18 



ADORNMENT 



[b. a. k. 



were made decorative, and often were 

 symbolic. Archeological testimony shows 

 that sea-shell beads, worn as necklaces or 

 woven into belts, were widely used, and 

 they probably found their way into the 



CROW WOMAN WITH ELK-TOOTH DRESS 



intei'iijr through barter or as ceremonial 

 or friendly gifts. Wampum belts figured 

 largely in the official transactions be- 

 tween the early settlers and the eastern 

 tribes. Disks cut from the conch shell 

 were worn as ornaments and were also 

 offered in certain religious rites; they 

 ranked among the northern tiibes as did 

 the turcjuoise among the people of the 

 S. W. With the Plains Indians a neck- 

 lace of bear's claws marked the man of 

 distinction. The headdress varied in dif- 

 ferent parts of the country and was gen- 

 erally significant of a man's kinship, 

 ceremonial office, rank, or totemic de- 



CHILKAT CEREMONIAL ROBE. (nIBLACk) 



pendence, as was also the ornamentation 

 ujion his weapons and his shield. 



In the S. \y. blankets bordered with 

 a design woven in colors were used on 

 ceremonial occasions, and with the ))road 



belts, white robes, and fringed sashes worn 

 at marriage are interesting specimens of 

 weaving and color treatment. The bril- 

 liant Navaho blankets with their cosmic 

 symbols are well known. The most re- 

 markable example of the native weaver's 

 skill is the ceremonial blanket and apron 

 of the Chilkat tribe of Alaska; it is made 

 of the wool of the mountain goat, dyed 

 black, yellow, and green with native 

 dyes over a warp of cedar-bark strings. 

 A design of elaborate totemic forms cov- 

 ered the entire space within the border 

 lines, and the ends and lower edge were 

 heavily fringed. According to Boas these 

 garments probably originated among the 

 Tsimshian. In the buffalo country 

 women seldom ornamented their own 

 robes, but embroidered those worn by 

 men. Sometimes a man painted his 

 robe in accordance with a dream, or pic- 

 tured upon it a yearly record of his own 



SIHASAPA (blACKFOOT Sioux) COSTUME 



deeds or of the prominent events of the 

 tribe. Women wor^ the buffalo robe 

 difterently from the men, who gathered 



