HORN AND BONE IMPLEMENTS 329 



Barbed bone hooks are extremely rare. I have heard of two or 

 three others, but this is the only one I ever saw. It is not too 

 unreasonable to suppose " white " influence to have been here at 

 work at a comparatively recent date. It has been noticed that 

 articles made of bone are much more frequently found in some parts 

 of the country than in others. In the Ottawa and St Lawrence 

 counties few bone specimens occur. In the old Huron country 

 they are comparatively rare, and not many are found in the western 

 counties. On the other hand, large numbers have been collected 

 in the neighborhood of Toronto, of Brantford, and in North Hast- 

 ings county. Awls are the most common form of bone tool. They 

 are from 2 inches to 8 or 10 inches in length. They are sometimes 

 spoken of as needles, but it is most likely that their use was to per- 

 forate bark and skin before inserting the thong or fiber employed 

 for sewing. Another form also known as a needle . . . was 

 almost certainly employed in the netting of snowshoes, and in the 

 making of grass mats, for passing the binding string or thong of 

 sinew or root fiber in and out among the stalks of grass as they 

 hung suspended from a bar in front of the worker. It is, therefore, 

 more like a shuttle, although it was not shot. An unfinished Ojibwa 

 mat in the provincial museum, yet attached to the original bar 

 shows how the work was and is performed by the native women. 

 Boyle, p. 73 



This latter needle is the one known by that name in New York. 

 It may be supposed that deeper excavations on village sites will 

 reveal many articles of bone in the Huron country. European 

 articles were so soon taken there that bone may have soon been 

 disused on historic sites. This was not the case in the Neutral 

 country. Mr Boyle proceeds : 



As pins to fasten clothing on the person bone was the best mate- 

 rial procurable, and it is not unlikely that many of the so called 

 needles were employed in this way. Specialized forms are found 

 occasionally on which some pains have been taken by way of orna- 

 mentation. . . Pins of this kind are generally spoken of as pot- 

 tery markers, but as a rule the designs on Indian clay vessels required 

 no special tool. Implements for dressing skins very effectively were 

 made from the metacarpal bones of large quadrupeds like the moose, 

 caribou and common deer. Some of these tools are quite smooth at 

 the scraping edge, while others are neatly notched to give them 

 additional grip. Boyle, p. 74 



These are cut like a gouge or chisel, and the ornamented awls are 

 like those of New York. So are the combs, beads, pendants and 

 grooved implements. Carving of human figures and faces was 

 recent ; and Boyle says nothing of bone whistles there. Horn was 



