NO. 2235. HOI'I INDIAN COLLECTION— HOUGH. 279 



comprised the chief exchange with less advanced tribes living on the 

 range of the deer. The most valued skins were procured from the 

 Havasupai living in Cataract Canyon, about 100 miles west of the 

 mesas. Less valued skins came from the Apache of the White 

 Mountains, to the south. Formerlv great herds of antelope roamed 

 over the rolling grassed plains of the basin of the Little Colorado 

 Kiver. A disease of some unknown character is said to have dimin- 

 ished their herds in historic times, and on the introduction of great 

 numbers of cattle, with the consequent depletion of the grasses, the 

 antelope became practically extinct. This animal, though difficult 

 of capture, no doubt furnished a certain amount of food, but its skin 

 is thin and weak and of insufficient value to repay tanning. 



Dyeing leather by infusions of bark, etc., was known to the Hopi; 

 and they applied colored earths by rubbing them into the open tex- 

 ture of the surface of soft tanned skins. Colors Avere also applied 

 mixed with some medium as saliva, or an emulsion of oily seeds, 

 etc. The mordant for infusicm or vat color was almogen or crude 

 native alum.^ 



Li dyeing leather black an advanced process like that known by 

 the Navaho was employed in which an iron tannate (ink) is found. 

 The knowledge of this process appears to be derived from the white 

 man and probably came in with the weaving of wool like the secret of 

 mordanting indigo, this dye being introduced to the Pueblos at an 

 early date at the Spanish settlements on the Rio Grande (Santa Fe, 

 Espanola), in order to encourage the industry on the Crown lands 

 of Mexico. It appears, however, from archeological data, that mor- 

 danting was known to the ancient Pueblos, but not to the extent 

 indicated by the black dyeing process mentioned, which resembles 

 more the crude rule of thumb recipes developed with the European 

 irdustries before the knowledge of chemistry became accessible. The 

 lines of progress of the dyer's art have been followed to a greater 

 or lesser extent by most uncivilized tribes ; tlius some of the processes 

 now reduced to scientific exactness are observed in their crude 

 tentative shape among people of low advancement. In some envi- 

 ronments the conditions are rarely favorable for their utilization. 

 They are put to use in areas where a civilization is developing under 

 what may seem unfavorable surroundings and the needs of the popu- 

 lation must lay under contribution for products lands situated at 

 great distance ; thus Peru drew on the Amazon Valley ; Mexico on its 

 tropical coasts; and the Pueblo region on its subsidiary environ- 

 ments. It can readily be seen that the Pueblos would have developed 

 a much more complex and markedly higher material civilization if 

 tropical or subtropical sources of supply had been accessible. The 



1 Hough, A collection of Hopi ceremonial pigments. Ann. Rept. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1900, 

 pp. 463-471 ; Pepper, The Making of a Navaho Blanket. " Everybody's," Jan., 1902, p. 37. 



