110 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
ceived no account of the origin of this custom, 
and it is now almost obsolete amongst the Cum- 
~berland House Crees, though still partially ob- 
served by those who frequent Carlton. 
Tattooing is almost universal with the Crees, 
The women are in general content with having 
one or two lines drawn from the corners of the 
mouth towards the angles of the lower jaw ; but 
some of the men have their bodies covered with 
a great variety of lines and figures. It seems to 
be considered by most rather as a proof of cou- 
rage than an ornament, the operation being very 
painful, and, if the figures are numerous and in- 
tricate, lasting several days. The lines on the 
face are formed by dexterously running an awl 
under the cuticle, and then drawing a cord, dipt 
in charcoal and water, through the canal thus 
formed. The punctures on the body are formed 
by needles of various sizes set in a frame. A 
number of hawk bells attached to this frame serve 
by their noise to cover the suppressed groans of 
the sufferer, and, probably for the same reason, 
the process is accompanied with singing. An in- 
delible stain is produced by rubbing a _ little 
_ finely-powdered willow-charcoal into the pune- 
tures. A half-breed, whose arm I amputated, 
declared, that tattooing was not only the most 
