NORTH AMERICAN BOWS, ARROWS, AND QUIVERS. 667 

 THE QUIVER. 



The quiver is difilicult to study, because collectors have paid little 

 attention to it. Among all the Plains tribes they are objects of beauty, 

 and have been gathered as bric-a-brac, with little information of their 

 whereabouts. (PI. lxxvii-xciv.) The same rules are to be observed 

 in the study of the quiver that we apply to all other objects connected 

 with aboriginal industries. The quiver is largely of the region. In 

 the first place the material out of which each example is made must 

 be furnished by nature; hence it is of sealskin in one [)]ace, of cedar 

 wood in another, of soft pelt in another, and in the south land is fre- 

 quently made of some kind of soft basketry. Again, the structure of 

 the (piiver must be adapted to its function, that is, to the bow and 

 arrows to be carried; also to the exigencies of the weather and the 

 surroundings The parts of a most elaborate ((uiver are: 



(1) The bow case, a long, slender bag, into which the bow is thrust. 



(2) The arrow case, a pocket in which the arrows are kept, points 

 downward, as a rule. 



(3) The stiffener, a rod of wood attached along the outside of the 

 arrow case, to keep it rigid. 



(4) Baldric, a band of buckskin, or in the finest examples, of elegant 

 fur, lined and decorated with quill work, passing over the left shoulder, 

 across the breast, and attached by its ends to the quiver. It is for 

 carrying the quiver. 



(5) Fire bag, a leather ]>ouch in which the Indian hunter kept his 

 flints, steel, spunk, awl, and other subsidiary apparatus needful on his 

 journe3% It Avas tied to the middle of the bow case or the stiffener. 

 Among several of the mountain tribes the squaw lavished all her skill 

 upon her husband's quiver. The costliest beaver, marten, otter, and 

 mountain lion pelt was invoked. It was lined with soft buckskin, or in 

 later times with red strouding. IJeads of every imaginable color were 

 worked uiDon the border of the arrow case and upon the lining of the long 

 pendant therefrom. Strips of fur, daintily cut in fringes, were sewed 

 about the bottom of the bow case, and every spot capable of rich 

 decoration received it. Between this and the plain salmon-skin cap- 

 sule, into which the Eskimo thrust his arrows, there are many grada- 

 tions of quivers, as will appear in the treatment of the several tribes. 



"The quiver of the Central h^skimo, says Boas, is made ot seal-skin, 

 the hair of Avhich is removed. It comprises three divisions, a larger 

 one containing the bow and a smaller one containing 4 or 6 arrows, 

 the head directed toward the lower end of the case. When extracted 

 from the quiver they are ready for use. Between the two compartments 

 there is also a small pouch, in which tools and extra arrow-heads are 

 carried. (Plate xciii). 



"When travelling tlie Eskimo carry the quiver l)y aii ivory handle; 

 when in use it is hung over the left shoulder. Boas's fig. 4r)l, p. 508, 

 represents quiver handles, the first being fashioned in imitation of an 

 ermine." * 



" F. Boas, The Central Eskimo, vi Hep. Bur. Mthnol., p. 508. 



