﻿74 
  [Assembly 
  

  

  tha 
  t 
  it 
  came 
  nearer 
  to 
  a 
  currency 
  than 
  any 
  other 
  species 
  of 
  prop- 
  

   erty 
  among 
  them, 
  because 
  its 
  uses 
  were 
  so 
  general, 
  and 
  its 
  transit 
  

   from 
  hand 
  to 
  hand 
  so 
  easy, 
  that 
  every 
  one 
  could 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  need 
  

   it. 
  The 
  ancient 
  value 
  of 
  wampum 
  w^as 
  half 
  a 
  cent 
  per 
  bead, 
  ac- 
  

   cording 
  to 
  the 
  statement 
  of 
  Catharine, 
  the 
  daughter 
  of 
  Brant. 
  It 
  

   is 
  now 
  very 
  scarce 
  and 
  difficult 
  to 
  procure, 
  as 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  

   it 
  ceased 
  many 
  years 
  ago, 
  and 
  the 
  quantity 
  has 
  been 
  gradually 
  

   diminishing 
  with 
  the 
  lapse 
  of 
  time. 
  It 
  bids 
  fair 
  to 
  rise 
  again 
  to 
  

   its 
  primitive 
  value, 
  at 
  the 
  period 
  when 
  it 
  was 
  exchanged 
  for 
  furs. 
  

  

  Ga-das-ha 
  or 
  sheaf. 
  

  

  No. 
  I. 
  

  

  2 
  feet. 
  

  

  The 
  sheaf 
  is 
  an 
  Indian 
  invention 
  of 
  great 
  antiquity, 
  and 
  univer- 
  

   sal 
  among 
  Indian 
  races. 
  It 
  was 
  sometimes 
  made 
  of 
  the 
  skin 
  of 
  a 
  

   small 
  animal, 
  like 
  the 
  wolf, 
  wiiich 
  was 
  taken 
  off 
  entire, 
  dressed 
  

   with 
  the 
  hair 
  on, 
  and 
  hung 
  upon 
  the 
  back, 
  the 
  arrows 
  being 
  

   placed 
  witliin 
  it. 
  But 
  the 
  choicer 
  articles 
  were 
  made 
  of 
  dressed 
  

   unhaired 
  deer 
  skin, 
  and 
  embroidered 
  with 
  porcupine 
  quills 
  as 
  

   represented 
  in 
  the 
  figure. 
  It 
  was 
  made 
  of 
  two 
  strips 
  of 
  deer 
  skin 
  

   about 
  two 
  feet 
  in 
  length 
  and 
  of 
  unequal 
  width 
  ; 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  was 
  

   narrow 
  for 
  the 
  back 
  side 
  ; 
  the 
  other 
  about 
  three 
  times 
  its 
  width 
  

   so 
  as 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  convex 
  front, 
  thus 
  forming 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  sac 
  in 
  

   which 
  the 
  arrows 
  were 
  deposited. 
  The 
  ordinary 
  sheaf, 
  as 
  used 
  

   by 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  in 
  ancient 
  times, 
  would 
  hold 
  from 
  fifteen 
  to 
  twen- 
  

   ty-five 
  arrows 
  ; 
  but 
  those 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  western 
  Indians 
  were 
  gen- 
  

   erally 
  large 
  enough 
  for 
  forty 
  or 
  fifty. 
  It 
  w^as 
  worn 
  on 
  the 
  back 
  

   inclining 
  from 
  the 
  left 
  shoulder 
  down 
  towards 
  the 
  belt 
  on 
  tlie 
  

   right 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  body, 
  crossing 
  the 
  back 
  diagonally. 
  There 
  are 
  

   deer 
  string 
  fastenings 
  at 
  each 
  eiad, 
  the 
  lower 
  ones 
  fcfeing 
  attached 
  

   to 
  the 
  waist 
  belt, 
  and 
  the 
  upper 
  ones 
  passing 
  around 
  the 
  neck 
  and 
  

   under 
  the 
  left 
  arm. 
  To 
  draw 
  forth 
  an 
  arrow 
  and 
  place 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  

   bow, 
  it 
  was 
  necessary 
  to 
  raise 
  the 
  right 
  hand 
  to 
  the 
  left 
  shoulder 
  

   when 
  it 
  came 
  at 
  once 
  in 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  feathered 
  end, 
  which 
  

   projected 
  from 
  the 
  sheaf; 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  but 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  a 
  sec- 
  

  

  