‘RUSHAELE | VILLAGES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI 137 
hollowed out of hard ‘knots, spoons made of the horn of buffalo 
and mountain sheep, and, most interesting of all, dishes and vessels 
made of pottery—all these were used in the preparation or serving 
of food. ‘Some remarkable examples of wooden bowls made by 
the Mandan are now preserved in the collection of the United States 
National Museum, Washington. One of the most interesting is shown 
in plate 41, ¢ (U.S.N.M. 8406), and another, of simpler form but 
equally well made, in plate 41, a (U.S.N.M. 6341). Both examples 
were evidently quite old even when collected. They are fashioned 
out of maple knots, worked thin and smooth, and are beautiful 
specimens. Large spoons, often termed “drinking cups,” were, as 
already mentioned, made of the horns of buffalo and mountain 
sheep. The former were extensively used by many tribes, and usu- 
ally resembled the one shown in plate 42, a. The spoons made of 
mountain-sheep horns were often much larger and thinner, of a 
yellowish hue, and the handles were frequently bent into form or 
decorated. A. very beautiful spoon of this sort is shown in plate 
42.6. (U.S.N.M. 6333.) 
Pottery dishes and vessels, so Catlin wrote, “are a familiar part. 
of the culinary furniture of every Mandan lodge, and are manufac- 
tured by the women of this tribe in great quantities, and modelled 
into a thousand forms and tastes. They are made by the hands 
of the women, from a tough black clay, and baked in kilns which 
are made for the purpose, and are nearly equal in hardness to our 
own manufacture of pottery; though they have not yet got the art 
of glazing, which would be to them a most valuable secret. They 
make them so strong and serviceable, however, that they hang them 
over the fire as we do our iron pots, and boil their meat in them 
with perfect success.” (Op. cit., p. 116.) Maximilian described the 
art of pottery making among the Mandan as exactly lke that of 
the two associated tribes, the Hidatsa and Arikara. He wrote 
regarding the three tribes that they “understand the manufacture 
of earthen pots and vessels, of various forms and sizes. The clay is 
of a dark slate colour, and burns a yellowish-red, very similar to ~ 
what is seen in the burnt tops of the Missouri hills. This clay is 
mixed with flint or granite reduced to powder by the action of 
fire. The workwoman forms the hollow inside of the vessel by means 
of a round stone which she holds in her hand while she works and 
smooths the outside with a piece of poplar bark. When the pot is 
made, it is filled and surrounded with dry shavings, and then burnt, 
when it is ready for use. They know nothing of glazing.” (Op. cit., 
_p. 348.) This was probably the simple process of manufacture fol- 
lowed by the widely scattered tribes, and the apparent ease with 
which the vessels were made accounts for the great quantities of 
