BULL. 30] 



TUSCARORA 



851 



to their westward. In 1708 rum had 

 been but recently introduced among the 

 latter, chiefly by the Tuscarora, who 

 transported it in rundlets several hun- 

 dred miles, amongst other Indians. 

 They sold it at " so many mouthfuls for 

 a buckskin, they never using any other 

 measure," the buyer always choosing a 

 man having the largest mouth pos.sible to 

 accompany him to the market, and the 

 mouthful was scrupulously emptied into 

 a bowl brought for the purpose. The 

 Tuscarora also traded with the Shakori 

 and Occaneechi, selling them wooden 

 bowls and ladles for rawhides. 



Their lodges, usually round in form, 

 were constructed of poles, covered with 

 the bark of cypress, red or white cedar, 

 or sometimes pine. At one place Lawson 

 met more than 500 Tuscarora in one body 

 in a hunting camp. They had con- 

 structed their lodges with bark, "not 

 with round tops, as they commonly use, 

 but ridge fashion, after the manner of 

 most Indians." Among them he found 

 much «orn, while meat and venison were 

 scarce, because of the great number of 

 people, for although they were expert 

 hunters, they were too populous for one 

 range. 



According to Lawson, the native Tus- 

 carora of North Carolina had rather flat 

 bodies, due probably to the fact that in 

 early infancy the children were swathed 

 to cradle-boards. He adds: "They are 

 not of so robust and strong bodies as to 

 lift great burdens, and endure labor and 

 slavish work, as Europeansare; yetsome 

 that are slaves prove very good and labor- 

 ious." They were dextrous and steady, 

 and collected in the use of their hands 

 and feet; their liearing was sedate and 

 majestic; their eyes were commonly full 

 and manly, being black or dark hazel in 

 color, and the white of the eye was 

 usually marbled with red lines; their 

 skin was tawny, and somewhat darkened 

 by the habit of anointing it with bear's 

 oil and a pigment resembling burnt cork. 

 When they wished to be very fine they 

 mixed with the oil a certain red powder 

 made from a scarlet root growing in the 

 hilly country. Tliis root was held in 

 great esteem among them, selling it one 

 to another at a very high price, on ac- 

 count of the distance from which it came 

 and the danger to which they were ex- 

 posed in obtaining it. The Tuscarora 

 and other Indians attempted to cultivate 

 this plant, but it would not grow in their 

 land. As a substitute they sometimes 

 used puccoon root, which also has a crim- 

 son color, but this dyed the hair an ugly 

 hue. The heads even of the aged were 

 scarcely ever bald; their teeth were tinged 

 yellow from smoking tobacco, to which 

 habit both men and Avomen were much 



addicted; they however did not snuff or 

 chew tobacco. Thev plucked the hair 

 from their faces and bodies. There were 

 but few deformed or crippled persons 

 among them. 



The Tuscarora had many dances suita- 

 ble to various occasions; these as a rule 

 were accompanied with public feasts pre- 

 pared under the direction of the women 

 chiefs. Every dance had its peculiar song, 

 but probalily was not changed for every 

 occasion on which the dance was per- 

 formed, although Lawson states that "all 

 these songs are made new for every feast; 

 nor is one and the same song sung at two 

 several festivals. Some one of the nation, 

 which has the best gift of expressing their 

 designs, is appointed by their king and 

 war captains to make these songs." To 

 these festivals the people came from all 

 the towns within 50 or 60 m., "where 

 they buy and sell several commodities." 



The Tuscarora, in like measure with 

 the northern Iroquois, were passionately 

 given to gaming, frequently stripping one 

 another of every piece of propertj'' avail- 

 able. Sometimes they went even so far 

 as to bet themselves away to the winner, 

 readily becoming his slave until he or his 

 relatives could pay the redemption price; 

 nevertheless they bore their losses with 

 great equanimity, no matter how ruinous 

 they were. Among their games was that 

 of a bundle of 51 split reeds about 7 in. in 

 length and neatly made. The game con- 

 sisted in throwing a part of the bundle 

 before an opponent, who must on sight 

 guess the number thrown. It is said that 

 experts were able to tell the number cor- 

 rectly ten times in ten throws. A set of 

 these reeds was valued at a dressed doe 

 skin. The Tuscarora also had the well- 

 known bowl and plum-seed game, which 

 is such an important adjunct to the 

 thanksgiving festivals of the northern 

 Iroquois. They also had a number of 

 other games, but some of their neighbors 

 had games which they did not have. 



There were feasts among the Tuscarora 

 when several villages united to celebrate 

 some event or when two or more tribes 

 assembled to negotiate peace. There were 

 feasts and dances of thanksgiving, and 

 invocations to the gods that watched over 

 their harvests, when their crops were 

 garnered and when the first fruits of the 

 j'ear were gathered. 



Population. — No trustworthy estimates 

 of the Tuscarora population at any given 

 date, exclusive of those of Lawson and 

 Barnwell, previous to 1830, are available 

 for the entire Tuscarora people. The 

 earliest and perhaps most authoritative 

 estimate of the total Tuscarora population 

 at a given time was that of Lawson in 

 1708. His estimate of 15 towns and 1,200 

 fighting men would indicate a popula- 



