BULL. 30] 



BAEK 



131 



period of greatest need. The name Adi- 

 rondack, signifying 'they eat trees,' was 

 appUed by the Mohawk to certain Al- 

 gonquian tribes of Canada in allnsion to 

 their custom of 

 eating bark. 

 The N. Pacific 

 and some S. W. 

 tribes made 

 cakes of the soft 

 inner ])ark of 

 theliemlockand 



partitions. Trays and boxes, receptacles 

 of myriad shapes, could be formed by 

 merely bending large sheets and sewing or 



Menominee Bark Bucket, 

 (hoffman) 



s]irnce; those 

 living about the 

 great lakes 

 chewed that of 

 the slippery 

 elm, while many 

 Indians chewed 

 thegum that ex- 

 uded from trees. 

 Drink was made from bark by the Arap- 

 aho, Winnebago, and Mescaleros. Wil- 

 low bark and other kinds were smoked 

 inpipes wither in- 

 stead of tobacco, 

 and the juices of 

 barks were em- 

 ployed in medi- 

 cine. 



For gathering, 

 carrying, garner- 

 ing, preparing, 

 and serving food, 

 bark of birch, elm, 

 pine, and other 

 trees was so handy 

 as to discourage the 

 potter's art among nonsedentary tribes. 

 It was wrought into yarn, twine, rope, 

 wallets, baskets, mats, canoes, cooking 

 pots for hot stones, dishes for serving, ves- 

 sels for storing, and many textile utensils 

 connected with 

 the consumption 

 of food in ordi- 

 nary and in so- 

 cial life. Both 

 men and women 

 were food gath- 

 erers, and thus 

 both sexes were 

 refined through 

 this material; 

 but prej^aring 

 and serving were 

 women's arts, 

 and here bark 

 aided in devel- 

 oping their skill 

 and intelligence. 



Habitations in Qanada, e. United States, 

 and s. E. Alaska often had roofs and sides 

 of bark, whole or prepared. The conical 

 house, near kin of the tipi, was fre- 

 quently covered with this material. Mat- 

 ting was made use of for floors, beds, and 



CHIPPEWA BIRCH-BARK WINNOWING TRAY. (jENKs) 



simply tying the joints. Bast could be 

 pounded and woven into rol)es and blan- 

 kets. The Canadian and Alaskan tribes 



Use of Bark 



CHIPPEWA FETISH CASE OF BARK ( HOFFMAN 



carried their children in cradles of l>irch 

 bark, while on the Pacific coast infants 

 were borne in wooden cradles or baskets 

 of woven bark on beds of the bast shredded, 

 their foreheads being of- 

 ten flattened by means of 

 pads of the same material. 

 In the S. W. the baby- 

 board had a cover of mat- 

 ting. Among the Iro- 

 quois the dead were 

 buried in coffins of bark. 

 Clothing of bark was 

 made chiefly from the in- 

 ner portion, which was 

 stripped into ribbons, as 

 for petticoats in the S. W. , 

 shredded and fringe<l, as 

 in the cedar-bark coun- 

 try, where it was also woven intogarments, 

 or twisted for the warp in weaving articles 

 of dress, with woof from other materials. 

 Dyes were derived from l)ark and certain 

 kinds also lent 

 themselves to 

 embroidery with 

 quills and over- 

 laying in bas- 

 ketry. Bark was 

 also the material 

 of slow-matches 

 and torches, 

 served as pad- 

 ding for the car- 

 rier's head and 

 back and as his 

 wrapping mate- 

 rial, and fur- 

 nished strings, 

 ropes, and bags 

 for his wooden 

 canoes. The hunter made all sorts of 

 apparatus from bark, even his bow- 

 string. The fisher wrought implements 

 out of it and poisoned fish with its 

 juices. The beginnings of writing in some 

 localities were favored bv bark, and car- 



