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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 119
ANTHROPOLOGICAL
PAPERS
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1938
oc et ge ee
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - - - - - - =~ Price 40 cents
is
ee
rc A Ba A
ht
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
Bureau or AM#RICAN ETHNOLOGY,
Washington, D. C., December 10, 1937.
Srr: I have the honor to submit the accompanying manuscripts,
entitled ‘“‘A Preliminary Report on Archeological Explorations at
Macon, Ga.,” by A. R. Kelly; ‘“‘The Northern Arapaho Flat Pipe and
the Ceremony of Covering the Pipe,’”’ by John G. Carter; ‘‘The Caribs
of Dominica,” by Douglas Taylor; ““‘What Happened to Green Bear
Who Was Blessed With a Sacred Pack,’ by Truman Michelson; “Lemhi
Shoshoni Physical Therapy,” by Julian H. Steward; ‘‘Panatiibiji’, an
Owens Valley Paiute,’”’ by Julian H. Steward, and to recommend that
they be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Very respectfully yours,
M. W. Streuine, Chief.
Dr. C. G. ABBOT,
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
NOTE
With this bulletin the Bureau of American Ethnology inaugurates a
new series of Anthropological Papers, designed as an outlet for brief
articles.
These papers will be numbered consecutively, a bulletin being de-
voted to them from time to time as they accumulate.
A limited edition of bound volumes will be issued but the papers will
be generally distributed in separate form.
M. W. Sriruine, Chief.
CONTENTS
Page
. A Preliminary Report on Archeological Explorations at Macon,
rear ae Re MONS eo rs ac Lo ee ee a ae a 1
. The Northern Arapaho Flat Pipe and the Ceremony of Covering
Serene by AGT (Carter: oF oe ee ke 69
. The Caribs of Dominica, by Douglas Taylor____--__-_---------- 103
. What Happened to Green Bear Who Was Blessed With a Sacred
Pees 1 rimian WMieheleon- ace. 29 ae ee 161
. Lemhi Shoshoni Physical Therapy, by Julian H. Steward_--_--_-- Ler
. Panatiibiji’, an Owens Valley Paiute, by Julian H. Steward-_-.--- 183
Aram a boomin Ue wh | vd $
Heat WA AY ae Fall fade ie
ay i ti WA fel Due ye 1 i ;
Party stent can ae Ae Srne
ww
= ms = ie
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tN A a i Rotel he AE Fe ee
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Ma, A ORC Bo Sad | ae hb) inet ela! ipanitinehs " oth Ne '
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f r (Hl athe we ie ree a
# i) thf i i ny ay Be "We iY a a ot es 0.) Babi :
WRIT ih 2A a A can ve ase
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 119
Anthropological Papers, No. 1
A Preliminary Report on Archeological Explorations
at Macon, Ga.
By A. R. KELLY
"y
puenipooe F ee eS ee ee sd Ueicies in ama acdioans
— a a ee
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CONTENTS
Page
ee oe ee ae 1
Evidence of a prepottery flint industry on the Macon Plateau___________ 2
The pottery-agriculture base in Ocmulgee Fields___-___-_-------------- 8
The mound-building period on the Macon Plateau___________________-_- 14
Prehistoric spring sites on the Middle Plateau_______.____----.--------- 18
Explorations at Mounds A and B, Macon group_-_-_--_--_--------------- 19
Archeological reconnaissance of Brown’s Mount_-_-_-------------------- 23
Swift Creek and the evolution of stamped ware____-___-_--_--___--------- 25
Other site exploration in Ocmulgee related to Swift Creek___.__-______- 31
The chronological position of Swift Creek in Macon chronology _-_---_---- 32
Additional observations on the distribution of stamped pottery_______-_-_- 44
Exploration of Lamar mounds and village site_._.____-_-_-------------- 46
DnnEnEINE ONTOROIOPY o-oo 51
RC RMARISRIAS 4 oes situs ry a es i. de Ped as ree a 58
The antiquity of stamped pottery in central Georgia_______-_------ 58
Mississippian influences on the Ocmulgee Basin_____-__-___-------- 61
A tabulation of site exploration with statement of tentative chronological
UEP TET CIS
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STOOP WD
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
. a, View of prehistoric cultivated field. 6, Vertical profile cut through
a, Initial profiling and horizontal stripping to uncover field beneath
Mound D. 0b, Beginning exploration to uncover earth lodge____
a, Students removing debris from floor of earth lodge. 6, Profile cut
Seren enn Cpr An poi S bey SP OE TE ee ee UR 8
a, Survey of outer series of dugouts. 6, The 9-foot level between
ESSA PS Se tee eipe pig Re Se 7a ras SORT ORT Pa AOE PEN
a, Profile panel through Mound C._b, Profile section through Mound
cacy attracted Ra RE re ER eR ep Eure
a, Exploration of McDougald Mound. 6b, Log-tomb burial, Mound
| EE SBE Sa SEE Ee OS ct Se ERAS ate SR Rate Tee REAL ORS OBS
a, Exploration to uncover spring site. 6, Profile panels exposed in
Mere Pe HIni GING CUCOUTC. O52 el ee tee as
a, Exploration of Mound A, Swift Creek. 6, Explorations on Mound
MPMI OMMITIAR SLE ee ee sk ee Oe ee ee ee
. a, House site exploration at Lamar site. 6, Cremated burial, Middle
[RUPE Us a ae ef ee ey ca nee een, aes wee PRIME Le De. ae COR Te me Dole
IIR OTC 928 6 see te oe et 2 Vg, | eek eee Bae
. a, Sherds from Swift Creek. 6, Sherds from Macon Plateau_____-__-
. a, Sherds from Lamar Mound. 6, Sherds from Old Ocmulgee Fields_
Text FIGURES
. Key map to site exploration, Ocmulgee Basin___________________-_--
rE Marte eh A Some RAS eee yet isbtin oak) yee eisai!
peacneeitactis. from Macon Plateaul.¢i._ coos sic. $k eee lke.
. Patinated flint artifacts from Macon Plateau______________________-
erat Went Pintenu. oo ee ee ee ee
Sy nL TVS a Re Se ee a me A
NS SE ee Senet eee Ee CR ia SN eS eae
Page
68
68
68
68
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68
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68
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A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON ARCHEOLOGICAL
EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA.
By A. R. Ketiy
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this paper is to present within narrow limits a state-
ment of progress in site exploration at Macon during the last 4 years.
Such implications of chronology as seem justified at present will be
given in broad outline.
Necessarily the question of chronology must be approached very
cautiously as exploration in the Ocmulgee Basin in central Georgia
has resulted in a great mass of data and field collections which have
not been completely studied or analyzed. The sites have yielded an
unanticipated wealth of material. Stratigraphic indications of cul-
tural continuity, coming both from physical superimposition of de-
posits and typological distinctions in collections made at several
points (horizontal stratigraphy) offer a series of data permitting cer-
tain generalizations which now seem to be sufficiently substantiated
to be worthy of consideration. It may be advantageous to give a
preliminary conception of chronology along with the description of a
specific site.
Inasmuch as each of the site explorations will ultimately require
extended presentation to give all the essential field data, the present
article must be confined to a broad summation of field results. The
detailed facts of supporting evidence must await further opportunity
for expression.
The method of presentation will be to summarize current results in
connection with the specific sites which seem to represent periods of
evolution or cultural change in the Ocmulgee Basin. In order to
give continuity to interpretation, the key sites will be taken up in
order of their apparent cultural annectence rather than the order of
time in which they were explored (fig. 1).
A brief statement regarding the history of the work might be made
for those who have not been informed. Work began in December
1933 under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, as a Civil
Works Administration project. The Society for Georgia Archaeol-
ogy cooperated in the initiation of the project. Large mound and
aL
2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
associated village sites in the Ocmulgee Basin near Macon, Ga., were
selected for exploration. Investigation continued subsequently under
various relief organizations. Archeological explorations have been
continuous since December 1933 to the present time. In 1935 the
Ocmulgee National Monument was established by act of Congress.
At the present writing the National Park Service is completing ex-
plorations and beginning restoration of exhibits and prehistoric
structures.
EVIDENCE OF A PREPOTTERY FLINT INDUSTRY ON THE Macon PLATEAU
The Macon Plateau has been the center of protracted and intensive
study. Topographically it is not a true plateau but consists of a flat
peneplaned hill section formed from the ancient east river terrace of
the Ocmulgee River. The slopes dip very gradually on all sides to
the river plain on the west, to low-lying marshes south and southeast,
and to secondary ravines of drainage slopes north, northeast, and
northwest.
The geological formation is basal Eocene. Top soils are weathered
loam with characteristic A and B profile developments extending
down into unmodified red clay. In the Central of Georgia Railway
excavation, made in 1871 through the middle portion of the plateau,
a good cross section may be seen. Underlying the Eocene red clay ~
crust of the plateau are manganous and ferruginous lensed clays,
“calico clay,’ which lie unconformably over kaolinitic deposits of
Cretaceous origin.
Macon is on the fall line which extends across central Georgia from
Columbus to Macon, to Milledgeville, to Augusta. At or near the
Macon Plateau the Ocmulgee cuts through the last remnants of the
piedmont and follows a meandering course through broad marshy
flood plains to join with the Oconee 90 miles downstream, whence, as
the Altamaha, it reaches the Atlantic coast at Darien.
The summit of Macon Plateau is the seat of several large mounds,
both conical and pyramidal truncates (fig. 2). Modern plantation
cultivation has uncovered great quantities of pottery and worked
flints implying heavy village occupation.
The evidences of a prepottery flint industry have been accumulat-
ing over a 4-year period of exploration. Proper presentation of all
the facts would require much more space than is here available. It
must suffice at this time to state the general nature of the problem.
First of all, several thousand worked flints have been dug from the
plateau in extensive trench exploration. Typologically these exhibit
many primitive chipping characteristics and indicate a surprising
assemblage of specialized scrapers, any one of which, on technical
grounds, might be sufficiently distinct to identify a flint industry (fig.
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 3
3). The worked flints are practically all made from secondary slivers
or flakes and show chipping techniques reminiscent of the middle and
late paleolithic in Europe (fig. 4). The convergence in workmanship
is in many instances truly remarkable.
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a
SS i
KEY MAP
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SITE £XPLORATION
OCMULGEE BASIN
7934, 1035 , 1936, 1937
Oo
Seale t": Imile
FIGURE 1.
The second consideration of importance in regard to the Macon
flints relates to the stratigraphic distribution of these specimens, which
have been described as having the specializations which might be
expected of an early hunter people. A great majority show advanced
decomposition or patination to an extent seldom observed in American
4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
collections.! The possibility that this unusual change in flint cortex
may be a response to soil conditions, climate, or special flint constitu-
tion peculiar to the area has not been ignored. Evidence at hand
tends to show that flint artifacts of similar mineralogical nature in
the same soil matrices do not change within 700 to 1,000 years.”
MACON PLATEAU.
DETAIL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURES
Ceremonial Earth LOGGES ..numumernsnines retin (oe
HOua6, “SIPES: wiscssicatnsennantaeie pes tad scans ea =)
Trading Post ENCIOSUPE srssssersceisceecassesesees Qa
MOOF E'S THEM srrsscercnnecosssessrssoee sattesp ado
SHratfied VILAGE SUC .esrrsverervminssseneeere
Prehistoric Spring. Side Siasisesoureasassicecseanagl
NMine-Foot Level tn Control reich NOB =
FIGURE!2.
Flint taken from the seventeenth century trading post, from pre-
historic occupations and house sites, and from stratified deposits at
1 It is probable that the marked modification of flint cortex observed in Macon flints should be referred
to as decomposition, weathering, or alteration rather than patination. The measured degree of cortical
change in some Macon specimens is greater than that in Kentian eoliths, England.
2 Dean Leon P. Smith of Wesleyan College, Macon, Ga., carried out extensive investigations of the prob-
lem of flint decomposition in comparative series of worked flints collected on various sites in Georgia. His
death in 1937 represents a great loss to science. He was one of the few individuals familiar, through long
study, with local geology and had been interested for many years in the subject of weathering in rocks.
Dean Smith was preparing a manuscript summarizing the results and tentative conclusions of his work at
the time of his death.
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 5
several different points on the plateau show no modification of cortex,
or only incipient change. On the other hand, cataloged flints from
deep-lying weathered loam and fossil soils beneath the oldest mounds
show a progressive increase in mean patination from original plateau
surface to the lower soil zones. ‘The progressive increase in decom-
Ficure 3.—Flint artifacts illustrative of the more “generalized” classes of tools from the Macon’ Plateau.
Nos. 1 and 5 are chisel-like knives. Nos. 2, 3,and4are drills. No.7 is a plano-convex type of end scraper
with plateaulike upper surface replacing the usual median keel. No. 6is a “‘spinner’’ projectile exhibiting
the unilateral chipping and asymmetrical balance characteristic of this very prevalent type. Nos. 9, 10,
and 11 exhibit notched forms whose typology, relative decomposition of cortex, and distribution in weath-
ered soil zones would seem to indicate greater age conditions.
position amounts to as much as 100 percent at a level over 20 inches
below the old plateau surface.
Correlated with the decomposition of the flint is a marked weather-
ing of the exposed soils mantling the plateau. Soil profile develop-
ments assimilate features observed by soil scientists in the glacial
area of the northern and eastern section of the United States. Along
with the development of soil profiles goes the formation of nodular
35729—38——2
6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
soils with heavy precipitation of iron and manganous nodes. The
developments have been definitely perceived to take place in arche-
ological contexts and the question has been raised as to how rapidly
acceleration might take place under very favorable conditions in the
semitropical southeastern area.*
FIGURE 4.—Patinated (decomposed) flint artifacts from the Macon Plateau showing specializations for
woodworking and skindressing. Nos. 1 to 10 are knives or composite tools illustrating the geometric
form exhibited frequently in Macon collections cataloged from deep weathered loam. Nos. 11 to 16 show
characteristic forms of end scrapers. Nos. 17, 18, and 19 are large ‘“‘turtle backs,’”’ massive round or broad
oval-end scrapers of specialized aspect.
Another important factor is the vertical distribution of flint with
regard to pottery on the Macon Plateau. A 600-foot correlation
test trench was excavated and over 10,000 sherds and pieces of flint
scrap cataloged precisely to determine mechanical conditions of move-
ment in the weathered soils. This experiment demonstrated that
pottery and flint occur in approximately equal amounts in the upper
3 Two distinguished geologists, Dr. C. O. Sauer, University of California, and Dr. R. J. Russell, Louisiana
State University, visited the site of explorations at Macon and observed the unusual soil profile features in
archeological contexts and the heavy decomposition of flint artifacts.
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 7
occupation levels but that pottery diminishes and disappears from the
lower weathered zones, whereas worked flints increase very markedly.
The same conditions were found in correlations of flint and pottery
distribution in fossil soils preserved beneath prehistoric mounds.
Another feature related to this, but involving the horizontal distri-
bution of old flints, is the fact that isolated small areas on the plateau
show heavier concentration of rotten, decayed flint scrap suggesting
flint knapping sites. From these
spots strata box collections show
notable increases at a depth of 15
to 24 inches. The overlying soil
burden appears to be natural soil
with normal profile development.*
Some interest in the problem
comes from the fact that both the
cutting tools and the projectiles
have a ‘‘Folsomoid”’ aspect (fig. 5).
One projectile cataloged from the
Macon Plateau has been authen-
ticated as a true southeastern type
Folsom, replete with all the essential
identifying characters.
Other projectiles from deep weath-
ered loam show the same atten-
uated “Folsomoid’”’ traits in less
striking degree. The variations in
fluting or longitudinal grooving, in
form, and in the haft appear to be
specializations peculiar to the south-
1]
Oy
DAI
We MM
Lal
WEST PLATEAU
/-17-RS /-/7-RZ
vs 7" UVTI
Pied “ i ae eae FARRAR
eastern 1€ ao r egion, as com- WATURAL RED LOAM 7 EER
parable specimens occur elsewhere
in Georgia in private collections. 0 eee
. 4 5
The scrapers, knives, perforators,
FIGURE 5.
and drills more closely resemble
western prototypes. However, several distinguishing specializations
appear on the Macon Plateau.
A class of broad, snub-nosed, plano-convex scrapers with shelving
haft are noteworthy.
Another specialized series of scrapers found only in deep weathered
loam, and always exhibiting heavy decomposition, is represented by
large, massive, round, plano-convex tools. These may be 2 inches or
more in diameter and a half inch thick. The peripheral cutting edges
are secondarily chipped.
4 The possibility of simple intrusion by way of stump holes, animal burrows, or soil lesions of any kind,
has been ruled out by several extensive explorations undertaken solely to check distribution, including cor-
relation studies made of soil zones in fossil soils beneath prehistoric mounds on Macon Plateau.
8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
Long, double-ended scrapers with concave under side and longi-
tudinally convex keel represent a peculiar form. These artifacts have
cutting edges 2 to 4 inches in length which show secondary working.
A planing tool with stem haft, having the cutting plane chipped at
an acute angle with the lines of the base, is another unusual form.
Tuer Porrery-AGRICULTURE BASE IN OCMULGEE FIELDS
Within 100 yards of the spot where evidences of a prepottery flint
industry were first noted on the Macon Plateau a very complex strati-
fied accumulation of cultural debris has been intensively explored over
a 2-year period. The method employed has been to make vertical
cross-sectional cuts at 10-foot intervals through the area, as offsets
from asystem of control trenches. Subsequently, horizontal stripping,
L41R1 Pg HRI AIRS 4 41R7 HARD *4HIR it pt +HRIG ee,
Se ee ry
ae
ene. BRERA a
g > FY FRSSIISR AG
Re at TEENS
a G
RY =
EGA) Aumus PS@8) Red loam MotHed And Hard Packed [| Pink Clay @ 2) Occupation Level
BISIE]/ot¢Hed Red Clay Loam Seay dibe Natera] Wee ay Hay ts Molds
Heine D° West Plateau: ”” stratified Village Site
FIGURE 6.
with the taking off of each stratified level or soil element individually ~
exhibited in the vertical profile panel, has been followed in order to
give the maximum detail in cataloging and in describing context.
The evidence from this site, called the stratified village at Mound D
(fig. 6), shows at least three occupation levels in which pottery, baked-
clay basins, burials, domestic pits, and indications of house sites have
- been found. The domestic pits are clearly seen to be intrusive from
several building levels. The materials from surface pits and house
floors show that there was an historic Indian occupation with trade
material in conjunction with Indian pottery and flint artifacts; also a
top prehistoric series of house floors and clay basins characterized by
a definite pottery complex; a deeper buried black soil midden contain-
ing numerous artifacts and pottery gives a heavy predominance of
stamped ware of distinctive character. This stamped pottery in the
deeper prehistoric level in the stratified village at Mound D is char-
acterized by exceedingly small, neatly cut designs, geometric in form,
but with suggestions of a highly conventionalized linear expression
which may have been once naturalistic. The patterns have a cameo
distinctness and fineness of execution which serve to identify all
sherds belgonging to this classification and to distinguish them easily
in any site, however complex, in stamped pottery classes. We have,
in fact, to deal with a pottery complex whose morphological determi-
nants are quite distinct from the other classes of stamped pottery
found in the area. This class of stamped pottery has a wide distribu-
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 9
tion, as shown in reconnaissance on several rivers in central Georgia.
I have given it a nongeographical name, calling it simply ‘‘Delta”
class ware.
The statistical analysis of the stratified village at Mound D has not
yet been made. It will serve our purpose at present merely to state
that the data indicate that Delta occurs in the lowest prehistoric
level and that, in conjunction with this ware, we have indicated a
marked increase in the use of quartz and quartzite stone implements.
There is evidence that quartz and quartzite were used almost to the
exclusion of flint, a peculiarity which seems to characterize sites located
on the Oconee River 40 miles north where quartz increases to over 90
percent in all collections in association with heavy percentage of Delta
ware.
Regarding again the profile panels through the stratified village site
we note a soil zone beneath the lowest prehistoric occupation level, on
which we have described Delta pottery and quartzite tools as being
largely distributed, in which the original clay geological formation is
seen to be weathered and mottled, exhibiting a normal profile develop-
ment shading insensibly into unmodified red clay. At a point 5 to
6 inches below the lowest prehistoric occupation level quantities of
decomposed, worked flint were cataloged. And in this substratum
there was no pottery. ~ The flints coming from the weathered loam
beneath the occupation level show the primitive characteristics of
chipping previously described and the specializations noted.
In the stratified village at Mound D, in addition to Delta there
have been found significant percentages of other classes of early
stamped ware and a large floating mass of very coarse, plain, grit-
tempered sherds, poorly fired and generally much eroded. The surface
finish and paste characteristics of this plain, coarse ware are quite
different from that observed in the Delta stamp.
