INDIANS 



2967 



INDIANS 



manual labor, both in the field and in the 

 home, but men made stone arrowheads, bows 

 and other implements of war or the chase, and 

 executed decorations which were connected 

 with religion. See the picture accompanying 

 the article Bow AND ARROW; FIRE; POTTERY. 



Indian transportation was of the crudest type. 

 There was not a wheel of any character on the 

 continent before the coming of the white race. 

 Horses were unknown till introduced from 

 Europe, and even then the Indian vehicle was 

 the drag shown in the color plate. The Es- 



DRUMS AND RATTLES 

 (a) Box drum 

 (6) Pueblo turtle shell, with hoofs of goats or 



sheep ; fastened to the knee when dancing 

 (e) Tambourine drum of the Menominee Indians 

 (d) Pueblo painted gourd with wooden handle 



Illustrations drawn from specimens preserved 

 in the United States Bureau of Ethnology. 



kimos and their neighbors employed dog sledges 

 and traveled on snowshoes. On the water, 

 canoes of birchbark or hollowed logs were the 

 principal conveyance, but in California a crude 

 boat was made by fastening rushes together, 

 and on the Missouri River tub-shaped frames 

 were covered with skins. 



Architecture. The tepee, or tipi, the conical 

 tent which we ordinarily think of as the In- 

 dian's home, was not in general use except on 

 the plains. Villages in the Southwest were con- 

 structed of stone or of adobe, a sun-dried brick 

 made in round balls before the knowledge of 

 flat bricks was gained from the Spaniards. 

 The natives of the North Pacific coast built 

 houses of rough boards, and those of the At- 



lantic, oblong structures covered with bark. 

 Several families lived in each of these; there 

 was generally a large council hall, and some- 

 times even a men's club house. Many villages 

 were protected by stockades. For a descrip- 

 tion of the Indian mounds, see the article 

 MOUND BUILDERS. 



Dress. Shirts and leggings of deerskin were 

 in most tribes the main clothing for both men 

 and women, but the tribes of the Southwest 

 wove cotton garments and made robes of 

 plaited rabbit-fur long before the arrival of the 

 whites. Blankets or robes were worn 'every- 

 where for warmth or for dignity, and some 

 really beautiful patterns were developed. 



Like all primitive races, the Indians were 

 fond of personal adornment. They cut their 

 clothing into fringe at the edge, and frequently 

 embellished it with feathers or elk's teeth. 

 On festive and warlike occasions they painted 

 both face and body. In some tribes tattooing 

 was practiced. Necklaces of shells, ear rings, 

 and sometimes lip and nose jewelry were worn, 

 and men as well as women were proud of 

 long hair. 



Amusements. The old idea of the Indian 

 as a man of constant dignity and haughty 

 silence was far from true. Though quite the- 

 atrically solemn on occasions of importance, 

 the Indian was fond of games and sports and 

 laughter. His leisure was spent in amusements 

 ranging from guessing to several forms of ball 

 games, on all of which he gambled. The In- 

 dian women played dice games and football, 

 while the children, like children the world over, 

 imitated the occupations of their parents in 

 playing war or hunting with bows and arrows, 

 or in keeping house with dolls. Dancing was 

 a universal amusement, but was oftener a re- 

 ligious ceremony. It was accompanied by the 

 music of drums and singing in very complicated 

 rhythms, often rendered more difficult by the 

 adoption of a measure of time for the voices 

 different from the drum-beat. 



The Indian and Civilization 



In the United States and Canada the Indian 

 is rapidly absorbing the best elements of the 

 white man's civilization, aided by the paternal 

 interest of the national governments. Unfor- 

 tunately this has not always been true. As 

 the frontiers of European settlement were 

 pushed westward the more adventurous and less 

 scrupulous elements of the new population 

 were constantly in contact with, the natives. 



The Indian's worst enemy has been the white 

 man's whisky. A half century ago the traders 

 on the plains could add four gallons of water 

 to a gallon of alcohol and trade the mixture to 

 an Indian for forty buffalo robes each worth 

 five dollars, the winter's work of the women of 

 the tribes. In Canada the scrip (certificates 

 of right to free land) which the government 

 gave to the half-breed Indians was often trans- 



