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densmokb] PLANTS USED IN ARTS 395 



Reserve in Canada. Other interesting designs from that reserve are 

 Plate 62, d and e, the former showing curved lines (or creases) 

 which are unusual in birch-bark transparencies. The bark available 

 by the Canadian Chippewa women was too stiff and heavy for 

 delicate work. The season was July, and the bark is less pliable 

 than in early spring if freshly gathered, and the Canadian women 

 had not stored so generous a supply of bark as the Minnesota 

 Chippewa. As already noted, the bark needed for use during the 

 summer was gathered in the spring and stored in a dark, cool shed, 

 which preserved its soft texture, and this storage of bark was being 

 carried on by the women at White Earth when the present research 

 was in progress. The pattern Plate 62, c\ is different from any 

 collected in Minnesota and required twelve foldings for its pro- 

 duction. 



Both straight and diagonal folds were required for the patterns 

 Plate 62, b and h, the latter showing the features of the woman in 

 the tipi with as much clearness as those of the dancer in Plate 

 61, c. Attention is directed to the difference in the shape of the 

 faces in these two patterns, also to the variety in the markings on 

 Plate 62, ?>, showing a distinct technique. These are from White 

 Earth. 



The patterns here illustrated were selected from a collection of 

 more than 200, obtained from the older women at White Earth and 

 Red Lake in Minnesota, and the Manitou Rapids Reserve in Canada. 

 The decline of this interesting craft is seen in the work of Indian 

 women of the younger generation, one example being shown as Plate 

 61, d. It will be noted that the outlines are blurred by a process that 

 approaches a nibbling of the bark, while the design lacks the grace 

 and repose of the older examples. The clear thinking of the old days 

 has passed away, and in its place has come a belief that by doing a 

 thing uncertainly, over and over, one can accomplish as good results 

 as by a carefully planned, definite procedure. 



The designs shown in Plate 63 were made on the Manitou Rapids 

 Reserve in Ontario, Canada, and show a somewhat different type 

 than those in the previous illustrations. As stated, they were made 

 when the bark was rather heavy, which can be seen in the texture of 

 the pieces. The creases are more apparent and the marks less sharp 

 than in thinner bark. Some of the designs would form " running 

 patterns " while others are single units which could readily be placed 

 side by side to form extended decorations. 



The following story is related concerning the custom of making 

 birch-bark transparencies : 



There was once a man who lived with his parents. At sugar- 

 making time he noticed that they were getting old and the work 

 was hard for them, so he brought home a wife to help them. The 