Mound D, seated on the northwest rim of the plateau within 100
yards of the stratified village just described, presents a neat picture
of stratified layers relating to soil sheets developed on the sides of the
original mound, the structure of the mound itself, and cultural features
beneath the mound, including a buried occupation level which, in
turn, shows a gradation through the zones of weathered soil presenting
the same features described for the stratified village. In all, at least
nine structural layers or levels have been determined for Mound D,
briefly, as follows: (1) the accumulated soil creep and outwash soils ©
developed on the slope of the mound covering; (2) a buried sod mark-
ing the original mound slope into which intrusive pits were made
which contained seventeenth century glass beads, gun flints, iron,
and other European trade objects in association with Indian materials;
(3) a thick mantle of red clay entirely covering the mound and aver-
aging 8 to 14 inches in thickness, beneath which (4) a series of super-
10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
imposed house floors were brought out directly on the summit of the
mound. Over 600 post molds were found on the summit of the
mound beneath the red-clay plate, intrusive through a bluish or slate-
colored clay floor prepared from river-bed clay. Two of these houses
were determined to be large square structures, and one of them had
a series of fired clay basins built in the floor. These are thought to
have been used for storage of maize. Beneath the slate-colored clay
floor of the house sites on top of the mound was found (5) the main
body of the mound structure consisting of basket-laid white and tan-
colored sand held in place by the clay plating as a bonding material.
In the southwest quadrant of the mound survey an inclusive house
mound was found beneath the basket-laid sand of mound body.
The house mound was square, about 3 feet high, neatly ramped, with
a prepared baked-clay floor, and with indications of galleries on the
northwest and southeast ends of the building. Pottery from this
large house site was predominantly plain, coarse, red or orange in
color from firing, without specialized characteristics, and similar to
the generalized common domestic ware found in the stratified village
site. The mound had been built over and had enveloped the smaller
house mound.
Beneath the house, and everywhere underlying the basket-laid sand
in the mound body, was uncovered a series of artificially arranged .
rows of soil, a dark, chocolate color, rich with midden, contrasting
with the white sand of the enveloping mound. In the vertical pro-
filing of the mound we had perceived uniform undulations at mound
base and suspected that we had chanced upon a buried field of culti-
vation. It proved comparatively easy to remove by troweling the
overlying soil burden of basket-laid sand, due to the sharp contrast
in soil texture and color. The operation was successful in uncovering
and revealing intact the largest and best-preserved plot of cultivated
ground belonging to prehistoric American agriculture. The area of
the prehistoric cornfield uncovered was approximately 75 by 50 feet.
About half of the mound was left standing, unexcavated, in place
over the rest of the field. The included house mound was also
troweled out in place over the prehistoric field. Altogether the com-
bined exhibit presents a very compact area of more than ordinary
archeological interest.
We have enumerated the basket-laid sand construction of the
mound as the fifth stratigraphic element. Sherds and other arch-
eological material were cataloged from the mound materials (5).
Collections from the floor of the included or enveloped house
mound constitute another occupation, the sixth (6).
The cultivated field or mound base in this instance forms the seventh
(7) catalog level.
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 11
Beneath the prehistoric field were found cache pits, some storage
pits, and post-hole indications ‘of large square houses, not built on
clay platforms as was the house inside Mound D. There were two
of these houses beneath the rows of the prehistoric field definitely
belonging to a preceding occupation and materials taken from these
yield study collections for the eighth level (8).
The ninth (9) and basically oldest stratified collection comes from
the weathered loam and fossil soil beneath the house floors and other
occupational features previously described under Mound D.
The oldest occupation here yields a heavy predominance of plain,
coarse pottery having prepared grit temper but very poorly fired and
much eroded from use. Pottery handles with nodal protuberances
on rim and handle occur in conjunction with this plain, red or orange-
fired pottery. Nodal, small button or teat-like protuberances on lip,
rim junction or handle exhibit as many as 30 or more variations.
A smaller inclusion of Delta and other classes of early stamping is
noted. In the ninth level, the weathered soil zone, only decomposed
flint having the highly specialized character for skin dressing and
woodworking was found.
Still on the northeast rim of the plateau and within 30 yards of
the site of Mound D a small artificial hillock was explored which
turned out to be one of the most important discoveries in the Macon
Plateau investigations. This was the base of a ceremonial earth lodge
of unusual type. It was essentially a circular chamber 42 feet in
diameter, covered by an earth shell. Illumination and ventilation,
presumably, were provided by a smokehole in the central roof section
and a tunnel entrance at least 25 feet long. The walls of the structure
were still preserved in basal portions and were shown to be vertical.
These were sun-dried or baked. The floor was of a slate-colored
river-bed clay, puddled or hard-packed, possibly sun-dried, with a
special arrangement of molded seats completely encircling the inner
circumference of the room. A few degrees north of the due east
azimuth an entrance passage 25 feet long with vertical log walls led
into the structure. Clay buttresses or pilasters, U-shaped, projected
inward to mark the immediate entrance into the chamber. Directly
opposite was a specially prepared raised platform or dais molded in
the form of an eagle, exhibiting a wingless body, shoulder, neck, head,
beak, and symbolical eye. In the center of the chamber between
the eagle platform and the entrance was located a large baked-clay
lined pit or hearth.
The ceremonial earth lodge has subsequently been found to be
characteristic of ceremonial structures in the older prehistoric phase
at Macon, as two more earth lodges have been found. One of these,
a small chamber only 25 feet in diameter, was brought out on the
west rim of the plateau. This was in much poorer state of preserva-
12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
tion as the floor section was only 5 to 6 inches below the present plowed
ground surface and cultivation had effaced many of the important
features. The third earth lodge was found in 1936 in archeological
reconnaissance of a site located 9 miles away from the Macon Plateau,
the Brown’s Mount site, which in addition to a very poorly preserved
ceremonial earth lodge yielded pottery and other indications of another
prehistoric Macon Plateau site.
At present, definite stratigraphic data are not available to show
the precise cultural relationship of the Macon ceremonial earth lodge
to the rest of the Mound D stratigraphy or to the stratified village
site in the same survey. The lodge had been destroyed by deliberate
burning and apparently most of the cultural material removed. Over
2,000 specimens of burned wood, mostly pine with a little oak, were
studied by students of the Laboratory of Anthropology in making
collections for dendrochronological investigation.
It will be impossible within present limits to give even an outline
of pertinent data gleaned from the exploration of the prehistoric
dugouts on the Macon Plateau. Moreover, the interpretation of the
dugouts as to origin and purpose, even now when most of the evidence
is in, will almost certainly be the subject of much speculation and
controversy. :
Certain general conclusions have been accepted on the basis of
present findings. These generalizations may be taken as given points
in any theoretical explanation.
First, the dugouts were definitely of human origin and were remotely
prehistoric.
Second, their extent, orientation, and distribution with reference to
the terrain and contours of the Macon Plateau would seem to suggest
definite plan or design in conforming them to the then existing
topography.
Third, the archeological materials, i. e., flint artifacts and potsherds,
cataloged from the five fill levels, give both stratigraphic and typo-
logical seriations indicative of cultural evolution or change.
Fourth, the observed conditions of soil eleutriation associated with
heavy decomposition of flint seem to be related phenomena, an ex-
pression of age conditions much more marked than has hitherto
been noted for soil changes in archeological contexts.
Macon Plateau chronology could not be discussed without reference
to a remarkable series of prehistoric dugouts uncovered first along the
rim of the plateau and the lower contour slopes in conjunction with
the exploration of the ceremonial earth lodge just described. The
entrance to the ceremonial earth lodge pointed east away from the
main summit and body of the plateau, a feature which appeared
strange since all of the building activity and occupational features
explored previously had been found on the plateau. A general
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 13
exploratory trench was cut down slope from the rim of the plateau
and the entrance of the earth lodge. This resulted in the uncovering
of two series of large pits carved out of the red clay of the plateau.
These dugouts were found to run continuously all around the north-
east, north, and northwest rim of the plateau from the point at which
they were first struck below the ceremonial earth lodge, and also
extended around the plateau rim and lower slope in the southeast and
south direction, converging upon the site of Mound A, a mile away
at the south terminus of the plateau.
Three years have been spent in meticulous profiling and horizontal
examination of soil fill in the dugouts. Profile panels made at 2- or
5-foot intervals, depending on the complexity and change in the fill,
showed from 5 to 14 stratified fill elements. These gave on analysis
five levels of soil accumulation followed throughout the two series
of dugouts, as follows: (1) top recent wash accumulated in the sinks
made by the dugouts; (2) a buried sod 14-24 inches below the present
surface showing occasionally early nineteenth century European
materials and historic Indian pottery; (3) a light tan, weathered loam
beneath the buried sod showing a lenticular or meniscus-shaped zonal
distribution of soil decomposition extending down into (4), a semi-
weathered loam containing nodular, ferrous and manganous oxide
precipitates. The basal fill (5) shows a still more nodular formation
with veining or streaking of a compact clay magma exhibiting physical
change to an extent that the original excavation planes are difficult
to make out in cross section. Pottery from this zone was generally
so heavily encrusted with iron precipitations as to appear almost
limonitic until broken and examined in cross sections. Worked flints
showed a mean cortical decomposition of 1.28 mm.
Given so much, discussion has resulted in three general theories to
account for the dugouts. A brief statement of each will be made.
The first consideration, the most logical and simple, was to view
the Macon dugouts as prehistoric borrow pits or clay quarries from
which great quantities of red clay were taken for mound or house
construction
A second view has been to regard the dugouts as related in some
manner to a scheme of fortification or defense of the plateau summit.
The difficulty here is that structural auxiliaries which might be ex-
pected in conjunction with fossae have not been found. Moreover,
the dugouts do not constitute simply a borrow ditch or fossa but com-
prise scores of long oval structures separated by narrow partitions of
red clay left in place in carving out the plateau, sometimes with narrow
passageways indicated in the chain of pits.
A third conception would explain the prehistoric dugouts as an
elaborate chain of underground chambers or pit houses. If this view
should be accepted, we would be confronted with the existence of a
14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
type of residence and a plan of village organization without specific
parallel in American archeology. .
Our concern here is simply to note the existence of the prehistoric
dugouts and to mention them as one source of data and materials
which should be very significant in any ultimate chronological schema-
tization for the older prehistoric occupation on the plateau. Analysis
of several thousand study sherds from the basal fill to the prehistoric
dugouts shows one of the most homogeneous pottery aggregates found
in any archeological context in the Ocmulgee Basin. About 92 percent
of all the sherds are plain, very coarse, grit-tempered, red and orange
colored from overfiring, and characteristically roughened and worn
from attrition or use. A smaller percentage of pottery, amounting
to 2 or 3 percent, shows some very primitive ware evidently built up
inside of nets or baskets. One characteristic form is a large pottery
pan about the size and shape of a wooden dough mixer, showing
heavy netting impressions covering all of the pot except for an area
of several inches below the rim. Others show various types of bas-
ketry and weaving impressions. Several specialized rim sections show
evidence that these were built up inside basketry containers rather
than decorated subsequently with fabric-impressed stamps.
Finally it is significant that we do find a small percentage of the
early stamped wares in the lowest levels of fill to the prehistoric dug-
outs. Moreover, domestic pits and definite occupation levels explored —
in situ, underneath the mound over the earth lodge, show the same
pottery as that found in the prehistoric dugouts in conjunction with
Delta pottery and other crudely stamped sherds. This description
must serve to show a portion of the evidence on the basis of stratig-
raphy and typology definitely implying existence of a developed stamp
ware in the oldest prehistoric levels at Macon in association with
evidences of early agriculture and very primitive types of dwelling.
Tue Mounp-Buiupine PERIOD oN THE Macon PLATEAU
It must be realized that the oldest prehistoric phases of cultural
development in the Ocmulgee Basin are the most obscure and difficult
to interpret. Despite the protracted and intensive investigations car-
ried on much doubt still exists in regard to some very important points
concerning the local chronology so far as the basic pottery substratum
is concerned.
The evidence is not complete, but there are indications on both
stratigraphic and typological grounds that the Macon mounds repre-
sent a later phase of prehistoric development on the Macon Plateau.
The deep-lying occupational features on top of the plateau, including
both series of prehistoric dugouts, the stratified village remains near
Mound D, and house-building indications uncovered beneath Mound
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 15
D, suggest an earlier habitation of the plateau before any mounds
were built.
However, present tentative studies of comparative pottery mor-
phology while serving to give some distinction do not completely
separate the cultural indices of these levels from strata box collections
made in the cataloging of materials in mound exploration on the
plateau.
The most likely explanation is that we have a cultural continuum
with new trait complexes coming toward the end of a long period of
internal development. It is quite possible that the mound building
on the Macon Plateau comes in as a culmination of civilizational
processes taking place in the area. Minor stylistic variation in pottery
and artifacts would hardly be noticed in any casual or preliminary
laboratory study. The impression has been growing steadily over a
4-year period as various information accumulated that the mounds were
built later but there has been nothing definite to imply the necessity
of bringing in new tribal elements or any radically different cultural
infusion. There is evidence of increasing influence of trait activities
from the outside as indicated by the emergence of new pottery com-
plexes and the stronger occurrence of some of the older stamped wares
previously met with in the deepest archeological levels on the plateau.
A brief summary of site exploration and a statement of the tenta-
tively perceived chronological trend will follow:
Mound C of the Macon group was one of the first to be explored
under C. W. A. organization. This mound, a large conical truncate,
had been partially destroyed by steam-shovel excavations in cutting
the right-of-way of the Central of Georgia Railway. The remaining
half of the mound stood as a shell, crescentic in shape where the
shovels had taken proportionately greater materials from the central
portion of the mound. The exposed north face of the cut showed the
presence of several superimposed clay platforms mantling basket-laid
sand belonging to separate periods of mound building. The possibil-
ities of stratigraphy led to the early investigation of the mound.
The method employed at Mound C was to make vertical profile
cross sections through the remaining portions of the mound and
through the slump or talus material accumulating in the railroad cut.
It was necessary to make two jogs back into the mound in order to
profile original mound structure and clear away all talus. This
operation finally gave a complete cross-sectional picture of the history
of the mound construction. It became apparent that Mound C
proper really consisted of five distinct units of mound construction,
superimposed, flat-topped, conical truncates, each succeeding mound
built upon a predecessor. In all cases the bodies of the mounds
were basket-laid sand capped with thick clay. The clay caps ex-
hibited a marked selection of clay as to color and texture, and the same
16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
materials extended from the mound summits as streamers or slope
mantles. The profile panels yielded one of the most striking exhibits
of composite mound structure known to southeastern archeology.
The selection of clays and sands of many colors and the schematic
arrangement of these in the successive periods of mound building
presented an ensemble effect of unusual complexity and color contrast.
In addition to the architectural peculiarities of Mound C construc-
tion, other points of archeological interest related to the presence of
burial pits made in each period of construction. The first or core
mound had six tomb burials underneath its base. The tombs con-
sisted of large burial pits 9 to 10 feet long and 4 to 6 feet wide in
which were log crypts containing both single and multiple burials. In
several instances there were evidences that the tombs were lined with
bark or small saplings. The use of shell ornaments, bone artifacts,
both shell and bone beads as burial furniture, was a feature of these
submound interments. Also anatomical evidence that decomposed
flesh had been partially stripped from the bones and that piecemeal
disarticulation of the appendicular skeleton had been made in careful
preparation for inhumation. The arrangement of the bodies in
multiple burials and the occasional wrapping of individual burials
in hide or bark before placing them in the log tomb implied an elabo-
rate burial ceremonial.
The first or core mound at Mound C was also characterized by -
another unusual feature, that of a clay-molded stairway, consisting of
14 stairs 6 feet wide rising from the ground level to the mound summit
of slate-colored river-bed clay. The stairway had very definitely
molded stairs showing worn median portions from the treading of feet.
The use of clay in stair construction instead of logs is exceptional.
Other burial pits were found intrusive through the clay summit of
succeeding mound constructions or through the outwash slopes of
water-laid sand and clay accumulating on the shoulders of the several
mounds. In some instances these burial pits had slumped or faulted
and the presence of water-laid sand both over and below the point
of insertion implied inhumation carried out during the actual period
of construction. Pottery and artifacts taken from the mound soils
and found associated with the burials helped to show a cultural con-
tinuity in the history of Mound C construction.
Each clay summit had intrusive post molds and an organic black
soil accumulation indicating building activity.
The final or fifth mound slope had developed a sod into which
Indian burials had been made intrusively. Beads, pipes, and other
European artifacts found associated with these historic burials were
tentatively dated by experts as of late seventeenth century.
In addition to the intrusive historic burials in the south and east
slopes of Mound C, a village site was explored in the terrain located
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 17
immediately around the mound. More burials, house indications,
and numerous domestic pits were uncovered. Pottery and flint
artifacts showed ware and decorative features not found with burials
inside the composite mound.
Mound C burials in the first and second periods of mound construc-
tion had shown a special type of burial urn; small pottery vessels with
long, slender necks and constricted mouths opening laterally, with
modeled, conventionalized animal eyes and ears around the mouth.
The shape, conventionalized animal modeling, and surface finish of
these vessels indicated a prehistoric funerary ware which did not occur
in the village outside Mound C.
The village at Mound C appeared to have both an historic and a
proto-historic phase. Pottery was predominantly plain or incised.
Morphological considerations showed relationship to intrusive burials
and domestic pits previously encountered in the top levels of the
stratified village at Mound D and the intrusive pits made into the
slopes of Mound D. A negative feature, later to become significant,
was the almost complete absence of stamped or paddle-marked pottery
in the Mound C site complex.
McDougald Mound was explored Jate in 1936. This mound is
located on a projecting spur about 500 yards northwest of Mound A,
separated from the rest of the Macon Plateau by adeep ravine. 'Topo-
graphically McDougald is considered one of the Macon group of
mounds.
Here again over three-fifths of the mound had been scraped away
by road contractors borrowing dirt for the construction of the Macon-
Dublin-Savannah Highway. Systematic profiling through talus and
remaining basal portions of the mound succeeded in uncovering some
very valuable information regarding mound architecture on the
Macon Plateau.
The pen sketch by James A. Jackson made during an advanced
stage of exploration at McDougald summarizes the essential structural
features of this mound. The point of greatest interest relates to the
apparently deliberate construction of a mound shell or protective
mantle over the site of a smaller house mound. The analysis of suc-
cessive vertical profile planes shows how neatly the clay plating of the
mound shell coincides with the clay ramps of the included house
mound. Also it is interesting to note how the floor level of the in-
cluded house mound was extended on one side by filling in soil to
provide a level base portion on which to begin the construction of the
containing mound.
The house construction built on the platform at McDougald shows
a striking convergence in rectangular shaped arrangement of vertical
wall supports, the existence of galleries or veranda-like extensions at
18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
the end, fired-clay basins, specially prepared floor with the house site
uncovered beneath Mound D previously described.
It will be noted that this house was not burned but was appar-
ently covered over with basket-laid sand. Then the whole envelop-
ing sand mound was specially plated with thick red clay.
The sequence of events here recalls the structural features noted
in the analysis of mound stratigraphy at Mound D. And the sug-
gestion is made hypothetically that McDougald is representative of
a class of mound constructions in the Ocmulgee Basin in which there
appears to be deliberate intent to construct special mound shells over
house sites having specific ceremonial significance. The idea is that
these mound constructions serve a different purpose functionally and
that from an archeological point of view they may be isolated as a
structural group from other classes of mound construction more defi-
nitely undertaken for burial purposes or for pyramidal temple seats.
The suggestion is offered that the McDougald Mound classification
be considered as commemorative.
Another mound in the Macon group, explored subsequent to the
McDougald investigations, uncovered a similar situation to that seen
in McDougald. This mound, the Dunlap Mound, located to the east
of the Macon Plateau, exhibited a contained house platform and
several ramped terrace approaches mantled with red clay. Dunlap
represents a variant of the situation described at McDougald.
Pottery from both of these mounds shows a predominance of the
plain red or orange fired ware, very coarse tempered with prepared
grit, and is like the basic ware generally found in the older plateau
levels.
PREHISTORIC SPRING SITES ON THE MippLE PLATEAU
The central section of the Macon Plateau has in recent years been
isolated by two railroad cuts from the north and south terminal spurs.
The segment thus cut off has generally been referred to as the Middle
Macon Plateau. Exploration here gives data comparable to results
obtained on the north (Mound D) plateau incident to the further
investigation of prehistoric dugouts around the rim and lower slope
of the plateau; also several spring sites at the foot of the southern
slopes which have shown signs of prehistoric use.
There were at least four springs issuing from the foot of the plateau
at a prehistoric period. Subsequently, changes in the water table
and a marked increase in erosion have led to the encroachment of
the marsh. As a result the springs have been choked up and only
one has been active in recent years.
