A VOYAGE AROUND THE ROOM 



the old trapper could look at a moccasin and tell 

 to what tribe it belonged. Indeed, within certain 

 limitations, you can do that yourself today. The 

 white man's influence has changed moccasin decora- 

 tion in every tribe on this continent, so that it is 

 very difficult now to get the really primitive beaded 

 moccasin. These never had flowers or vines in the 

 patterns, but always certain rude geometrical pat- 

 terns, each of which had a certain symbolism to the 

 savage mind. Scientists sometimes take delight in 

 trying to read meanings into these old moccasins. 



If you find a moccasin cut on a Waukenphast 

 model, and with a hard, rawhide sole, you can de- 

 pend on it that it was made by a teepee tribe of meat- 

 eating Indians. All the plains tribes in the buffalo 

 days wore hard-soled moccasins. They make them 

 out of beef hide even yet, among the Crows, Chey- 

 ennes and Black feet. On the contrary, as you go 

 north into the woods country where snow falls deep, 

 you find the moccasins made pointed, usually with 

 the seam straight down the upper, and with the sole 

 of the same material as the uppers and flaps. You 

 will be able to tell one woods tribe from another by 

 the cut of the ankle flaps. The footwear of the 

 snowshoe peoples was entirely different from that 

 of the horse Indians. 



The Northern tribes who live in the land of long 

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