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METALLIC IMPLEMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 15 
As copper was prized for ornamental purposes from the begin- 
ning it seems to have been a very acceptable gift from early 
vyoyagers. Any metallic ornament would not only be prized but 
preserved, and there is good reason to suppose that such things, 
given to the Iroquois of Hochelaga and other places by Cartier 
or his men, were afterward brought to New York. This will 
appear in its proper place. 
When trade with the Dutch and French opened more fully in 
the early part of the 17th century, metallic implements and 
ornaments were in great request. One has only to look over 
old bills of supplies and purchases to see how great was their 
quantity and variety. For ornamental purposes bronze, brass 
and nearly pure copper long had sway. About the beginning 
of the 18th century silver began to take its place, and for 150 
years held its own as the fashionable material. Loskiel spoke 
of this. ‘ The rich adorn their heads with a number of silver 
trinkets of considerable weight. This mode of finery is not so 
common among the Delawares as the Iroquois, who, by studying 
dress and ornament more than any other Indian nation, are 
allowed to dictate the fashion to the rest.”—Loshiel, p. 52 
A great number of forms became common, and all were 
lavishly used. Some were very beautiful and were tastefully 
employed. At first they were made by the whites, but the 
Iroquois soon learned the art and had their own smiths in every 
village. Such ornaments were abundant till the civil war, 
when the high price of silver brought many to the smelting pot. 
It is difficult to obtain even the smaller ornaments now. 
Prof. Cyrus Thomas has wisely called attention to the large 
supply of copper furnished to the coast Indians by early ex- 
plorers and colonists, and to the use made of it. He says: 
A careful examination of the copper articles found in the 
mounds should lead any one, not swayed by some preconceived 
notion, to the conclusion that many of them were made of 
copper brought over to America by Europeans, which would as 
a matter of course indicate (if they do not pertain to intrusive 
burials) that the mounds in which such specimens are found 
were erected subsequent to the discovery by Columbus. The 
