THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 147 



and beads from their own country ; and also, at times, in dresses in part made of red 

 and blue cloths of civilized manufacture, purchased and manufactured by them since 

 they left their homes, in a rude and curious, though very gaudy and effective, taste. 



Buton-ye-we-ma (the Strutting Pigeon) is the wife of the chief, White Cloud. She 

 is the best looking of the women, and has her little child — a girl — playing around her. 

 This child, though more than two years old, is yet nurtured at the breast, and is by 

 no means a singular case, for, in many instances, the Indian mother gives the breast 

 to her child to the age of three, and, in some cases, to the age of four years. 



Okee-we-me (the wife of the Little Wolf) is the mother of the infant pappoose, called 

 Corsair. This child is but a little more than three months old, and slung in the cradle 

 on the mother's back, according to the general custom practiced by all the American 

 tribes, and furnishes one of the most interesting illustrations in the group. All tribes 

 in America practice the same mode of carrying their infant children for several months 

 from their birth upon a flat board resting upon the mother's back, as she walks or 

 rides, suspended by a broad strap passing over her forehead, or across her breast. By 

 this mode of carrying their children, the mothers, who have to perform all the slavish 

 duties of the camp, having the free use of their hands and arms, are enabled to work 

 most of the time, and, in fact, exercise and labor nearly as well as if the child were 

 not attached to their persons. These cradles are often, as in the present instance, 

 most elaborately embroidered with porcupine quills, and loaded with little trinkets 

 hanging within the child's reach, that it may amuse itself with them as it rides, with 

 its face looking from that of its mother, while she is at work, so as not to draw upon 

 her valuable time. 



This rigid and seemingly cruel mode of lashing the child with its back to a straight 

 board seems to be one peculiarly adapted to Indian life, and I believe promotes 

 straight limbs, sound lungs, and long life. 



Personal appearance. — The Ioways, occupying a middle latitude in America, 

 seem to exhibit about a medium or average of complexion, stature, &c, of the North 

 American tribes, the average stature not much differing from that of the inhabitants 

 of Great Britain, yet in muscular development and strength much inferior. This, 

 however, is probably the result of habit, as these people have little use for the exer- 

 tion of their muscles, other than in the chase and war, which are very different from 

 the laborious occupations of civilized life. The hunters' life, however, on horseback 

 and on foot, and their violent dances, occupying much of their lives, give great 

 strength to the muscles of the leg, enabling them generally to perform feats which 

 it would be exceedingly difficult for civilized men to perform. 



The Ioways, like three other tribes in America, observe a mode of dressing the head, 

 which renders their appearance peculiarly pleasing and effective. They shave the 

 hair from the wholo head, except a small patch left on the top of the head, called 

 the scalp-lock, to which they attach a beautiful red crest, made of the hair of the 

 deer's tail, dyed red, and horse hair; and rising out of this crest, which has much 

 the appearance of a Grecian helmet, the war eagle's quill completing the head-dress 

 of their warriors. 



That part of the head which is shaved is generally rouged to an extravagant degree, 

 and they boast of the mode of shaving their heads to the part that is desired for the 

 scalp, saying that they point out to their enemies who may kill them in battle where 

 to cut with the scalping-knife, "that they may not lose time in hunting out the 

 scalp." 



Ornaments. — Red, black, green, and white paints are the chief and gaudy orna- 

 ments to the persons of all American Indians, and none, perhaps, use them more 

 abundantly than the Ioways do. These are put on in the morning, and generally 

 arranged according to the modes they are to go through, or the society they are to 

 mingle with, during the day, and are all carefully washed away at night. 



With the men. — Of the durable and picturesque, the necklaces made of the claws 

 of the grizzly bear, scalp-locks on the seams of their dresses, the war eagle's quills, 



