62 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



pleted the tree is chopped down. Its life is believed to enter 

 the face which is chopped from the trunk and finished by the 

 carver. During the process of carving an officer of the company 

 throws tobacco, oyefVkwa'o^we', (Nicotina rustic a) upon 

 a small fire and chants the rite that makes the face, a living 

 potency. A photograph of the carving ceremony is shown in 

 plate 18. The Archeologist obtained the false face on the tree- 

 trunk carving and added it to the State Museum collection. 

 So far it forms a unique specimen in collections of Iroquois 

 artifacts. 



One other carving, that of a wolf head used for placing over a 

 door, was purchased. The head represents the token of the 

 mother and children living within the house. 



The Senecas have not used bark barrels for storage for more 

 than 40 years. Barrels of elm bark once formed the chief means 

 for storing corn and other provisions as well as goods of other 

 kinds. Early in the year one of these elm bark storage barrels 

 was found on the Cattaraugus Reservation and purchased by the 

 Archeologist. It had recently been made by a Seneca whose mother 

 had instructed him in the all but forgotten art. It is about 18 

 inches in diameter and 30 inches high and has a cover. The 

 bark is sewed with the inner bark of the elm. In the entire 

 object there is not a nail or a peg. The Algonquin Indians of 

 Canada, particularly the Abenakis make barrels similar to this 

 of birch bark but they are not as strong as the elm bark barrels 

 of the Iroquois. A birch bark storage basket was purchased for 

 comparison. 



A good set of baskets used in planting, harvesting and food 

 preparation was purchased from Mrs Edward Cornplanter of 

 Newtown on the Cattaraugus Reservation. A paddle which was 

 included in the collection had been promised for several years. 

 This paddle had a number of grotesque figures carved upon the 

 handle but some of the most significant from the standpoint 

 of symbolism had been cut away. ■ 



An interesting war club made from the knot of a sapling root 

 was secured from the Senecas. It has carved upon it representa- 

 tions of all the clan animals and two Indians engaged in combat. 



Other unusual pieces are an Eagle Society speaker's pole, 

 examples of modern silver work, wooden spoons, and several 

 beaded articles, two of them old and very fine. Several charms 

 and amulets were added to the already interesting series. 



