt, except that it has no tucks. It fits 

 a little more closely to the body while the sleeves are loose 

 and without wristbands. In sewing it is usual to put into 

 each sleeve at the back of the arm a long piece of leather 

 three or four inches wide, and this is cut into fringe after- 

 ward. The bottom of the coat also is decorated with fringe. 



The oldest style of war shirt was closed at the throat with 

 tie strings, but some of the Indians used buttons after they 

 saw how convenient they were. 



The decorations are the most Indian part of it. Two 

 kinds are in good usage: one, embroidery of quills or beads; 



