M \ I llil \l. < I I.I IRK. 53 



not only woman's work but 1km- worth and virtue were 

 estimated by her output. Soles of moccasins, parfleche, 

 and other similar hags were made of stiff rawhide, the 

 product of one of the simplest and perhaps the most 

 primitive methods of treating skins. The uppers of 

 moccasins, soft bags, thongs, etc., were of pliable 

 texture, produced by a more elaborate and laborious 

 process. 



For the rawhide finish the treatment is as follows : — 

 Shortly after the removal of a hide, it is stretched out 

 on the ground near the tipi, hair side down, and held 

 in place by wooden stakes or pins such as are used in 

 staking down the covers of tipis. Clinging to the 

 upturned flesh side of the hide are many fragments 

 of muscular tissue, fat, and strands of connective 

 tissue, variously blackened by coagulated blood. The 

 first treatment is that of cleaning or fleshing. Shortly 

 after the staking out, the surface is gone over with a 

 fleshing tool by which the adhering flesh, etc., is raked 

 and hacked aw^ay. This is an unpleasant and laborious 

 process requiring more brute strength than skill. 

 Should the hide become too dry and stiff to work well, 

 the surface is treated with warm w T ater. After fleshing, 

 the hide is left to cure and bleach in the sun for some 

 days, though it may be occasionally saturated by 

 pouring warm water over its surface. The next thing 

 is to w^ork the skin dowm to an even thickness by 

 scraping with an adze-like tool. The stakes are usually 

 pulled up and the hard stiff hide laid dowm under a 

 sun-shade or other shelter. Standing on the hide, 



