454 BURiEAIT OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



Nevertheless, a little beyond he mentions the inner bark of the mul- 

 berry tree used as an alternative to the "hemp" as a foundation 

 for feather mantles. Possibly Adair's "hemp" is identical with 

 Elvas' "grass resembling nettle," though the descriptions appear to 

 indicate considerable difference in size. Moreover, there is no rea- 

 son why the weaving process once understood should not have been 

 applied to a number of different kinds of threads. Of one of these 

 were made the "white coverings woven in panels with clever arti- 

 fice and edged about with a scarlet fringe" which the French saw 

 in the sixteenth century upon the couch of the chief of the province 

 of Guale on the present Georgia coast (Laudonniere, 1586, p. 48; 

 Swanton, 1922, p. 73). If information collected by myself many 

 years ago is correct, textile material was also obtained from the slip- 

 pery elm. Jackson Lewis, through whom this comes, stated, on the 

 authority of a very old woman who once lived at his house, that the 

 Creeks formerly collected the small twigs of the slippery elm, tied 

 them up in bundles, boiled them in lye of wood ashes, and then beat 

 them until the pulp came away and a beautiful fibrous material was 

 left, out of which they made a kind of cloth. This was woven en- 

 tirely by hand and, as is usually stated of mulbery-bark clothing, 

 clothing for the women was made out of it. Sometimes they colored 

 these by means of certain herbs. 



Mention has already been made of the Choctaw fabric woven of 

 a mixture of bison hair and a vegetable fiber. 



Needles were almost always of bone. Adair (1775, p. 6) mentions 

 "fish-bones, or the horns and bones of deer, rubbed sharp." Early 

 authorities have next to nothing to say regarding the Indian methods 

 of sewing, but the following may be quoted from Speck, who is 

 speaking of the Yuchi Indians : 



Sewing is done by piercing holes in the edges to be joined with an awl. 

 Two methods of stitching are known, the simple running stitch and the over- 

 hand. The latter, on account of its strength, is, however, more commonly 

 used. Sinew and deerskin thongs are employed for thread. 



One specimen of awl, for sewing and basket making, consists of a piece 

 of deer antler about six inches long into which a shai"p pointed piece of metal 

 is firmly inserted. Bone is supposed to have been used for the point part 

 before metal was obtainable. Several chevron-like scratches on the handle 

 of this specimen [illustrated] are property marks. . . . 



Softened deerskin thongs were employed for tying and binding purposes. 

 (Speck, 1909, p. 36.) 



FEATHERWORK 



From Virginia to Louisiana garments and blankets were made by 

 fastening feathers upon a kind of netting. Feather mantles were 



