no NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Silver ornaments. The Archeologist secured nearly a hundred 

 silver brooches of various sizes from the Allegany Senecas. These 

 brooches are of various sizes and forms and furnish a valuable addi- 

 tion to the State collection. 



A collection of 19 large silver disks ranging from 6 inches in 

 diameter down to 2 inches was included in the Hill collection. 

 These disks are represented as Algonquin ornaments secured at 

 Oldtown, Maine. In this collection were two silver crowns one 

 of which is the largest in the State collection. 



Some rare brooches were included in the M. R. Harrington col- 

 lection. In this collection also was a pair of earrings very similar 

 to those figured by Morgan in the early Museum reports. 



Several pairs of silver earrings of interesting form were pur- 

 chased from the Indians by the Archeologist. Some of the speci- 

 mens have glass gems in settings. 



Possibly the most valuable ethnological acquisition was a set of 

 Indian silversmith's tools, purchased from a brother of the last Alle- 

 g-any brooch maker, George Silversmith. The outfit consists of 

 small iron and steel chisels, made by the silversmith himself. A 

 niassive blowpipe of brass, store hammers and files were included. 

 The silver used for brooch making was obtained by beating Cana- 

 dian silver coins to the desired thinness when the pattern was traced 

 on and cut out with the chisels. A set of earring and ring punches 

 form an important part of the outfit. 



Several Indian made finger rings were also acquired and are the 

 only specimens in the State collection. 



Masonic emblem. One of the most interesting specimens of 

 the white man's art found on an Indian site is a large Masonic 

 emblem of copper found by Luke I. Fitch on an old Onondaga site 

 near Pompey, Onondaga co. The square and compasses in the 

 emblem are surrounded by a belt embossed with the roses of York 

 and the Scottish thistles. Several Iroquois Indians late in the i8th 

 century and early in the 19th were Free Masons, notably Brant and 

 Red Jacket. Whether the emblem was worn by some Indian or by 

 a white man is not known, but the probabilities are that it was lost 

 by some colonial soldier or agent sent among the Onondagas. 



Several Masonic brooches of Indian make are in the museum 

 collection of Iroquois silver work. 



