178 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



[Vol. IV. 



(fig. 1 66) wearing a headdress so much resembhng the 'tast'ju that I 

 could not resist the temptation of reproducing it here with the author's 

 permission. This illustration being copied from a contemporaneous 

 monument, offers a very suggestive base of comparison with the cere- 

 monial paraphernalia of our aborigines. Though the crown therein 

 represented must have been of some precious metal, it would seem that 

 the feathers or 7« which have given its name to its American counter- 

 part occupy an even more prominent place therein than in the Dene 

 'tast'iu. 



The next important piece of the nobleman's ceremonial costume was 

 the yo-stdthdj* or dentalium breast-plate (fig. 167). It had the form of a 



Fig. 167. i size. 



rounded crescent, and this particularity, no less than the costliness of the 

 material, was no doubt intended to indicate the dignity of the wearer. The 

 fitness of the dentalium as a means of ornamentation receives through 

 this breast-plate its best illustration. These shells, as is well known, are 

 larger at one end than at the other, and moreover are also slightly 

 arched. The form.er peculiarity causes of itself the curve of the two 

 broader rows of dentalia, while the latter likewise renders those of the 

 middle and of the rim well adapted to the shape of the plate. The 

 whole is of course mounted on a ground of dressed cariboo skin. Its 

 two cusp- like extremities were clasped or knotted with rawhide strings 

 behind the neck. 



This article of personal adornment was valued at four dressed moose 

 skins or forty beaver skins, which, if estimated at their present price, 

 would represent the sum of $200. 



* "Disposed downwards and in parallel o'der," a verb. noun. 



