SWANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 525 



In describing the costume of a Virginia Indian, Beverley says : 



His Apron [i. e., breechclout] is made of a Deerskin, gashed about the edges, which 

 hang lil^e Tassels or Fringe ; at the upper end of the Fringe is an edging of Peak, 

 to make it finer. ( Beverley, 1705, bk. 3, p. 4. ) 



MacCauley says of the Florida Seminole in 1880-81, 



Belts, and turbans too, are often ornamented with fanciful devices wrought out 

 of silver. It is not customary for the Indian men to wear these ornaments in every- 

 day camp life. They appear with them on festival occasion or when they visit some 

 trading post. (MacCauley, 1887, p. 480.) 



The Yuchi sashes correspond to this. Speck describes them as 



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 admixture 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 fixed tassels fall from one hip and the 

 tassels at the knotted end depend from the other. Customarily the tassels reach 

 to the knee. The sash is a mark of distinction, to a certain extent, as it was 

 worn in former times by full-grown men. Nowadays, however, it is worn in ball 

 games and upon ceremonial occasions by the participants in general, though only as 

 regalia. (Speck, 1909, pp. 4&-49.) 



Yuchi women's belts, however, 



were made of leather or tratle cloth and had bead embroidery decorations repre- 

 senting in general the same range of objects as the neckbands and hair ornaments. 

 Such belts were usually about two inches wide. ( Speck, 1909, p. 50. ) 



MacCauley thus describes the ornamentation on the later store 

 clothing worn by the Florida Seminole : 



The clothing of both men and women is ordinarily more or less ornamented. 

 Braids and strips of cloth of various colors are used and wrought upon the 

 garments into odd and sometimes quite tasteful shapes. The upper parts 

 of the shirts of the women are usually embroidered with yellow, red, and brown 

 braids. Sometimes as many as five of these braids lie side by side, parallel 

 with the upper edge of the garment or dropping into a sharp angle between 

 the shoulders. Occasionally a very narrow cape, attached, I think, to the shirt, 

 and much ornamented with braids or stripes, hangs just over the shoulders and 

 back. The same kinds of material used for ornamenting the shirt are also used 

 in decorating the skirt above the lower edge of the petticoat. The women em- 

 broider along this edge, with their braids and the narrow colored stripes, a 

 border of diamond and square shaped figures, which is often an elaborate 

 decoration to the dress. In like manner many of the shirts of the men are 

 made pleasing to the eye. I saw no ornamentation in curves: it was always 

 in straight lines and angles. (MacCauley, 1887, p. 487.) 



