170 TKANSACTIOXS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VOL. VI.. 



were to be seen occasionally in a few remote places. As all other 

 articles of native adornment, they have now completely disappeared. 



In the course of his paper "On the Masks, Labrets," etc., W. H. Dall 

 ^ives the following definition of the labret. "The labret, among American 

 aborigines, is well known to be a plug, stud, or variously-shaped button,, 

 made from various materials, which is inserted at or about the age of 

 puberty through a hole or holes pierced in the thinner portions of the 

 face about the mouth. Usually after the first operation has been per- 

 formed, and the original slender pin inserted, the latter is replaced from 

 time to time by a larger one, and the perforation thus mechanically 

 stretched, and in course of time permanently enlarged."* As regards 

 the nature, mode and time of insertion, these words are in every way 

 applicable to the labrets-f- of the Babine sub-tribe. When these had 

 reached the maximum size which they were to retain for life, they were a 

 flat button, oval in circumference, at least one and a quarter inch long by 

 three-quarters inch wide, of a hard wood, commonly mountain maple 

 (Acer glabriiin). The insertion of the tentative bone pin was the 

 occasion of special rejoicing and feasting. The women only were entitled 

 to this piece of ornamentation, and, as a rule, the higher the rank of the 

 wearer the larger the labret was to be. 



So much for the head ornaments. Other pieces of aboriginal jewelry 

 of every-day wear were the tsi-nejtJian, the tsi-nezdtlya and, in later years,, 

 the na-jtiian and the la-tcdn. With the exception of the last, which is a 

 compound noun of the third category, all these words are verbal nouns 

 descriptive of the trinket thereby differentiated. 



The two first mentioned were the Dene necklaces. The tsine/t/ian 

 was obtained by boiling and splitting ofif a thin band of a cariboo horn, 

 which was given, while still pliable, the desired form. As an attempt 

 at ornamentation, geometrical designs were scratched with the stone 

 knife, over which a pinch of diluted red ochre was rubbed with the hand. 

 The colouring matter passed over the smooth surface of the horn, but 

 remained in the light furrowings which were thus brought into greater 

 prominence. This primitive method is still common among the Western 

 Denes. Charcoal, instead of vermilion, is sometimes used. 



The tsinezdilya, \ was a necklace of dentalium shells which was 

 liable to affect different forms, as the shells were threaded in such a way 

 as to fall over the neck or to encircle it lengthwise. A similar necklace, 



* Third Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1884, p. 76. 



■f^'Nt-ta-'kez, man (i.e. human)-!ip-over." 



J " That (a composite object) which is put around the head," i.e. the neck. 



