6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 8l 



narrow leaf variety of the plant seems to have furnished the best 

 material as it was the most frequently used. 



The characteristic form of sandal has a long oval outline, and seems 

 to have been shaped for use on either foot. It was made of a wicker- 

 work of whole leaves woven over a warp of two bundles formed 

 from several of the leaves, four to eight being the normal number. 

 The warp was generally tied at both ends, although occasional 

 examples show a single bundle bent at the middle and tied at the heel 

 end. The latter are generally rather square toed. The projecting ends 

 of the warp leaves were frequently shredded at the heel to form a 

 pad, and at the toe, several of them were tied to make a fastening loop 

 and the remainder were allowed to protrude to form a slight fringe. 

 The weft strands or cross-elements were started on the lower surface 



Fig. 4. — Characteristic form in which headdress frames were made 

 from yucca stalks. 



of the sandal (fig. 5). The small ends meet in the middle along the 

 top ; the strands pass under one warp and back over it ; then under 

 and over the other, the ends being drawn down through the sole where 

 they were cut off and shredded to form a pad on the bottom. This 

 is one form of the figure 8 type of weaving. 



Two methods of fastening the foot strings at the toe end are indi- 

 cated by the specimens. The loop fashioned from projecting ends 

 of the warp leaves has already been mentioned. Another form shows 

 a separate' loop passed through the warp. In some of the sandals, 

 strings of twisted fiber were fastened to these loops and passed back 

 over the foot where they were attached to the warp, one string just 

 back of the instep and the other just below the ankle. The loops in 

 both forms were small and the strings probably passed between the 

 first and second and third and fourth toes. On most of the specimens 

 found bv the writer, and those examined in other collections, there 