In addition to the spring sites at the foot of the plateau, general
trench exploration from the rim down slope to the lowland marsh
has been made in several instances. These follow the contour inter-
vals of the southern and southeastern slopes which converge upon the
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 19
large pyramidal mound, Mound A, of the Macon group, in the south
end of the plateau.
Summarizing, explorations on the Middle Plateau were undertaken
to investigate the evidences of artificial terraces, the dugout continu-
ities followed south from the point at which they were first found in
front of the ceremonial earth lodge in the northeast quadrant of the
plateau, and the choked spring sites at the foot of the slope. Also
on top of the plateau an ancient spring source was uncovered in gen-
eral trench exploration. This evidently had been led off the plateau
by a ditch which was traced out in its entirety by vertical profiling
of fill at 5-foot intervals. Pottery found in the lower levels of fill to
this prehistoric spring and drainage ditch on top of the plateau shows
a very high percentage of the older plateau ware described for the
prehistoric dugouts and in other situations known on stratigraphic
grounds to belong to the earlier pottery levels on the plateau.
The prehistoric dugouts were traced in the Middle Plateau along
the rim and lower slopes and found to dip down toward the largest
of the prehistoric springs. This spring site was found to have cut
back 20 feet into the plateau bluff intercepting one series of the
dugouts. The same profile features of weathered nodular soil fill and
the same pottery encrusted with ferruginous and manganous precipi-
tations were encountered in the basal deposits of these dugouts.
Exp.Lorations AT Mounps A anp B, Macon Group
Mound A is the large pyramidal truncate, originally 40 feet high and
over 300 feet wide at the base, which dominates the Macon group
and makes satellite structures of the remaining mounds. Mound B
is located approximately 100 feet north and west of Mound A. Both
mounds had been constructed on a narrow projecting spur of the south
plateau. Preliminary exploratory trenches cut through the plateau
between the two mounds have yielded evidence to the effect that the
tongue-like south terminal spur of the plateau was not large enough to
accommodate the construction of the two mounds. It became neces-
sary, therefore, to make extensive fills of basket-laid sand and clay to
extend the building surface. There is very definite evidence accumu-
lating at present that this filling process went on for some time and
that each successive fill was bonded or held in place by the device of
plating loose friable sand with heavy bands or streamers of river-bed
clay. The structural principle was the same as that employed in the
clay mantling of mounds noted in foregoing discussions,
There is evidence also that superimposed house floors have been
built over water-laid sand which extends out onto the wash from the
slopes of earlier periods of mound construction. The superimposed
houses in the upper levels of the plateau between the two mounds are
shown stratigraphically to belong to the period of mound construction,
20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 119
Pottery and other collections of artifacts cataloged from these levels
are therefore representative of that period.
In the fossil soils preserved under Mound A and in the weathered
loam explored beneath the 9 feet of stratified fill between the two
mounds, deeper troweling was carried out. The old plateau floor
here showed a typical weathered profile development with A and B
soil horizons familiar to geomorphologists and soil scientists.
Four arbitrary levels, each 12 inches thick, were recognized in cata-
loging flints and pottery. Again the same phenomena of distribution
were observed that had been previously noted in special excavations
on the Middle and North (Mound D) Plateau sections.
Pottery and flint occurred in equal proportions in the first 12-inch
level. In the second 12 inches potsherds occurred sporadically and
were diminishing perceptibly. Cataloged flint continued to show
numerical strength extending into the third zone. The fourth 12
inches was relatively unmodified red clay loam and was sterile except
for a few rotten flints. Pottery occurred in the 24—40-inch level only
in association with post holes or pit disturbances. Chronometric
flint studies made by Dean Leon P. Smith, of Wesleyan College,
showed 100 percent increase in measured dedomposiiue of worked
flint in the third soil zone.
On the other hand, excavation of general exploratory trenches car-
ried down to the old plateau level shows heavy occupation before
mound-building activities had taken place. Very thick midden and
pottery accumulations here have definite stratigraphic implications
for the earlier chronology of the Macon Plateau. Complexity of
manifold building features and stratified layers in such a concentrated
area requires the most meticulous methods in profiling, horizontal
exploration of floors, and cataloging of materials. The work is still
in progress and data accumulating has not been analyzed thoroughly.
Any statement of progress should include reference to the 9 feet of
stratified fill being profiled in the area between Mounds A and B.
Here there is promise of still more significant information bearing on
the earlier cultural history of the Macon Plateau.
Another important conclusion relates to the indications that the
slopes of the Macon Plateau in the south terminal portion had been
generally cut away to provide soil for mound construction at an earlier
period. At a later time when the mounds were expanded in size and
the plateau was found not to accommodate the building expansion it
became necessary to fill the excavated slopes and to project the build-
ing surface laterally.
Several lines of evidence suggest that these explorations occurred
at a later period from that represented by the dugout excavations in
the central and southern plateau sections. For one thing, the dugouts
do not have the pit-like character or shape which they have elsewhere
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 21
on the plateau. Again, the soil in the prehistoric excavations retains
its structural integrity as to color, texture, and mechanical lie or posi-
tion (basket-laid, lensed, water-laid, cross-bedded). There is no process
of soil leaching or weathering apparent in the fill to dugouts in the
south plateau section around Mounds A and B, whereas the dugouts in
central and northern plateau periphery show normal profile develop-
ments and nodular soil accumulations in situ which competent soil
scientists have pronounced to have occurred after the soil accumu-
lated in the dugouts. If this be true, the almost certain weathering
and nodular soil formation must be considered conditions of age suffi-
ciently operative to indicate that the plateau slopes at Mounds A
and B were cut away incident to mound construction and subsequently
refilled as the mound-building program advanced to a more ambitious
stage. The assumption implicit in these observations is that the
prehistoric dugouts do not have the same character nor probably the
same purpose, and are not of the same age in the southern terminal
portions of the plateau.
Moreover, pottery cataloged and described as finds on house
floors, in midden pockets, in pits, and in the general fill stratigraphi-
cally considered, in the 9-foot level between Mounds A and B shows
the emergence of new types of pottery not previously encountered
and also a heavier percentage of distribution of certain stamped wares
which were not noted in the first 2 years of exploration in the central
and northern plateau surveys.
In electing to make a tentative chronological summary and state-
ment of progress covering site exploration to date in the Ocmulgee
Basin, beginning with Macon Plateau, necessarily the most obscure
and difficult problems have been tackled first. There are indications
that the elucidation of these problems will come in large measure
from explorations still in progress, particularly in the south plateau
sector where Mounds A and B and the 9-foot level are being system-
atically profiled.
Certain definite tendencies in regard to older habitation levels on
the Macon Plateau have consistently been apparent over a 4-year
period. These may be briefly summarized as follows:
The prehistoric dugouts constitute a major structural feature of the
plateau, completely encircling the topographic area except for the
west slopes where the fill mantling and erosion have been proven to
be most extensive in the last three or four hundred years. The pot-
tery from the prehistoric dugouts yielded 92 percent of a primitive,
coarse, plain, grit-tempered ware exhibiting considerable homogeneity
in contrast to pottery collections coming from other contexts on the
plateau. In addition to the fundamental plain Macon ware, whose
ware and paste characteristics define it and distinguish it from all the
decorative classes, there is a small percentage of other sherd classes
35729—38-—3
Be BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
which show primitive pottery making. We have noted a small but
striking percentage of pottery vessels which apparently were built up
inside of nets or baskets. Also a series of very thick-walled pottery
cylinders or jars with footed or annular bases. The thickness of
these coarse, grit-tempered cylinder jars often approximates 1 inch.
Finally, there is a very small percentage of early stamped decorated
ware in the basal deposits of dugouts, showing that stamping was
contemporaneous with, or quite possibly antedated, the fundamental
plain ware of the plateau.
The description of the site exploration on the plateau then proceeded
to outline investigations of house sites and other habitation indica-
tions on top of the plateau enclosed by the prehistoric dugouts. Ex-
ploration is not yet complete but the field data show that the oldest
habitation levels appear regularly enclosed by the inner series of dug-
outs. Inside the prehistoric continuity which runs along the plateau
rim a rich brown or chocolate-colored loam containing much midden
and showing some leaching has been found widely distributed. But
between the inner dugout continuity and the outer encompassing
series of dugouts following the lower contour slopes of the plates there
is a notable decrease in habitation signs as indicated by house sites,
domestic pits, burials, or basins. Also strata boxes show a marked
decrease of materials from the surface between the dugout series.
Finally, the profile panels show changes of soil texture, modifying
from the rich chocolate of the older habitation site inside the inner
series to an orange or reddish sandy loam much weathered and show-
ing characteristic soil profile developments in the plateau slopes,
outside the inner series of dugouts, extending down slope where sand
mantles and soil creep of redistributed origin give the lie of the land.
The stratified village site in the North Plateau, with reference to
Mound D explorations, was described as a profiled. section through
the older enclosed superimposed habitation levels.
The presence of considerable Delta class stamped ware in the lowest
pottery level in the stratified village site is regarded as significant.
This stamped ware is a definite pottery complex, technologically ad-
vanced with very sophisticated design elements. Its presence in the
oldest stratified levels of the plateau implies a much greater antiquity
in stamped pottery in the area than had been anticipated.
The exploration of the prehistoric spring sites, particularly the one
which issued from a spring head uncovered on top of the plateau and
the stratified fill to this spring site, yielded the fundamental plain
ware of the Macon Plateau, thus substantiating conclusions previ-
ously arrived at for the North Plateau. Moreover, the exploration
of prehistoric dugouts in the Middle Plateau survey confirms implica-
tions received in the protracted investigations of the same structures
around Mound D,
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 23
The final stage of exploration on the Macon Plateau is now cen-
tered in extensive trenching of the area between Mounds A and B.
These mounds were constructed in successive stages on the small
south projecting spur or tongue of the plateau. The manner in
which the plateau was built out with basket-laid sand and plated with
clay streamers to provide an extended building platform has been
described. Indications that a portion of the plateau slope had been
carved out to provide borrow dirt for mound building were noted.
Later these extensive excavations were refilled incident to the final
period of mound construction. The absence of soil profile develop-
ments and the marked persistence of original soil features in the fill
to these prehistoric excavations at Mounds A and B contrasted with
the normal profile developments recorded for fill in the dugouts
elsewhere on the plateau.
Finally, it was found, in beginning cataloging of materials in the
9-foot level between Mounds A and B, that new pottery classes were
met with and that increasing percentages of some of the earlier stamps
were noted in daily handling of materials taken from the different soil
levels. The correlation of these typologically distinguished sherds
with successive or superimposed house levels has not been deter-
mined, as the work of horizontal stripping is still in progress. More-
over, the precise relationship of the building activities on the super-
imposed platforms to the structures of the mounds must be meticu-
lously recorded by successive analysis of profile panels made through
the whole area. It is apparent that special mound plating or outwash
sheets of water-laid sand occur over and below the floors of houses
built between the mounds. Approximately 2 acres of ground com-
prising the sites of mounds and the intervening area thus represent the
crux in very concentrated form of Macon Plateau chronology. ‘The
outlook here for clarification of many problems regarding the early
pottery phases on the Macon Plateau is very promising.
It is important to remark that extended exploration and reconnais-
sance, carried on intensively in a relatively restricted territory,
indicate a cultural hiatus implying possible discontinuity as between
the older prehistoric sites on the Macon Plateau and other site mani-
festations in the Ocmulgee Basin, with the one exception of the
Brown’s Mount site which will be considered now. Persistent
investigations have failed to indicate how complete or how prolonged
this hiatus might be. It may well be that the apparent discontinuity
is not real but comes simply from negative evidence or absence of
contact in the particular sites explored.
ARCHEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE OF Brown’s Mount
The most prominent topographic feature of the Ocmulgee plain is a
large erosional remnant of limestone and red clay located 6% miles
24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 119
southeast of Macon overlooking the east bank of the Ocmulgee River.
Brown’s Mount comprises an area of approximately 1 square mile,
comparable with the extent of Macon Plateau. The summit is
rounded, shelving gently to the plain on the northeast, with more
precipitous approaches on the other sides. In the main, good pur-
chase is afforded by topography for habitation over most of the top.
The maximum elevation above the river plain is 180 feet.
In 1935 and 1936 archeological reconnaissance began with collection
of surface flints and potsherds with notations made on indications of
house sites and other structural features. Se5£3z 3S gf
S O523E3 3 3
£ 262 $5s}— $3
>a fo a Hypothetical ~~ $5
Ea Lae oor Stamped Pottery “s=._
wi Ba f- Horizon- Delta Class Marks Peak(?,
POTTERY COMPLEX:
(QMacon Plateau, (0Macon Platequ, PW1 with (DSwitt Creek early, (Lamar paddfe- () Paddle -rmarking
plain rough ware, plain rough smoothed middle, late series marked dominant disappeared
(2)Thick course grit ware increasing in development (2Lamar bold incised (2)Incising Degenerate
tempered cylinder jars. (2) Thick Cylinder Jors of complicated Important minority. with multiplicity of
(Jloop handles, (3) Loop handles, tendency stamp representation — fineline incised
nodal variations to drop nodal variations 2Theta grass extruded (3)Plain ware smooth geometric pattems
on hand/es. (Animal head rim modeling (3) Gridbar-checker to polished (9 Painted pottery;
@Crude, highly absert or disappearing stamp (QStrap handles or use of fugitivered
conventioized animal (5) Basket, fabric, netting (4) Steatite degenerate. loops, in incised fields
head effigy pot impressions on deciine (DSwitt Creek early many lugs. (6) Punctate with
vin modelling. (Q Delta decreasing; Bclass complicated (5)L or elbow pipes Incised
(Basket, fabric,netting- Sigma increasing stamp showing and elaborate (5) Carinated bowls
lmpressed ware (QCord-marking and attenuated symbodlical animal and skillet shaped
(@S/gma, Delta class denticulate Stomps resemblance to orhuman head dishes dominant
Stamped wares in stmll% (roulettes ?) increasing degenerate Delta() figurines aspipe forms
()Platform, calumet (8) Finger nail punctate (6) No pipes bowls. Also beakers.
pottery pipes occurs sporadically (Pinched and (6) Lamar rims
beaded rims persist
FIGURE 7.— Graphic chart summarizing text reference (p. 63) to site tabulation with tentative chronological
implications.
the terminological connotations of systematists in defining units
regarded as culturally significant in taxonomic classification. The
author has been privileged to conduct archeological investigations in
the central section and upper Mississippi and to participate in dis-
cussions leading up to the McKern formulation.”” There is no
doubt but that the early stamped pottery categories perceived to
have stratified and typological distinctiveness, widespread ecological
distribution, and consistent seriations in various associated traits,
represent in toto assemblages clearly basic—reminiscent of a ‘‘Wood-
land”’ pattern. Pottery morphology, burial traits, mound features,
flint artifacts, ornaments, implied physical environmental relations,
all concur with such analysis in appraising cord-marked and the
several stamped pottery complexes in Georgia.”
27 W. C. McKern, Certain Culture Classification Problems in Middle Western Archaeology, 1934.
% The determinant complexes of Woodland and Mississippian patterns as conceived by Thorn Deuel
may be taken for reference; Fay-Cooper Cole and Thorn Deuel, Rediscovering Illinois, appendix I, pp
209 et seq.
KELLY] ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MACON, GA. 67
Similarly, Macon Plateau, particularly in its later stage of devel-
opment, manifests the broad definitive features of the Mississippian
basic culture. A Mississippian influx of cultural traits has been
remarked in Lamar-like sites in Georgia, with the correlated conclusion
that refocalization was widespread and characteristic. In proto-historic
and historic times the Ocmulgee settlements present archeological
materials, especially in pottery morphology and decoration, duplicating
almost identically many site markers familiar in the lower Mississippi.
Ethnography and history afford explanatory support for the remark-
able resemblances between the two regions.
However, when it comes to assessing the specific sites and con-
stituept cultural elements on the individual sites, or related groups of
sites, in terms of ‘‘phases,”’ ‘‘aspects,” “foci,” ““components,” the prob-
lem of applying some such taxonomic device as that of McKern becomes
extremely difficult and hazardous. In the first place, no archeological
area in North America has been so little explored as the Southeast;
or, at least, few regions show such a scarcity of published information
on systematic archeological exploration. The work that has been
done represents site investigation geographically far removed. The
intervening areas are too large to permit of facile generalizations or
assumptions concerning what might be found there.
Another extremely important factor in the Southeast is the indi-
cated strength of many cultural impacts coming from afar and strik-
ing into the area at different time removes as peripheral spreads.
Both in the piedmont and on the coast, the evidence points to isola-
tion and cultural lag as complicating factors. Some of the compli-
cated stamps have been shown to survive late, even to proto-historic
times, under favoring conditions; others showed refocalization and
rapid change. The rapidity of change and adjustment seems to
have been greater in the piedmont than on the coast. The differen-
tial here may be a significant factor in future interpretation.
Finally, ethnography and archeology combine to suggest that there
has been not only cultural replacement by preemption of territory,
but that there were probably numerous reentry situations where
ethnic groups returned after several generations, perhaps after appre-
ciably longer intervals, as phyletic expatriates to reclaim a homeland
still vaguely cherished in folk origin myths. These “backwashes”
might well confuse the chronological picture of the archeologist
beyond recognition. For example, the lacunae between different
stages of stamped pottery development, each stage displaying “pure
site’ and “trade” appearances in minority representation—Swift
Creek, Vining simple stamped, the checker stamped series, Napier
complicated stamped, Lamar—may be due not altogether to simple
disruption of evolutionary lines by the immigration of strange new
peoples introducing a completely divergent cultural strain. There is
68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119, KELLY]
the strong possibility of repatriation by tribes whose earlier cultural —
pattern might have been so modified by later contacts received in
their secular sojourn in other areas that the cultural indices of these on
returning might be too tenuous for identification. Macon Plateau
and the Deasonville complex in Louisiana and Mississippi may express
some such permutation. The “Woodland” tradition persisted in the
Ocmulgee up to proto-historic times in Lamar sites, howbeit the
Mississippian features by then were definitely in the ascendancy.
In the earlier Macon Plateau occupation, the Mississippian features
are weaker or neutralized by the presence of many traits regarded as
“Woodland” by most students. Even in the Mound Builder period
on the Plateau non-Mississippian factors persist in a very confusing
manner. This is true at Mound C (Macon group) where a list of
60 or more traits show contrasting manifestations in such important
complexes as mound architecture, burial treatment, and ceremonial
constructions. Here the systematist might hesitate to assign even the
basic pattern, much in the same fashion as there remains speculation
regarding the taxonomic position of Adena in the chronology of the
upper Mississippi.”
The time is not yet ripe to attempt in the Southeast any ambitious
project at cultural classification implying greater or less evolutionary
relationship, with specific terms to indicate the degree of phyletic
connection.
Nevertheless, it is felt that a beginning should be made in defining
the criteria on which future judgments may be made. It is desirable,
too, to provide a terminology of wide acceptance by those workers in
the area interested in systematic interpretation of field data.
To this end, pottery morphological characters are regarded as the
most practical indices which might first be reduced to some sort of
order and precision in description. A system of binomial or trinomial
nomenclature for pottery types perceived to have common occurrence
over a wide area is suggested as a first step. The value and utility
of such a scheme to define pottery criteria depends largely upon the
degree of cooperation between investigators and the self-restraint
imposed in the process of definition. At the outset this attempt to
standardize pottery descriptions promises no more than a more
precise and comprehensible system of terms applied to the funda-
mental morphological criteria of pottery classification.
Ultimately, as field data increase and conceptions of cultural
relations become more clearly seen, a more complete and complex
classification might be adopted.
2 The discussions at the Indianapolis Archeological Conference (1935) indicate how much difference of
opinion still exists as to the fundamental distinctions of even such basic cultura] manifestations as Woodland
and Mississippian. The controversy over Hopewellian affiliations promises to wax stronger. Some stu-
dents regard Hopewell as a crucial development from early Woodland derivations. Others, and the author
inclines to this view, would consider Hopewell to be a stabilized refocalization of elements coming from both
archaic Woodland and Mississippian patterns.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BUEFERIN 1S SPeATE!
a, View from photographic tower of prehistoric cultivated field uncovered by the removal of about half
of Mound PD. The rectangular house and house platform in the foreground had also been built over
the cultivated plot of ground and was covered by the subsequent construction of Mound D. The photo
was taken after a heavy rain.
b, Vertical profile cut through Mound D, Macon group, showing trough and crest indications of cultivated
field under mound base.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULEERIN 119) (PEATEs.
a, Initial profiling and horizontal stripping to uncover prehistoric cultivated field beneath Mound D, North
(Macon) Plateau.
b, Beginning exploration to uncover floor of ceremonial earth lodge near Mound D, North (Macon) Plateau.
