MATERIAL CULTURE 



27 



white bone is ornamented, carved, and painted. Noth- 

 ing can exceed the beauty of these bows, and it takes 

 an Indian about three months to make one." (Belden, 

 112.) All these compound bows are sinew-backed, 

 it being the sinew that gives them efficiency. Sonic 

 fine old wooden bows may be seen in the Museum's 

 Dakota collection. 



Fig. 2. Lance with Obsidian Point. Nez Perce. 



A lance was frequently used for buffalo : in the hands 

 of a powerful horseman, this is said to have been quite 

 effective. There is a stone-pointed lance in the Nez 

 Perce collection w T hich may be of the type formerly 

 used, Fig. 2. Wounded animals and those in the 

 enclosure of the pound w T ere often brought down by 

 knocking on the head with stone-headed clubs and 

 mauls. 



Pemmican. As buffalo could not be killed every 

 day, some method of preserving their flesh in an eatable 

 condition w T as necessary to the well-being of the Plains 

 Indian. The usual method was by drying in the sun. 

 Steaks were cut broad and thin, and slashed by short 

 cuts which gaped open when the pieces were suspended, 



