Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/829

 INDIANS

751

INDIANS

Jicarilla, and Piute were noted for beauty of design and execution, but the Pomo and other tribes of Cali- fornia excelled all in closeness and delicacy of weaving and richness of decoration, many of their grass baskets being water-tight and .almost hidden under an in- terweaving of bright-coloured plumage, and further decorated around the top with pendants of shining mother-of-pearl. The weaving of grass or rush mats for covering beds or wigwams may be considered as a variant of the basket-making process, as likewise the delicate porcupine quill appUqiie work of the northern plains and upper Mississippi tribes.

The useful art of skin-dressing also belonged exclu- sively to the women, excepting along the Arctic coasts, where furs, instead of denuded skins, were worn by the Eskimo, while the entrails of the larger sea animals were also utilized for waterproof gar- ments. The skins in most general use were those of the buffalo, elk, and deer, which were prepared by scraping, stretch- ing, and anointing with various softening or preservative mixtures, of which the liver or brains of the animal were commonly a part. The timber tribes generally smoked the skin, a process unknown on the plains. A limited use was made of bird skins with the feathers intact.

The weaving art proper was als- ■ almost exclusively in the hands nl the women. In the East, aside frimi basket- and mat-making, it was confined almost entirely to the twist- ing of ropes or bowstrings and the making of belts, the skin fabric tak- ing the place of the textile. In tin' South-West the Pueblo tribes vvovr native cotton upon looms of their own device, and, since the intn^- duction of sheep by the Franciscan missionaries in the sixteenth cen- tury, the Navaho, enlarging upoi their Pueblo teaching, have devcl- oped a weaving art which has mail ■ the Navaho blanket famousthrougl i- out the country, the stripping, spin- ning, weaving, and dyeing of tlu' wool being all their own. The I'iuto of Nevada and others of that region wore blankets woven from strips of rabbit fur. Some early writers men- tion feather-woven cloaks among the Gulf tribes, but it is possiljle that the feathers were simply over- laid upon the skin garment.

It is notable that the Indian worker, man or woman, used no pattern, carrying the design in the head. Certain designs, however, were standardized and hereditary in particular tribes and societies.

Games and Amusements. — Naturally careless of the future, the Indian gave himself up to pleasure when not under the spur of immediate necessity or danger, and his leisure time at home was filled with a constant round of feasting, dancing, story- telling, athletic contests, and gambling games. The principal ath- letic game everywhere east of the Missouri, as well as with some tribes of the Pacific coast, was the ball- play, adopted by the French of Canada under the name of lacrosse and in Louisiana as raquette. In this game the ball was caught not with the hand, but with a netted ball-stick somewhat resembling a tennis racket. A special dance and secret ceremonial pre- ceded the contest. Next in tribal favour in the eastern region was the game known to the early traders under the corrupted Creek name of chunkee, in which one player rolled a stone wheel along the ground, while his competitor slid after it a stick curved

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at one end like an umbrella handle, with the design of having the spent wheel fall within the curve at the end of its course. This game, which necessitated much hard rimning, was sometimes kept up for hours. A somewhat similar game, played with a netted wheel and a straight stick, was found upon the plains, the object being to dart the stick through certain netted holes in the wheel, known as the buffalo bull, calf, etc. Foot-races were very popular with certain tribes, as the Pueblos, Apache, Wichita, and Crows, being frequently a part of great ceremonial functions. On the plains horse-racing furnished exciting amusement. There were numerous gambling games, somewhat of the dice order, played with marked sticks, plum stones, carved bones, etc., these being in special favour with the women. Target shooting with bow and arrow, and various forms of dart throwing were also popular. Among distinctly women's games were football and shinny, the former, however, l)eing merely the Ijoiuicing of a ball from the toes with the purpose of keeping it in the air as long as pos- sible. Hand games, in which a num- ber of players ranged themselves in two opposing lines and alternately endeavoured to guess the where- abouts of a small object shifted rapidly from hand to hand, were a favourite tipi pastime with both sexes in the winter evenings, to the accompaniment of songs fitted to the rapitl movement of the hands. Story-telling and songs, usually to the accompaniment of the rattle or small hand-drum, filled in the even- ing. The Indian was essentially musical, his instruments being the drum, rattle, flute or flageolet, eagle- bone whistle, and other more crude devices. Each had its special relig- ious significance and ceremonial pur- jjose, particularly the rattle, of which t here were many varieties. Besides the athletic and gamliling ganies, there were games of divination played only on rare occasions of tribal necessity with sacred para- phernalia in the keeping of special guardians. The Indian was fond also of singing and had songs for every occasion — love, war, hunting, gammg, medicine, satire, children's songs, and lullalnes.

The children played with tops, KEE B.vLL-pLAYER whips, dolls, and other toys, or imitated their elders in shooting, riding, and "playing house".

IFar. — As war is the normal condition of savagery, so to the Indian warlike glory was the goal of his ambition, the theme of his oratory, and the purpose of his most elaborate ceremonial. His weapons were the knife, bow, club, lance, and tomahawk, or stone axe, which last was very soon superseded by the light steel hatchet supplied by the trader. To these certain tribes added defensive armour, as the body armour of rawhide or wooden rods in use along the north-west coast and in some other sections, and the shield more particularly used by the equestrian tribes of the plains. As a rule, the lance and shield were more common in the open country, and the tomahawk in the woods. ■The bow was usually of some tovigh and flexible wood with twisted sinew cord, but was sometimes of bone or horn backed with sinew wrapping. It is extremely doubtful if poisoned arrows were found north of Mexico, notwithstanding many assertions to the contrary.

Where the clan system prevailed the general con-