THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



basketry, medicine bags and clothing. The art of these 

 peoples is shown in their porcupine quill and beadwork, 

 basketry and bags. There are charms of various kinds 

 used by witches, and a maple sugar outfit with interesting 

 tradition. It is related by the Menomini that maple syrup 

 formerly ran pure from the trees, but Manabus, their great 

 mythical hero, fearing that mankind would become lazy and 

 worthless if not obliged to work, diluted the syrup with 

 water so that it must now be put through a refining process 

 before it can be used. Of unusual interest are the antique 

 bags woven of basswood string and yarn, most of them 

 bearing designs of the Thunder Bird. In one case will be 

 found a painted robe from a war bundle, the decorations 

 representing all the gods of war, the medicines used in 

 battle, the war leaders and the progressive sections of the 

 war party from the war dance to the scalp dance. This robe 

 is probably the only specimen of its kind in existence. 

 Near-by will be found ordinary smoking and peace pipes 

 of catlinite, and the regalia of the tribal officers of these 

 Indians. 



Among the Sauk and Fox specimens are a woman's cere- 

 monial costume, decorated with thirty-nine large discs of 

 German silver, bags woven from material which had been 

 raveled from blankets (some of these are more than one 

 hundred years old and bear designs of humanized forms of 

 birds and other conventionalized bird figures), and deco- 

 rated rawhide trunks. 



The beaded belts and bags of the Winnebago tribe show 



26 



