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red ochre an inch wide. Keith (1890, II, page 101) reports the natives of 
Great Bear lake to be in the habit of painting their faces with some kind of 
ore which is about the size of very fine sand, is found in various parts of 
the mountains, and has a colour resembling black lead. A group of Indians 
from the Norman district during the first half of the last century are said 
by McClean (1849, page 250) to have rushed into Good Hope with their 
naked bodies blackened and painted after the manner of warriors bent on 
shedding blood, and with the avowed intention of plundering the estab- 
lishment. 
Dyes are used for colouring skins and porcupine quills. Black dye 
was formerly made from charcoal; yellow was extracted from alder bark; 
red was derived from currants or red ochre; and blue from blueberries. 
Paint was made from charcoal or red ochre mixed with fish oil. Wentzel 
(1890, I, page 79), speaking of the Beaver Indians of Mackenzie river 
(Slave) said that 
"the dyes made use of by the Indians to stain porcupine quills and feathers, which are 
the only thing they stain, are the roots of a plant that the Canadians call Savoyan; its 
colour is of an orange cast. This root boiled with cranberry dyes a beautiful light red; 
the dyes for yellow are another small root which they gather in marshy plains." 
Keith (1890, II, page 102) confirms the use of roots for making dyes, 
saying that “there is a small, fine root for dyeing a pale or dirty colour, 
and another root, something like stick liquorice, with which the [Great Bear 
Lake] natives make a pretty bright yellow”. Mackenzie (1802, page 91), 
while going down the river of his name, also comments on dyes as follows: 
“The beach was covered with coals, and the English chief gathered some 
of the softest he could find, as a black dye; it being, the mineral, as he 
informed me with which the natives [Hares] render their quills black”. 
There has been a considerable introduction of art work by the m6tis 
population of the Mackenzie. It takes the form of silk work on moccasins, 
gloves, mittens, and other articles of dress, of painted and tasselled snow- 
shoes, of elaborately decorated carioles, of carved wooden whip handles 
with whorls and varied designs, of carved drawknife handles with animal 
heads at the ends, of tuppies (dog-blankets) elaborately embroidered with 
silk or wool on stroud, of standing irons of dog collars decorated with the 
tails of fur-bearing animals or with woollen tassels, and of ingeniously 
designed hat bands. Most of this m^tisartis disappearing; the decorated 
carioles are entirely gone. A few carved whip handles are seen among 
the Satudene today and also a few with coloured wool. Tuppies are used 
to some extent, especially when visiting a trading post at Easter or 
Christmas. Canoe paddles were also carved by the metis, but none was 
seen on Great Bear lake. The silk work takes the form of flower patterns, 
realistic when made by the women who have been to the schools or lived 
much in the forts, and tending toward the conventional when made by 
women with fewer white contacts. Bells on dog harness are almost uni- 
versal, and it is believed that dogs increase their speed when so equipped. 
Signs. No picture writing is known among the Satudene. Occasion- 
ally the Mission syllabary is seen written in the snow beside the trail. 
Sometimes a time sign is made by drawing an arc in the snow, with a 
straight line to designate the position of the sun. This is left to tell the 
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