INDIAN POTTERY. 353 



and really ornamental, proving tLat those aboriginal potters were also skilful 

 basket-makers. 



It would be erroneous to suppose the art of manufacturing clay vessels had 

 been in use among all the tribes spread over this widely extended country ; for, 

 though exhibiting much general similarity in character and habits, they differed 

 considerably in their attainments in the mechanical arts. This was the conse- 

 quence of local circumstances, such as configuration and quality of the soil, 

 climate, and other natural conditions which influenced, or rather determined their 

 mode of life. Some of the North American tribes, who did not understand the 

 fabrication of earthen vessels, were in the habit of cooking their meat in water 

 set to boiling by means of heated stones which they put into it, the receptacles 

 used in this operation being large wooden bowls, water-tight baskets, or even 

 the raw hides of animals they had killed. The Assinaboins, for example, cooked 

 in skins. '' There is a very curious custom among the Assinaboins," says Catlm, 

 " from which they have taken their name — a name given them by their neigh- 

 bors from a singular mode they have of boiling their meat, which is done in the 

 following manner : Whin they kill meat, a hole is dug in the ground about the 

 size of a common pot, and a piece of the raAV hide of the animal, as taken from 

 the back, is put over the hole, and then pressed down with the hands close 

 around the sides, and filled with water. The meat to be boiled is then put in 

 this hole or pot of water; and in a fire, which is built near by, several large 

 stones are heated to a red heat, which are successively dipped and held in the 

 water until the meat is boiled ; from which singular and peculiar custom, the 

 Ojibways have given them the appellation of Assinaboins or Stone-boilers." 



" This custom," he continues, " is a very awkward and tedious one, and used 

 only as an ingenious means of boiling their meat, by a tribe who was too rude 

 and ignorant to construct a kettle or pot. The traders have recently supplied 

 these people with pots ; and even long before that, the Mandans had instructed 

 them in the secret of manufacturing very good and serviceable earthen pots, 

 which together have entirely done away the custom, excepting at public festi- 

 vals, where they seem, like all others of the human family, to take pleasure in 

 cherishing and perpetuating their ancient customs."* Yet, the Assinaboins 

 may, nevertheless, have been acquainted with the art of pottery ; for they are a 

 detached branch of the Dacotahs, probably of the Yankton band of that nation, 

 and we have the testimony of Carver, for instance, that the Naudowessies — that 

 is, the Dacotahs or Sioux — made " pots of clay, in which they boiled their 

 victuals."! 



Some of the tribes of New Mexico and Arizona, as, for example, the Mojaves 

 and Pimas, still manufacture pottery ; but the Pueblo Indians of those districts 

 are especially noted for their fictile fabrics. *' They manufacture, according to 

 their aboriginal art, both for their own consumption and for the purposes of 

 traffic, a species of earthenware not much inferior to the coarse crockery of our 

 common potters. The pots made of this material stand fire remarkably well, 

 and are the universal substitutes for all the purposes of cookery, even among the 

 Mexicans, for the iron castings of this country, which are utterly unknown 

 there. Rude as this kind of crockery is, it nevertheless evinces a great deal of 

 skdl, considering that it is made entirely without lathe or any kind of machniery. 

 It is often fancifully painted with colored earths and the juice of a plant called 

 guaco, which brightens by burning.";): 



Speaking of that region, I must not omit to allude, at least, to the numerous 

 fragments of ancient pottery which occur on the Little Colorado. Colorado Chi- 

 quito, and Gila, especially among ruins, and are often highly decorated and 

 painted with various colors, exhibiting a style of workmanship differing from 



* Catlin, vol. i, p. 54. 



tCarrer's Travels, London, 1781, Harper's Reprint, p. 154. 



t Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, Philudolphia, ItSl, vol. i, p. 278. 



^3 s 66 



