82 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



from the strings of corn, oste"se"'gas'ske"doni, were used by the 

 "buffalo head" (Hade'yeo") announcers of the midwinter thanks- 

 giving. A crown is arranged for the head and trailers tied to eaoh 

 ankle. Braided in fine ropes, the husk was coiled up into the masks, 

 gatci'sha, used by the husk face (Gatci'sha'oano') company [sec 

 pi. 23]. The braided coils are sewn with thread. An outer binding 

 is fastened to the face, from which long shreds of the husk hang to 

 represent hair [sec pi. 23, fig. i]. 



Another variety of the busk mask is woven entirely and is not 

 sewed [see pi. 23, fig. 2]. These particular masks are used miostly 

 on the Allegany Reservation. Husk bottles, trays and baskets are 

 woven in the same manner as the woven mask as also are sandals 

 and moccasins although the latter are about obsolete now [see pi. 24]. 



Another interesting article manufactured from corn husk is the 

 lounging mat, ono'nya' geska'a or yiondyade^kwa'. This is made 

 of short lengths of the husk neatly rolled and folded at the ends. 

 into which other lengths were inserted and tied in place by a warp 

 of basswood cord. A specimen of this mat is shown in plate 25. 

 It was collected by the author in 1907 on the Tonawanda-Seneca 

 Reservation. It was claimed that it was the old form of the Iro- 

 quois sleeping and lounging mat. It can easily be rolled up and is 

 of no great weig-ht. The writer is not aware of another specimen 

 in any museum. No great age is ascribed to the State Museum 

 specimen, the owner, Lyman Johnson, Gaient'wake' , claiming it had 

 been made in about 1900 by his mother. 



Probably the corn husk article most familiar to white people sur- 

 rounding Indian reservations is the husk door mat, gadiji'sha'. This 

 mat is braided in such a manner that tufts of the husk are left pro- 

 truding from the top of the braid. The braid then is coiled so as 

 to form an oval or round mat and the thick tufts of still husk 

 trimmed ofif evenly, and the flat braids sewed securely with threads 

 of husk. Mats of this kind are common on all the reservations. 

 The details of the foot mat are shown in plate 26. 



Dolls, gaya"da'. are made by folding the husk in a pestlelike 

 form for the neck and body. Room is left for the head and neck 

 and the central core is pierced to allow a wisp of husk to be pulled 

 through to be braided into arms. The lower portion is pierced in 

 the same way and the husk for the legs pulled throug'h. Husks are 

 rolled around the tipper portion of the neck and the head is formed. 



