members of the chief’s family, the subdivisions of the tribe, or 
the officers of the council. This symbolism has, however, been 
almost totally forgotten except by a few of the older people. 
It has been completely submerged by the vague floral symbolism 
mentioned before. Where the simple double-curve represents 
an enclosure, the interior ornaments, in the shape of leaf-like 
ovals, diamond, spurs, or zigzags, stand for the particular things 
conceived of within the enclosure. These may be persons, off- 
icers, villages, or tribes. Where clusters of the double-curve 
figures appear—it may be back to back, side to side, or in other 
relations—they denote the bonds of alliance in a general way. 
It is only in a few special instances that definite interpretations 
can be given to the ornaments within the curves, as in some of 
the chief’s regalia capes or collars, where the interior ornaments 
stand for the members of his family who may be eligible to inherit 
his office, his councilmen and subordinate chiefs. 
Where these designs function most seriously is upon the 
articles of regalia worn by chiefs during the ceremonies. We 
have several interesting specimens of these. One in particular 
is a mourning cape to be worn by one of the chief officers in the 
ceremony of electing a new chief (Plate I). The idea here is that 
the assembly is in mourning for the deceased chief and the mourn- 
ing remains on the people until the new chief is elected. This ex- 
ample represents that stage of the ceremony preceding the actual 
election, while the mourning is still on. The cape itself may be 
divided into three areas, the outer area, with a purely decorative 
ribbon appliqué, the whole inner circumference, including the 
long ends, embroidered with a maze of scrolls and double-curves, 
and the lower central area in which may be seen double-curve 
enclosures, within which are a number of minor ornaments and 
a diamond shaped figure, the whole filled in between the lines 
of white beadwork with a dark ribbon interior. The inner border 
area (Fig. 5, b) represents in general the different villages, family 
and tribal units gathered for the occasion and bound together 
by the ties of friendship. It is in the lower central area (Fig. 5, a) 
that we strike the main significance of the design. Here the 
darkened central triangle denotes the place of mourning, that is, 
the village at Oldtown where the deceased chief is being replaced 
by his successor. The other oval-like ornaments, spurs and trian- 
