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Show MALLKRY] PICTOGRAPHS ON STONE, BONE, WOOD. 59 BONE. For instances of the use of bone, refer to several Alaska ivory carvings in this paper, e. #., Figure 111, page 192; Comanche buffalo shoulder blade, Figure J 37, page 216; Hidatsa shoulder blade, page 151; New Zealand human bone, Figure 34, page 74. THE LIVING TBEE. An example is to be found in Schoolcraft, IV, p. 253, PL 33, Fig. A, where it is stated that Mr. Richard H. Kern furnished a copy of an Indian drawing, which was " found on the trunk of a cottonwood tree in the valley of King's River, California, and evidently represents the manner of catching different wild animals with the lasso." The use of the lasso, and the characters being upon the bark of a living tree, show sufficient reason to believe that this record was of modern workmanship. WOOD. The Indians of the Northwest Coast generally employ wood upon which to depict objects of various kinds. These appear to partake of a mythical nature, sometimes becoming absurdly grotesque. Totem posts ( Plate LXXXIII, page 199), boats, boat paddles, the boards constituting the front wall of a house, and masks are among the objects used upon which to display artistic skill. Ottawa drawings are also found upon pipe- stems made of wood, usually ash. Figure 120, page 204, is an example of this. Among the Ankara boat paddles are used upon which marks of personal distinction are reproduced, as shown in Figure 80, page 182. Wooden dancing ornaments, such as fanciful representations of the human figure, idols, etc., are generally ornamented with a variety of colors, having them sometimes arranged to represent designs closely related to, if not actually signifying, marks of gentile distinction. In Alaska, mortuary records are drawn upon slabs of wood. See Figures 113 and 114, page 198. Mnemonic devices, notices of departure, distress, etc., are also drawn upon thin narrow slips of wood, averaging an inch in width, and of sufficient length. See Figures 58 and 59, page 154. A circular piece of wood or board is sometimes drawn upon, showing the human face, and placed upon a pole, and facing in a certain direction, to show the course taken by the survivors of a settlement which has been attacked by an enemy. See Figure 50, page 152. BABE. The Ojibwa have, until very recently, been in the habit of tracing characters of various kinds upon the inner surface of birch bark. These records are usually mnemonic, though many pertain to personal exploits. An illustration is given in Figure 139, page 218. The lines appear to have been traced with a sharply- pointed instrument, probably bone, and in some examples the drawings are made by simple puncturing. Sometimes color is applied to the objects delineated, and |
