swANTnsl INDIAN T 1! 1 1 ! I'.S ()!•• Illi; l,(>\\KI< MISSISSIPPI VALLKV 51 



l>iit. al'lcr :ill. llir liiial moral oliiiiate of a tril>c or nation is a 

 (hiii<; (hat IK) other trilx' or iitition is competent to undertake. It 

 \\\]\ he inaiU' h\ (liMerent in(Ii\ i(hials differently, depending on the 

 staiuhirds, enxironnieiit. ami i)rejndices, or, on the other hand, the 

 syni[)athetic appreciation <d' the person acting as judge. 



OHKSS AND OHNAMKNTS 



On tin* Indian mode of w(>arinir itie hair Dumont saN's, speaking 

 generally: 



Tliey * * * ii<>v('i- liMNc any lirai-il imr cvoii tlie least liair <ni any part 

 of llii> liody, wliidi conies from tin- fatt tliat from their youtii they take great 

 pains to pliiek it out. With regard to the hair of the head tho uieu wear it dif- 

 iferently. aceording to difference in nationality. Some cut it entirely, leaving 

 only a tuft on the top of the head in the Turkish fashion. Others cut it on 

 one side only, on the right or the left, and keep the other side very long. Many 

 also have the head completely shavetl and have only a braidetl tress which 

 hangs on each side, and others are clipped like our monks, having only a crown 

 of .short hairs. The women and girls, on the other hand, wear their hair very 

 thick and very long; moreover, they have no other headdress. They have very 

 black and beautiful lo<-ks and wear them either braided in tresses or bound into 

 a cue with a belt of that bison hair which I have said to be as fine and soft as 

 wool, instead of a ribbon. These tresses are ordinarily interlaced by way of 

 ornament with strings of blue, white, green, or black beads [made of glass], 

 according to their taste, sometimes also with quills of the porcupine, a kind of 

 hedgehog larger than that which we know and which is more common in 

 Canada than in Louisiana, where I have never seen any." 



Du Pratz, evidently confining himself to the Natchez, remarks as 

 follows: 



The natives rut their hair around, leaving a crown like the Capuchins, and 

 leave only enough long hair to make a twisted tress no larger than the little 

 finger, and which hangs over the left ear. This crown is in the same place and 

 almost as large as that of a monk. In the middle of this crown they leave 

 about two dozen long hairs for the attachment of feathers. 



Although the natives all wear this crown, yet the hair is not removed or 

 pulled from this i)lace, but it is cut or burned with burning coals. It is not 

 the same with the hair of the armpits and the beard, which they take great 

 care to pull out, so that they never come back, not being able to suffer any hair 

 to appear on their bodies, although naturally they do not have more of it 

 than we.* 



They (the women) wear nothing on their heads; their hair is at full length, 

 except that in front, which is shorter. The hair behind is fastened in a cue 

 by means of a netting of mulberry threads, with tassels at the ends. They 

 take great pains to pull out the hair and leave none on the body except the hair 

 of the head.*^ 



" Dumont, M^m. Hist, sur La Louisiane, i, 136. 137. 

 " Du I'r.itz. Hist, de La Louisiane. ii, 198. 

 ''Ibid., 195. 



