Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/20

 8 On the drefs of the Indians of America.

water, the ugly breeches would exceedingly incommode them ; and that, if they were allowed to wear breeches, it would portend no good to their country : however, they add, fhould they ever be fo unlucky, as to have that pinching cuilom introduced among them, the Englifh breeches would beft iuit their own female pofture on that occafion \ but that it would be exceedingly troublefome either way. The men wear a flip of cloth, about a quarter of an ell wide, and an ell and an half long, in the lieu of breeches ; which they put between their legs, and tye round their haunches, with a convenient broad bandage, The women, fince the time we firft traded with them, wrap a fathom of the half breadth of Stroud cloth round their waift, and tie it with a leathern belt, which is commonly covered with brafs runners or buckles : but this fort of loofe petticoat, reaches only to their hams, in order to Ihew .their exquifitely fine propor tioned limbs.

They make their moes for common ufe, out of the fkins of the bear and elk, well drefled and fmoked, to prevent hardening ; and thole for orna ment, out of deer-fkins, done in the like manner: but they chiefly go bare-footed, and always bare-headed. The men fatten feveral different forts ef beautiful feathers, frequently in tufts ; or the wing of a red bird, or the (kin of a fmall hawk, to a lock of hair on the crown of their heads. And every different Indian nation when at war, trim their hair, after a different manner, through contempt of each other j thus we can diftin- gui(h an enemy in the woods, fo far off as we can fee him.

The Indians flatten* their heads, in divers forms : but it is chiefly the crown of the head they deprefs, in order to beautify themfelves, as their wild fancy terms it-, for they call us long heads, by way of contempt. The Choktah Indians flatten their fore-heads, from the top of the head to the eye-brows with a (mall bag of fand ; which gives them a hideous appearance ; as the forehead naturally moots upward, according as it is flattened : thus, the rifing of the nofe, inftead of being equidiltant from the begin- ning of the chin, to that of the hair, is, by their wild mechanifm, placed a great deal nearer to the one, and farther from the other. The Indian nations, round South-Carolina, and all the way to New Mexico, (pro perly called Mechiko) to eifed this, fix the tender infant on a kind of cradle, where his feet are tilted, above a foot higher than a horizontal po-

fition,

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