172 THE SIOUAN INDIANS (etii.ann.i5 



and basketry were maimfacturcd, tofjctber witli bajfs and bottles of 

 skins or animal intestines. Ceremonial objects were conmion, tbe 

 most conspicuous being the calumet, carved out of the sacred pipe- 

 stone or catliuite quarried for many generations in the midst of the 

 Siouan territory. Frequently the i)ii)es were fashioned In the form of 

 tomahawks, when they carried a double symbolic significance, stand- 

 ing alike for peace and war, and thus expressing well the dominant 

 idea of the Siouan mind. Tobacco and kinnikinic (a mixture of tobacco 

 with shredded bark, leaves, etc") were smoked. 



Aboriginally the Siouan apparel was scanty, commonly comprising 

 breecliclout, moccasins, leggings, and robe, and consisted chietly of 

 dressed skins, though several of the tribes made simple fiibrics of bast, 

 rushes, and other vegetal substances. Fur robes and rush mats com- 

 monly served for bedding, some of the tribes using rude bedsteads. 

 The buffalo hunting i)rairie ti-ibes depended largelj' for apparel, bed- 

 ding, and habitations, as well as for food, on the great beast to whose 

 comings and goings their movements were adjusted. Like other 

 Indians, the; Siouan hunters and their consorts quickly availed them- 

 selves of the white man's stutt's, as well as his metal implements, and 

 the primitive dress was soon modified. 



The woodland habitations were chiefly tent-shape structures of sap- 

 lings (iovered with bark, rush mats, skins, or bushes; the prairie habi- 

 tations were mainly earth lodges for winter and buft'aloskin tipis for 

 summer. Among many of the tribes these domiciles, simple as they 

 were, were constructed in accordance with an elaborate plan controlled 

 by ritual. According to Morgan, the framework of the aboriginal 

 Dakota house consisted of 13 ])oles;- and Dorsey describes the syste- 

 matic; grouping of the tipis belonging to different gentes and tribes. 

 Sudatories were characteristic in most of the tribes, menstrual lodges 

 were common, and most of the more sedentary tribes had council 

 houses or other communal structures. The Siouan domiciles were thus 

 adapted with remarkable closeness to the daily habits and environ- 

 ment of the tribesmen, while at the same time they reflected the com- 

 plex social organization growing out of their prescriptorial status and 

 militant disposition. 



Most of the Siouan men, women, and children were fine swimmers, 

 though they did not compare well with neighboring tribes as makers 

 and managers of water craft. The Dakota women made coracles of 

 buflalo hides, in which they transported themselves and their house- 

 holdry, but the use of these and other craft seems to have been regarded 

 as little better than a feminine weakness. Other tribes were better 

 boatmen; for the Siouan Indian generally preferred land travel to 

 journeying by water, and avoided the burden of vehicles by which his 



'Described by Coue.s, "History of the Expcilitiim unilir tbe Comniaiid oC Lewis anrl Cl.ark," 1893, 

 vol. I, p. 139, note. 

 2"lIouaes and House-Ulto of the American Aborigines," Oout. X. A. Etb.. vol. iv. 18S1. p. lU. 



