﻿32 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  One 
  observation 
  on 
  Indian 
  headdress, 
  by 
  this 
  author, 
  is 
  of 
  

   interest: 
  

  

  The 
  Delaware 
  women 
  never 
  plait 
  their 
  hair, 
  but 
  fold 
  and 
  tie 
  it 
  

   round 
  with 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  cloth 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  The 
  Iroquois, 
  Shawanose, 
  

   and 
  Huron 
  women 
  wear 
  a 
  queue, 
  down 
  to 
  their 
  hips, 
  tied 
  round 
  

   with 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  cloth, 
  and 
  hung 
  with 
  red 
  ribbands. 
  The 
  rich 
  adorn 
  

   their 
  heads 
  with 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  silver 
  trinkets 
  of 
  considerable 
  weight. 
  

   This 
  mode 
  of 
  finery 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  common 
  among 
  the 
  Delawares 
  as 
  the 
  

   Iroquois, 
  who 
  by 
  studying 
  dress 
  and 
  ornament 
  more 
  than 
  any 
  other 
  

   Indian 
  nation, 
  are 
  allowed 
  to 
  dictate 
  the 
  fashion 
  to 
  the 
  rest. 
  

   Loskiel, 
  1 
  152 
  

  

  In 
  Miss 
  Powell's 
  account 
  of 
  an 
  Iroquois 
  chief 
  in 
  1785, 
  hereafter 
  

   to 
  be 
  quoted, 
  she 
  said 
  he 
  had 
  " 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  immense 
  earrings, 
  which 
  

   hung 
  below 
  his 
  shoulders." 
  The 
  picture 
  of 
  Joseph 
  Brant 
  in 
  his 
  

   youth, 
  by 
  Romney, 
  helps 
  us 
  to 
  understand 
  this, 
  his 
  pendants 
  being 
  

   of 
  the 
  same 
  length. 
  Half 
  of 
  the 
  earring 
  was 
  a 
  chain 
  of 
  large 
  silver 
  

   rings. 
  From 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  this 
  depended 
  three 
  chains 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  

   kind. 
  A 
  system 
  of 
  pendants 
  was 
  a 
  favorite 
  feature 
  of 
  this 
  orna- 
  

   ment, 
  as 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  later. 
  Parts 
  of 
  these 
  were 
  easily 
  detached 
  and 
  

   lost, 
  and 
  when 
  thus 
  separated 
  have 
  been 
  misunderstood. 
  Their 
  

   Onondaga 
  name 
  is 
  Ka-wahs'-hah. 
  

  

  Fig. 
  169 
  shows 
  the 
  earliest 
  form 
  of 
  these 
  ornaments 
  known 
  in 
  

   New 
  York, 
  and 
  was 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Onondaga 
  fort 
  of 
  1654, 
  where 
  

   many 
  have 
  been 
  obtained, 
  both 
  perfect 
  and 
  fragmentary. 
  It 
  is 
  

   simply 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  copper 
  wire 
  symmetrically 
  coiled 
  in 
  opposite 
  direc- 
  

   tions, 
  and 
  forming 
  a 
  loop 
  in 
  the 
  center. 
  This 
  was 
  then 
  hammered 
  

   down 
  to 
  a 
  moderate 
  degree. 
  Of 
  course 
  there 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  some 
  

   means 
  of 
  attachment 
  to 
  the 
  ear, 
  unless 
  the 
  opening 
  was 
  very 
  large. 
  

   Fig. 
  168 
  is 
  from 
  a 
  neighboring 
  site, 
  occupied 
  in 
  1677, 
  and 
  probably 
  

   earlier. 
  They 
  were 
  extensively 
  distributed, 
  but 
  their 
  use 
  was 
  con- 
  

   fined 
  to 
  that 
  century. 
  They 
  are 
  often 
  broken 
  at 
  the 
  loop, 
  and 
  in 
  

   this 
  condition 
  have 
  perplexed 
  some 
  collectors. 
  

  

  A 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  the 
  silver 
  earrings 
  known 
  are 
  later 
  than 
  

   colonial 
  times, 
  as 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  fig. 
  170, 
  furnished 
  by 
  Mrs 
  Converse, 
  

   whose 
  fine 
  collection 
  is 
  well 
  known. 
  This 
  has 
  not 
  only 
  the 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  eagle, 
  but 
  the 
  union 
  shield 
  on 
  the 
  breast. 
  There 
  is 
  provision 
  

   for 
  a 
  pendant 
  in 
  the 
  loop 
  at 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  tail. 
  

  

  