116 STONE ART. Ietb.ann.13 



The various Indians of Guiana in their leisure hours often fashion 

 highly ornameutal weapons and iiiiplenients which they never use 

 except ceremonially, but keep proudly at home for show. ' 



So, too, the Yurok and Hupa Indians of California, as well as some 

 of the tribes of Oregon, have very large spearheads or knives, whicli 

 are not designed for use, but only to be pi'odneed 07i the occasion of a 

 great dance. The larger weapons are wrapped in skin to protect the 

 hand ; the smaller ones are glued to a handle. Some are said to be 

 15 inches long.'^ The Oregon Indians believed the possession of a large 

 obsidian knife brought long life and pro.sperity to the tribe owning it.^ 



Some of the wild tribes of the interior have something which they 

 regard as the Jews did the Ark of the Covenant. Sometimes it is 

 known ; again it is kept secret. The Cheyenne had a bundle of arrows; 

 the Dte a little stone image, and the Osage a similar stoue.^ The 

 Kiowa had a carved wooden image, representing a human face; the 

 Cte captured it, and the Kiowa oflered very great rewards for its 

 return; but the Ute, believing the Kiowa powerless to harm them so 

 long as it was retained, refused to give it up.'' 



The North Carolina Indians, when they went to war, carried with 

 them their idol, of which they told incredible stories and asked coun- 

 sel;'' and as a token of rank or authority, the "Virginia Indians sus 

 pended on their breasts, by a string of beads about their neck, a square 

 plate of copper. ' These were worn as badges of authority. The na- 

 tive tribes, from our first acquaintance with them, evinced a fondness 

 for insignia of this kind." 



Simply for convenience the ceremonial stones in the Bureau collec- 

 tion will here be divided into two general clas.ses. The first, compris 

 ing those pierced through the shortest diameter, will be called gorgets, 

 which name, like that of celt, has no particular meaning, but is in com 

 mon use. The second class will comprise all others, which will have 

 some name that may or may not be suitable to their form, but by which 

 they are usually called. In this class are included boat-shape stones, 

 banner stones, picks, spool-shape ornaments, and bird-shape stones, 

 as well as engraved tablets or stones." 



OORQETS. 



The relics commonly called gorgets have been found in Europe; they 

 may be convex on one side, concave on the other, and are supposed to 



'nn Thurn m Jour. Anth. Inst. Gt. Br. and Trd.. vol. si. p. 445. 



^Powers; Contributions to N. A. Eth., vol. rn, pp. 52 and 79. 



■Cha.so; MS. Kept, on Shell Mounds of Oregon. 



' Dodge; Our Wild Indi.ius, p. 131. 



^ Abbott; Primitive Industry, p. 373. 



' Brickell, John; Nat. History of N. C, p. 317. 



' Wyth, Grapliic Sketcbes, part I, plate 8. 



' Schoolcraft in Trans. Am. Etb. Soc, vol. I, p. 401, pi. i. 



'I am informed by Prol'. Cyrus Tliomas that lie noticed in the collection of Mr. Nelf. Gambler. 

 Ohio, a " boatsliiipe stone" attached to the underside of a stone ))ipo, which the owner informed 

 hiiii was thus attached when found. 



