OEXAMEXTS OF SHELL. 



257 



Fig. 126. 



w* 



Mr. Powers* has given an interesting account of the shell money of 

 the Nishmam tribe, with a notice of the comparative value of the several 

 forms and the names by which they are designated. He states that "Cap- 

 tain Tom," a Nishinam, was provided with 

 nearlv half a bushel of shell money and trin- 

 kets, having a value of $458. From this 

 statement it is not singular that the shell or- 

 naments should be found in such abundance 

 in the graves. Plate XII, Fig. 40, from Dos 

 Pueblos, is a disk like those about the neck 

 of Captain Tom's wife, Fig. 126, and is by 

 the Nishinam tribe called "hawock." They 

 are cut from the large, thick clam-shell, Tivola, , 

 which is, according to Mr. Stearns, peculiar K\ 

 to the southern coast of California.! The 

 small pieces of shell attached to the woman's 

 girdle, as seen in Fig. 126, are like the thin, 

 more or less triangular pendants, made of the 



shell Of Hdliotis, from DOS Pueblos and La A Nishinam woman of Central Califor- 



Patera, shown On Plate XII, Figs. 36, 37, nia^ith shell money and ornaments 



' ° ' such as are iound in the graves m the 



38, and are Called " uhllo." According to vicinity of Santa Barbara. 



Mr. Powers, the perforated shells of OUvella biplicata compose the "cheap 

 jewelry" of the women, and are known as "colcol." 



A glance at Plate XII will convey a general idea of the forms into 

 which the thin shells of the Haliotis, or "abalone," are cut. Many of these 

 are circular pieces of various sizes, with a single central perforation, as 

 Figs. 34, 35, 43, or with two holes, as Figs. 10, 11, 16, 44; others are square, 

 or nearly so, with one, two, or even four perforations, as Figs. 8, 12, 13, 

 14, 42. Fig. 15 varies from this shape by being deeply notched on two 

 opposite sides. Other pieces, which were probably securely sewed to some 

 garment, have the holes for the passage of the thread near the edge, as 

 Figs. 33, 39. Another form, also probably intended for close attachment 



* Contributions to North American Ethnology, Vol. Ill, p. 335. 



tThis clam having been identified for me as Tivola crassatelloklcs, I have retained that name in 

 these pages. Mr. Stearns, however, refers it to the genus Pachydesma. 

 17 c I 



