556 MEDICINE-MEN OF THE APACHE. 
head like a cap. On one-half of this hoop was marked the figure of a 
snake, whose office, as the chief told me, was to take care of the water.” ? 
The “small hoop of wood” of which Tanner speaks, to be worn on the 
head, seems to be analogous to the small hoop attached to the izze-kloth, 
to be worn or applied in cases of headache (Fig. 436). Reference to 
something very much like the izze-kloth is made by Harmon as in use 
among the Carriers of British North America. He says: ‘“* The lads, as 
soon as they come to the age of puberty, tie cords, wound with swan’s- 
down, around each leg a little below the knee, which they wear during 
one year, and then they are considered as men.”? Catlin speaks of 
‘“mystery-beads” in use among the Mandan.* “The negro suspends 
all about his person cords with most complicated knots.” 4 
The female inhabitants of Alaska, Unalaska, and the Fox Islands 
were represented by the Russian explorers of 1768 (Captain Krenitzin) 
to ‘wear chequered strings around the arms and legs.”° These cords 
bear a striking resemblance to the “ wresting cords” of the peasantry 
of Europe. Some of the Australians preserve the hair of a dead man. 
“It is spun into a cord and fastened around the head of a warrior.”® 
“A cord of opossum hair around the neck, the ends drooping down on 
the back and fastened to the belt,” is one of the parts of the costume 
assumed by those attaining manhood in the initiation ceremonies of the 
Australians.?. Again, on pages 72 and 74, he calls it ‘“‘the beltof man- 
hood.” “The use of amulets was common among the Greeks and 
Romans, whose amulets were principally formed of gems, crowns of 
pearls, necklaces of coral, shells, etc.” * 
When I first saw the medicine cords of the Apache, it occurred to 
me that perhaps in some way they might be an inheritance from the 
Franciscans, who, two centuries ago, had endeavored to plant mis- 
sions among the Apache, and did succeed in doing something for the 
Navajo part of the tribe. I therefore examined the most convenient 
authorities and learned that the cord of S. Frangois, like the cord of St. 
Augustine and the cord of St. Monica, was itself a medicine cord, rep- 
resenting a descent from a condition of thought perfectly parallel to 
that which has given birth to the izze-kloth. Thus Picart tells us: 
“On appelle Cordon de 8, Francois la grosse corde qui sert de ceinture 
aux Religieux qui vivent sous la Reglede ce Saint. . . . Cette corde 
ceint le corps du Moine, & pend a peu prés jusqu’aux pieds. Elle lui sert 
de discipline, & pour cet effet, elle est armée de distance en distance de 
fort gros neuds. . . . La Corde de 8. Francois a souvent gueri les 
malades, facilité les accouchemens, fortifié la santé, procuré lignée & fait 
' Tanner's Narrative, p. 188. 
2 Journal, p. 289. 
3 North American Indians, London, 1845, vol. 1, p. 135. 
* Schultze, Fetichism, New York, 1885, p. 32, quoting Bastian. 
® Coxe, Russian Discoveries between America and Asia, London, 1803, p- 254. 
® Smyth, Aborigines of Victoria, vol. 1, pp. xxix, 112. 
7 Tbid., vol. 1, p. 68. 
§ Pettigrew, Medical Superstitions, Philadelphia, 1844, pp. 67.72, 74. 
