140 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



gines used only loose pieces of the flint, which were collected for oi" 

 by the notables, and then handed to the village aiTow-smith for 

 reduction to the required size and shape, and, as a finishing process, 

 the edges were generally sharpened by friction on a hard stone. 



However, the only really polished stone implement of Dene manu- 

 facture was the eoelh or " casse tete " of which figure 13 will give an 

 idea. The specimen thereby illustrated is of a hard granite stone. 

 A variety of that weapon, similar in form, but more elongated (being 

 at least twice as long) was usually made of cariboo hoi'ii. 



Apait from the common arrows, the Carriers made use of two 

 other varieties of missiles of Sekanais origin. Both kinds were made 

 from Cariboo horns. The first of these called kachcenkwcelh (cut 

 arrow) by the Carriers, was awl-like in form and not less than six 

 inches in lengtli. The broader extremity thereof was hollowed out 

 to receive a wooden shaft which served to dart it off from the bo\^ 

 like a common arrow, with this difference however that, when in 

 motion, the horn point detached itself from the shaft. This projectile 

 was deadly and intended only for use against an enemy or for killing 

 large game. To shoot smaller game such as grouse, i-abbits, etc., 

 they had recourse to a curiously wrought triple .arrow fastened to the 

 shaft similar to that delineated in figui-e 14. 



As defensive weapons the}- used two kinds of armours and a shield. 

 The latter was oval in form like the Roman clypeus and generally 

 made of closely interwoven branches oi Amelauchier alnifolia. They 

 gave it the name of kelathcen (that which is held with the hand). 



While on the war-path, they also wore a kind of armour or cuirass 

 consisting of dried sticks of the same kind of wood, arra)iged in 

 parallel order and kept together with babiche lines interlaced in 

 several places. This was common to the Kaidahs and other coast 

 Indians. Another sort of armour, indigenous to the Dend nation,, 

 was the pecesta (wherein one sits). This Iiad the form of a sleeveless 

 tunic falling to the knees so that it affoi-ded protection to the whole 

 body save the head : — in hard fights the Denes iuA'ariably shot kneel- 

 ing. The armour or cuirass was of moose skin which, when sewn 

 according to the proper pattern, was soaked in water, then repeatedly. 