The entrance passage, U-shaped clay buttresses in the entrance, inner fired clay wall periphery, debris
of charred supporting timbers, and collapsed clay roof mantle are features exhibited at this stage.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 3
a, Students of the Laboratory of Anthropology, summer field training expedition, 1936, removing charred
roof mesh and debris from floor of ceremonial earth lodge.
-¥ ir
as g - a en am es
J is os Ros:
6, Profile freshly cut through fill to prehistoric dugout on North (Macon) Plateau. Note regular shape
of dugout and contrast profile development with that exhibited in plate 7, 6.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 4
a, Section of survey of outer series of prehistoric dugouts showing shallow excavations or pits, postholes,
and burials in the floor. Note that posthole indications of vertical supports increase in the shallower
dugouts.
Ble
6, The 9-foot level between Mounds A and B on North (Macon) Plateau showing extension of plateau
slopes by basket layers of fill bonded by clay plates. Four superimposed building levels occur in the
upper 4 feet of the terrace.
(BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 5
a, Profile panel made through north face of Mound C exhibiting contorted and basket-laid fill under thick
clay plates. Five separate and distinct mound constructions are superimpose , the uppermost showing
as an eroded segment destroyed by a railroad excavation. Two submound core (first) mound log-tomb
burial pits show in the foreground.
6, Profile section through east shoulder of Mound C, Macon Group, showing burial pits made intrusively
through outwash sheets and clay plating of second and third, inclusive, mound constructions.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 6
a, Exploration of MeDougald Mound, Macon Plateau, showing essential features of mound architecture
in relation to included house platform.
b, Log-tomb burial under first (core) mound, Mound C, Macon Plateau.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULCEERIN, 11S) PEATE 7
ast 5
6, Profile panels exposed in fill to prehistoric dugouts on South (Macon) Plateau near Mound A. Note
the preservation of soil integrity as shown by the absence of normal profile development and the multi-
plicity of fill elements demarcated by fresh trowel marking.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE &
a, Exploration of Swift Creek, Mound A. Right-angled exploratory trenches inset from base-line medians
used with offsets to insure against slumping of friable sand, ash, and midden fill. The survey pilasters
serve as an engineering backlog to previously explored ground.
b, Explorations undertaken simultaneously on Mound A and nearby house sites at the Lamar site.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 9
a, House site exploration at Lamar site showing charred wall (supporting) timbers on house platform (under
ey shelter), flexed burial troweled out in ramp to house platform, midden heap in situ at right
foreground.
6, Cremated burial from Trading Post area, Middle (Macon) Plateau. Furniture consists of rusted rifle
barrel with gunflint in place, iron wristlets, brass bell, glass beads, and conch-shell core necklace.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 10
ce |
A group of sherds representing the important minority wares which act as site markers and help to establish
relative chronological position in central Georgia.
Top: Two checker stamps and three sherds of Delta complicated ware.
Right, top to bottom: Fiber tempered with punctates in trailed incised lines; checker stamp; fiber tem-
pered with simple trailing; piece of steatite bowl.
Center: A large side and basal sherd from a conical pot cataloged from Swift Creek.
Lower left corner: A typical sherd of plain, fiber-tempered ware showing the vermiculated surface finish
caused by smoothing over extruded fiber
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 11
t
a, A series of sherds showing design elements and characteristic rims from Swift Creek. The third rim
aot in the bottom row shows the stage of development attained in Middle to beginning Late Swift
reek.
6, Representative sherds from the Macon Plateau. Top row shows six variants of rim and handle with
nodal protuberances. In middle row note crude animal head effigy rim modeling. Also one thick,
plain rim from a cylinder jar. At the bottom, a simple stamp which occurs sporadically in small per-
centage. Two examples of basket or net-impressed ware, one twilled and one coiled, are given.
(BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 12
a, Sherds from Lamar Mound and village site, emphasizing the stamping technique so characteristic of this
village site. Incised with reed punctate occurs frequently. Note the Lamar specialization of the rim.
, Collection of representative sherds from aistorie or protohistoric levels. Old Ocmulgee Fields. ‘‘De-
generate” incised, plain, clay-wash smoothed, ‘‘fugitive red’’ paint in incised bands, beakers, weakly
developed strap handles, luted rim strips beaded or pinched. The absence of any stamped pottery in
this horizon is remarkable.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 119
Anthropological Papers, No. 2
The Northern Arapaho Flat Pipe and the Ceremony
of Covering the Pipe
By JOHN G. CARTER
69
35729—38——6
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at} aiid 4
ay
an) ® ae | ‘
a wit A es a em lisplviesfene
CONTENTS
Page
Sse ee le se LL Bee eee cue deen eeeees 73
RENE oa oe se see ee Se ee See ences 75
Position of the Flat Pipe among the Arapaho-_....--_..--------------- 76
Requirements for opening the Flat Pipe bundle___._-__---------------- 78
The Pipe-covering ceremony and feast in honor of the Pipe__------------ 80
PPM EYWCCTORIONIOR O25 oo Se So ee ee ek ence eee 80
Procession of party of “he who covers the Pipe” to tent of Flat
ULE ASS ASRS I ae i pl le ge ee ee a eee eres ap pean ee we ae 80
RCCne Ne Ghe AtitGies 62-0 S50 52 pS eee ee ee eee 83
Painting of the party of ‘‘he who covers the Pipe”__---_------------ 84
Demmrmeanrarivigvieinag 2h 028 oN Sok one a ee ae ees Sak 87
Peewee. Of tho food .22- = 525: 2 3 t22 foe es se seen eases 88
Offering of the food by ‘‘he who covers the Pipe”_-_.-__----------- 89
Party of ‘“‘he who covers the Pipe”’ fed ceremonially -___----------- 90
SECO ein Scene Ss ee ee a a es See aa aaah 91
PresrloubloMOl fOOG =. ano nee ee ee Mo eee eee 92
mae epenine of the Plat Pipe bundle: o2....2 225-2222 -.2-2~4.222- 92
Meemrteniiinirat Guey Pla /PIpos 2.20. 22h Se a ed ee ee 94
Perret che bist Pine... - 554-5525 226 6556-5254 356 - e 96
BEREMMEM He Vist .PIO. 22 22. ns ee ee ei oR eee eee 96
eran of the Plat Pipe bundle..._-__.....-_..2----.---_--...- 98
eeverue of the Flat Pipe bundle ---. . 2-5. --- -222.5----Sl--5-se 99
Meemernersecremonyes.:. os. 85.2) soo el SU e st Bee Ue 100
REMC tree fo AY J V6 oo ACS eon Hl oe eo eee Be 101
ale SS ey a See 5 ne ene arene ae pe renee emer e en epee 101
III Sa a ee a ee a ee 197
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 8. Seating of persons in tent where ceremony took place-_-_------ 83
Figure 9. Painting of the party with “che who covers the Pipe’’_-------- 86
meene 10. fiat Pipe; Northern Arapaho... ......---..-<--.--=----- 95
olhvcavad: a Whee watt ian
ie Na ape Sabet. oGhT Pelt we eet Vey
; weit. ated Toh Heat: cel teat Desi wat,
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by
THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE AND THE
CEREMONY OF COVERING THE PIPE
By Joun G. CarTER
INTRODUCTION
The Flat Pipe (séicha, Mooney, 1896, p. 959; sieitca", Kroeber, p.
308) is the tribal medicine of the Arapaho, and its keeper is always a
member of the northern band of that tribe. The word medicine, as
here employed, is the word which white men have applied to those
objects or ceremonies of the North American Indian which either
contain in themselves, or produce by their performance, supernatural
power. This supernatural power is sought and applied by the Indian
not only to the purpose of healing the sick but also to obtain control
of natural forces, success in hunting, good luck, strength, long life, and
safety and victory in the hour of battle. The Flat Pipe in the Arap-
aho mythology is really the creator, and is held by the Arapaho in
greater veneration than the sun (Dorsey and Kroeber, 2). Its
present custodian (1936) is Oscar White, a full-blood Arapaho Indian,
who lives on the Wind River Reservation at Ethete, Wyo.
The Flat Pipe has been discussed by Mooney (1896, pp. 956, 959-
961, 1063), by Dorsey (pp. 191-212), by Dorsey and Kroeber (pp.
1-6), and by Kroeber (pp. 291-292, 294, 296-300, 308-310, 359-361).
The outlines of the creation myth, in which the Flat Pipe takes a
prominent part, are known. This myth is in the custody of the pipe
keeper. No white man has ever recorded the myth in its entirety.
Fragments of the myth have been obtained from Arapaho who had
heard it, and know it but imperfectly. These fragments are some-
times contradictory in their details. Those who know the myth, or
who have heard it, are forbidden to tell it (Kroeber, p. 309). In outline
the myth recites that in the beginning there was nothing but water.
Some say that a man and his wife and son, with the Flat Pipe supported
on its stand of four poles, floated alone on the water, and that ‘‘the
grandfather’ took pity on them. Others say that a man walked
alone on the water carrying the Flat Pipe and sought land on which
to rest his pipe. In this situation the man, or the grandfather (the
fragments contradict each other), sent animals down into the water
73
74 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
to bring up land from the bottom with which to make the earth. The
turtle finally succeeds in bringing up enough earth, and with this the
man, or the grandfather, makes the land. The mountains, rivers,
trees and grass, the animals, and finally man are all made by this first
being. The Arapaho are made, and the maker gives the Flat Pipe to
the Arapaho. The myth implies that either the world was made at
the Flat Pipe’s request or because of the Flat Pipe, and in order to
provide a place on which the Flat Pipe could rest (Dorsey and Kroeber,
pp. 1-6; Dorsey, pp. 191-212).
In 1892 Mooney was refused permission to see the Flat Pipe (1896,
p. 961). In 1900 Kroeber observed the Flat Pipe bundle hung from
its stand of four poles in the northern Arapaho sun dance lodge. At
the time of Kroeber’s observation it was said that the Flat Pipe was
removed from its bundle and was in the keeping of the pledger of the
sun dance, or in the back of the lodge behind the pledger, and that
the Pipe was taken back to the bundle by the keeper at the end of the
sun dance (Kroeber, pp. 291-292, 296-300). But it is also stated on
reliable authority that the Pipe remains in its bundle during the sun
dance (Friday).!. The Flat Pipe has been seen by Dr. John Roberts.
Weasel Bear was its keeper at that time (Mooney, 1896, 961; Friday).
Mr. Hastings, a missionary, gave the feast for the Pipe, and with his
wife and daughter saw the Pipe. It is believed that a Dr. Brown saw
the Pipe, but informant is not sure of this. Dr. Tyler, formerly
missionary in charge of the Episcopal mission at Ethete, Wyo., saw
the Pipe (Friday); and was permitted to lift and handle it (Fontenelle).
Mr. Roy H. Balcom, of New York, and Dr. Corey saw the Pipe and
gave the feast for the Pipe (Friday). A careful search has been made
of the card index catalogs of the Library of Congress and the Library
of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, in
order to ascertain if any of the above named have published papers
on the Flat Pipe, and no reference to any such publications has been
found. If there be any oversight in giving credit where credit is due
in regard to papers published on the Flat Pipe the oversight is
regretted.
The writer is informed that he is the first white man to take the
part of “he who covers the Pipe” in the ceremony here described
(Friday), and it is to be noted that when reference is made to “he
1 The following information was received in a letter from Harlow E. Burt, Chief Clerk, Shoshoni Agency,
Fort Washakie, Wyo., dated June 26, 1937: ““Your old friend Oscar White passed to his happy reward
February 16th last. His daughter, Hanna Brown, has the medal you sent to her father. She told me they
prize it highly and would keep it among members of their family. She also has the Arapaho peace pipe.
It has not been determined as yet who will be chosen as permanent keeper of the sacred emblem. Mrs.
Brown did say that Luke Smith, stepson of Oscar White, was a likely candidate. You wish to know “if
the peace pipe was exposed at some time during the Arapahosun dance.’ The answer isno. My source of
information is Mr. Friday, Mr. Whiteman, Hannah Brown, and Domic Oldman, allimportant members
of the Araphao tribe.”
Friday, on a visit to Washington, D. C., in July 1937, stated that Luke Smith (Wolf Lung) had succeeded
Oscar White as keeper of the Flat Pipe.
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE to
who covers the Pipe’”’ in this paper, the reference is to the author of
this paper, and all matters here related, and not credited to others,
fell directly under his observation.
The following persons have been of the greatest assistance in giving
information in regard to the Flat Pipe and in making it possible to
see the Pipe and take part in the ceremony of covering the Pipe:
Robert Friday, a full-blood Arapaho, and chairman of the Arapaho
tribal council; Mrs. Robert Friday; Dr. John Roberts, missionary of
the Episcopal Church among the Arapaho and Shoshoni since 1882,
and still actively engaged in that work among them; Shave Head, a
full-blood Arapaho Indian; Oscar White, keeper of the Flat Pipe;
Luke Smith, assistant keeper of the Flat Pipe; Victor Fontenelle, an
Omaha Indian, private secretary to the superintendent of the reser-
vation; and Forrest R. Stone, superintendent of the Wind River
Reservation, who gave most valuable assistance in making contacts
with and gaining the confidence and good will of Arapaho Indians.
Robert Friday, who acted as negotiator, informant, sponsor, coach,
instructor, and interpreter in the ceremony here described, checked
over the notes taken on the ceremony and on the Flat Pipe and made
corrections and additions where needed.
Tur ARAPAHO
The Arapaho are an important tribe of the Algonquian linguistic
stock. Several hundred years ago this tribe was located in western
Minnesota. According to their traditions they were then an agri-
cultural and sedentary people. They gradually migrated south and
west from their original habitat, allying themselves with the Cheyenne
at the time of their migration. Early in the nineteenth century they
acquired horses. Their migration, acquisition of horses, and their
emergence into the buffalo country led them to abandon their agri-
cultural habits and culture and adopt the culture of the plains or
buffalo-hunting tribes. The reason for their migration is unknown.
At an early period in this migration the first division of the Arapaho
occurred, when a band, later known as the Gros Ventres of the Prairie,
left the Arapaho, and subsequently allied themselves with the Piegan
tribe of the Blackfeet Nation. These Gros Ventres now reside on the
Fort Belknap Reservation in north central Montana. The main
body of the Arapaho journeyed on to the Black Hills, where they
parted company with the Cheyenne, with whom, however, they con-
tinued ever after to have close alliance and friendship. The Arapaho
then proceeded to the headwaters of the Missouri, but driven from
that country by the Piegans and other Indians, they then found their
way to the headwaters of the Platte, a part of the tribe ranging south
to the headwaters of the Arkansas. In 1849 the great overland route,
which followed the North Platte, permanently divided the buffalo
76 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
into the northern and southern herds, and these herds were never
again united. It is believed that this led to the last division of the
Arapaho.” That part of the tribe now known as the Southern Arapaho
who now have a reservation with the Cheyenne in Oklahoma, followed
the southern herd along the Arkansas. That part of the tribe now
known as the Northern Arapaho, who now reside on the Wind River
Reservation in Wyoming, remained with the northern herd north of
the Platte. The Arapaho recognize the northern tribe in Wyoming
as the mother tribe, and it is this tribe of the Arapaho who retained
custody of the tribal medicine known as the Flat Pipe (Mooney, 1896,
pp. 954-1023; 1907, pp. 72-74; Clark, pp. 38-43; Strong, p. 37).
PosITION OF THE Fiat Pirpzk AMONG THE ARAPAHO
The Flat Pipe is looked upon by the Arapaho as an exceedingly holy
object, and is held in the highest possible veneration and respect.
The Christianized Arapaho refer to it as ‘‘the chariot of God,’’ be-
cause, they say, when a man looks upon the Pipe his “‘shadow”’ is at
once transported to “the home.” By “shadow” is meant the soul or
spirit, and “‘the home” refers to the place where the Arapaho journey
after death (Roberts). In the old days the Pipe was considered too
holy to be carried on horseback or travois. The keeper then carried
the Pipe, wrapped in its bundle, with the four poles which formed the
stand for the bundle when at rest, and proceeded afoot when the camp
moved (Mooney, 1896, p. 960; Roberts). As the bundle is about 2
feet long, and the poles are about 5 feet long, the keeper was obliged
to walk slowly, and no great distance could be covered in a day’s
march. When encamped the camp circle formed around the keeper’s
lodge. When on the march the camp formed around the keeper, and
thus the people were kept close together. This was a good thing
because it kept them from straggling or scattering when moving
through hostile territory (Roberts). The keeper, when the camp was
on the march, walked under guard (Mooney, 1896, p. 960).
In the Northern Arapaho sun dance lodge the Flat Pipe, wrapped in
its bundle, is brought into the lodge, and is there suspended from its
stand of four poles (Kroeber, p. 291; Friday). The four poles are
arranged like the poles of a tipi or a lodge, and from the point where
they are bound together near their tips the bundle is secured by a thong
and hangs free. The pipe bundle, suspended from this stand, was
2 Robert Friday while visiting Washington in July 1937 made the following comment with reference to
this statement: That the old men of the Nortbern Arapaho had told him that the Northern and Southern
Arapaho were originally different tribes, and the southern tribe spoke a different language from the northern
tribe when they first met. That originally the southern tribe lived to the south of the Northern Arapaho,
and had horses. The Northern Arapaho had good lodge poles in their country, and traded these for the
horses of the southern tribe, the trade being carried on in the neighborhood of Fort Dodge. As a result of
this commerce the southern tribe, according to Friday’s informants, picked up the language of the Northern
Arapaho, and became known as Southern Arapaho. Thus there was an amalgamation of the two tribes,
and not a division of Southern Arapaho from the parent stock, according to Friday.
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE Te
sometimes placed in front of two or more of the sun dancers (Kroeber,
p. 292). Food was offered to the pipe bundle by the dancers in the
sun dance lodge (Kroeber, p. 296). The dancers also touched the
pipe bundle and cried over it (Kroeber, p. 299). All those wishing to
do so make offerings to the Flat Pipe bundle in the sun dance lodge.
But only offerings of felt cloth or of sun shells are exposed (Mrs.
Friday). Itis supposed that this means that only these offerings are
used to cover the pipe bundle, or to be exhibited as offerings. Offer-
ings of cloth, other than felt, are retained by the keeper and may be
given by him to the different members of his family for the women to
make up into dresses. But this cloth, when so used, cannot be handled
like ordinary cloth. All scraps left over from the making of these
dresses must be wrapped up into a small wad or bundle, and the wad
or bundle either burned, or thrown into a stream of running water.
Dresses or other garments made of this cloth, when worn out, cannot
be disposed of in the same manner as ordinary clothing, but must be
bundled up, and the bundle must be either burned or cast into a running
stream (Mrs. Friday).
When a feast is prepared in honor of the Flat Pipe the women who
help prepare the feast, and carry the food to the tent or lodge in which
the ceremony is given, feel amply compensated for their work, as they
are permitted, at the proper time, to come into the place where the
ceremony is occurring, and see the Flat Pipe and touch it with the sole
of their bare right foot. They are also allowed to partake of some of
the food; which is blessed, offered, and eaten in honor of the Pipe, and
they feel amply rewarded for their work by the opportunity afforded
them of obtaining these blessings (Friday).
The person who gives the ceremony of covering the Pipe is known as
“he who covers the Pipe” or “he who worships the Pipe” or ‘‘the
coverer” (Shave Head; Friday), and acquires considerable prestige
and standing among the Arapaho by so doing. Very few Arapaho
can give the ceremony, and comparatively few have done so. Robert
Friday once gave the ceremony in order to obtain recovery from
illness of his daughter (Friday). ‘He who covers the Pipe” by
giving this ceremony not only gains blessings of health, long life,
good fortune, and security for himself and his family, but also per-
mits others to share in these blessings at his expense, since all who
wish to do so may come forward at the proper time and touch the
Pipe with the sole of their bare right foot, and thereby gain from the
Pipe strength, and all of these other blessings. The food which is
blessed and eaten in honor of the Pipe is also in great demand. The
partaking of it is regarded in the same light as communion among
Christians (Friday). As an abundance of food is provided, and com-
paratively little is consumed at the ceremony, the remainder of the
78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
food is distributed to the village or carried home by those present at
the ceremony. Thus the greatest number possible of the people may
eat the blessed food, and when the ceremony is given a great number
of people profit by it at no cost to themselves.
It is said that during the tenure of the last keeper, before Oscar
White, the Pipe sealed itself up. When the former keeper had occa-
sion to open the bundle and expose the Pipe he found the bow! of the
Pipe sealed with a tallow plug. This, the keeper declared, had been
done by the Pipe, and not by him, for the reason that the people had
become so wicked that the Pipe refused to permit itself to be smoked
any longer by them. The keeper also declared that when the people
improved their conduct, at some future time, the Pipe would unseal
itself (Friday).
Prior to the time that the Pipe was sealed it could be smoked. But
the ceremony of smoking the Flat Pipe could only be gone through with
at night (Friday). Dr. Roberts, who evidently saw the Pipe after it
had been sealed, states that it appears to have been sealed with a peb-
ble, and that the opening of the bow! which is covered by the seal is
about the size of a half dollar.
