mallert.] COLORS IN THE UNITED STATES 51 



rubbing it. It bad evidently been used for decorating tbe face as war- 

 paint. 



Mr. Dall, in treating of tbe remains found in tbe mammalian layers in 

 the Amakuak cave, Unalashka, remarks (Contributions to N". A. Eth- 

 nology, I, p. 79) that '"in the remains of a woman's work-basket, found 

 in tbe uppermost layer in tbe cave, were bits of this resin [from tbe bark 

 of pine or spruce driftwood], evidently carefully treasured, with a little 

 birch-bark case (tbe bark also derived from drift logs) containing pieces 

 of soft haematite, graphite, and blue carbonate of copper, with which 

 the ancient seamstress ornamented her handiwork." 



Tbe same author reports, op. cit. p. 86, " The coloration of wooden 

 articles with native pigments is of ancient origin, but all the more elab- 

 orate instances that have come to my knowledge bore marks of compara- 

 tively recent origin. The pigments used were blue carbonates of iron 

 and copper; the green fungus, or peziza, found in decayed birch and 

 alder wood; haematite and red chalk; white infusorial or chalky eafth ; 

 black charcoal, graphite, and micaceous ore of iron. A species of red 

 was sometimes derived from pine bark or the cambium of the ground 

 willow." 



Stephen Powers states in Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, III, 244, 

 that tbe Shastika women "smear their faces all over daily with choke- 

 cherry juice, which gives them a bloody, corsair aspect." 



Mr. A. S. Gatschet reports that tbe Klamaths of southwestern Oregon 

 employ a black color, Igu, made of burnt plum seeds and bulrushes, 

 which is applied to the cheeks in the form of small round spots. This is 

 used during dances. Red paint, for the face and body, is prepared from a 

 resin exuding from the spruce tree, pdnam. A yellow mineral paint is 

 also employed, consisting probably of ocher or ferruginous clay. Mr. 

 Gatschet says the Klamath spdl, yellow mineral paint, is of light yellow 

 color, but turns red when burned, after which it is applied in making 

 small round dots upon the face. The white infusorial earth (".), termed 

 chalk by Mr. Gatschet, is applied in the form of stripes or streaks over 

 the body. The Klamaths use charcoal, Igum, in tattooing. 



The various colors required by a tribe were formerly obtained from 

 plants as by the Dakota, while some of the earthy compounds consisted 

 of red and yellow ocher — oxides of iron — and black micaceous ore of iron 

 and graphite. Some of the California Indians in the vicinity of Tulare 

 River also used a white color, obtained at that locality, and consisted of 

 infusorial earth — diatomaceous. The tribes at and near the geysers, 

 north of San Francisco Bay, obtained their vermilion from croppings 

 of sulphuret of mercury — cinnabar. The same is said to have been the 

 case at the present site of the New Almadeu mines, where tribes of the 

 Mutsun formerly lived. Black colors were also prepared by mixing 

 finely powdered charcoal and clay, this being practiced by some of the 

 Pueblos for painting upon pottery. Some of the black color obtained 



