42 



ALGOKQUIAlSr FAMILY 



tB. A. E. 



()r with a small cap. Higginson (New 

 England's Plantation, 1629) says: "Their 

 hair is usually cut before, leaving one 

 lock longer than the rest." The men 

 went bareheaded, with their hair fan- 

 tastically trimmed, each according -to 

 his own fancy. One would shave it 

 on one side and leave it long on the 

 other; another left an unshaved strip, 

 2 or 3 in. wide, running from the fore- 

 head to the nape of the neck. 



The typical Algon([uian lodge of the 

 woods and lakes was oval, and the conical 

 lodge, made of sheets of birch-bark, also 

 occurred. The Mohegan, and to some ex- 

 tentthe Virginialndians, constructed long 

 communal houses which accommodated a 

 number of families. The dwellings in the 

 N. were sometimes built of logs, while those 

 in the 8. and parts of the W. were con- 

 structed of saplings fixed in the ground, 

 bent over at the top, and covered with 

 movable matting, thus forming a long, 

 round-roofed house. The Delawaresand 

 some other eastern tribes, preferring to 

 live separately, built smaller dwellings. 

 The manner of construction among the 

 Delawares is thus described by Zeisber- 

 ger: "They peel trees, abounding with 

 sap, such as lime trees, etc., then cutting 

 the bark into pieces of 2 or 3 yards in 

 length, they lay heavy stones upon 

 them, that "they may become flat and 

 even in drying. The frame of the hut is 

 made by driving poles into the ground 

 and strengthening them by cross beams. 

 This framework is covered, both within 

 and without, with the above-mentioned 

 pieces of bark, fastened very tight with 

 bast or twigs of hickory, which are re- 

 markably tough. The roof runs up to a 

 ridge, and is covered in the same manner. 

 These huts have one opening in the roof 

 to let out the smoke and one in the side 

 for an entrance. The door is made of a 

 large piece of bark without either bolt or 

 lock, a stick leaning against the outside 

 being a sign that nobody is at home. 

 The light enters by small openings fur- 

 nished with sliding shutters." The cov- 

 ering W'as sometimes rushes or long reed 

 grass. The houses of the Illinois are de- 

 scribed by Hennepin as being "made 

 like long arbors" and covered with 

 double mats of flat flags. Those of the 

 Chippewa and the Plains tribes were cir- 

 cularorconical, aframework covered with 

 bark among the former, a frame of mov- 

 able poles covered with dressed skins 

 among the latter. The villages, especially 

 along the Atlantic coast, were frequently 

 surrounded with stockades of tall, stout 

 stakes firmly set in the ground. A num- 

 ber of the western Algonquian towns are 

 described by early explorers as fortified 

 or as surrounded with palisades. 



In no other tribes n. of Mexico was 

 picture writing developed to the advanced 



stage that it reached among the Delawares 

 and the Chippewa. The figures were 

 scratched or painted on pieces of bark or on 

 slabs of wood. Some of the tribes, especi- 

 ally the Ottawa, were great traders, acting 

 as chief middlemen between the more dis- 

 tant Indians and the early French settle- 

 ments. Some of the interior tribes of 

 Illinois and Wisconsin made but little use 

 of the canoe, travelingalmostal ways afoot; 

 while others who lived along the upper 

 lakes and the Atlantic coast were expert 

 canoemen. The canoes of the upper lakes 

 were of birch-bark, strengthened on the 

 inside with ribs or knees. The more 

 solid and substantial boat of Virginia and 

 the western rivers was the dugout, made 

 from the trunk of a large tree. The man- 

 ufacture of pottery, though the product 

 was small, except in one or two tribes, 

 was widespread. Judged by the number 

 of vessels found in the graves of the re- 

 gions occupied by the Shawnee, this tribe 

 carried on the manufacture to a greater 

 extent than any other. The usual method 

 of burial was in graves, each clan or gens 

 having its own cemetery. The mortuary 

 ceremonies aniong the eastern and central 

 tribes were substantially as described by 

 Zeisberger. Immediately after death the 

 corpse was arrayed in the deceased's best 

 clothing and decked with the chief orna- 

 ments worn in life, sometimes having the 

 face and shirt painted red, then laid on 

 a mat or skin in the middle of the hut, 

 and the arms and personal effects were 

 placed about it. After sunset, and also 

 before daybreak, the female relations and 

 friends assembled around the body to 

 mourn over it. The grave was dug gen- 

 erally by old women; inside it was 

 lined with bark, and when the corpse was 

 placed in it 4 sticks were laid across, 

 and a covering of bark was placed over 

 these; then the grave wasfilled with earth. 

 An earlier custom was to place in the 

 grave the personal effects or those indic- 

 ative of the character and occupation of 

 the deceased, as well as food, cooking uten- 

 sils, etc. Usually the body was placed 

 horizontally, though among some of the 

 western tribes, as the Foxes, it was some- 

 times buried in a sitting posture. It was 

 the custom of probably most of the tribes 

 to light fires on the grave for four nights 

 after burial. The Illinois, Chippewa, and 

 some of the extreme western tribes fre- 

 quently practised tree or scaffold burial. 

 The bodies of the chiefs of the Powhatan 

 confederacy were stripped of the flesh 

 and the skeletons were placed on scaf- 

 folds in a charnel house. The Ottawa 

 usually placed the body for a short time 

 on a scaffold near the grave previous to 

 burial. The ShaM'nee, and possibly one 

 or more of the southern Illinois tribes, 

 were accustomed to bury their dead in 

 box-shaped sepulchers made of undressed 



