86 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



+ gao^'wo"' boat, or gao'^yon 1 = hanging boat). Hammocks 

 are woven like the sleeping mat but they are shaped so that they 

 will hang properly and hold a baby in safety. These hammocks are 

 suspended over the beds of the parents where they can be swung 

 and the babies easily cared for. Hammocks are now made by sus- 

 pending a blanket or a quilt in the same manner. These modern 

 contrivances are called iyos'gasha"' nia'do n gao^wo 11 ', blanket, it is 

 in.ade from boat, (a hammock). 



Husk pudding wrappings are called deye"'hodye n 'yikta' (= a 

 wrapping). Husks were braided for ropes and clothes lines, 

 gao n "ga (=rope). 



A woman unable to deliver the placenta is held over a pan in 

 which a couple of handfuls of husks are burning. The smoke rises 

 and exercises a medical function, it is thought, which facilitates the 

 delivery. This was widely practised by the Iroquois as late as 1875, 

 and now to some extent. 



To stop " nose bleed " a small strand of husk is tied about the 

 little finger. A wad of husk or kernel of corn was placed under the 

 upper lip next to the gum and just over the middle incisors. 



There are references to clothing of corn husk and Father Dablon 

 in 1656 wrote of the brother of his host who arrayed himself to 

 impersonate a satyr, " covering himself from head to foot with 

 husks of Indian corn." 



3 Uses of corn silk. Corn silk (when on stalk = odiot' ; 

 off = oga") was used commonly for the hair of husk dolls. It 

 was rarely used for adulterating tobacco. Another use of the dried 

 corn silk was an adulterant for certain medicines. The dried silk 

 was pulverized and kept in cornstalk bottles. 



4 Uses of corn cobs. Cobs (Ono"gwe n a 11 ) were used for smok- 

 ing meats and hides. A slow fire of cobs was built under the meat 

 and then smothered so that the cobs merely smoldered and smoked. 

 In smoking skins the skin was folded into a tentlike cone, suspended 

 from a limb or crane and smoked on the underside from a small pit 

 beneath, in which was a smoldering fire of cobs. The skin was then 

 reversed and smoked. Cobs were not the only substances used for 

 smoking. 



1 Gani'yon = hanging, gao n 'wo n '= boat ; gao n yofi, hanging boat = ham- 

 mock. The earlier form is gao'wo n 'niyon, hanging boat. Cf. Awe n 'o n 'niyofi 

 = hanging flower; Awe n 'o n '= flower. Gano"djaniyofi hanging kettle, 

 gano"dj a = kettle + (ga)ni yon = hanging. 



