260 INDIAN COSTUMES. 
classes of their white neighbors. Even in 
dress and language the more civilized are fast 
conforming to the latter. In many families, 
especially of the Cherokees, the English tongue 
only is spoken; and great numbers of these, 
as well as of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, 
dress according to the American fashions: but 
the ruder portions of even these, the most en- 
lightened nations, as is also the case with 
nearly all of the northern tribes, wear the 
hunting-shirt, sometimes of buckskin, but now 
more commonly of calico, cotton plaid or lin- 
sey. Instead of using hats, they wreathe 
about their heads a fancy-colored shawl or 
handkerchief: Neither do the women of these 
classes wear bonnets, but leave their heads 
exposed, or protected only with a shawl, some- 
what after the manner of the Mexican fe- 
males; to the lower classes of whom, indeed, 
the mixed-bloods of these Indians bear a strong 
resemblance. Their most usual dress is a 
short petticoat of cotton goods, or as frequently 
with the tribes of the north, of coarse red or 
blue broad-cloth. 
The literary opportunities afforded to the 
border tribes are so important in their conse- 
quences as to deserve some notice. To eac 
tribe has been granted, by the United States, 
a school fund, generally somewhat propot- 
tioned to the extent of the tribe. The Chero- 
kees and Choctaws seem to have availed 
themselves of this provision to the greatest 
advantage. These funds are for the most part 
invested in American stocks, and the proceeds 
