Page:String Figures and How to Make Them.djvu/107

74 the thumb, instead of the far index string, the "Many Stars" pattern will be formed. Apparently the methods of forming the two figures are very different, only the Fourth movement being the same in both; yet, if you examine them closely, you will notice that the Third movement of the "Owl's Net" accomplishes the turning over of the middle finger loop (originally the thumb loop) observed in the Fifth movement of "Many Stars"; the Fifth movement of the "Owl's Net" merely shifts the loops to other fingers; the Sixth and Eighth movements of the "Owl's Net" together produce the same results as the Sixth movement of "Many Stars"; and the Seventh movement in both figures, although done differently, twists the side strings in precisely the same manner.

The methods used in the "Owl's Net" exhibit the highest type of native skill. Every movement is carried on by both hands simultaneously, and there is no arranging of loops on the one hand by the fingers of the other hand.

TWO ELKS This is a Klamath Indian figure from the same source as the t' Owl's Net."

First: Opening A.

Second: Pass each thumb away from you over the far thumb string, both strings of the index loop, and under both strings of the little finger loop. Now

lift up the near little finger strings temporarily on the tips of the index fingers (Fig. 154), and draw toward you on the back of the thumb the far little finger string, by returning the thumb to its usual position and dropping the near little finger strings from the tip of each index (Fig. 155).

Third: Bend the index and middle finger of each hand down through the upper thumb loop and pass the index to the near side of the lower near thumb