The myth of the origin of the Pipe; of the creation of the earth; in-
formation about the contents of the bowl of the Pipe, which holds
among other things a grain of corn; the formula for making the incense,
as well as the powder with which the woman helper blesses the food;
information about the ear of corn in the Pipe bundle, and the turtle,
which is part of the Pipe equipment; the history of the different wrap-
pings which make up the Pipe bundle; and all other matters relating
to the Pipe and its ceremonies can be told only at night. It takes
three nights for the keeper to impart information in regard to the crea-
tion and the origin and history of the Pipe. One who wishes to re-
ceive this information must make a suitable present to the keeper and
abstain from food and water for the 3 days and 3 nights period during
which he is receiving the information. He may rest during the day,
and receives the information only at night. The last night is the
most severe, for it takes the keeper the entire night to get through with
all he has to tell (Friday).
REQUIREMENTS FOR OPENING THE Fuat Pier BUNDLE
By opening the Flat Pipe bundle is meant having the proper cere-
mony performed whereby the bundle containing the Flat Pipe is
unwrapped and the Pipe exposed to view. Anyone who is able to
meet the general requirements, make the necessary gifts, and give
the feast, may have the ceremony performed and the bundle opened.
First of all it is necessary to believe in the Flat Pipe (Friday). Then
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 79
it is necessary to procure a yard or more of red or blue felt cloth, of a
certain quality, with which to ‘‘cover the Pipe.” As cloth of this
kind is no longer carried by the traders, or in the local stores, this is
difficult. In the ceremony here described the cloth required had to
be purchased at second hand. In addition to the felt cloth five sun
shells should be procured. These are circular or oval discs cut from
some shell (perhaps abalone) with a pink inner surface, and were
formerly much in demand for earrings. They are no longer carried
by the traders or in local stores, and could not be obtained for this
particular ceremony. Finally it is necessary for ‘‘he who covers the
Pipe” to provide a feast. The feast must consist of at least five
dishes, and the more varieties of food furnished in addition to this
the better the feast is considered to be, according to Arapaho stand-
ards in regard to this kind of a ceremony. The quantity of food
does not appear to matter so much. It is the variety of foods fur-
nished that counts (Friday). Women must be found who will pur-
chase, prepare, and carry the food to the tent or lodge where the
ceremony is given. ‘He who covers the Pipe’’ must procure a pipe
and have it filled with the proper mixture of kinnikinnick and tobacco.
This is the pipe he will carry, with the cloth offering wrapped about
its stem, to the tent where the ceremony is to take place. A second
pipe must be procured, with a bag containing the proper mixture of
tobacco and kinnikinnick, for sociable smoking during the ceremony,
and this pipe and tobacco must also be carried to the place of the
ceremony. In the present ceremony the absence of the five sun
shells was compensated for by fastening a bill of modest denomina-
tion to the felt cloth offering, in the place where the shells would
have been fastened had they been obtainable.
On the present occasion all of the preliminary purchases of food,
and the procuring of women assistants, cloth, pipes, and tobacco, and
all the negotiations connected with the ceremony were placed in the
hands of Robert Friday and Mrs. Friday, who handled everything in
the most satisfactory manner. The actual money cost is very moder-
ate. In fact money by itself will get a person nowhere in regard to
the Flat Pipe. The proper forms and ceremonies must be gone through
and the proper gifts provided. Otherwise the bundle containing the
Flat Pipe remains closed. The matter has to be conducted Arapaho
fashion or not at all. And even if all the proper gifts can be procured,
and the feast provided, it is useless to attempt to see the Pipe unless
the confidence, good will, and active support of the Arapaho concerned
is first obtained. Arapaho friends, well-wishers, and active supporters
are a primary essential. The three things necessary to open the Pipe
bundle are therefore: the confidence and help of certain Arapaho;
the necessary gifts; and to do it their way.
80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
THE Pipe-CoverRING CEREMONY AND Frast In Honor OF THE PIPE
PRELIMINARY CEREMONIES
At the camp of Oscar White, the Pipe keeper, a wall tent has been
set up for the ceremony. ‘The door of the tent faces east. Prior to
this it is understood that the keeper and his party have taken a sweat
bath. Such a sweat bath requires that seven dippers full of water
be thrown on the hot stones in the sweat lodge (Shave Head). Luke
Smith, assistant keeper, stepson of Oscar White, and his successor in
office (Friday), now goes to Oscar White’s dwelling, and there removes
the Pipe bundle and the four poles which support the bundle, and
carries these to the tent prepared for the ceremony. Luke Smith is
the only person who is authorized to carry the Pipe bundle and the
four poles which are used for its stand (Friday). Oscar White appears
to be an old man, and rather feeble.
The stand of four poles, with the bundle attached, is lashed securely
by Luke Smith to the west tent pole of the tent where the ceremony
is to take place. The poles are placed flat against the west wall of
the tent so as not to be in the way. The bundle is hung free from the
point of intersection near the ends of the two pairs of poles, whose
butts rest on the ground to the north and south of the west tent pole.
These poles are between the bundle and the west tent pole and are
secured to the tent pole at their point of intersection.
While the Pipe bundle is being placed in the tent the party of “he
who covers the Pipe” is forming at the tent of Robert Friday, at which
place the food for the feast has been prepared by Mrs. Friday and
her women helpers. Friday moved in from his farm, 10 miles distant,
and borrowed a tent in Oscar White’s camp for this ceremony. Mrs.
Friday the day before the ceremony rode 20 miles to town in a wagon
to make the necessary purchases of cloth and food, and she and her
women helpers have been busy all morning preparing the feast. It is
now a few minutes after 11 in the morning and all is in readiness.
PROCESSION OF PARTY OF ‘‘HE WHO COVERS THE PIPE” TO TENT OF
FLAT PIPE
“He who covers the Pipe” heads the procession. He carries a pipe
with a catlinite bowl, filled with a mixture of tobacco and kinnikinnick.
Around the wooden stem of this pipe is carefully wrapped the yard of
blue felt cloth, which had previously been folded to a convenient size.
On the inner side of this cloth, next to the pipestem, has been pinned
an offering, in lieu of the five sun shells which should have been
placed there, but which could not be obtained. The pipe is held with
the right hand forward under the bowl, the bow] being held forward,
away from the body, and slanted slightly downward. Itis about level
with the pit of the stomach. The left hand holds the stem, back near
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 81
the mouthpiece. The hands are outside the wrapping of the pipe,
and holding the wrapping in place around the pipe. The stem of the
pipe is slanted to the left of the body, and is held close to the body.
On the left of “he who covers the Pipe,” and about a foot behind him,
stands Robert Friday, who carries a pipe with a black stone bowl, and
with it a bag containing a mixture of tobacco and kinnikinnick.
Following these two are the wife and daughter of ‘he who covers the
Pipe,” who are followed in turn by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Elkin, Vic
Fontenelle, and then by Mrs. Friday and 10 women who carry the
food for the feast in pots, kettles, pans, and buckets. All the party
are bareheaded and stand together in close formation. Friday’s tent
is south and west of the tent where the ceremony is to take place and
distant from it about 100 yards. The party of “he who covers the
Pipe” now advances slowly toward the tent prepared for the ceremony.
The heads of the two leaders of the party are bowed. The pipe
carried by “he who covers the Pipe” is held carefully by him in the
manner before described, until the moment of its surrender to the
Pipe keeper. While the party is slowly advancing Oscar White
proceeds to a point in the rear of the tent where the ceremony is to
take place, and standing there summons by name the persons desig-
nated as helpers by him, in a loud voice. On arriving near the tent, at
a point close to its southeast corner, the party of “he who covers the
Pipe” halts. They remain at that position for a few minutes, while
the keeper of the Flat Pipe, his helpers and assistants take their
places inside the tent. When all is ready a voice calls from the tent
for the party to comein. The party now advances to the entrance of
the tent, turns west, enters the tent, and crosses to where the Pipe
keeper is seated before the suspended bundle. The Pipe keeper
faces east. Standing directly in front of the keeper, “he who covers
the Pipe’’ shifts the position of the pipe he carries, without, however,
disturbing the cloth wrapping which is around the pipe. The stem of
this pipe is swung clockwise, and away from the body, until the
mouthpiece points downward toward the Pipe keeper, the bowl being
then next to the body of “he who covers the Pipe.” The pipe is then
passed slowly and carefully toward the keeper, the left hand forward
and under the stem near the mouthpiece, and the right hand nearest
the body and under the bowl of the pipe. The Pipe keeper takes the
pipe from “he who covers the Pipe,’ without disturbing its cloth
wrapping, then removes the wrapping and places it behind him on his
right, and lays the pipe he has received across his knees, the bow] to the
north. Meantime “he who covers the Pipe” extends both of his
hands over the head of the Pipe keeper, the palms downward and
fingers outstretched and close together. He does not touch the head
of the Pipe keeper with his hands. In this position he bows his head
and makes a silent prayer, of his own choice, in which Friday, who is
82 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
standing on his left, joins. When “he who covers the Pipe” raises his
head and lowers his hands the prayer is concluded and the Pipe keeper
signs to him and the rest of his party to take seats along the south
wall of the tent. All do so, taking the seats pointed out to them by
the Pipe keeper. The women who carry the food bring it as far as the
door of the tent, where it is then taken by Luke Smith, assistant keeper,
and placed on the ground in the middle of the tent.’
Along the south wall of the tent, all facing north, are seated the
following: In the southwest corner of the tent is seated Pete White
Plume, alternate keeper; on his right is seated Robert Friday, chair-
man of the Arapaho tribal council; on his right is “he who covers the
Pipe’; on his right is seated his wife, and on her right his daughter; on
her right is Mrs. Elkin, and on her right is Mr. Elkin, and on his right
is seated Vic Fontenelle, who is at the southeast corner of the tent,
next to the door. In this line all, save Pete White Plume, belong to
the party of “he who covers the Pipe.” Seated along the north wall of
the tent and facing south are the following: In the northwest corner of
the tent is Carry Shot Gun, helper; on his left is George White Ante-
lope, helper; on his left is seated Pete L. Brown, helper; on Brown’s
left is a Southern Arapaho visitor, whose name could not be ascer-
tained; on the visitor’s left is Esau Grasshopper, helper; and on his
left, seated nearest to the door, is Yellow Calf, helper. There are, in
all, five helpers and one Southern Arapaho visitor (Friday). The
visitor came to Wind River with three bus loads of Southern Arapaho
who made a 3 days’ journey from Oklahoma to see the Northern
Arapaho sun dance. He is greatly pleased to be present here and see
the Flat Pipe, which he had never hoped to see, and he takes occasion
at the proper time in the ceremony to express his appreciation and
thanks to ‘the who covers the Pipe.” Along the west wall of the
tent, and facing east, are: Oscar White, keeper of the Flat Pipe, who is
seated directly in front of the west tent pole and the Flat Pipe bundle;
on his left is seated Luke Smith, assistant keeper, and his stepson; on
his right is seated Lizzie White Plume, woman helper to the Pipe
keeper (Friday). There are 17 persons present altogether. Shave
Head states that he and his wife sometimes assist Oscar White in the
Flat Pipe ceremonies, and that Mrs. Yellow Bear, Oscar White’s
niece, often assists as woman helper, and that Chester Yellow Bear *
sometimes takes the place occupied in the present ceremony by Pete
White Plume. Both Pete White Plume and Chester Yellow Bear,
who is not present at this ceremony, may be helpers. Friday states
3 At this point the Pipe keeper looks over the food offerings and decides whether to give the complete
ceremony, entirely exposing the Flat Pipe, or to give the ceremony in abbreviated form, by opening the
bundle wrappings and affording those assembled only a brief glimpse of the Pipe resting in the bundle
wrappings. This decision is entirely within the discretion of the keeper, and he need communicate his
intended course to no one. In the ceremony here described the Flat Pipe was completely exposed and the
entire ritual was given. ‘This according to Robert Friday.
4 Chester Yellow Bear is now (1938) assistant to Luke Smith, the Pipe Keeper (Friday).
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 83
that Lizzie White Plume is not related to Oscar White, but was
called in because of her knowledge and skill in conducting the part of
the ceremonies assigned to her. The fact that the assistant keeper,
Luke Smith, is related to Oscar White, and is to be his successor,
supports the statement (Mooney, 1896, p. 959) that this Pipe is
handed down and kept only in a certain family of the Northern
Arapaho. A diagram showing the lay-out of the tent and the posi-
tions of the various persons present is here appended (fig. 8).
N
+
23
ooWwo
W / +, + e220 2/ e0°e E
90°00
09°22n0 2°
15
FIGURE 8.—Seating of persons in the tent where the ceremony took place.
1. Flat Pipe bundle slung on its stand. 2. Oscar White, keeper of Flat Pipe. 3. Luke Smith, assistant
to keeper of Flat Pipe. 4. Lizzie White Plume, woman helper. 5. Pipe with catlinite bowl, brought in
by ‘‘he who covers the Pipe.’’ 6. Incensesmudge. 7. Pete White Plume, alternate keeper and helper.
8. Carry Shotgun, helper. 9. George White Antelope, helper. 10. Pete L. Brown, helper. 11. A South-
ern Arapaho guest. 12. Esau Grasshopper, helper. 13. Yellow Calf, helper. 14. Robert Friday, instruc-
tor and interpreter to “he who coveys the Pipe.’’ 15. John G. Carter, ‘‘He who covers the Pipe.”
16. C. C. Carter; 17. M. E. Carter; 18. Mrs. Elkin; 19. Mr. Elkin; 20. Mr. Fontenelle, of the party of
“he who covers the Pipe.’’ 21. Food brought in for the feast. 22. Food brought in for feast placed
before woman helper to be blessed. 23. Woman on lookout before the door of the tent.
THE BLESSING BY THE TURTLE
When all are seated the keeper takes the pipe brought in to him
by “he who covers the Pipe” from its place across his knees and puts
it on the ground before him. It is laid pointing north and south, the
bowl being to the north. The keeper then reaches into a bag at his
right hand, which is made of buckskin and painted red, and takes out
a turtle. The upper and lower shells of the turtle are painted red.
The head of the turtle projects slightly from the shell, as do the paws.
The head and the paws are of a hard, stony substance. The daughter
of “he who covers the Pipe” observed that there seemed to be seeds
inside the turtle shell, or else pebbles, as the turtle rattled when
moved suddenly. The turtle appears to be an ordinary mud turtle.
It is stated that this is the turtle who went down under the water
to get the mud with which the earth was made in the beginning,
according to the origin myth (Friday). The turtle was not taken
from the Pipe bundle, as has been noted. The Pipe bundle is not
opened until later in the ceremony.
84 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
The turtle is passed from hand to hand until it reaches Vic Fon-
tenelle, who is seated at the southeast corner of the tent, near the
door. Instructions are now given on how to handle the turtle, both
by Oscar White, the keeper, and Luke Smith, his assistant. These
instructions are interpreted by Robert Friday.
The turtle is first grasped with the left hand and is passed up the
inner side of the right leg, from the ankle upward, and then up the
body to the heart, and is pressed for a moment against the heart.
Still grasped with the left hand, the turtle is then run up the right
arm, from the wrist to the shoulder, and then across the body to a
point over the heart, and is pressed for a moment against the heart
a second time. It is then moved across the forehead with a semi-
circular motion and is transferred to the right hand. Some of the
Arapaho made this semicircular motion over their heads, and by
some this motion was gone through after the turtle had been trans-
ferred from the left hand, the motion being done with the right hand.
The turtle when grasped in the right hand is then passed up the left
arm, from wrist to shoulder, and across the body to a point over the
heart, and is pressed for a third time against the heart for a moment.
The turtle is then passed up the inner side of the left leg, from the
ankle upward, and then up the body to the heart, where it is pressed
for a moment for the fourth time. The turtle is then taken in both
hands, the head is bowed, and the head of the turtle is held close to
the lips, and four deep inhalations are made. Some of those pres-
ent, including the keeper, held the turtle’s head between their lips
while making these four inhalations. When this has been concluded
the turtle is passed with the right hand to the person directly on the
left, who takes the turtle with his left hand, and in turn goes through
the motions which have been described. The turtle thus travels
clockwise around the tent, Vic Fontenelle, sitting south of the door
and on the extreme east of the line along the south wall of the tent,
receiving it first, and Yellow Calf, sitting north of the door, and on
the extreme east of the line along the north wall of the tent, receiving
it last. This ceremony is in the nature of a blessing (Friday). The
purpose of the ceremony is probably to gain power and vital essence
from this holy object.
PAINTING OF THE PARTY OF “HE WHO COVERS THE PIPE”’
Luke Smith, assistant keeper, now rises from his place and leaves
the tent, taking with him a paddle with which to carry live coals.
He returns shortly with a live coal on the paddle and places the coal
in front of Oscar White, the keeper. The coal is placed between the
catlinite pipe that lies before the keeper and the door, but within
easy*reach of the keeper. Just before the coal is brought in “the who
covers the Pipe” and all his party remove their shoes and stockings
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 85
at the request of the keeper. They remain thus barefooted until
almost the end of the ceremony.
Red paint, from a skin bag which is painted red, is now procured
by Luke Smith and by Lizzie White Plume, the woman helper. They
proceed to break off pieces of the red paint and mix it with tallow
between the palms of their hands. The turtle is meanwhile restored
to the keeper, who puts it back in its bag on his right. The keeper
now takes up a smaller bag from which he takes a pinch of a reddish
powder between the thumb, index, and middle finger of his right
hand. The reddish powder is incense. The keeper makes five feints
with the pinch of incense downward and over the catlinite pipe which
lies before him. He then makes five feints with the pinch of incense
over the live coal which lies just beyond the pipe. He deposits the
incense upon the live coal. While doing this he recites a prayer in
an undertone. It is to be noted that no prayer is said out loud
throughout these ceremonies, and no songs are sung. Most prayers
are uttered silently, or recited in an inaudible tone. The feints with
the incense are said to be made to the four directions and to ‘‘above”
(Friday). The incense is composed of cedar and castor among other
ingredients, but all of the ingredients which go into the incense can
only be learned by undergoing the 3-day fast and hearing the story
of the Pipe and all that appertains to it from the keeper during the
three nights of the fast (Friday).
As the smoke is arising from the incense Luke Smith, holding the
paint which he has just mixed between the palms of his hands, and
with the palms held close together, fingers extended and touching
each other, extends his hands over the smoke of the incense. He first
holds his hands with the back of the right hand down toward the
smoke and then the back of the left hand to the smoke. Again he
holds the back of his right hand to the smoke and again the back of
his left hand. He then presents his hands to the smoke still held in
their original position, but so that the sides with the little fingers are
down toward the smoke. It will be observed that the usual four
motions, and then a fifth, are gone through in passing the hands
holding the newly mixed red paint through the incense. When Luke
Smith has done this Lizzie White Plume does likewise with the red
paint which she has just mixed. They are now ready to paint “‘he
who covers the Pipe” and his party. Friday, ‘he who covers the
Pipe,” Elkin, and Vic Fontenelle are painted in turn by Luke Smith.
The women of the party, consisting of the wife and daughter of “‘he
who covers the Pipe” and Mrs. Elkin, are painted by Lizzie White
Plume (fig. 9).
The person to be painted sits close to the person who is applying
the paint, and with feet extended. The painting begins with the feet.
Five dots of paint are applied to the feet with the ball of the thumb
35729—38——7
86 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
of the painter. The right foot is painted first and then the left foot.
The first dot is applied to the instep, then near the arch, then the arch,
then below the ankle, and finally the ankle. In the case of “he who
covers the Pipe’ a stripe was run up the outside of the leg on the
trousers. The hands and wrists are painted next. The painter
grasps both hands of the person to be painted with both of his hands
and applies the spots of paint with the balls of his thumbs simultane-
ously. A spot of red paint is applied to the palms of the hands, then
to the fatty part at the base of the thumbs, than at a point between
thumb and index finger, then on the backs of the hands near the wrists,
and finally on the wrists. In the case of ‘the who covers the Pipe” a
UM
UbMddUtlllan
Face paint—Man Face paint—Woman
FIGURE 9.— Painting of the party with ‘‘he who covers the Pipe.’”’ Body paint, men and women; on feet
five spots made with ball of thumb by person applying paint. These spots begin on inner side of arch of
foot, out over arch and up toward ankle. On the hands the paint consists of five red spots applied with
ball of thumb of the painter, and start on palmar surface, near heel of hand, then over fatty portion at root
of thumb, and up toward wrist from point between thumb and index finger. ‘‘He who covers the Pipe’’
had two stripes run up each pants leg and each sleeve, and two spots on theshirt, one above each nipple.
