466 BUREAU OT' AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



The breechcloth, gontson^^ . . . was a piece of stroud with decorated border, 

 which was drawn between the legs and under the girdle before and behind. The 

 flaps, long or short as they might be, are said to have been decorated with bead 

 embroidery, but none of the specimens preserved show it. 



Leggings, to o\ were originallj' of deerskin with the seam down the outside 

 of the leg arranged so as to leave a flap three or four inches wide along the 

 entire length. The stuff was usually stained in some uniform color. In the 

 latter days, however, strouding, or some other heavy substance such as broad- 

 cloth, took the place of deerskin, and the favorite colors for this were black, red 

 and blue. The outside edge of the broad flap invariably bore some decoration, 

 in following out which we find quite uniformly one main idea. By means of 

 ribbons of several colors sewed on the flap a series of long parallel lines in red, 

 yellow, blue and green are brought out. The theme is said to represent sunrise 

 or sunset and is one of the traditional decorations for legging flaps. . . , 

 The legging itself reaches from the instep to the hip on the outer side where 

 a string or thong is attached with which to fasten it to the belt for support. 



The moccasin, det a', still in use ... is made of soft smoked deerskin. It 

 is constructed of one piece of skin. One seam runs straight up the heel. The 

 front seam begins where the toes touch the ground and runs along the instep. 

 At the ankle this seam ends, the uppers hanging loose. The instep seam is 

 sometimes covered with some fancy cloth. Deerskin thongs are fastened at 

 the instep near the bend of the ankle with which to bind the moccasin fast. The 

 thongs are wound just above the ankle and tied in front. Sometimes a length of 

 thong is passed once around the middle of the foot, crossing the sole underneath, 

 when wound once around the ankle and tied in front. This extra binding going 

 beneath the sole is employed generally by those whose feet are large, otherwise 

 the shoe hangs too loose. The Osages, now just north of the Yuchi, employ this 

 method of binding the moccasins quite generally, but the moccasin is quite dif- 

 ferent. The idea, however, may be a borrowed one. Yuchi moccasins have no 

 trailers or instep flaps or lapels, the whole article being extremely plain. It 

 seems that decoration other than the applications of red paint is quite generally 

 lacking. 



The turban, to cin4, seems to have been a characteristic piece of head gear 

 in the Southeast. The historic turban of the Yuchi was a long strip of calico 

 or even heavier goods which was simply wound round and round the head and 

 had the end tucked in under one of the folds to hold it. The turban cloth was 

 of one color, or it could have some pattern according to personal fancy. Plumes 

 of feathers were in the same way stuck in its folds for the artistic effect. That 

 some head covering similar to the turban was known in pre-Columbian times 

 seems probable inasmuch as a myth mentions that Rabbit, when he stole the 

 ember of flre from its keepers, hid it in the folds of his head dress. 



The sashes, gdgddl kwen6, "the two suspended from the body" . . . worn 

 by men, are made of woolen yarn. The simplest of these consists merely of a 

 bunch of strands twisted together and wrapped at the ends. A loose knot holds 

 the sash about the waist. But the characteristic sash of the southeastern tribes, 

 and one much in favor with the Yuchi, is more complex in its makeup, and quite 

 attractive in effect, the specimens I have seen being for the most part knitted. 

 The sashes of the Yuchi seem to be uniformly woven with yarn of a dark red 

 color. Some specimens, however, show an intermixture of blue or yellow, or 

 both. The main feature is a dark red ground for the white beads which are 

 strung on the weft. Figures of triangles and lozenges or zigzags are attractively 

 produced by the white beaded outlines and the conventional design produced is 

 called "bull snake." The sash is tied about the waist so that the flxed tassels 

 fall from one hip and the tassels at the knotted end depend from the other. 



