328 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



look well to these. They are not showy things, but are none the 

 less valuable in revealing early life. A bare reference to them will 

 suffice in this paper, which treats of implements and ornaments, and 

 not of food. 



To show how little was generally known of bone articles in New 

 York but a few years since, reference may be made to A. E. Doug- 

 lass's table of Indian relics in his fine cabinet, in 1896. He then 

 had 36 bone implements, 17 of which came from New York. His 

 30 bone beads included no New York specimens, and but one of his 

 six bone ornaments was found here. Of his 73 images, masks and 

 heads of all materials, but eight were from the United States, and 

 none from New York. The character of the collection is mainly 

 the result of personal opportunities and limitations, and, because of 

 this, some little known collections of a local character are very 

 important in determining geographic distribution and illustrating 

 rare forms. For a similar reason, it seems proper to quote David 

 Boyle's remarks on bone articles in Canada, the home of the Hurons 

 and Neutrals, who were kindred to the Iroquois of New York, and 

 whose remains are directly related to those found here. Mr Boyle 

 says : 



Many tools and a few ornaments were made of bone and horn,, 

 but no weapons appear to have been produced from these materials, 

 unless we include those known as harpoons having one or more 

 barbs. On account of the extensive use of bone by the "Eskimo, 

 there is a strong temptation to refer many of our specimens of this 

 kind to Innuit origin, especially as the resemblance of ours to theirs 

 is often very marked. But, in this respect, there does not appear 

 to be any more reason for so doing than there is for attributing the 

 same origin to flints, vessels of soapstone and some other things. 

 Still, when we take into account the Huron-Iroquois tradition as to 

 the former abiding place of the nation on the north shore of the 

 Gulf of St Lawrence, we may at once concede the probability 

 of strong Eskimo influences affecting the work of our Indians. 

 Boyle, p. 72 



Mr Boyle seems to refer the early Iroquois to the north shore of 



the Gulf of St Lawrence, but the Eskimos lived there in historic 



times. The Iroquois made the unilateral harpoon of bone long 



after the whites entered New York, and the bilateral to some extent. 



The age and origin of many of these are clearly proved. Mr Boyle 



goes on to say of one fine article : 