The others reported that they did not get this extra attention. On men paint is also applied to hair on
each side of head by painter pressing palms of his hands to both sides of the head of the man painted at
the same time.
line of red paint was run up each forearm on the outer side and over
the shirt and coat sleeves. Also a spot of paint was placed, in his
case, above each breast upon the shirt. The face is painted next.
With the men the chin is painted first; then two lines drawn vertically
down each cheek from below the eyes; above these lines a dot is
placed just below each eye; and finally a horizontal line is drawn
across the forehead. The painter’s hands are then placed on each
side of the head, thus coloring the hair. The women receive three
stripes horizontally across the forehead and three vertical stripes
down each cheek, but no paint is applied to the chin. The feet and
hands of the women are painted in the same manner as that of the
men, as far as could be observed. The painting is accompanied by
no audible prayer and the paint is laid on without any particular care
or precision, but the job is done in a speedy and workmanlike manner.
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 87
The women, who are painted by Lizzie White Plume near the south-
west corner of the tent, retire directly to their places after being
painted. The men, who are painted by Luke Smith near the north-
west corner of the tent, after receiving the paint retire to their places,
and in doing so pass between the incense coal and the food which is
placed in the center of the tent. Oscar White, keeper; Luke
Smith, assistant keeper; Lizzie White Plume, helper; and Pete White
Plume (Friday), alternate keeper, are not painted and do not paint
themselves. The five helpers and the Southern Arapaho visitor,
who sit in line along the north wall of the tent, paint themselves with
red paint. No particular design was noted in their painting, but they
did rub their chins with the paint, and their cheeks and bair. They
do not paint their hands or feet. Those who have received the red
paint from Luke Smith and Lizzie White Plume cannot partake of
the feast, but are fed ceremonially in a manner later described. When
‘he who covers the Pipe” and his party have all been painted, and
have returned to their places, Oscar White and Luke Smith, through
Robert Friday as interpreter, warn those who have received the paint
that they must not wash the paint off with water until the next day.
Otherwise, they say, it will rain hard. Oscar White relates that once
an Arapaho attended this ceremony and did not heed the warning
given him, and washed the sacred paint from his face with water
right after the ceremony. He was drowned in a cloudburst the next
day. But, Oscar White added, it is proper to remove the paint, if
desired, with vaseline or some similar substance, and if done in that
manner no harmful results will follow.
The paint is applied as a blessing to ‘he who covers the Pipe” and
his party and it resembles the first earth which was brought up from
under the water by the turtle when the world was created (Friday).
In the Northern Arapaho sun dance the Pipe keeper was observed
applying the first touches of the body paint to some of the dancers,
and he followed somewhat the same method of painting as observed
in this ceremony (Kroeber, p. 294). Luke Smith and Lizzie White
Plume were observed, in mixing the paint, spitting in the palms of their
hands. Whether this act is ceremonial, as it is in the Rabbit tipi of
the Southern Arapaho sun dance (Dorsey), or is simply to hasten the
mixing of the paint, could not be ascertained.
SOCIABLE SMOKING
As before noted, in addition to the catlinite pipe brought in by “‘he
who covers the Pipe’’ which lays before the keeper, Friday has brought
with him a pipe with a black stone bowl and a supply of tobacco mixed
with kinnikinnick in a bag. This pipe is used for sociable smoking,
although certain ceremonial forms are followed in this smoking also.
88 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
The pipe is passed stem up, the bowl forward and away from the body,
and is passed with one hand. Sometimes the pipe is passed with the
bowl toward the body, but the stem is always upward, and at an
angle. The pipe is filled and lighted by Friday, who passes it to the
man on his left, who smokes, and the pipe is thus smoked down the
line, following a clockwise direction, until it reaches Yellow Calf, who
sits just north of the door. He smokes, and then the pipe is passed
from hand to hand back to Friday, who fills and lights it again as often
as is necessary. ‘He who covers the Pipe” and his party do not join
in this smoke. Lizzie White Plume smokes the pipe in her turn.
Friday says that this smoking will continue until the supply of tobacco
he has brought is exhausted. He has gauged the time of the ceremony
and his supply of tobacco well, as his tobacco gives out just before the
end of the ceremony. The smoking of this pipe continues throughout
the meal, which is eaten later. This is the only occasion among the
Arapaho where it is considered proper to smoke a pipe during the
course of a meal (Friday).
BLESSING OF THE FOOD
Luke Smith now brings forward a dish, receptacle, or pot containing
some of each of the foods brought in for the feast, and places these
before Lizzie White Plume, the helper. Lizzie White Plume obtains
two can openers, which are taken from the bag which contains the
turtle. With these the canned goods are opened and their contents
poured into separate containers. There must be at least five varie-
ties of food for this feast, and the greater additional varieties of foods
provided the better the feast is considered for this ceremony, accord-
ing to Arapaho standards. It is stated that the feast here provided
measures up to the best Arapaho standards (Friday). Among other
things which have been provided are bread, crackers, tea, coffee,
boiled meat, gravy, tomatoes, vegetable soup, meat soup, canned
peaches, canned pears, stewed apples, stewed berries, and a dish of
boiled rice with raisins. A receptacle containing each of these dishes
is now placed within arm’s reach of Lizzie White Plume, who now
takes from a bag some black powder. The ingredients of this powder
are not known, and can only be learned by making the 3-day fast
necessary to gain other information in regard to the Flat Pipe (Friday).
The black powder is used in the blessing of the food. The procedure
followed in blessing each receptacle of the food, including bread and
crackers, tea, coffee, and soup, is the same. Lizzie White Plume takes
a pinch of the black powder from the bag, which is small, made of
buckskin, and painted red, and holding the powder between the tips
of the thumb and the index and middle fingers of her right hand and
praying silently, places a pinch of the powder in the food contained
in one of the receptacles before her. The first pinch of the powder
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 89
is put in the food in the east part of the receptacle. A pinch of the
powder is then placed in the food in the south part of the receptacle,
and then in the west, north, and middle of the receptacle. A prayer
is said, silently, during the placing of each pinch of powder. This is
done to the food in each of the containers which have been placed
before Lizzie White Plume, and these containers have every variety
of food which has been brought in for the feast. The other contain-
ers of food remain in the center of the tent as before. They hold only
duplicates of the foods placed before Lizzie White Plume. These acts
are intended as a blessing and consecration of the foods which have
been brought in for the feast (Friday). While the food is being blessed
Oscar White, the keeper, takes a horn spoon from the bag which holds
the turtle and the can openers. The bag is at his right hand. The
spoon appears to be very old. The keeper then takes some black paint,
and using the index finger of his right hand as a paint brush, proceeds
to decorate the spoon. Two lines are drawn from the lip of the bowl
of the spoon, on each side of the bowl, the four lines extending down
into the bowl, but not quite to its deepest point. In the center of the
bowl, about equidistant from the ends of the four lines, is painted a
black dot. The keeper hands this spoon to Lizzie White Plume as
soon as she has finished her blessing of the food. During the blessing
of the food the flaps of the tent are closed and they are not rolled back
again until after “he who covers the Pipe’”’ has offered the food to the
four directions, the above, the earth, and Pipe bundle.
OFFERING OF THE FOOD BY “HE WHO COVERS THE PIPE”
Lizzie White Plume now takes the spoon and dips a very smal
morsel of food from the east side of one of the receptacles before her
This she transfers to her left hand. She then dips small morsels o
food from the south, west, north, and center of this receptacle, and
transfers these morsels to her left hand. Samples of food are taken
from each receptacle before her in the same manner. Minute quan-
tities of the bread and crackers are broken off and placed in the spoon,
five morsels of each being taken, following the same procedure observed
with the other foods. Minute quantities of the tea and coffee and
other liquids are taken up in the same way, and moisten the mixture
of foods held in her left hand. The mixture thus obtained is kneaded
carefully with the left hand and is then placed on the tip of the horn
spoon held in the right hand. The spoon with its contents is now
carefully handed to “he who covers the Pipe” by Lizzie White Plume.
“Fle who covers the Pipe” leaves his place and takes his stand directly
in front of the Pipe keeper, between the catlinite pipe which lays
before the keeper and the incense smudge. He stands with his back
to the keeper, facing east. The incense smudge is in front of him and
the catlinite pipe behind him. He holds the spoon in his right hand,
90 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
at arm’s length, the arm at an angle of about 45 degrees. Robert
Friday stands on his right to aid and instruct him in what to do.
The spoon, held upward at arm’s length, is pointed first to the south-
east corner of the tent and given four slight upward motions. It is
then pointed south of east, and is again given four slight upward
motions. The spoon is then pointed due east, and a single strong
upward motion is given it. By this motion the food is offered to the
sky, or above. The spoon is then pointed north of east, and four
slight upward motions are made with it. The spoon is finally pointed
to the northeast corner of the tent, and four slight upward motions
made with it. The contents of the spoon are then carefully taken
from it and placed on the ground at a point northeast of the smudge,
and within about a foot of it, and the spoon is handed to Robert
Friday. ‘‘He who covers the Pipe’”’ now takes a morsel of the food
which he has deposited on the ground, between the middle and ring
finger of his right hand, and turns west, facing the Pipe bundle. He
moves close to the bundle, taking his stand north of the keeper, and
between the keeper and Luke Smith. With both hands, palms down
and fingers extended, but held close together, he strokes the Pipe
bundle four times. In doing this the hands are held parallel, the
thumbs being about 6 inches apart. The strokes are given from
right to left, and are made slowly, carefully, and with great delibera-
tion. ‘‘He who covers the Pipe” then turns east again and deposits
the morsel of food held between his fingers on the food which he just
deposited northeast of the smudge. He then returns to his place.
The consecrated food has now been offered by “he who covers the
Pipe” to the four directions, to above, to the earth, and to the Pipe
bundle. The flaps of the tent are now opened.
PARTY OF ‘“‘HE WHO COVERS THE PIPE’? FED CEREMONIALLY
Luke Smith now comes forward and removes all of the food which
has been blessed from in front of Lizzie White Plume, with the excep-
tion of the pan filled with boiled rice and raisins. The food which
has been blessed is placed with the other food in the center of the
tent. Luke Smith then returns to his place. Robert Friday then
goes forward and squats down in front of the pan containing the rice
and raisins. Lizzie White Plume dips the horn spoon which she has
received from the keeper into the rice and raisins at the east side of
the dish, being careful to include one raisin with the portion of rice
dipped up with the spoon. Holding the spoon in her right hand, she
extends it to Friday across the pan and Friday, without touching the
spoon with either hand, sucks the contents from the tip of the spoon.
While doing this he reaches out his right hand and strokes the inner
side of Lizzie White Plume’s right forearm, from the crook of the
elbow to the wrist, four times. A portion of rice and a raisin is now
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 91
dipped from the south side of the pan with the spoon and Friday
consumes it as he did the first spoonful, stroking Lizzie White Plume’s
right forearm four times while so doing. The third portion of this
food is taken from the west side of the pan and is consumed in the
same manner and following the same ritual as the other two portions.
The fourth portion of one raisin and some rice is taken from the north
side of the pan and is likewise consumed by Friday while stroking
Lizzie White Plume’s forearm four times. The fifth and last portion
is taken from the center of the pan and is consumed with the same
ritual as the other portions. Each mouthful must be sucked in from
the spoon in such a manner that the spoon is cleaned of its contents.
“He who covers the Pipe” now takes his place before the pan and is
fed in the same manner and goes through the same ritual as Friday,
and the rest of his party follow him in turn. This is the only food
eaten during this ceremony by those who have received the paint.
The feeding with the rice and raisins of the party of ‘‘he who covers
the Pipe” is “‘all the same as communion,” and the stroking of the
arm of Lizzie White Plume is to draw strength (Friday). The
keeper appears to enjoy the efforts of ‘che who covers the Pipe’’ and
some of his party when attempting to eat from the horn spoon. None
were very expert at it except Robert Friday.
THE FEAST
Lizzie White Plume now takes dishes and cups from a place behind
her on her left and passes them down the line to all those persons
present who are entitled to eat the feast. These include all in the
tent except Friday and “he who covers the Pipe” and his party, who
have received the paint. The food is then distributed, all taking
whatever they wish, and using their pocket knives as eating utensils.
The tea and coffee are served in the cups; the soups and gravy are not
touched. ‘The fruits are partly consumed. During the meal there is
no conversation, and the pipe with the black stone bowl which Friday
brought in is passed and smoked. As previously noted, this is the
only occasion where it is considered proper among the Arapaho to
smoke a pipe during the course of a meal (Friday). Friday and “he
who covers the Pipe” and his party look on during the meal and smoke.
At the conclusion of the meal the keeper, his assistants, the helpers,
and the Southern Arapaho visitor take what food they have left and
tie it up in handkerchiefs to take home to their families. They do
this, not on account of the food itself, but because the food has been
blessed and offered to the four directions, the above, the earth, and
the Pipe, and is therefore holy. Whoever eats this food is blessed,
and receives health, long life, and good luck (Friday).
92 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD
A discussion now follows, led by the Pipe keeper, in which some of
the assistants and helpers join, as to who should receive the balance
of the food. The five helpers and the Southern Arapaho guest take
this occasion to thank “he who covers the Pipe” for the opportunity
he has afforded them of attending this feast and ceremony. The
Southern Arapaho guest is particularly sincere in his thanks, as he
says he had never expected to look upon the Flat Pipe; that few
Arapaho had ever seen it; that fewer still had given the ceremony
and the feast; that he had just arrived after a 3-days journey by bus
from Oklahoma, where the Southern Arapaho lived; and that now he
could, when he returned to his people, all them that he had looked
upon the Flat Pipe.
It is finally decided to give the remaining food to four families, and
their names are called out, summoning them to the tent. The women
of these families come in and select such food as they wish and take
it away with them. There is still some food remaining, which Luke
Smith distributes, taking it to the door of the tent and handing it to
certain women who come up to receive it. While the food is being
distributed Lizzie White Plume takes the dish of rice and raisins before
her, and the horn spoon, and after offering a portion of the dish, by
placing a morsel upon the ground, proceeds to eat. When she has
taken what she wishes, she passes the dish and spoon to the keeper
on her left. He likewise offers a morsel on the tip of the spoon by
placing it upon the ground in front of him, and then partakes of the
dish. The dish then travels up the line to the left, the assistant,
helpers, and the Southern Arapaho visitor eating from it as it comes
to them. There is no other formality in the eating from this dish
than the preliminary offering of a morsel by placing it on the ground,
which has been noted. The dish is finally emptied by Yellow Calf,
who sits on the north side of the tent, nearest the door. He passes
the empty pan outside the door of the tent and the horn spoon is
handed back down the line to Lizzie White Plume, who cleans it and
hands it to the keeper. The keeper puts it back in its bag. All
dishes, cups, and food containers are now passed outside the tent.
THE OPENING OF THE FLAT PIPE BUNDLE
Luke Smith leaves the tent and procures a live coal, which he brings
in on an incense paddle and puts at the place of the smudge. Oscar
White takes from the small leather bag a pinch of the incense, com-
posed of cedar and castor. He holds it in his right hand, between the
tips of his thumb, index, and middle fingers. He makes five feints with
it over the catlinite pipe which lays before him, and then five feints
over the live coal, meanwhile muttering a prayer. He places the
incense on the live coal.
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 93
The Pipe bundle is hung from the four poles attached to the west
tent pole in what appears to be an old saddlebag. The saddlebag
has a fringe of red and white beads around its edge. The bag is
enclosed around the bundle, and is secured by a leather strap with
a buckle. An iron ring at one end of the strap serves to attach the
strap to a leather thong. The other end of the thong is tied to the
point of intersection of the four poles. The bundle is thus slung from
the poles. The bundle is over 2 feet long and about a foot thick.
From the north end of the bundle, as it hangs, five sticks protrude
from under its outer wrapping of blue felt cloth. Eagle feathers are
attached to the ends of these sticks. These feathers attached to their
sticks are called the headdress of the turtle. The mouthpiece of the
Pipe is called the head of the turtle (Friday). As the bundle hangs the
mouthpiece of the Pipe, or head, points north, and is located under
the headdress of the turtle. The bowl of the Pipe points south.
Rising from his place at the keeper’s left, Luke Smith unties the
thong which secures the bundle to the intersection of the four poles
and takes the bundle down. He removes the saddlebag which acts
as a cradle in which the bundle is slung, and places the bundle directly
in front of the Pipe keeper. The bundle lies between the keeper and
the catlinite pipe. The saddlebag is placed near the west wall of
the tent, to the left of the keeper. All present are now very silent and
attentive. Luke Smith removes the five sticks to the ends of which
the eagle feathers are attached and which form the headdress of the
turtle, and places them behind him, near the west wall of the tent.
These sticks were drawn from between the outer wrapping of the
bundle and the next wrapping. The outer wrapping of the bundle
is secured by five rawhide thongs. These thongs are now untied by
Oscar White and Luke Smith, and when removed are placed to one
side. The outer wrapping is allowed to fall open and is not removed
from under the bundle. The same holds true of all the other wrap-
pings of the bundle, which are opened but not removed. A second
wrapping is exposed by the opening of the first wrapping. It is of
blue felt cloth like the first, and is tied in place by a long hair rope.
The rope ends in a noose, which is secured around the bundle at its
south end, or over the bowl of the Pipe. The rest of the rope is wound
tightly around the bundle in five or six turns. Luke Smith unties
the rope, unwinds it from around the bundle, and places it to one
side. The second covering is thus allowed to fall open, and is not
removed from under the bundle. By this time Luke Smith is per-
spiring considerably. The opening of the second wrapping discloses
a third wrapping of red felt. This is tied in place by an ordinary piece
of rope, which ends in a noose. The noose is around the south end of
the bundle, over the bowl of the Pipe, and is then wound tightly
around the bundle in five turns. This rope is removed from the bundle
94 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
by Luke Smith and is placed to one side. The red felt cloth is opened
but is not removed from under the bundle. A wrapping of yellow felt
cloth is now disclosed, which is not secured in place by any binding.
This is simply spread aside, disclosing the next wrapping, which
appears to be composed of two wolf or coyote skins. These skins
seem to be very old, the inner sides of the skins being deeply grooved
or cracked, the hair being of a yellow tinge but in a good state of preser-
vation. Information about the animals that furnished these skins,
the history of the skins and of the other wrappings of the bundle, can
only be told at night to a person making the proper 3-day fast when
acquiring the story of the Pipe and other information relating to it
(Friday). All matters pertaining to the history of the Pipe, its ritual,
and the objects connected with the Pipe, can be spoken of only at
night, and never in the daytime. In the old days, when the Pipe
was smoked, it could be smoked only at night (Friday).
When the skins are unfolded Lizzie White Plume and several of the
helpers bow their heads. The Southern Arapaho visitor and other
helpers and “‘he who covers the Pipe’”’ and his party are watching the
proceedings with close attention. All those in the tent are very
serious. The keeper now wipes his eyes, as though wiping away
tears. The opening of the two skins discloses a wrapping of black
silk. This in turn is spread apart, disclosing another wrapping of
flowered silk. When this wrapping is spread apart, another wrapping
of yellow silk is disclosed. This wrapping is carefully spread apart,
disclosing the Flat Pipe, which is now resting on all of its wrappings.
As it lies in the bundle the bowl of the Flat Pipe points south, and
its head, or mouthpiece, points north.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FLAT PIPE
The Flat Pipe is all of one piece. It is not divided into sections or
parts. It appears to be made of stone, which resembles in color a
yellowish sandstone, with a tinge of red.6 It looks narrower and
smaller when laid in its wrappings than it does when removed from
the bundle. Viewed as it lies in its wrappings, it looks very flat.
The Arapaho say the Flat Pipe is of stone (Shave Head; Friday;
also Mooney, 1898, pt. 1, p. 242). Dr. Tyler, who was permitted to
lift the Flat Pipe, says it is made of wood (Fontenelle). A close
scrutiny of the Pipe shows no wood grain, and on being touched with
the sole of the foot later in the ceremony it did not feel like wood.
Fontenelle, who also saw the Pipe and touched it with his foot,
believes that the Pipe is not made of wood. The color of the Flat
Pipe is its natural color. It has not been painted (Friday).
5 It appeared to be reddish yellow in color to two observers present at the ceremony. ‘To the author it
appeared a light mahogany in color. Robert Friday says the Flat Pipe is slate colored, but he examined the
drawing of the Flat Pipe submitted with this paper, and appeared satisfied with it insofar as it showed the
shape of the Flat Pipe.
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 95
When the Flat Pipe is removed from its bundle its appearance at
first glance is one of great weight and crudeness in execution. It
looks clumsy and awkward. The bowl seems of great size and weight
in comparison with the stem. The Pipe looks thick and heavy. But
a closer examination reveals that the carving of the Pipe is excellent
and its lines are graceful. The head, near the mouthpiece, which is
the head of the turtle, is well executed, as are the eyes in the head.
