1902.] 



Kroeber, The Arapaho. 



29 



i III 



Wh . 



ous articles. A bone used for flattening porcupine-quills and 

 for painting skins is shown in Fig. 4. It is said to represent 

 a person. The notches cut into the edges denote the age of 

 a previous owner of the instrument. 



The following are statements of an old woman. When an 

 inexperienced person tries for the first time to do quill-em- 

 broidery, failure ensues. The points of the quills 

 stick out, and the whole embroidery becomes 

 loose. When she was young, she once helped 

 other women to embroider a robe. She had never 

 done this before. The line of embroidery which 

 she was working was spoiled, the quills would not 

 stay fast, and the other women refused to work 

 with her. She arose and prayed that she might 

 be able to work successfully, and said that she 

 would make a whole robe in this style of em- 

 broidery. An old woman who was present said 

 that this was good. After this the quills remained 

 fast, and she was able to embroider. 



A woman, thought to be the oldest woman in the 

 Oklahoma portion of the tribe, kept a small stick 

 with thirty notches. These represented thirty 

 robes that she had made in her lifetime. She said 

 that the usual buffalo-robe had twenty lines of 

 quill-embroidery across it, and was called niisa°6xt. 

 There were seventeen lines, and then three more 

 close together along the bottom of the robe. The 

 lines were ordinarily yellow. She made one robe 

 with white quill-work, to signify old age. The 

 lines were formerly not made of red quills (as in . .„„. 

 some modern robes of children). Only certain LengthrMcm: 

 portions of designs on the lines were red. Some- 

 times these were green instead of red. Fifty small dew-claws 

 of the buffalo were hung as pendants or rattles along the 

 lower edge of a twenty-lined robe. If the robe had only 

 seventeen lines of quill- embroidery, forty hoof-pendants were 

 attached. She had made a robe for every member of her 

 family but one. Whenever she made and gave away a robe, 



''I 



Fie. 4(i«t). 

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