NO. 12 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I9I7 95 



food gathering- and processes of preparation, hairdressing, mats, 

 measures, musical instruments, regalia, string-making, tobacco and 

 its uses, tools, traps, and other interesting points, although in some 

 cases the informants had never seen the article. 



Fortunately it is frequently possible to obtain ethnological infor- 

 mation by a more direct method. An old woman was found who still 

 remembered how to measure bead money on the hand, as illustrated 

 by the accompanying photograph (fig. 95), and it is interesting to 

 find Americanized descendants roasting California ground squirrels 

 by the unaltered process of their ancestors (fig. 96). 



At the end of September Mr. Harrington returned from the field. 



ST^'DY OF CHIPPEWA MATERIAL CULTURE 

 During the summer of 1917 Miss Frances Densmore resumed 

 a study of Chippewa material culture begun by her several years 

 ago. This was made possible by the fact that considerable phono- 

 graphic material had been collected and awaited musical analysis 

 during the coming winter. Returning to the White Earth Reserva- 

 tion,' Miss Densmore enlisted the co-operation of many Indians who 

 had assisted in the study of Chippewa music, previously conducted in 

 that locality. The Chippewa tribe has advanced in civilization beyond 

 many other tribes, but there are individuals who neither speak nor 

 understan-^ English and who continue many of the old customs. From 

 such informants a general outline of the old economic life was 

 obtained .aid several branches were given intensive study. 



The ethnobotany of the Chippewa w^as the subject of special 

 investigation, and an ethnobotanical collection of about 200 plants 

 was obtained, including plants used as medicines, food, dyes, and 

 charms, as well as those used for general utility. With the medicinal 

 plants were collected examples of surgical and medical appliances, 

 and of substances other than vegetal used in remedies. The native 

 names of plants were recorded, together with the portion and amount 

 of a plant used in a remedy, the dosage, the treatment which accom- 

 panied its use, and the symptoms for which the remedy was pre- 

 scribed. The investigation concerned chiefly the use of specifics, 

 but a few combinations of herbs were recorded for comparison 

 with the separate uses of the same herbs. Long life was the greatest 

 desire of the Chippewa, and the attaining of long life formed the 

 principal teaching of the Midc or native religion. Two factors were 

 said to contribute to that end, namely, uprightness of life and the 



