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material. Four distinct types of footwear occur: the common puckered moccasin, with or without ankle flaps and upper exten

'sions (fig. 22); the same with
'a T-shaped seam on the toe, on
account of which this is called the
"bull nose"; the lower hind leg
of the moose tanned with the
hair on and sewed across the
toe where the hoof has been
cut off; and another, quite dif-
ferent from the preceding in
having a sole separate from the
upper, the latter in two pieces,
one reaching from the heel to
the line of the toes, the other
covering the
the toes (fig. 23).
The latter has the buskins at-
tached and long lacings which are
strung through a loop at each side
in front. The same style of lacing

[graphic]

FIG. 22. Huron moose-hock boot (unfinished) and moccasins.

through a loop I have seen on the other puckered moccasins among the Huron, and seems to be comparable only with what is found on

[graphic][merged small]

Eskimo boots. The puckered moccasin is of the type found throughout the northeast and, together with its decorations, is almost exactly the same as that of the Abenaki, Penobscot, and Malisit, although to an observing eye there are minute peculiarities which make a distinction possible, such as the width and length of the vamp, the length of the tongue, and the number of stitches puckered around

[graphic][merged small]

the vamp. In a number of Huron moccasins in which I counted these stitches the average was found to be between fifty and sixty.1 Only the puckered moccasins have any decorations upon them, most of them having some moose hair embroidery, while some used in snowshoeing are most exquisitely garnitured over the entire vamp. These soft moccasins are only for home wear or snowshoeing

1 The average number on Penobscot moccasins is, for instance, about 28.

when the snow is dry. The moose hocks and the soled boot-like moccasins are for heavy out of door work in any winter weather. The sole and upper is cut

The moose hair embroidery

Moccasins are made by women. according to the pattern and the vamp. is put on the vamp beforehand, then the skin is gathered up over a wooden last having the shape of the fore part of the foot, and the sides of the vamp attached over this to the sides of the upper. The puckered stitch is then filled in across the toe, the creases being marked in deeply with the point of an awl. The last is then pulled out, the heel seam sewed up, and the thing is done. The seams of moccasins of the last type described are usually welted to make them more water tight. Strips of fringed skin or red flannel are sometimes inserted between seams evidently with some idea of ornamentation (see fig. 22).

Out of the above mentioned articles of clothing the number in which there is a close similarity even in details to those of neighboring eastern Algonkian is rather significant, while some head dresses and women's costumes are distinctly Iroquoian.

In regard to the woven sashes worn by men a few words of description are needed. The article averages six to seven feet in length with varying width, the porportions as shown in figure 24. The design is a series of zigzags, in dark red, blue, and buff, to which no interpretation is attached. These sashes were made during the last generation but the art is no longer practiced. The process was described to me as follows. To a peg fixed vertically in the middle of the upper side of a log resting on the ground the required number of threads were tied so that as much of their length extended on one side of the peg as on the other. center one half of the sash is to be woven. was then wound upon a little stick with a sharpened point to be stuck in the ground. By a sort of braiding process, each little stick acting as a shuttle, the fabric was woven and the design brought out. A peculiarity in the weave is that there is a seam lengthwise down the middle of the sash, where the strands are parted, each set of shuttles remaining on its own side. The diamondshaped designs resulted from manipulating the shuttle containing the same colored threads in groups. To finish the other half of

From the peg as a Each of the threads

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