METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 3 1 



a strip of brass with three perforations. Fig. 367 is a pentagonal 

 brass plate, and fig. 154 a brass circle, both perforated. These are 

 from Indian hill, Pompey. There are others elsewhere. 



Earrings 



The earliest metallic earrings in use in New York were probably 

 those of copper wire coiled and flattened. Fragments of these have 

 puzzled some antiquaries. It is possible that some perforated disks 

 and coins may have served the same purpose at an early day, but 

 they are more likely to have been used in some other way. Glass 

 and shell beads were also utilized for earrings, and probably many 

 other things. In the picture of Colonel Pickering's conference at 

 Buffalo, in 1793, all of the Indians wear in their ears large elliptic 

 disks, each containing an engraved cross. Stone, 2 ".342. This form 

 does not appear in any New York collections. 



The earliest unmistakable form was of copper wire, bent at an 

 acute angle in the center, and having the ends bent into a flat coil. 

 This done, the wire was hammered down to half its first thickness. 

 They are often broken in the center, and then give no suggestion 

 of their use. In their symmetric form their purpose is evident. 

 They are occasional in Canada, but are probably more frequent on 

 Onondaga sites than elsewhere. The smallest which has met the 

 writer's eye is a fragment from Ontario county, in the Hildburgh 

 collection. They vary much in size. 



Heckewelder described another ornament for the head which he 

 observed at an Indian funeral. " Her long plaited hair was con- 

 fined by broad bands of silver, one band joining to the other, yet 

 not of the same size, but tapering from the head downwards, and 

 running at the lower end to a point." Hcckezvelder, p. 270 



Loskiel said: "At feasts, their hair is frequently decorated with 

 silver rings, corals, or wampum, and even with silver buckles. 

 Some wear a bandage round their heads, ornamented with as many 

 silver buckles as it will hold." Loskiel, 1 48. He adds, " They also 

 decorate the lappets of their ears with pearls, rings, sparkling stones, 

 feathers, flowers, corals, or silver crosses." Loskiel, 1 149 



