Indians of North America; Indians of North America -- Folklore
Indian squaws were skillful in the making of buckskin suits for their
braves. The handsomely embroidered moccasins were and are now good
specimens of woman’s work and love for beauty of coloring and design.
Each tribe had its own pattern and shape, differing so much from those
of other tribes that a footprint might announce an enemy in war time.
The Indians are still noted trappers, and their squaws know well how to
tan and dress the skins of animals. Fish-hooks were made of bone or
flint, and spear points were of the same materials, but they were very
sharp and with them the Indians caught many fish.
Their roving habits as hunters gave them little time for
house-building, and so their homes were simply tents made of strips of
bark or, better yet, of large buffalo or deer hides, neatly sewed
together for this purpose. These teepees and wigwams were easily put up
or removed, and were a good shelter.
The Village Indians, or Pueblos of Arizona, still build themselves
houses of adobe or unburnt brick. As the Pueblos were and are now less
warlike than the roving tribes which live in tent-like houses, they
have had time to invent many useful things.
The Pueblos weave excellent woolen blankets of gay stripes and a coarse
cloth for wearing apparel. They make water-tight baskets and dishes of
fiber, and these are often exchanged with the Tent Indians for dried
meat and other food.
The Village Indians have for centuries planted and cared for maize,
pumpkins, beans, and other vegetables. Turkeys are raised for food, and
their feather fibers are woven into cloth. Eagles are caged and raised
for their long feathers, which are held sacred.
In the ruined houses of the cliff-dwellers of Texas and Arizona
fragments of cloth woven from cotton and other substances have been
found. No white man taught this ancient people these arts of weaving.
Clay dishes, mortars, and pestles of stone, large sea-shells cut into
shapes for holding food, stone axes, and knives show some of the skill
of these early Americans.
The ornaments made of silver by the Navajo, as well as the long strings
of turquoise beads, are sometimes remarkable for their beauty.
Wampum, used by so many tribes for money, was carefully made from
shells by eastern Indians. It seems strange that their crude tools
could have made such small beads so very well.
The knowledge of medicine in all tribes was limited to a few herbs. The
rest was a kind of sorcery; but with the herbs, fresh air, and fresh
water they managed to cure many ills.
The Pueblos of New Mexico are very different from the Zuñis or the Moki
Pueblos of Arizona. They are now much like the white people, for they
live in well-built houses, attend church, and send their children to
school.
HOW THE IROQUOIS BUILT THEIR LOG FORTS
The French explorers in the land near Lake Champlain, and in what is
now central New York, found many of the Iroquois villages protected by
strong, well-built log forts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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