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Show igoo] INDIAN INDUSTRIES cloth. For tipi coverings the hair was removed by soaking the hide in water mixed with wood- ashes or some other alkaline substance, and both sides were treated as described above. For making parfleches or packing- cases, the hide was taken green, the hair removed, and a piece of the desired size was stretched upon a form, where it dried in the proper shape; and the rawhide product was practically indestructible. \ Among all tribes in whose neighborhood deer were found, the skins were dressed, more or less as above^ and the resulting buckskin Was wonderfully soft Snd workable.\ From the far north to the extreme south this buckskin was the chief material used for clothing. The women of many tribes attained great skill in cutting and fitting, as well as in sewing the garments with sinew thread, which was the method universally practised. The typical man's clothing consisted of a breech- cloth, a hunting- shirt, leggings, and moccasins. The Indian woman wore a loose, short- sleeved upper garment, a waist- cloth or apron, leggings, and moccasins, the last two articles often being made in one piece. Young children usually went entirely naked. On the northwest coast, where the climate is wet and rainy, capes and aprons of woven cedar bark have been devised to meet the conditions. Among the Eskimo, where the climate necessitates the wearing of furs during a large part of the year, and where during the milder season the men are forced to be |