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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



noticed the same belief, which properly applies only to periods of 

 famine. The northern Algonquins, who cultivated the ground but 

 little, were more frequently in extremity than the settled Iroquois. 

 To the latter Adirondack became a term of contempt, implying 

 insufficient food. As in so many other cases, it was not a name 

 which the Adirondacks chose, but one which their foes gave them. 

 The Onondagas still call them Ha-te-en'-tox, or Tree-eaters. 



Houses 



Something might here be said of the various uses to which the 

 Indians put particular trees, but some of these will appear inci- 

 dentally. One prominent use was that of shelter from the weather 

 and their foes. In summer the Indian went almost naked, and any 

 tree would protect him from the sun. Rainy days were not so 

 comfortable, and the piercing cold of winter made protection neces- 

 sary for the family of the hardiest hunter. The forest had its gifts 

 to bestow, and thus the favorite cave-dwellings of some lands are 

 almost unknown in New York. Saplings furnished a strong frame ; 

 the broad barks of great trees quickly covered them; tough withes 

 bound all together, and the marshes provided soft mats for luxurious 

 repose. For the home of many years, for the sojourn of a single 

 night, there was everywhere abundant material, nor was it sparingly 

 used. 



Most early writers have given accounts of these primitive dwell- 

 ings, of their variety, structure and size and the ease and rapidity 

 with which they were built. There was less national difference 

 than has been asserted. The Algonquin built the long house as well 

 as the Iroquois, though his frequent changes made him partial to 

 a smaller and simpler form. Roger Williams speaks of "The long 

 poles, which commonly men get and fix, and then the women cover 

 the house with mats, and line them with embroydered mats which 

 the women make, and call them Mnnnotau'bana, or Hangings, which 

 amongst them make as faire a show as Hangings with us." 

 Williams, ch.5 



These poles might have been for a long house, but the general 

 impression is of a round one. He proceeds to say, " Two Families 



