THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 263 



bracelets and ear, nose, and finger rings of silver. The natives prefer 

 silver to gold. Their fondness for red worsted as ear ornaments has also 

 been alluded to, and is well illustrated in Plate YII. 



DRESS. 



Primitive clothing. — What early attracted the traders to this region 

 was the character of the clothing worn by the natives, consisting of 

 valuable furs roughly sewn together, seal and sea-otter being the most 

 common and the most sought after. The costume of the men was 

 scanty, consisting of an under coat, a cloak, and sometimes a breech 

 clout, although the last named seemed to be a very unimportant and 

 often omitted article of dress. Dixon (1787) describes their clothing as 

 " made of such skins as fancy suggests, or their success in hunting fur- 

 nished them with, and sometimes loose cloaks thrown over the shoulders 

 and tied with small leather strings. * * * The dress of the women 

 differs in some respects from that of the men. Their undergarment is 

 made of fine tanned leather, and covers the body from the neck to the 

 ankle, being tied in different parts to make it fit close. * * * The 

 upper garment is made in much the same manner as the men's coats, 

 and generally of tanned leather, the women not caring to wear furs. 

 * * * Over this is tied a piece of tanned leather like an apron, and 

 which reaches no higher than the waist."* 



In other words, both sexes wore a cloak and an under garment or coat 

 reaching to the waist. To this the men added a belt or breech piece, 

 and the women a skirt or gown reaching to the calf or ankle. Both 

 sexes went barefooted, although wearing, as now, in very cold weather, 

 a kind of moccasin. 



Sea-otter skins were a staple article of trade amongst the Indians 

 themselves, and were stored in large quantities, being the basis of 

 wealth and the unit of value. The eagerness of Europeans to trade for 

 them led to the exhaustion of the stock on hand, the sacrifice of their 

 clothing, the practical extinction of the sea-otter, the 

 adoption by the Indians of European clothing, and sub- 

 stitution of other standards of value and wealth. Gar- 

 ments of fur are still worn in cold weather, the skins of 

 the less valuable animals, such as the rabbit, squirrel, 

 and goat being used. These skins are fastened together 

 with cords of twisted linen or finely spun vegetable 

 fibre. Figs. 21a and 21h represent two varieties of bone 

 fids or awls for pricking the holes in the skins to enter 



. (Tlingit. Emmons Collec- 



the thread for sewing. tion.) 



Ceremonial hlanlcet — These northern Indians, particularly the Chil- 

 kat tribes (Tlingit), have possessed from time immemorial the art of 

 weaving twisted bark thread and the wool of the mountain goat into 

 blankets. These they value most highly, and persons of rank and 



* Dixon, Voyage, p. 239. 



