358 



CRADLES 



[b. a. e. 



this device. The infant, wrapped in furs, 

 was entirely encased. Over the face was 

 bent a flat bow adorned with pendants 

 or amulets and covered, in the best ex- 

 amples, with a costly hood. The whole 

 upper surface of the hide was a field of 

 beadwork, quillwork, or other decora- 

 tion, in which symbolic and heraldic de- 

 vices were wrought. The frame was 

 supported and carried on the mother's 

 back or swung frona the pommel of .a 

 saddle by means of bands attached to the 

 lattice frame in the rear. Among some 

 tribes the upper ends of the frame pro- 

 jected upward and were decorated. 



Board cr<tdles. — Nearly akin to the last 

 named is the form seen among the Iro- 

 quoian and Algonquian tribes of the E., 

 in which a thin, rectangular board takes 

 the place of the lattice. It was frequently 

 carved and gorgeously painted, and had 

 a projecting foot rest. The bow was also 

 bent to a right angle and decorated. The 

 infant, after swaddling, was laid upon 

 the l)oard and lashed fast by means of a 

 long Ijand. The tree for the Pawnee 

 cradle-board was carefully 

 selected, and the middle 

 taken out so that the heart 

 or life should be preserved, 

 else the child would die. 

 Equal care was taken that 

 the head of the cradle should 

 follow the grain. The spots 

 on the wildcat skin used for 

 a cover symbolized the stars, 

 the bow the sky, and the 

 crooked furrow cut thereon 

 signified thelightning, whose 

 WICKER power was typified by the 



arrows tied to the bow ( Fletcher) . All 

 the parts were symbolic. 



Dugout cradles. — On the n. Pacific coast 

 the infant was placed in a little box of 

 cedar. The region furnished material, 

 and the adz habit, acquired in canoe ex- 

 cavation, made the manufacture easy. 

 Interesting peculiarities of these cradles 

 are the method of suspending theui hori- 

 zontally, as in Siberia, the pads of 

 shredded bark for head flattening, and 

 the relaxation of the child's body in 

 place of straight lacing. Decorative fea- 

 tures are almost wanting. 



MaU'nig cradles. — Closely allied to dug- 

 out cradles and similar in the arrange- 

 ment of parts are those found in contigu- 

 ous areas made from the bast of cedar. 



Basket cradles. — On the Pacific slope 

 and throughout the interior basin the 

 basket cradle predominates and exists in 

 great variety. Form, structure, and dec- 

 oration are borrowed from contiguous 

 regions. In British Columbia the dugout 

 cradle is beautifully copied in coiled work 

 and decorated with imbrications. The 

 Salish have developed such variety in bas- 



ketry technic that mixed types of cradles 

 are not surprising. In the coast region of n. 

 Californiaand Oregon cradlesare more like 

 little chairs; the child's feet are free, and it 

 sits in the basket as if getting ready for 

 emancipation from restraint. The woman 

 lavishes her skill upon this vehicle for the 

 object of her affection. Trinkets, face 

 protectors, and soft beds complete the 

 outfit. Elsewhere in California the baby 

 lies flat. In the interior basin the use 

 of basketry in cradles is characteristic of 

 the iShoshonean tribes. In certain pue- 

 blos of New Mexico wicker coverings are 

 I^laced over them. 



Hurdle cradles. — These consist of a 

 number of rods or small canes or sticks 

 arranged in a plane on an oblong hoop 

 and held in place by lashing with splints 

 or cords. The Yunian tril^es and the 

 Wichita so made them. The bed is of 

 Cottonwood bast, shredded, and the child 

 is held in place in some examples by an 

 artistic wrapping of colored woven belts. 

 The Apache, Navaho, and Pueblo tribes 

 combine the basket, the hurdle, and the 

 board cradles, the Navaho covering the 

 framework with drapery of the softest 

 buckskin and loading it with ornaments. 

 The ancient cliff-dwellers used both the 

 board and the hurdle forms. 



Hammock cradles. — Here and there were 

 tribes that placed their infants in net- 

 work or wooden hammocks suspended 

 by the ends. In these the true function 

 of the cradle as a sleeping place is better 

 fulfilled, other varieties serving rather for 

 carrying. 



Among the San Carlos Apache at least 

 the cradle is made after the baby is born, 

 to fit the bod}'; later on a larger one is 

 prepared. The infant was not placed 

 at once after birth into the cradle after 

 the washing; a certain number of days 

 elapsed before the act was performed 

 with appropriate ceremonies. When the 

 mother was working about the home the 

 infant was not kept in the cradle, but was 

 laid on a rol)e or mat and allowed free 

 play of body and limbs. The final escape 

 was gradual, the process taking a year 

 or more. The cradle distorted the head 

 by flattening the occiput as a natural con- 

 sequence of contact between the resistant 

 pillow and the inunature bone, and among 

 certain tribes this action was enhanced 

 by pressure of pads. The Navaho are said 

 to adjust the padding under the shoulders 

 also. Hrdlicka finds skull deformations 

 more pronounced and conmion in males 

 than in females (see Artificial head de- 

 formation). In many tribes scented herbs 

 were placed in the bedding. Among the 

 Yuma difference was sometimes made 

 in adorning boys' and girls' cradles, the 

 former being much more costly. Some 

 tribes make a new cradle for each child, 



