Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi — John Shaqi
Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the MississippiBushnell, David I. (David Ives)
History
Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi
Bushnell, David I. (David Ives)
Algonquian Indians; Caddoan Indians; Indians of North America -- Dwellings; Siouan Indians
The method of cooking food, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, is
graphically illustrated in the old sketch made a century ago, now
reproduced in plate 6, _a_. This shows a family gathered about a small
fire where food is being prepared, and beyond is a bark-covered wigwam.
The sketch bears the legend, "A family from the tribe of the wild
Sautaux Indians on the Red River. Drawn from nature." It indicates the
primitive dress and appearance of the people, and it is of interest to
compare this with the photograph which is reproduced in plate 6, _b_,
showing another small group of the people three-quarters of a century
later. Such were the changes within that period.
Similar to the preceding were the habitations shown by Kane in a sketch
made during the early summer of 1845, the original painting being
reproduced as plate 7, _a_. This was described as an "Indian encampment
amongst the islands of Lake Huron; the wigwams are made of birch-bark,
stripped from the trees in large pieces and sewed together with long
fibrous roots; when the birch tree cannot be conveniently had, they
weave rushes into mats ... for covering, which are stretched round in
the same manner as the bark, upon eight or ten poles tied together at
the top, and stuck in the ground at the required circle of the tent, a
hole being left at the top to permit the smoke to go out. The fire is
made in the centre of the lodge, and the inmates sleep all round with
their feet towards it." (Kane, (1), pp. 6-7.) The interesting painting
could well have been made among the Ojibway camps or settlements of
northern Minnesota instead of representing a group of wigwams located
many miles eastward, but this tends to prove the similarity of the small
villages in the region where large sheets of birch bark were to be
obtained.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 6
[Illustration: _a._ "A family from the tribe of the wild Sautaux Indians
on the Red River." Drawn from nature, 1821]
[Illustration: _b._ Ojibway wigwam. Leech Lake, Minnesota, 1896]
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 7
[Illustration: _a._ "Encampment among the Islands of Lake Huron." Paul
Kane, 1845]
[Illustration: _b._ Ojibway camp on bank of Red River. Photograph by H.
L. Hime, 1858]
Between the loosely placed sheets of bark were necessarily many openings
through which the wind could enter, and in addition was the open space
at the top intentionally left as a vent through which the smoke could
escape from the inside. In describing the appearance of the interior of
such a structure it was told how--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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