SwANTON] INDIANS OP THE SOUTHE'ASTEiRN UNITED STATES 449 



the bark of trees were employed, and Timberlake mentions "twisted 

 bear's gut" among the Cherokee (Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, p. 

 167; Swanton, 1911, p. 58). Next to deer sinew, I have been informed 

 that the best Creek bowstrings were made of twisted squirrel skin. 



The Choctaw fastened the handles of ball sticks, after they had been 

 bent over, with strings of deer hide, but the "basket" was formed 

 of raccoon-skin thongs (Swanton, 1931 a, p. 42). 



The hair used industrially was obtained almost entirely from two 

 animals, the bison and the opossum, and used for a limited class of 

 productions as much ornamental as practical. Our Virginia author- 

 ities make no mention of the employment of hair by the Indians, but 

 Byrd says of that of the bison : 



The Hair growing on his Head and Neck is long and Shagged, and so Soft that 

 it will Spin into Thread not unlike Mohair, which might be woven into a Sort of 

 Camlet. Some People have Stockings knit of it, that would have served an 

 Israelite during his forty Years' march thro' the Wilderness. (Bassett, 1901, p. 

 288.) 



Mr. Bushnell (1909, pp. 403-406) has called attention to bags made 

 of bison hair in the Pitt-Rivers and British Museums, and the Sloane 

 Catalogue in the British Museum refers to an object of this kind from 

 Carolina, but only this bag is localized. However, Lawson (1860, 

 p. 11) testifies to the use of bison hair by the Indians of his acquaint- 

 ance, who spun it "into garters, girdles, sashes, and the like." We 

 also hear of it from the interior tribes and those along the Mississippi. 



In the winter season, the women gather buffalo's hair, a sort of coarse brown 

 curled wool ; and having spun it as fine as they can, and properly doubled it, they 

 put small beads of different colours upon the yarn, as they work it ; the figures 

 they work in these small webs, are generally uniform, but sometimes they diver- 

 sify them on both sides. The Choktah weave shot-pouches, which have raised 

 work inside and outside. (Adair, 1775, p. 454.) 



According to Dumont de Montigny, the Natchez "spin without 

 spinning wheel or distaff the hair or rather wool of the bison, of 

 which they make garters (jarretieres) and ribbons," and the belts 

 worn by Natchez women were perhaps of the same material. 

 (Dumont, 1753, vol. 1, pp. 154-155; Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, 

 p. 184; Swanton, 1911, p. 64.) 



It was also used in the composition of straps to hold the bag, strings 

 ornamented with beads and fastened to the hair, and in the following 

 combined ornament and charm described by Adair: 



The Indian females continually wear a beaded string round their legs, made 

 of buffalo hair, which is a species of coarse wool; and they reckon it a great 

 ornament, as well as a preservative against miscarriages, hard labour, and other 

 evils. (Adair, 1775, p. 169.) 



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