Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 50.djvu/221

Rh without burning the hands, so I hired an old Indian to satisfy my curiosity. He started a fire for me, and it was done so quickly, easily, and ingeniously that I was still left wondering.

During the warm months these Indians wore little or no clothing; the men sometimes tied a small girdle around their hips which was woven from grasses; oftener they went entirely naked. The women were never seen entirely nude. They wore a short skirt or apron, also woven from grasses, which, separated on both sides, reached to their knees in front and behind. Children of both sexes went naked, but when a girl reached the age of maturity she put on her grass skirt. Their winter clothing was made from skins.

Earrings of bone and wood, beads of berries, shell ornaments, and feathers arranged in many fashions for the head were their adornments. The bows and arrows used by this tribe differed very little from those carried by other Indians. The arrowheads were made mostly from flint, bone, and obsidian, though some schist was used. There are large ledges of flint and obsidian in the northern part of the State, and this material was widely distributed among the different tribes by trade.

Not every Indian could make an arrowhead, for it required a skillful workman. The process of manufacture was as follows:



The material for the arrowhead was heated to a certain temperature, when it was chipped as desired with a spikelike stone implement, which was dipped in cold water, placed quickly upon the hot flint, and the necessary stroke given. The drop of water coming in contact with the hot flint and the simultaneous stroke cut the chip off about as desired. A rough stone was used to grind the points and edges into shape. Another weapon was the spear, which was made of hard wood, often five feet in length,