The curve in the body, which is the stem of the Pipe, is well modeled
and graceful. There is an overhanging lip around the outer rim of the
bowl of the Pipe, and the bowl when looked at from above is square.
ouew
qd
FIGURE 10.—Flat Pipe, Northern Arapaho. a, Section throughstem. 6, Front view of bowl. c, Side view
of pipe. d, View of pipe fromabove. Description: Pipe is in one solid piece. Gives appearance of great
crudeness, weight, and bulk, but is handled by its keeper as if very light. Color is light yellow. Dr.
Tyler, missionary, who lifted it, says it is made of wood. Indians say it is stone. It looks like stone.
Shows no grain. Might be tufa or pumice, or some like material. Friday says it is sealed with tallow.
There are small brass-headed tacks around edge of sealing substance near lip of bowl.
The opening in the bowl is sealed with a substance which is of the
same color as the rest of the Pipe, and around the outer edge of this
seal the heads of a number of brass tacks are embedded. These heads
are very small. The Pipe is about 15 inches in length, by estimate.
It is said by some to be about a foot long (Shave Head; Friday;
Fontenelle). The keeper, who is an old man, and seems not very
strong, lifts the Pipe as though it were very light.
The head, or mouthpiece, of the Pipe looks more like the head of
a duck than the head of a turtle. But it is insisted that it is the
head of a turtle (Friday). An Arapaho named Adopted has stated
that the head of the Flat Pipe resembled the head of a duck (Dorsey
and Kroeber, IV). A drawing of the Flat Pipe, made from memory
on the day of the ceremony, is attached to this account (fig. 10).
96 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
INCENSING OF THE FLAT PIPE
Now the keeper lifts the Flat Pipe from its bundle, holding it care-
fully and reverently with both hands. His right hand is extended
forward, under the Pipe near its bowl, and his left hand is holding
the Pipe under its stem, near the head of the turtle. In lifting the
Pipe from the bundle it is observed that neither the head of the turtle
nor the bowl of the Pipe is either elevated or depressed, but the
Pipe is held parallel to the ground. The Pipe is now held with the
bowl forward, and away from the body of the keeper, the mouth-
piece being next to the keeper’s body. The bowl is held in the smoke
that is rising from the incense smudge. It is moved through the
smoke five times. This is done with great deliberation and care,
so there is ample opportunity to obtain a good view of the whole
Pipe. Lizzie White Plume, Luke Smith, and some of the helpers are
now sitting with heads bowed. The others are gazing intently at
the Pipe. No prayer is uttered audibly by the keeper.
Although the tent flaps are open there are no curious spectators
around the door. This has been true thoughout the entire ceremony.
Only those come to the tent who are summoned there. Others stay
away from the tent. A couple of boys who chanced to pass close to
the entrance earlier in the ceremony and looked in over their shoulders
as they passed were ordered away by Yellow Calf, and left immediately.
One, and sometimes two, women have been sitting near the door,
outside the tent near its northeast corner, throughout the ceremony,
and appear to be keeping a lookout. But none of the Indians have
come near the tent except those who are called for.
After the bowl of the Flat Pipe is incensed the keeper lays it back
on the bundle. But now it is laid with the bowl to the north, and
the mouthpiece, or head of the turtle, to the south. In this position
it lies parallel and bowl-to-bowl to the catlinite pipe which is between
the Flat Pipe and the smudge. It is not observed when the Pipe was
turned to its new position whether it was swung around clockwise or
not. It was observed, however, that the bowl of the Flat Pipe was
always held away from the keeper’s body, while the mouthpiece of
the Pipe was always held next to the keeper’s body.
TOUCHING THE FLAT PIPE
The Pipe keeper now beckons to Robert Friday to come forward.
Friday is barefooted, as are the rest of the party of “he who covers
the Pipe.” Friday leaves his place and steps up on that part of the
Pipe bundle which lies between the Flat Pipe and Oscar White, the
keeper. He faces north. He steadies himself by grasping two of
the poles that are used as a stand for the pipe with his left hand.
These poles are lashed to the west tent pole, slanting south at an
angle from the tent pole, and lie flat against the west wall of the
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 97
tent. Friday now places the sole of his bare right foot on the Flat
Pipe, down near the mouthpiece or head of the turtle. He lifts his
foot and then places it down on the Flat Pipe on the stem near the
head of the turtle. He lifts his foot and then places it on the stem of
the Pipe near its bowl. He then places his foot on the bowl of the
Flat Pipe. In each instance the foot is placed down flat and squarely
on the Flat Pipe. The right foot is then placed on the Pipe bundle
just west of the Pipe bowl, and Friday then releases the grip of his
left hand on the two poles with which he has steadied himself and
brings his left foot up beside his right foot. To do this involves
almost stepping over the lap of the keeper. Friday then turns to his
right, around the head of the Pipe, and turning a second time, faces
south. He then returns to his seat, keeping the incense smudge on
his right and between himself and the keeper when so doing. ‘He
who covers the Pipe’ now steps forward and follows the same pro-
cedure in placing his right foot on the Flat Pipe as did Friday. He is
followed in turn by the rest of his party, men and women, in the
order that they are seated along the south wall of the tent. Friday,
“he who covers the Pipe” and his party now put on their stockings
and shoes once more. The five helpers and the Southern Arapaho
visitor, who sit along the north wall of the tent, now remove their
footwear. They come forward each in turn, crossing to the south of
the tent, and keeping the incense smudge on their right, between
them and the keeper. They then turn north, step up to the Pipe
bundle, touch the Pipe four times with the sole of the right foot,
following the same procedure just described, and return to their places.
Oscar White, the keeper, Luke Smith, his assistant, and Lizzie and
Pete White Plume do not go through this ceremony, but remain in
their places. While the Pipe is being touched Lizzie White Plume
sits with her head bowed toward the Pipe.
Luke Smith now goes to the door of the tent and announces that all
who wish to may come in and see and touch the Pipe. Within a very
short time a large number of men, women, and children appear at the
door of the tent. All are barefooted. They cross the tent in single
file, crossing the tent along its south wall, in front of the party of
“he who covers the Pipe.”” They then turn north, step on the Pipe
bundle, touch the Pipe four times with their right foot as the others
have done, and then turn to the right and leave the tent. It will be
observed that they thus pass around the tent clockwise. There is
no loitering around the door of the tent by anybody. The small
children, who are unable, or do not know how to touch the Pipe, are
lifted across the Pipe with the assistance of Luke Smith and of the
women who bring them in. As they are thus lifted across the right
foot of the child is pressed down on the Pipe four times, in the proper
places, either by Luke Smith or the woman who has brought the child.
98 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULE. 119
The purpose of this ceremony is to derive strength from contact with
the Flat Pipe. Those who touch the Pipe four times with their right
foot draw from the Pipe great strength, health, and long life (Friday).
The ear of corn, which is in the bundle, just below the Flat Pipe, is
not taken out for this ceremony. Nor is ‘‘he who covers the Pipe”
permitted to lift the Flat Pipe, or touch it in any other way than in
the manner described. If the five sun shells had been presented to
the Pipe keeper it would have been possible for ‘‘he who covers the
Pipe” to actually lift the Flat Pipe (Friday).
WRAPPING OF THE FLAT PIPE BUNDLE
When all have touched the Pipe who wish to do so, Oscar White
ifts the Flat Pipe carefully from the bundle, holding it as he did
before, the right hand under the Pipe near the bow] and the left hand
under the Pipe near the mouthpiece. He runs the bowl of the Pipe
slowly and carefully through the smoke of the smudge five times. He
then lays the Pipe back on its bundle in its original position; that is,
with the bowl pointing south, and the mouthpiece, or head of the
turtle, pointing north.
Each of the silk wrappings of the Flat Pipe are now carefully folded
back over the Pipe and rewrapped in their turn by Oscar White.
When he comes to the two skin wrappings it is again noticed that he
wipes his eyes, as though brushing away tears. All are watching
intently. The gesture of the keeper in wiping his eyes when unwrap-
ping and wrapping the skins is believed to be no accidental gesture.
He only wiped his eyes twice during the entire ceremony, and each
time he did so was when touching these skins. The felt cloth wrap-
pings are now each folded around the bundle in their turn, and their
proper ropes and bindings brought out and each is secured around its
proper wrapping. The same order is followed as when untying the
bundle. Luke Smith ties the ropes, and is careful to secure them in
place just as they were when the bundle was unwrapped, and to pull
the ropes very tight. When the outermost cover is folded in place
both Oscar White and Luke Smith join in tying the five leather thongs
around it. After securing the outer wrapping Luke Smith takes up
the five sticks which have the eagle feathers attached to their ends,
the headdress of the turtle, and runs them carefully and one at a
time in between the outer wrapping and the next wrapping of the
bundle. The sticks are run in at the north end of the bundle and are
put in far enough to leave some of the stick protruding beyond the
end of the bundle, so that the eagle feathers hang free. The saddle-
bag, which is used as a cradle with which to hang the bundle, is ad-
justed next. There is some difficulty about this. The cradle is ad-
justed three or four times by Luke Smith before Oscar White is satis-
CARTER| THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 99
fied that the bundle balances correctly in the cradle. At this point
Luke Smith is doing the work and Oscar White is doing the directing.
By now the tobacco and kinnikinnick mixture which Robert
Friday has brought with him to be smoked in his black stone pipe
has run out and the sociable smoking comes to an end. Luke Smith
picks up the Flat Pipe bundle by the ring attached to the strap and
ties it by a thong to the point of intersection of the four poles secured
against the west pole of the tent.
COVERING OF THE FLAT PIPE BUNDLE
Oscar White now picks up the catlinite pipe brought in by “he who
covers the Pipe.” He takes it from the place where it has laid before
him throughout the ceremony and hands it to ‘“‘he who covers the Pipe.’’
He holds the pipe in his right hand, bowl downward, and the stem
slanted at an angle of about 45 degrees. The stem is slanted toward
the keeper. ‘‘He who covers the Pipe” receives the pipe with his
right hand and rests the projecting end of the bowl on the ground.
The stem slants toward him, so that the mouthpiece is only a short
distance from his lips. He holds the pipe with his right hand. Friday
hands him a box of matches and ‘‘he who covers the Pipe” lights the
catlinite pipe and draws on it to get it well lighted. Keeping the pipe
lighted, he walks over to the keeper and sits on his heels before him.
The keeper takes the lighted pipe and wraps around it the blue felt
cloth offering which ‘he who covers the Pipe” brought in with him at
the start of the ceremony. ‘The offering is folded around the stem of
the pipe. The pipe is now placed with the projecting end of its bowl
touching the ground and its stem slanted toward Oscar White, the
keeper. ‘‘He who covers the Pipe” grasps the pipe with his left hand
down near the bowl, and outside the cloth offering, to hold the offering
in place. The keeper grasps the pipe with his right hand, up near the
mouthpiece, the hand being outside the cloth offering to hold it in place
at that end of the pipe. The position of ‘che who covers the Pipe’’ is
southeast of the keeper, he and the keeper facing each other. The
keeper now takes four draws from the pipe, and at each draw “‘he who
covers the Pipe” strokes with his right hand the inner side of the right
forearm of the keeper, from the crook of the elbow down to the wrist.
“He who covers the Pipe’? now removes the felt cloth wrapping from
around the pipe, being careful to do so in such a manner that it will
not disturb the position of the pipe or the grip of the keeper on the
stem of the pipe. ‘He who covers the Pipe” then unfolds the cloth
wrapping, with its present attached, the bill pinned to the cloth being
toward the Flat Pipe bundle. He then steps to the north of the keeper,
and in between him and Luke Smith, who sits at the keeper’s left, and
stands close to the Flat Pipe bundle. Robert Friday stands on his
left. He now carefully spreads the blue felt cloth, the bill pinned
100 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
inside so as to be next to the bundle, and lays it over the bundle and
smooths it out. Thus he covers the pipe. ‘‘He who covers the
Pipe” now lays both hands upon the pipe bundle, palms down, fingers
extended and touching, and thumbs about 6 inches apart. He
then bows his head and utters a silent prayer, of his own choice, for a
few moments. Friday, standing on his left, also utters a prayer.
“He who covers the Pipe” and Friday then return to their seats.
The keeper smokes the catlinite pipe and passes it to Luke Smith
on his left. The pipe is smoked, passing it to the left, until it reaches
Yellow Calf, who sits north of the door of the tent on the extreme
left. When Yellow Calf has smoked the pipe is passed from hand to
hand until it again reaches Friday. Friday smokes, and passes the
pipe to his left, and it is smoked down the line to the left a second
time until it reaches Yellow Calf, who finishes the pipe. The empty
pipe is then handed along the line until it is taken by Oscar White.
At this time several talks are made by Yellow Calf and others. At
the suggestion of Friday, ‘he who covers the Pipe” makes a short
address. All of the talks are made seated.
CONCLUDING CEREMONY
While the talks are being made Oscar White proceeds to clean the
bowl of the catlinite pipe. He first places the pipe before him, the
projecting end of the bowl on the ground, and the stem upright, but
slanting toward him. Holding the stem with his right hand, he
mutters a prayer, and rubs earth from the ground before him with
the fingers of his left hand, and he strokes the pipe up and down the
left side with the fingers of bis left hand. This is done twice. He
then holds the pipe with his left hand, and still praying, rubs the
ground with the fingers of his right hand, and strokes the right side
of the pipe up and down with the fingers of his right hand. This is
done twice. The keeper then holds the pipe to his right and cleans
the ashes carefully from the bowl and deposits them on the ground.
The ashes are shaken from the bowl a little at a time. After shaking
the bowl four times it is empty. The last ashes are removed on the
fourth shaking. When the pipe is empty the prayer ceases.
A fresh coal is brought in by Luke Smith and placed on the smudge
before the keeper. The keeper takes the incense, made of cedar and
castor, and holding a pinch between the thumb, index, and middle
fingers of his right hand makes five feints with it over the coal. He
then deposits the incense on the coal. He now hands the empty
catlinite pipe to “he who covers the Pipe.” In handing it he holds
it with his right hand, bowl downward and forward, and the stem
slanted upward at an angle of about 50 degrees. The stem slants
toward the keeper. ‘‘He who covers the Pipe” takes the pipe with
his right hand and rises. He then holds the empty pipe with his
CARTER] THE NORTHERN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE 101
right hand forward under the bowl and his left hand under the stem
near the mouthpiece. The bowl of the pipe is about level with the
pit of the stomach. The stem slants to the left of the body and the
pipe is held close to the body, the bowl slanted slightly downward.
He now steps north, crosses over the incense smudge, then turns east
and leaves the tent. Friday and the rest of his party follow him in
order, each stepping over the incense smudge in front of the Pipe
\ keeper. On leaving the tent the party turns south and breaks up
' just south of the tent.
The keeper, assistants, and helpers now leave the tent, with the
exception of Luke Smith. Luke Smith takes down the Flat Pipe
bundle from its place and unties the four poles from which the bundle
is hung. He places these under his arm with the bundle and returns
with them to the dwelling place of Oscar White.
This concludes the ceremony, which began at 11 o’clock in the
morning and ended at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, consuming 4 hours.
35729—38——_8
REFERENCES CITED
Cuark, W. P.
1885 The Indian sign language. Philadelphia, 1885.
Dorsey, Grorce A.
1903 Arapaho Sun dance. Publs. Field Columb. Mus., Anthr. Ser., vol.
Iv, Chicago, 1903.
Dorsey, Grorce A., and Krorser, A. L.
1903 Traditions of the Arapaho. Publs. Field Columb. Mus., Anthr. Ser.,
vol. v, Chicago, 1903.
Krorser, A. L. :
1902 The Arapaho. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. xvu1, New York,
1902.
Mooney, JAMES.
1896 The Ghost-dance religion and the Sioux outbreak of 1890. Four-
teenth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pt. 2, Washington, 1896.
1898 Calendar history of the Kiowa Indians. Seventeenth Ann. Rept.
Bur. Amer. Ethn., pt. 1, Washington, 1898.
1907 [Article] Arapaho. Bull. 30, Bur. Amer. Ethn., pt. 1, pp. 72-74,
Washington, 1907.
Strone, Wa. Duncan.
1935 Introduction to Nebraska archeology. Smithsonian Misc. Colls., vol.
93, no. 10, Washington, 1935.
INFORMANTS
Fontenelle, Victor. Shave Head.
Friday, Robert. Smith, Luke.
Friday, Mrs. Robert. White, Oscar.
Roberts, Dr. John.
102
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 119
Anthropological Papers, No. 3
The Caribs of Dominica
By DOUGLAS TAYLOR
103
CONTENTS
(hos SUSY pcp as SL Se ag Na Ue 9 SR an
SREB CTY NICH a0 = Ae a Ree ie beer aca
2 SES ELEN De Se fe I oe a a eee Shee eee ees Cree
Sees Garncs and pastimes: =. 22 i ne see 2 ee eee ss
DeRERECRTSCS ttl HOUSER. 6 25 2 4 re Ss ee ee
BEF ee eg le oe Reg ay a a a
Demian Wit COLOS, ANG TOPCS.— 2... 25252226 scoue 5s ee ueeeecesece
Fire and light, gums, wax, resin, oils, and pigments___-_____-----------
2 cae ce et la ea ES a
ROEM UC ECHL OTe ee es wee ee SS ee ee SP e ee
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
SPT AIC UTE ORIN hee eh eee et ee, ep Re ee ee es
14. a, Hut in the Reserve. 6, Refreshments with bamboo for beaker. c,
Launching a canoe. d, Mixed types: Mother and child_____-__-
15. a, Working on canoe before hauling. 6, Hand adz at work on interior
Of canoe, cy Preparation) for hauling Canoes 2-2-4 2 2
16. a, Drawing “la pite.”’ 6, “La pite” fiber drying. c, d, Spinning the
ERE LIYE) SS Po i Tv Dip a PEL are ya a a
Pear types: a, Man. 6,.¢, Girls. d, Woman...-__-... 2222-22...
18. Dominica Carib man and petroglyphs—Guadeloupe_-_----_________-
Text FIcuREs
REARS T ID) TROBE GC 2 2 hey 2 Ae oa Sys A Eas ot ae
Pee Atirappe-la-main” or “wife leader’. < .20.---.22-.---.---as<.2--2
Ser uae MATES (YUTenc nee ts Se eS gael) | he NG ae ee Re ee ee a
fae peanoidinge for karbé before covering... ............--..-..---._--
Pemenminey Deore watching ee eee
PEMEMIePL TIC AE RTL OMEN © 2 2 6.052 Seis ANS Ca ee ee
MemerEn yp Atinicr ANG COVEr: 20.5203 ee eae es
0 LP 3 B le e e e oP eee ee Le ee em ee
PERLE TRORGABU ie a eo ee ee ee oe Reed Cel ee ee
PSEA AEIGC ee Se ss a Se ee tae te
PIECE TE SEIMPCUCE fo. 8 ee ae es ee ee oe ee
See, TPAD, yess eat on lL el eager Se SONNE RE 2 epee epee be Res a
aT ERREE STEELE se et SOS TD en Bs it i We ee es ee ee
fe DE [ERC AN SS eo a a ee NEE
PNRM OT MANGINE NEG. 608 = 2. oS ee Se eee
SAE. GRY O TULA TY oS Nay re a ee OR papa ye eee ee ee ee
Fue itinin es nberscwine. 2-25.50. 420 28 eee ee ee ee ole Vee ay
ARIES EN ere es eh a eR ES Ss, 33/5 iene toes Oh eS Se Pe ee: aa
29. Tinder box, engraved and colored with roucou__.__---.------_-----
POnEdaVa STALEr ANG Cassava Canoe... 2.2) 24-50-2522 -32- 25k
31. Platine with cassava bread baking under shelter____________-_-----
So DTT CESS RCS 9 EES ps al fC aA OR ca Oe ea
Pee OF Ari) DATDCCUC. 2.2 22 2 oe eee Nene cae
DAMINENITONe oe oes ike lice Staelin ae keen s
35. Carib canoe with raised sides, masts, and sails__.___._.__.____________-
Beenie for pame DITds = 2 oc se Se eh ene eue
SIREN ARIE peta Mee 2 tl Pe kee cee ee SO et
Page
160
160
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160
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125
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126
126
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131
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139
140
143
148
148
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THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA
By Dovetas Taytor
INTRODUCTION
As the last direct descendants of those first-found ‘American
Redskins,” the Island Arawak and the conquering Island Carib, the
Caribs of Dominica possess an unique historical and sentimental
interest. Today, in fact, they are the only indigenous ‘‘Indians”’ to
be found in all the West Indian chain between the Guianas and
Florida. Owing, no doubt, to the rugged nature of their homeland,
they have outlived their cousins of the other Caribbees (with the
partial exception of St. Vincent) by some 200 years. But at last
their course is run, and they are fast disappearing. Of their story
little is known and less written; and it is with the purpose of recording,
before it becomes too late, something of this vestige of a once virile
and powerful people, that my own attempt at knowing them has been
made.
