DBNSMORE] 



PLANTS USED IX ARTS 



379 



were used in making the frames on which berries were dried, the stiff, 

 clean Phragrmtes com/nvums being used for this purpose. It was 

 desirable that rushes, bark and similar materials be kept somewhat 

 moist, and a dark, cool shed was adapted to this purpose. PI. 48, c.) 



The leaves of the bearberry and the inner bark of red-osier dog- 

 wood were smoked for pleasure. (PI. 49.) The plants smoked as 

 charms are noted in the section on that subject. 



Coverings for dwellings were made of sheets of birch bark sewed 

 together with basswood twine, these being used on the dome-shaped 

 wigwam. Sheets of jack pine or of elm were used on the dwellings 

 shaped like the white man's cabin. Cedar boughs were used for 

 bedding. The leaves of the burdock were sewed together or sewed 

 on a strip of birch bark as a head covering for those obliged to work 

 in the hot sun. (PI. 50, a.) The juice of puccoon was used as a paint 

 for reddening the cheeks. A brown fungus (Borista pila B. and C.) 

 was used in painting the faces and garments of the dead, preparatory 

 to their joining the dance of the spirits where the Northern Lights 

 are shining. The flaring lights in the north were said to be the 

 motion of the spirits in their dance, and a woman in a trance saw the 

 spirits paint their faces with this material. 



Spruce gum was considered best for use in calking canoes and 

 birch-bark pails. It was prepared by boiling the gum in a wide- 

 meshed bag which retained the bits of wood and bark, allowing the 

 gum to pass into the water. It was skimmed from the surface and 

 stored until a convenient time when it was mixed with charcoal made 

 from cedar. Slippery elm bark was chewed and used occasionally 

 to calk small containers made of birch bark. 



Tamarack roots were used in sewing the edges of canoes and in 

 making woven bags. 



Rushes were tied in small bundles and used for scouring utensils, 

 the two varieties thus used being Eqmsetum hiemale L. and Equi- 

 setum praealtum Raf. 



Toys were made for children from many sorts of plants. The 

 children themselves cut the stems of the wild onion and made little 

 whistles. The stem, or " top," was allowed to dry a little and a 

 sound hole was cut in the side, after which a sound was produced by 

 blowing across the end. The leaves of the pitcher plant were called 

 " frog-leggings " and used as toys, or filled with ripe berries. Red 

 berries were strung and used as necklaces. Dolls were made from the 

 broad leaves of trees, the leaves being fastened in place with little 

 wooden splints and sometimes a collar of birchbark added. 

 (PI. 50, h.) Flat dolls were cut from the stiff inner bark of slippery 

 elm, or formed of twigs covered with the same sort of willow used 

 for baskets. Dolls were also made of grass. It is interesting to note 



