SwANTON] INIDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 497 



the attachment of buckskin strings, which were then tied about the 

 hair. 



The following information is from Speck : 



The manufacture of German silver ornaments, such as finger rings, earrings, 

 bracelets, arm bands, breast pendants, head bands and brooches, seems to have 

 been, for a long time, one of the handicrafts practiced by the Yuchi men. This 

 art has now almost passed away among them and fallen into the hands of 

 their Shawnee neighbors. The objects mentioned in the list were made of what 

 appears to be copper, brass and zinc alloy. The metal was obtained from the 

 whites, and then fashioned into desired shapes by cutting, beating, bending, 

 and punching in the cold state. The favorite method of ornamentation was to 

 punch stars, circles, ovals, curves, scalloped lines, and crescents in the outer 

 surface of the objects. Sometimes the metal was punched completely through 

 to produce an open-work effect. Several pieces of metal were sometimes 

 fastened together by riveting. Ornamental effects were added to the edges 

 of objects by trimming and scalloping. It is also common to see fluting near 

 the borders of bracelets and pendants. Judging from the technique in modern 

 specimens, metal workers have shown considerable skill in working out their 

 patterns. It is possible, moreover, that this art was practiced in pre-historic 

 times with sheet copper for working material, in some cases possibly sheet 

 gold, and that some of the ornaments, such as head bands, bracelets, arm bands 

 and breast ornaments, were of native origin. (Speck, 1909, pp. 36-37.) 



On the basis of our other material, we may safely aifirm such to 

 have been the case. This use of German silver seems to be unusual 

 in the section. 



MacCauley describes a great variety of silver ornaments among 

 the Seminole, but tells us nothing regarding the silver industry, 

 and for that we must turn to Skinner's brief statement: 



In common with all the Eastern tribes, the Seminole are very fond of silver 

 ornaments, most of which they make for themselves. This jewelry is neither as 

 elaborate nor as handsome as that made by more northerly tribes, nor does it 

 have much variety in form. Head or turban bands, spangles, crescents, earrings, 

 and fingerrings are the forms observed and collected. The process of manu- 

 facture and the tools employed are simple. To make a spangle, a coin is heated 

 in a small fire ; it is then removed with a pair of pinchers and hammered out 

 with an ordinary commercial hammer. The poll of an axe driven into a log 

 serves the purpose of an anvil. The process of alternate heating and pounding 

 is repeated again and again until the coin has been flattened out considerably 

 and the design effaced. One smith observed at work greased the coin from 

 time to time as he heated it. After it has been heated and hammered to the 

 satisfaction of the smith, the spangle is pared down with a butcher-knife or a 

 razor blade until it has been reduced to the desired degree of thinness. 



In this state the blank form is sometimes decorated with a design incised with 

 a file or a knife blade. Any irregularities are filed off and the trinket is 

 polished on a whetstone. Sometimes the designs are cut out with a cold-chisel 

 and finished with a knife. Holes for sewing the spangle to a garment are made 

 by driving a nail through the metal and smoothing the edges with a knife. 



This process of silverworking was observed on two occasions, and there was 

 but little difference in the tools or in the manipulation of the smiths. Antler 



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