60 ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



of its thickness (though the thinner caribou-skin is equal- 

 ly durable), and are really the pride of the Indian ward- 

 robe. They are the most, and very frequently the only, 

 decorated piece of his apparel ; in presentation they are the 

 vehicle of regard from one Indian to another; they carry 

 the first tidings of a more tender sentiment from the 

 maiden to the young hunter, and are the surest indication 

 not only of the degree of the woman's handiwork, but, if 

 she be married, of the degree of her regard for the hus- 

 band. 



An Indian's moccasins are a walking advertisement of 

 his standing at home. Blessed is the civilized world in- 

 somuch as its wives are not its bootmakers ! 



I was not long in reading aright the signs of the moc- 

 casins, and ever after, when I required 

 any made at the posts, first sought ac- 

 quaintance with the husband before or- 

 dering. No doubt many a pair of shoes 

 I scrutinized did not represent the best 

 work of the poor devil's wife, but I 

 found them at least accurate in deter- 

 mining his importance within his own 

 tepee. Moccasin decoration, in fact, 

 INDIAN SUPPERS practically all Northland Indian orna- 

 mentation, is done in beads, in porcu- 

 pine quill, or in silk embroidery. Silk-work is of some- 

 what recent introduction, confined entirely to half-breeds, 

 and although rather well executed, is the least effective. 

 The French half-breeds are largely responsible for the 

 flower-pattern bead embroidery, which is the vogue all 

 over the northern part of this country. One sees moc- 

 casins, mittens, leggings, garters (which, by the way, only 

 the men wear), all in patterns copied from nature, and 

 therefore somewhat noteworthy, but not nearly so strik- 



