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proximal fleshy part of the left palm and there held by one or more of the finger-tips. The chipping tool, grasped firmly with the right hand, is placed on the upper side of the flake, very close to the edge, and by a quick, downward pressure a chip is removed from the under-side of the flake. That much of this seemingly simple act will be noticed by any casual observer, but it may be well to analyze the act a little so as to show that it is after all not so simple as it looks. There is, so to speak, some knack about it. First of all we may note the fact, well shown in the illustration, that the axis of the tool used and the edge of the obsidian to be worked do not meet at a right angle, although they are in nearly the same plane. Secondly, and this does not show well in the illustration, the chipping tool is so turned on its axis that the plane of its cutting edge meets the plane of the flake to be worked at nearly, if not quite, a right angle. That this turn of the chipping tool is necessary or at least deliberate is certain because Ishi employs it invariably in the later stages of the chipping process, but not at all regularly in the early stages. Not having experimented very much, I am unable to say why Ishi proceeds as he does, but he gets results which I cannot imitate, try as I will. Ishi removes thin and fairly slender chips that extend twothirds or more across the face of the flake, while my chips are thick and short. Consequently his arrowpoints when finished are thin and shapely, while mine, much to his disguest, are thick and clumsy affairs. My work resembles the abrupt Mousterian retouch, while Ishi's is the true Solutrian technique.

As to the actual movements involved in chipping, these would be rather difficult to describe. The pressure exerted, if not too great, comes mostly from a wrist action; but if greater weight is needed the leverage is thrown back to the elbow and shoulder. The precision of the movement in the later and more delicate stage of the work is guided by placing the index finger of the tool against the edge of the palm on which the flake lies. The pressure is down, of course, rather than up, mainly in order to avoid the flying chips, and the chips being left in the palm of the hand absolutely necessitates the leather pad. Ishi works rapidly, reversing the flake often or not as conditions require. He begins chipping at the point on the flake nearest the tool and gradually works toward the farther end, and his best work appears to be done when he is chipping in a direction from the point end of the arrowpoint toward the base rather than when, on reversal, he must work in the opposite direction, i.e., from the base of the arrowpoint toward the point. Working in this manner Ishi can finish an arrowpoint of average size in half an hour, more or less, according to the nature of the substance he is working and also according to the adaptability of the flake originally selected. Having finished he proceeds to the final step.

Notching and Serrating.-First of all, Ishi takes his leather pad, doubles it over the end of his left thumb, and ties it in place with a string. Then he grips the arrowpoint near the base, holding it firmly between the end of the protected thumb and adjoining index finger. With the right hand he directs the point of the notching tool against the edge of the arrowpoint at the place where the notch is to be, and by a slight pressure removes a small chip. The tool is held perpendicular to the plane of the arrowpoint and is pushed forward as if to be driven into the end of the thumb. For each minute chip thus removed the arrowpoint is reversed until the notch is of the depth desired. The successful act requires some deftness, or the stem is sure to be severed from the blade of the arrowpoint. Ishi seldom fails, however, especially when working with glass, and he completes the two notches often in about half a minute's time. If the edge of the arrowpoint was to be serrated, Ishi would doubtless proceed in the same way, although I never asked him to try.

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30. COSTUMES OF THE PLAINS INDIANS1

By CLARK WISSLER

MEN'S GARMENTS

If one take a typical man's shirt of the Plains area and suspend it, the sleeve and shoulder line will be found horizontal and to coincide. In other words there is a neck hole, but no collar. If on the other hand, one suspend a true coat, the familiar European sleeve and shoulder cut is seen. This may be generalized by classing the former as of the poncho type and the latter as of the coat type.

First, we may note the structure of the poncho type. Fig. 42 represents a specimen collected about 1838. There is another old specimen in the Nez Percé collection. A more modern specimen is shown in Fig. 2. A simpler but old and interesting specimen is Fig. 3.2 From these sketches the general pattern concept is clear. Two whole skins of mountain sheep or other ruminants are taken and cut as in Fig. 5. Thus, the peculiar contour of sleeve extensions, or capes, is explained as also that of the skirt (Fig. 6). The whole pattern of this type of shirt is seen to be correlated with the contour of the natural material, and it seems most probable that it was this form of the material that suggested the pattern.

The former distribution of this type of shirt cannot be precisely stated, but so far we have found it to prevail among the Dakota, Nez Percé, Gros Ventre, Blackfoot, Crow, Hidatsa-Mandan, Pawnee, Assiniboin, Arapaho, Ute, Comanche, Kiowa, and Cheyenne. It occurs, but less universally among the Sarsi, Plains-Cree, and Ojibway on the north and on the south among the Apache and in the pueblo of Taos.

Our museum collection contains about forty shirts of this poncho type, all of which we have examined in detail. Among them we find many minor variations in pattern, but so far as we can see these are all adjustments to the coat type and to new materials and, hence, due to white contact. The tendency to use cow skins and cloth is very strong and in these materials the natural contour, the base of the pattern, is wanting. This is particularly noticeable in the cut of the bottom as shown in Fig. 7. In most cases this curve is simplified by dropping the tail projection in the center, observable in the older type, Fig. 7b, but in one Arapaho piece we find an interesting rectangular cut at the corresponding point, Fig. 7e.

1 From Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, volume 17, part 2, 1915.

2 Omitted.

A comparison of the tops of these sketches shows that the shoulder extensions tend to become true sleeves and the sides of the shirt are often entirely or partially sewn up in which case a vertical cut is made on the breast at the neck without which it would be next to impossible to get into the garment. The older ponchos have neither fronts nor backs, both sides being alike, but many of the modern variants have a distinct

[graphic]

Fig. 2. A Dakota shirt. For pattern see Fig. 7b.

front. It is chiefly these variations in association with slight inessential modifications calling to mind features of European shirts that suggest that we have in Figs 7a and 7b the original type of poncho for men in the Plains area.

This is further reinforced by a study of sleeve forms which in the older skin specimens follow the pattern of Figs 7a and 7c. The [square] sleeve pattern is found most often in cloth and distinctly modern skin pieces.

So far we have concerned ourselves with the pattern alone, but the most characteristic features of these ponchos are decorative. In all specimens of the older type these take approximately the same forms. The most conspicuous of these features are the broad beaded or quilled bands. These are made on separate strips of skin and readily detached from the shirt. From each side of the neck a band runs along the shoulder seam almost to the ends of the sleeves. At right angles to this

Fig. 5. Diagram showing how a skin is cut and folded to make a shirt of the poncho type.

so as to fall over the shoulders like suspenders are two other bands, one for each side. At the neck, both front and back, are triangular flaps also bearing beaded and quilled decorations. The edges of these bands are often strung with rows of feathers, strips of white weasel skins or human hair. It is due to the latter that these ponchos are often called "scalp-shirts." In the older types particularly, the edges of the body and sleeves were notched and fringed. These characteristics were almost universal but there are in addition, tribal and regional decorations. Thus, many Blackfoot ponchos bear large circular designs on the breast and back. According to Maximilian, this was formerly common among the Assiniboin and a few other northern tribes. Dakota ponchos in par

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