194 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



the specimen figured. It is the footboard, so common in all the Al- 

 gonkin and Iroquois specimens. The pillow is to be noticed especially, 

 consisting of soft furs and rags rolled up iu soft buckskin and fasteued 

 to the board. The awning frame is a wide bow of thin, hard wood, 

 over which falls a wide, long vail or flap of buckskin. This cradle was 

 collected by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, U. S. Array, who kindly made some 

 investigations relative to the use aud effect of the Navajo cradle. 



(a) (6) 



Pig. 28. 



Apache Ceadle. Front and back view. 



(Cat. No. 21523, U. S. N. M. Arizona Territory. Collected by Dr. J. B.White, U. S. A.) 



Of some two or three dozen children of all ages from the infant up- 

 wards that I have examined I have yet to find a case wherein the Navajo 

 mother has not taken the special precaution to place a soft and ample 

 pad in the cradle to protect the back of the child's head. Moreover, 

 I have yet to. see a case, except for a few days or more in the very 

 youngest of babies, where the head is strapped at all. On the other 

 hand, this part of the body is allowed all possible freedom. I am here 

 enabled to present a picture, which shows exactly the method employed 

 by these squaws in both carrying and strapping their babies iu the 

 cradle (Fig. 33.) 



It will at once bo observed that the head of the child is perfectly free, 

 and that it has been supplied with a thick and soft pillow at the back 



