HORN AND BONE IMPLEMENTS 275 



tion these teeth can hardly he expected. The teeth of smaller 



animals were in less favor, though sometimes used. Human trophies 



perhaps had not the esteem which some have supposed. Fingers 



were cut or bitten off by the fierce Iroquois, but there is positive 



evidence that these were not preserved, as some have thought. 



Accustomed as they were to plucking out the nails of captives, it is 



not likely these were kept as trophies, as has been reported. The 



French often told such things, as the enemies of the Iroquois 



related them, and De Yries said that either the Mahikans or the 



Mohawks " place their foe against a tree or stake, and first tear all 



the nails from his fingers and run them on a string, which they 



wear the same as we do gold chains. It is considered to the honor 



of any chief who has vanquished or overcome his enemies if he bite 



off or cut off some of their members, as w T hole fingers." De Yries , 



3:91. This, he was told, was done at Albany, which was in the 



Mahikan territory. 



Father Jogues mentions the Mohawk practice : 



There remained to me only two nails ; these barbarians tore these 

 out with the teeth, lacerating the flesh beneath, and stripping it 

 even to the bone with their nails, which they nurse until very long. 

 Relations, 161fl 



In the Relation of 1658 it is noted that the savages "nourish 

 their nails as a mark of nobility, showing that their hands are not 

 fit for work." A necklace of this kind might thus show the rank 

 of those tortured or slain. Most narratives give the impression that 

 they were torn out and cast away. In the nature of things they 

 would not have survived to our day, if preserved then. 



In a paper entitled " Medicine men of the Apache," Capt. John 

 G. Bourke describes the use of perforated human teeth as orna- 

 mental trophies, in many parts of the world. He says, " In my 

 own experience I have never come across any specimens, and my 

 belief is that among the Indians south of the isthmus such things 

 are to be found almost exclusively. I have found no reference to 

 such ornamentation or ' medicine ' among the tribes of ^North 

 America." jBourke, p. 487 



Human teeth occur on Iroquois sites unconnected with graves, 

 for in their cannibal feasts these might be dropped anywhere, but 

 perforated teeth are certainly rare. Fig. 162 is one from an Oneida 



