262 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



VOL. 54. 



supply of the material became available. The hair of horses and 

 cattle had some use for lariats, bridles, cinches, and other parts of 

 horse trappings, but not to such an extent as among the Mexicans. 

 It was used in religious paraphernalia, on dolls, etc., to represent 

 human hair. The banner placed above the kiva hatchway, to an- 

 nounce that a ceremony was going on within, is decorated with red 

 dyed horsehair. Hair cord was made by hand or with the spindle. 

 The whirling cord twister, known to the Mexicans and southwestern 

 Indians, was used by the Hopi (fig. 40). (See also p. 253.) 



Weaimig rabhit-fur robes. — A fabric that long antedates woolen 

 blankets in the Pueblo region is made from rabbit fur cut into 

 strips, wound around thick cord and joined by twined work of wool, 

 cotton, or hair cord (see background, pi. 31). The large blankets 



thus made are warmer and more 

 flexible than dressed fur skins. In 

 ancient times the cords were over- 

 laid with strips of downy turkey 

 feather and formed into robes and 

 body garments. These were still 

 in use in 1540, but no mention is 

 made at that time of rabbit fur 

 robes. The making of this fur 

 fabric was a widespread aboriginal 

 industry all over the Kockj^ Moun- 

 tains, from the mouth of the Co- 

 lumbia to Mexico. There are ref- 

 erences to their use among the 

 eastern tribes. 



In making fur robes great lengths 

 of fur-covered cord are first pre- 

 pared, and this generally takes a 

 long time, unless rabbits are plentiful. The skins are cut in strips 

 about a quarter of an inch wide, dampened and wound spirally 

 around the cord, and when the skin is dry it remains rigidly in place. 

 The width of the robe having been determined, a section of the fur 

 cord is bent over and the warp threads tied to it at intervals. The 

 cord is laid to and fro continuously as it is twined in the warp threads, 

 the robes thus having a succession of loops on two edges. When the 

 robe is of proper length, the warp cords are tied to the last breadth 

 of fur cord. The resultant fabric is about an inch thick and warm, 

 but gives a most excellent harborage for fleas and other vermin. 



Wound work. — The Hopi practice a variety of textile work that is 

 intermediate between basketry and weaving. The basis is a strip of 

 rawhide or other flexible material wound with colored yarns in a 

 counted order of winds, so that when a number of these strips are 



Fig. 40.— Whirling coed twistee. 



