BULL. 30] 



SKIN AND SKIN DRESSING 



593 



a few feet apart. It is sometimes drawn 

 first around the trunk of a rough-barked 

 tree for a short time, two women again 

 working together, one at each end of the 

 skin; tliis treatment gives the skin its final 

 softness. Afterward it is cleaned witli a 

 wash of white chalk clay in water, put on 

 thick with a bunch of root tiber or dried 

 grass for a brush, and brushed off when 

 dry. 



For parfleche purposes the tanning 

 process is omitted. For making shields 

 the hide is shrunk over a fire until it is 

 of twice its original thickness and cor- 

 respondingly tougher, being sometimes 

 anointed before the operation, as already 

 descril)ed. The process for deer skins and 

 smaller skins is naturally less laborious 

 than for buffalo (or cow) hides, and skins 

 of panthers, wildcats, etc., intended for 

 quivers, boys' coats, and pouches, are 

 dressed with the hair on. Among the coast 

 tribes the scraper is frequently a mussel 

 shell or an oyster shell. In California and 

 along the Pacific coast generally a rib bone 

 is used, and the skin is laid over an in- 

 clined log instead of being staked on the 

 ground. In the eastern timber country 

 and in the Arctic region hides are usually 

 smoked to render them impervious to 

 moisture, and urine takes the place of 

 soaproot in the dressing mixture. Bleach- 

 ing is effected by the action of the sun's 

 rays on wet skins. Among the Eskimo, 

 for lack of summer sunshine the skin is 

 sometimes drieil over the fire or by wrap- 

 ping it around the human body. Skins of 

 the seal and walrus, and of birds and fish, 

 all require special processes, while for in- 

 testines, pericardiums, and other internal 

 membranes, used as water jars, paintbags, 

 etc., the preparationis limited to softening 

 and dyeing. It is doubtful if skin dyeing 

 was commonly practised in former times, 

 although every tribe had some method of 

 skin painting. The Omaha, however, ac- 

 cording to La Flesche, procured a dark- 

 blue or black dye by combining the bark 

 of the white maple with pulverized and 

 roasted yellow ocher. The Plains tribes 

 use the juice from the leaf of the prickly 

 pear as a mordant to fix the painted de- 

 sign, and obliterate it, when so desired, 

 by rubbing it over with a piece of roasted 

 liver. 



The process of preparing skins, as de- 

 scribed above, pertains more particularly 

 to the northern and western tribes of the 

 United States. The Choctaw, Cherokee, 

 and probably all the tribes that inhabited 

 the area eastward from the Mississippi to 

 the Atlantic and s. of the Algonquian 

 tribes, followed a somewhat different 

 method, which is thus described by 

 David I. Bushnell, jr., as witnessed by 

 him among the Choctaw of Louisiana: 



The skin to be dressed is first soaked 

 in water several hours or during a night. 

 Being removed from the water it is placed 

 over a log which has been smoothed so 

 as to form an even surface. While in 

 this position the hair or fur is removed 

 by being scraped with an instrument 

 resembling a drawknife, now made by 

 inserting a metal blade in a long wooden 

 handle. Next the skin is placed in a 

 wooden mortar, together with a mixture 

 of- corn-meal, eggs, and a small quantity 

 of water. It is then beaten with a wooden 

 pestle until it bei-omes thoroughly satu- 

 rated with the mixture. This conforms 

 with the statement made by Lawson more 

 than two centuries ago, wtien he wrote of 

 the Indians of Carolina. With regard to 

 their method of dressing skins, he alluded 

 to "young Indian corn beaten to a pulp," 

 used in the place of the brains of animals, 

 to soften the skins. The combination of 

 eggs and corn-meal would probably affect 

 the skins in the same manner as green 

 corn. After the process of beating or 

 pounding, the skin is stretched on a per- 

 pendicular frame, consisting of two up- 

 rights and two horizontal bars. It is then 

 scraped and rubbed until dry, the instru- 

 ment consisting of a piece of metal set in 

 a wooden handle extending in the same 

 direction. When dry, the skin is removed 

 from the frame; but it is then stiff. It is 

 softened by being pulled back and forth 

 over a stake driven into the ground, the 

 top of the stake having previously been 

 rounded and smoothed to prevent tearing 

 the skin. This process of dressing a skin 

 makes it very white and soft. 



If a skin is to be smoked, a pit is first 

 dug in the ground. A fire is then made 

 in the pit and allowed to burn until a 

 mass of hot ashes and glowing embers 

 accumulates. Pieces of damp, rotten oak 

 are placed on the ashes, causing a dense 

 smoke. The skin, being previously 

 dressed as described, is stretched over the 

 pit and allowed to remain in the smoke 

 two or three hours. 



If the skin is to be dressed with the 

 hair or fur remaining, it is first softened 

 with a little clear water, after which it is 

 spread over a log and scraped on the 

 inner surface to remove all particles of 

 fiesh. The inside is then thoroughly 

 rubbed with a mixture of eggs, corn- 

 meal, and water, great care being taken 

 not to wet the outside or fur. When the 

 skin is nearly dry it is worked back and 

 forth over the smooth and rounded top 

 of a stake driven in the ground. 



There are but few detailed descriptions 

 of the skin-dressing ])rocesses of the tribes 

 within the limits of the United States. 

 Among these is Lawson's account of the 

 method formerly in use in Carolina (Hist. 



3456— Bull. 30, pt 2—07- 



-38 



