NO. l8 HILLERS-POWELL INDIAN PHOTOGRAPHS — STEWARD I I 



been intended for this purpose. Or, they may have been used to 

 pull chuckwallas, a large species of lizard, from rock crevices. Death 

 Valley Shoshoni made similar hooked sticks for this purpose. 



FIRE MAKING 



Fire making is illustrated among the Kaibab Paiute in plate 19, a, 

 though the pose of the man in the background is irrelevant to the 

 main subject. The fire drill is compound, as shown by the wrapping 

 near its lower end. That is, it consisted of a main shaft and a fore- 

 shaft. The nature of the hearth cannot be ascertained. The fire maker 

 twirls the drill between the palms of his hands while an assistant 

 holds bark tinder in which to catch the spark. 



METATES 



Metates, or flat stone grinding slabs, were of crucial importance 

 in the preparation of the small, hard-shelled seeds of this country. 

 Powell 8 observed of the Kaibab, "For a mill they use a large flat 

 rock, lying on the ground, and another small cylindrical one in their 

 hands. They sit prone on the ground, hold the large flat rock between 

 the feet and legs, then fill their laps with seeds, making a hopper to 

 the mill with their dusky legs, and grind by pushing the seeds across 

 the larger rock, where it drops into a tray. I have seen a group of 

 women grinding together, keeping time to a chant, or gossiping and 

 chatting ..." 



Two quite unlike specimens of metates appear in the Kaibab Paiute 

 photographs, plates 10, b, and 13. a. The first, though shallow, has a 

 trough and kind of platform encircling the trough on all but one end 

 where it is open. As this is very similar to the metates used by the 

 early Basket Makers of this region, it is not impossible that it was 

 taken from some ancient site. The other specimen is more like the 

 type commonly used by Shoshoneans, being flat and without any 

 trough. The woman has placed it between her legs with a twined 

 winnowing basket under the far end to catch the flour. She grinds 

 with a thick mano or muller which evidently was used with something 

 of a rotary motion. 



CRADLES 



Two types of cradles are illustrated : the semibasketry type of the 

 Kaibab and the buckskin-covered board (?) of the Ute. 



8 Op. cit., p. 127. 



