CLOTHING. 



289 



die of wiuter wheu the thermometer had not registered hijiher tlisiu 20° 

 below zero for weeks, with no protection for their legs except a pair of 

 old buckskin leggings so short that the bottoni did not reach within 3 

 or 4 inches of the dilapidated moccasins. The feet were, so far as 

 could be ascertained, chiefly protected by a wrapping of old baling 

 cloth covered with a pair of moccasins which no white man would have 

 been seen wearing. I observed also that no additional clothing was 

 purchased for the return trip. 



The garments worn 

 by the women in the 

 warmer season consists 

 of thin dresses of calico 

 purchased from the 

 traders. Thin shawls 

 serve to protect the 

 head and shoulders. 

 The feet are incased in 

 moccasins. Some of 

 the women are able to 

 purchase dresses of 

 cloth, and these are cut 

 into a semblance of the 

 dresses worn by the 

 women of civilized 

 countries. It is not 

 rare to see a woman 

 wearing a skirt made 

 from the tanned skin 

 of the deer. The lower 

 liortions of the skirt 

 are often fancifully or- 

 namented with lines 

 and stripes of paint of 

 various colors, extend- 

 ing entirely around the 

 garment. A piece of 



baling cloth is often FmM.-SIanswmtercuat.witliboci.l. 



fashioned into a skirt and worn. 



The females appear to be less susceptible to the sudden changes of 

 the summer weather than the men. At least they exhibit less concern 

 about the thickness of their apparel. It is not unusual to see a woman 

 whose only clothing appears to be a thin dress of calico. During the 

 winter the women dress in the most comfortable skins (Fig. 100), blankets, 

 shawls, comforts, leggings, and moccasins. During exceptionally severe 

 weather, they appear as traveling wardrobes, doubtless carrying their 

 all on their back, and in some instances presenting a most comical ap- 

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