SCI E N CE.-SUPPLEMENT. 



FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 1887. 



INDIAN CRADLES AND HEAD-FLAT- 

 TENING. 



I AM indebted to Dr. R. W. Shufeldt and Dr. 

 Washington Matthews, both of the U. S. army, 

 for the suggestion that a more intimate study of 

 Indian cradles is demanded by those who are in- 

 vestigating the subject of cranial deformation. 



In studying this subject, it is well to bear in 

 mind the fact that among the Eskimos and Indians 

 of the far north, as well as among the Indians of 

 the tropics, cradle boards or frames are impracti- 

 cable. In the former region the cold is too in- 

 tense ; in the latter, clothing of any kind is un- 

 necessary. The student must remember, also, that 

 the use of cradles extends over the first year of a 

 child's life, beginning when it is absolutely help- 

 less, and ending with the time when the child can 

 stand alone in its cradle, and finally walk out of 

 it. In all these cases, functionally if not struc- 

 turally, the cradle is modified in harmony with its 

 occupant. It must be remembered, also, that cul- 

 ture-gradus, natural supplies, and the appliances 

 and decorations of each tribe, have an effect on 

 the cradle. Properly speaking, cradles are divided 

 structurally into quasi genera and species : they 

 are intimately related to their environment, they 

 have their ontogeny and phylogeny, and they are 

 formed and fashioned in co-ordination with the 

 whole industrial life of their respective tribes. 



The parts of a cradle are, 1°, the frame ; 2°, 

 the bed ; 3*^, the pillow ; 4", the wrappings and 

 lashings ; 5", the carrying appliances ; B'', the 

 decoration. 



The young Eskimo, when it goes abroad, finds 

 its carriage in its mother's hood. This custom is 

 universal from Labrador to Mount St. Elias, and 

 the maternal parka is made capacious accord- 

 ingly. 



The Tinne stock of the Yukon River make their 

 tray-shaped cradle of birch-bark, with hood and 

 awning of the same material. No atteuipt is 

 made at a permanent bed or pillow. The child in 

 its wrappings is laid in the cradle, and lashed 

 securely. 



The national museum does not possess an Indian 

 cradle from the Haida or Tlingit Indians. The 

 Bella Bella Indians of British Columbia make a 

 little ark of cedar-wood, with head-board slo^iing 

 upward. The bed is an abundance of finely 



shredded cedar-bark. The child is laid in this 

 soft couch, wrapped with flaps of buckskin, and 

 lashed in with a leather string. Totemic devices 

 are painted on the head-board. 



Coming southward, we encounter the Chinook 

 cradle, a trough of cedar-wood, carved to imitate 

 a scow-boat. The bed is soft bast or cedar-bark. 

 The remarkable feature is the pad drawn down 

 upon the forehead Compare this with the awn- 

 ing of the Yukon cradle. Query : Did many In- 

 dian cradles formerly have a device to keep the 

 heads of very small children from falling down 

 while the cradle was in a vertical position, and 

 did most tribes abandon it because it affected the 

 shape of the child's head, while the Chinook re- 

 tained it for the same reason ? In scientific phrase, 

 is this a case of survival or atavism? 



The Hupas and all other Oregonian and north- 

 ern Californian tribes weave their cradle-baskets 

 and wallets from twigs or from the tough fibre of 

 the milk-weed. In shape, the frame resembles an 

 open slipper, and a pretty dish-shaped awning 

 covers the face. 



In southern California the Mohave and other 

 members of the Yuma stock make a ladder or 

 trellis, on which is laid a bed of shredded willow 

 or mezquite bark. A blanket of the same material 

 is spread over the baby, held in place, not by the 

 almost universal lacing, but by a garter-shaped 

 band wrapped round and round ' cradle and baby 

 and all.' This band, in the specimen figured, is 

 braided, not woven, of party-colored threads, the 

 figures suggesting similar ornaments on pottery. 



The Yaqui Indians of Sonora make their cradles 

 of reed-canes, held in a plane by rude dowels 

 piercing them transversely in several places. A 

 bundle of split cane forms the pillow, and two 

 little pads or bosses of rags keep the child's head 

 from rolling off laterally. Yaqui crania should 

 be carefully examined for occipital deformation. 



The Piutes represent the great Shoshone stock 

 of the interior basin. Their cradle is a rack of 

 twigs, like that of the Yaqui. It is enclosed in a 

 capsule of buckskin, has an awning over the 

 head, and the bed is made of skins. The child's 

 head has no elevated pillow, but is brought in 

 contact with the fur-covered cradle-frame. 



The Navajo cradle-board is the type followed by 

 all the Pueblos and by the Aimches as well. A 

 flat board, with awning, side-flaps, and elaborate 

 lacing, forms the groundwork, which the gorgeous 

 Navajo loads down with silver ornaments. Dr. 



