215 
diaii art;^ but the plains’ Indians 2:enerally retain their old geometric 
designs. Some of these plains’ costumes are very striking, particu- 
larly the moccasins and vests on which parti-coloured triangles, 
squares, and zigzags, all arranged with perfect symmetry, stand out 
in brilliant relief on a solid field of blue or white. Almost equally 
gorgeous are the Eskimo coats from Hudson bay that reproduce the 
earlier insertions and fringes of caribou fur in bead work. One cannot 
but feel, however, that the newer style in this Eskimo region is less 
appropriate and attractive than the old, for the hard brilliance of the 
beads seems scarcely to harmonize with the subdued colours and silken 
texture of the fur. 
The potter’s art did not flourish in Canada, apparently because 
its inhabitants were marginal peoples who acquired the technique 
from elsewhere and scarcely realized its potentialities as a medium 
of artistic expression. Tribes to the southward understood the use 
of slips, and both central America and Peru produced exquisitely 
designed vessels richly coloured with geometric and naturalistic fig- 
ures. Canadian pottery was never ]:)ainted, and with the exception 
of the pipes already mentioned, comprised only the wide-mouthed jar 
forms that are requisite for cooking vessels. Some of these were not 
ungraceful, especially certain Iroquoian types with well-made, cornice- 
like rims; but the majority were coarse in texture, poorly shaped, 
and without any decoration except crudely drawn chevrons, parallel 
lines, and cross-hatchings. If pottery-making had ever taken root 
among the skilled artists of British Columbia, it might have blossomed 
into beautiful shapes and colours like the wares of the troj^ical and 
sub-tropical peoples of America; but the seeds that sprouted in 
eastern Canada, on the southern prairies, and along the shores of 
the Arctic, found the soil too barren to nurture their growth and 
bring them to full maturity. 
IFor a contrary view See Davidson, D. S. : “Decorative Art of the Tetes de Boule of Quebec’’; 
Indian Notes and Monographs, vol. x, No. 9, pp. 149 ct seq. (New York, 1928). 
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