58 [NDIANS OF THE PLAINS. 



notched edges, were used throughout Canada east of 

 the Rocky Mountains, and in many parts of the United 

 States. Hence, they cannot be taken as peculiar to 

 the Plains. The older type of flesher is apparently the 

 one made entirely of bone, while the later ones were 

 made entirely of iron. Sometimes an intermediate 

 form is found in which a small metal blade is fastened 

 to the end of a bone shaft (Fig. 18). The shaft of the 

 flesher is usually covered with rawhide and to its end 

 is attached a loop for the wrist. The iron flesher seems 

 to be the only type peculiar to the Indians of the Plains. 

 The distribution of the bone flesher is such that its 

 most probable origin may be assigned to the Algonkin 

 tribes of the Great Lakes and northward. 



Beaming tools are identified with the dressing of 

 deerskins and in this respect stand distinct from the 

 adze tool used in dressing buffalo skins. They seem 

 to be used wherever the dressing of deer skins is prev- 

 alent and are best known under the following types : — 

 a split leg bones; b combined tibia and fibula of deer 

 or similar animal; c rib bone; d wooden stick with 

 metal blade in middle, stick usually curved. 



From the collections in this Museum it seems that 

 the split leg bone type is not found in the Plains. 

 Should further inquiry show this to be the case, it 

 would be a matter of some interest since the split bone 

 type is found in archaeological collections from British 

 Columbia, Ohio, and New York. The general aspect 

 of the foregoing is, that some form of beaming tool is a 

 concomitant of deer skin dressing from Point Barrow 



