2G8 THE MENOMINI INDIANS fETH.ANN.H 



mals. The tough, bony, or semisilieious surface of such materials offers 

 just sufficient softness to grip the particles of sand and to direct more 

 force on the mineral substance or shell. 



A common method of drilling by using the palms of the hands to 

 rotate the drill necessitates the placing of the object to be drilled on 

 the ground in the hands of another, or between the feet of the oper 

 ator. When so slender and delicate au object as a cylindrical shell 

 bead was to be worked, it was held in one hand whilst the bristle was 

 twirled with the other. The silt could readily be applied as required 

 by simply dipping the bristle into it, as it may have been kept wet in 

 a steatite bowl or a shell vessel. 



The condition of the transverse strise present in the perforations, as 

 exposed in split beads, lends additional testimony to the process of 

 drilling by the use of silicious matter, as above suggested. The rapidity 

 of the rotary motion of the bristle, or pressure upon it while in rotation, 

 is also indicated in long beads by the gradual expansion at regular 

 points in the bore as would result from the lateral vibration of the 

 bristle, one side of such a bore following an undulating line, as a 

 musical cord in vibration, or in the graphic illustration of a sound 

 ■wave. 



When drilling was done in hard shells, in which no soft stratum 

 existed, the drill holes would frequently not meet at the middle, and in 

 such beads a semicylindrical cut was made in the side of the bead at 

 the middle, so as to pass half-way through the lateral diameter of the 

 head, exposing the drill holes and allowing the euds of the cord to 

 emerge at that point to admit of tying. Such beads were evidently 

 used in necklaces, whereas the long, thin, curved beads were used for 

 earrings and hair ornaments, this use being suggested by the relative 

 position to the skeleton as they were found in graves. 



Emblems of personal valor or of exploits are seldom seen. No war- 

 fare between the Menomini and neighboring tribes has occurred for 

 many years, and the custom of wearing specially marked feathers, to 

 indicate some particular action or achievement, has long since fallen into 

 desuetude. Head ornaments, such as the tail of a buck, are sometimes 

 worn, to denote that the wearer is a fleet-footed runner, especially in the 

 ball game; or he may wear hawk feathers as indicating the phratry of 

 •which his clan is a member. 



Menomini moccasius are made of buckskin, with soles of par-fleche or 

 rawhide. The front is sometimes ornamented with beads, the tongue 

 having a rectangular pattern in beads stitched on it. The sole of the 

 moccasin is cut from the rawhide, and is outlined from the bare foot. 

 The upper is made of a single piece of buckskin, with the seam at the 

 heed. The flap remaining after the cuts are made to admit the foot is 

 thrown forward so as to lie down toward the front over the instep, and 

 then has the bead ornamentation on what was previously the inside. 