Dominica was discovered on Columbus’ second voyage, and was
so named by him for its being first sighted on Sunday, November 3,
1493. Ina letter dated 1494, Diego Chanca, the fleet’s doctor, gives
its native name as Cayré, though this may have been a confusion with
the Arawak term for island or land in general—kaera, as in Turukaera
for Guadeloupe, and Iwannakaera for Martinique. However, the
population was then of too warlike a nature, and the Caribbees of
too little value in the Spaniards’ eyes, to warrant any serious attempts
at settlement. It is therefore not until well into the seventeenth
century that we get any reliable reports—this time from the French
missionary fathers—of the Carib Islanders.
Father Raymond Breton spent nearly 25 years among the Caribs
of Dominica, and wrote subsequently a Carib dictionary, a grammar,
and a translation of the usual prayers, together with a catechism in
their tongue. Under the various headings of the dictionary he gives
a concise description of the local beliefs, customs, and arts, as well as
of the flora and fauna of the island, domestic utensils, weapons, etc.
While he deplores what he naturally considers the Caribs’ moral laxity
in certain respects (drink, women, and especially their insensibility
or indifference to the call of religion; he succeeded, he himself tells
us, during his 25 years of zeal, in converting only ‘‘quelques enfants
109
110 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
sur le point de la mort’’), he shows a general liking for his hosts, calls
them his friends, and says that theft and lying were unknown to them
before the advent of the Christian Europeans—a statement confirmed
by La Borde, Rochefort, and Labat. Rochefort further says that
while the Caribs of St. Vincent and Dominica were slave owners they
never evinced the same cruelty as was common among the whites,
but treated their slaves, except for the obligation of work, more like
their own children than anything else. Breton gives the native name
of Dominica as Waituktbuli.
The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), inasfar as it left the then
unsettled island of Dominica ‘‘to the undisturbed possession of the
native Indians,” was violated by the English only 12 years later, on
the pretext that the French had made establishments on the island.
From then on until the end of the century these two pillars of civiliza-
tion ousted one another from their respective nests as often as and
whenever opportunity offered; and we can well imagine that between
them “the native Indian,” if not exterminated, was driven more and
more into the fastnesses of forest and mountain. Writing in 1795,
Atwood, in his history of Dominica, mentions as still prevalent the
Carib custom of head deformation, and the skill with which even
the children used bow and arrow. Even the memory of both is now
lost, though as late as 1862 the Dominican Caribs sent the following
articles to the London Exhibition: A “nest’’ of 12 baskets, bows and
arrows, hebichet (manioc sifter), rattles, powder flasks, dishes.
Although I know of no records for that time, it is probable that the
first half of the nineteenth century was the period of the Dominica
Caribs’ final conversion to Christianity, and of the greatest decay in
national language, tradition, and custom. An old Carib still living
told me that previous to the middle of the last century there was no
church in or near the Reserve, but that some Caribs used to go to
Marie Galante in their canoes to attend mass, or to have their children
baptized.
In 1877, and again some 15 years later, Salybia, around which the
Caribs were already concentrated, was visited by the American
ornithologist, Frederick Ober, who appears to have been the first
person since the middle of the eighteenth century to take the slightest
interest in this last isolated island tribe. It is noteworthy that he
is still remembered in the Reserve today by men and women who
could have been little more than infants at the time of his visit.
Ober’s ‘“‘Camps in the Caribbees”’ is a travelog and, as such, unsatis-
factory as to ethnological data—as much by lack of detail as by the
constant suspicion of inexactitude, or rather, poetic license. I have
spoken to several sons and daughters of Ober’s two guides at the
time of his first visit, and none of them claims to remember having
heard such a story as that told by Ober of his encounter in the forest
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 111
with the mad chief who spoke only Carib. Nevertheless, owing to
the Carib’s peculiar reticence, as much with one another as with
strangers, this does not exclude the possibility of such an encounter
having taken place. Likewise, according to present-day Caribs, his
story of the army of coast-bound crabs met with in the mountains
is either grossly exaggerated or refers to a small species known as
the “soldat”? or hermit crab—the “cirique’”’ crab disliking the sea,
and the other, black or white, land crabs being rarely found on the
windward coast, or in the regions mentioned. Ober found a num-
ber of older men and women in Salybia who spoke an Indian dialect
as their mother tongue, and even noted the persistence, in that late
day, of the differentiation between men’s and women’s languages.
He mentions the snake legend, and speaks of finding archeological
remains in St. Vincent, but not in Dominica. (I have heard of,
though not seen, old stone implements and “rocks with writing” on
the wooded heights between the Akayu River and the Araturi Ra-
vine.) At the time of Ober’s visits the so-called reserve was some-
what smaller than at present, but there were other Carib lands
and settlements at North End (between the Pegoua and Marigot),
Wesley (La Soie), Calibishie, Penville, Morne Caraibe, and Délice.
In June 1903 the Carib Reserve in its present form was created
by decree, and its boundaries delimited as extending from the Akayu
(or Raymond) River (some say the Araturi Ravine, and there seems
to be no existing document to settle the matter) to Kuaria (or Big
River), a dry ravine, along the coast, inland, up the latter ravine to
the ridge, and hence down the Ravine Pomme to the Pegoua River,
which the boundary then follows up to Deux Branches, whence it
cuts across in a straight line to the Akayu River. This decree made
no attempt to define the status of the reserve, nor of its inhabitants
and their chief. In point of fact, the Caribs merely continued their
traditional custom of electing from their numbers a chief or head-
man (tbutu), whose duty it is to advise and direct members of the
tribe and to settle such disputes as may arise among them. For
some years prior to 1930 this institution received a degree of official
recognition, with remuneration to the extent of 10 shillings ($2.40)
a month. In return for which the local government held the chief
responsible for order within the reserve generally, and for the upkeep
of the coastal bridle path through Carib territory.
In September 1930, a few days after the hurricane, and a month
after my first visit, the so-called “Carib War’ took place. Five
negro policemen invaded the reserve, seized some tobacco and rum
they alleged to be contraband, and made two arrests. Then, a dis-
pute arising, they opened fire on an unarmed crowd of men, women,
and children, killing two and injuring others. The Caribs in their
turn set upon the police with stick and stone and chased them from
a2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
the reserve. The upshot of this episode was the discontinuance of
the office of chief. The following gleanings, gathered during my
often hasty visits to the reserve, half a century after those of Ober,
represent fairly well what remains of the Carib language and culture.
DESCRIPTIVE AND PHYSICAL
The present Carib Reserve extends along some 8 miles of rugged,
irregular coastline in the middle of Dominica’s windward side. A
series of rocky streams flow from the hills and enter the sea by way
of deep wooded ravines and small inlets 2 to 3 miles apart. After a
few hours’ tropical downpour, they ‘“‘come down,” to use a local ex-
pression, changing for the time being into roaring and impassable
torrents. Between, rounded shoulders or spurs rise 200 or 300 feet
above the shore, and run back up to a central mountain ridge some
3 miles distant from and 2,000 feet above the Atlantic. From here,
the land falls sharply in woodland and provision grounds to the valley
of the Pegoua River, which forms the inland or western boundary of
the reserve (fig. 11).
In all, there may be upward of 3,000 acres, but not more than a
tenth of this is capable of any sort of cultivation, by far the greater
part being nothing but rock and tuff. A good wide bridle path of
red clay, extremely slippery in wet weather, winds in and out near
the coast, up and down the steep sides of the intervening spurs. The
Caribs’ dwellings, though usually well hidden by trees and shrub, are
seldom far away from this road. There are but two settlements:
one, Bataka, being 15 minutes’ climb from Kuaria (or Big River), the
northern boundary; the other, St. Cyr, adjoining the road high above
the Salybia River. Elsewhere their dwellings are scattered along the
hillsides or in the ravines, wherever their owners’ fancy or convenience
has placed them, some close together, others more than half a mile
from their neighbor.
Disease, malnutrition, and miscegenation—results of the American
Indian’s unfortunate but very real inadaptability to social and eco-
nomic conditions other than his own—have reduced the tribe to about
400 souls, of whom less than a quarter are entirely free from negro
blood.
Physically, the Caribs of Dominica (the product of a cross between
the fierce Carib invader and the docile Arawak Islander in pre-
Columbian days) are a small though sturdy people, the men averaging
around 5 feet 3 inches and the women about 5 feet. I have seen a few
decided dolichocephals, even among the purer types, though the latter
are usually subbrachycephalic (especially the women), with an index
of between 79 and 81. They have straight black hair of coarse tex-
ture, which acquires in some a reddish tint through exposure to the
sun’s rays. Their foreheads are high and broad, their cheekbones
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 113
wide, their chins well rounded. Mouths and lips are usually small or
medium, the noses straight, and sometimes slightly flattened. Their
eyes are rather small and deep-set, long and narrow (with the Mon-
goloid or epicanthic fold), though not as a rule oblique, and are
fringed with long silky lashes. Their ears are large, long, and often
lobeless, their feet small, broad, and extraordinarily high-arched.
WAINIKA
IGULUKATI
AYWAC/
SALVE/A
WAIGIMA
KUANARA
AUERER
FIGURE 11.—Map of Carib Reserve.
The girls are round-faced, plump, broad-shouldered, and remarkably
straight in the loins. Men and women alike have little or no body
hair. Their hue varies (apart from reasons of blood admixture), but
is always distinct from any Eurafrican blend, being of a light coppery
or “feuille morte” tinge, sometimes likened to dried cinnamon.
Like so many others of his race, the Dominica Indian is reticent
by nature, sensitive, and quick to take offense, and given to occa-
sional moods of melancholy and unreasonableness. Indifference, one
of his best-known traits, coupled with innate shyness (the patois
term “couquia”’ expresses what I mean here much better than our
114 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
“shy.’’ Originally it was the name for a kind of crab which, when it
cannot escape unobserved, will curl up and remain perfectly still, so
that by no amount of scrutiny or poking can it be made to show
the least sign of life) undoubtedly has been one of the principal causes
for the bolder, more hot-blooded negro’s relatively greater success
as a lover, and for the increasing proportion of mixed blood in the
reserve today. It has, moreover, contributed to the decay and dis-
appearance of language, legend, and custom; and renders doubly
difficult today the task of eking out such vestiges of these as still
remain.
The war feuds of other days have been replaced by a multitude of
petty jealousies and hatreds, but the Caribs still resort to sorcery
and piai as instruments of injury and revenge. Though, or perhaps
just because, the boutou (war club) of yore has gone forever, that
other no less formidable weapon, the tongues of the womenfolk, rages
more mercilessly than before. In vain one looks among his present-day
descendants for that fierceness which is said to have characterized
the Carib of old, earning for him a symbolic association with the
Malfini, or Mansfénix hawk.
Much has been made of the Indian’s custom of walking in single
or Indian file, and this is as true today in Dominica as ever or else-
where; but it seems to be the natural outcome of a habit acquired of
necessity on forest trails rather than a racial tradition. More signifi-
cant, perhaps, is the Indian’s peculiarly emphatic, stumpy, forward-
falling gait, which, in a manner, is reproduced in his speech, character,
and way of life.
The Caribs’ love of travel, in an island where nine-tenths of the
population never move without good reason outside a radius of half
a mile from their homes, is perhaps worth mention. Few are the men
of the reserve who have not at one time or another visited one or all
of the neighboring islands of Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, Marti-
nique—and that with the prospect of no more than a wine or rum
debauch if lucky, and a term of imprisonment if caught. Others
have left the country for Guiana, Bolivia, or Cuba, as opportunity
offered, in search of adventure rather than fortune. Men, women,
even children, think nothing of a 35-mile tramp, over mountain track
and through virgin forest, to Roseau, the capital, for the sole purpose
of selling a few baskets or of buying a few yards of sail cloth or a
pound of nails. Their business concluded and their money spent,
they will take the homeward road immediately and, if only there be a
moon to guide them, march all night through to arrive home by day-
break.
Whether cause or effect of poverty, I do not know, but the Indian’s
proverbial ignorance of the value of money remains as much a fact
as his general indifference. In Dominica, at least, he has no other
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 15
scale of worth than his present want—I do not say need, advisedly:
I have seen a girl starve her baby in order to procure it a baptismal
robe it would use only once. When he has made up his mind to buy
or sell, the worst bargain in the world will not deter the Carib, nor
persuade him to await a better opportunity. On the other hand, he
will let you vainly wait months for a basket or some other article you
have ordered from him, and appear dissatisfied, if and when he finally
condescends to bring it, with the price originally set by himself.
For a number of reasons J have not been able to push my inquiries
into Carib life and lore—and especially with regard to the archeological
material, which I believe to be plentiful—as far as I should have
wished. Perhaps the same petty jealousies of which I have spoken
prevented some members of the tribe from communicating to me—or
at least prompted them to demand exorbitant sums for their only
possibly valuable information—all that they knew of their nation’s
language and legend. Less excusable is the crass ignorance of many
Creoles, white and colored alike, in a position to know better, as to
the nature and aims of ethnological research. The ridicule and
suspicions of such individuals in a pseudo-civilized community
inevitably render the student’s task all the harder. On the other
hand, I am profoundly grateful to those others with whom I have
come in contact, of whatever color or race, for their sincere collabora-
tion and loyal friendship,
SocIAL AND SEXUAL
Social organization, in as far as it can be said to exist at all, is
extremely slack among the Caribs today, and appears to have been
so always. Previously there were two chiefs in Dominica: One for
the windward side, another for the leeward side of the island, but
their authority was never more than of an advisory or paternal nature,
even where it was combined with that of magnétiseur or sorcerer.
Even the punishment of crimes committed within the tribe was left
to the individuals or family concerned. The chiefs, though often of
the same family, seem to have been chosen by common consent for
some recognized superiority or sagacity (ordeals of pain or hunger
endurance were common) rather than by hereditary privilege. In
war time, on the contrary, supreme authority was given to another
commander, or war chief, who usually led the combined armies of
Dominica and Guadeloupe. Today, in spite of certain local prejudices
and jealousies, the only social unit which can be said to subsist is the
family.
No puberty ceremonies have survived. Nevertheless, girls and
women maintain a certain seclusion at their menstrual periods,
especially the first, and do not leave the house, even to bathe in the
river or for their personal necessities. Were they to do so, it is said
116 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
that the “fresh” odor of their blood would cause the “‘dog spirits’’ to
follow and attack them and any other person who might take the same
track. Actual contact with such blood would bring about local
swelling, while any man so foolish as to have connection with a
menstruating woman would inevitably suffer from severe backache
and general debility for some time after. In Creole patois, a woman’s
menstrual period is known as her moon, and the Indians, formerly
at any rate, held the moon to be responsible for this “‘sickness.”’
Chastity is not considered of importance in the unmarried, whether
man or woman, as is evinced by the prevalence and good treatment
of ‘outside children’ in married households. Without demur, a
husband will often support, together with his own legitimate off-
spring, three or four of his wife’s children from various prenuptial
lovers; his own illegitimate progeny, if any, remain with their mother.
Conjugal infidelity, while regarded in a more serious light, seldom, if
ever, leads to a permanent separation or estrangement.
Love, as we understand it, is not recognized, although instances
of it no doubt exist. Carib girls usually are taken, soon after if not
before they reach puberty, by surprise attack, although not by force.
By that I mean (and I understand the word wdarikad to mean) that
a young man will watch for an opportunity and ambush a girl when
she goes to the river or into the woods alone. If discovered, he will
chase, catch, and hold her by force, although he will not resort to
rape if she still resists him. The curious thing about this is that
in no case will the girl shout or call for help or otherwise betray her
presence to anyone passing near, when once she is caught; while,
on the other hand, even should she submit, she probably will go
straight home and tell her mother, knowing full well that in all like-
lihood she will receive a beating in consequence. This attitude may
be explained, perhaps, by the Carib girl’s profound sense of shame
(see word couguia), combined with deep-rooted inherent passivity.
The aims of marriage are practical, the main reason being the
desire to found a family as an independent economic unit. No es-
tablished custom with regard to marriageable parties is recognized
today, but marriages between crossed cousins (a girl with her paternal
aunt’s son, a boy with his maternal uncle’s daughter) are still com-
mon. Although no prenuptial tasks are demanded of the Carib
youth today, certain restrictions are sometimes placed on him during
his period of courtship, which, for example, may be limited to a
monthly or bimonthly visit.
Weddings (as also baptisms) are celebrated according to the rites
of the Catholic Church, and are followed by a dance and drinking
bout in the home of the bride’s parents, where the couple henceforth
take up their residence until such time as they are able to build and
establish a home of their own.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 117
It is not usual for husband and wife to spend the whole night
together—each retires to sleep on a separate couch or mat.
Rochefort mentions the fact that the Island Carib of his day never
touched a pregnant woman. This is still true, be the woman his
own wife or another.
I have heard a married woman protest that she was not normally
pregnant, but that a piai had put a téte-chien (dog-headed Dominica
constrictor) in her belly. On the other hand, legend reports this
snake as having had connections with women in the old days.
Parturition is accomplished in a squatting or sitting posture (in
the old days by straddling a hammock split lengthwise down the
middle), and with the assistance of some old sage-femme, whose manip-
ulations and remedies are of very doubtful benefit to the patient.
After giving birth, the Carib woman remains confined to the house
for 40 days; i. e., until her ‘“‘retour de couches.”
Suckling by the mother is general, and often of long duration. I
came across a little boy of about 4 years, who, after helping his elder
sister to carry up water from the river, used to claim and obtain
refreshment from his mother’s ‘‘tote-totes” (breasts; children’s speech,
possibly from Carib ‘‘totaka,” to support). In the all-too-frequent
event of a woman dying in childbirth, the maternal aunt or even the
grandmother will suckle the infant. I was told that any woman who
once has borne, irrespective of age, may induce lactation by the use
of certain herbs, some applied locally, others taken internally. I
was unable to learn their names, with two exceptions: the ripe fruit
of the corossol (Anona muricata) and a berry they call kuruptim
(Renealmia exaltata (?)). Whatever the cause, I myself witnessed the
case of a woman whose youngest child was a grown man, giving the
breast with apparent success to her niece’s newborn baby.
Clever as the Carib woman would seem to be in inducing the rise
of her milk, so her attempts to get rid of it appear clumsy to us.
When the time for weaning has come, her usual procedure is to milk
herself onto a fire stone, or, better still, into the nest hole of a species
of large black ant, known locally as fourmis mordantes.
The naming of infants has, nowadays, become confused with
Christian baptism, though the baptismal name itself is rarely, if ever,
used in after life, its place being taken by another, chosen concur-
rently. Despite the priest’s protests, baptism is delayed until at
least one month after birth—that is, until the septa of the cranium
have joined. The choice of names falls to the godparents—to the
godfather in the case of a boy; to the godmother in the case of a girl.
Carib names, such as Wakanik, Maruka, Cimanari, are known to
have been used as recently as 20 years ago, but no living example
remains. The nonbaptismal name now takes their place. Most
families bear surnames, or, as they call them, ‘‘titles’”—relics, in all
35729—38——9
118 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
probability, of their forefather’s conversion and of the name of his
white godfather. Such today are Dauville, Lucien, Viville, John,
Darroux, Benjamin, etc. But already these names are falling into
disuse and being forgotten even by their bearers, who designate the
individual by attaching the patronymic to the name—so, Norbert
John, the son of John Jules, the son of Jules Benjamin. Friends
sometimes “swap” or exchange names.
The Carib of Dominica retains the Indian’s traditional dislike of
the indiscriminate use of his name. In ordinary forms of address he
almost always uses “‘compére,” ‘‘commére”’ (the old “gossip”’),
“cousin,” “chef,” “babe,” “boy,” etc. He habitually refers to people
by a nickname (Popote, Fanfan) or by abbreviating the real name
(Ma’ Ham for Madame Hamilton). When traveling or staying in
some other part of the island or abroad, he invariably changes his
name, adopting for the time what Roth calls a ‘nom de voyage.”
The reason for this, as explained to me by a Carib friend, is that
‘nobody can do you anything (piai, charm) when they do not know
your right name.”’ This idea that the name is part and parcel of the
thing or person to whom it belongs, and the adoption of a false
denomer, in order to trick the nefarious genii, is, I believe, peculiarly
Indian. Thus, before going to the provision grounds or to the woods
for food, a mother of the old school will tell her children that she is
going to ‘fouiller fourmis” (dig for ants), fearing that she would be
unlucky and return empty-handed should she pronounce the real
name, and say (for example) that she was going to look for wawa
(wild yam: Rajana cordata L.).
Forms of greeting are seldom used by the Caribs. Even after a
long absence, a man will arrive with a simple “I am come,” and
take leave, before a long separation, with no more than “I am going.”
Women and children eat in the kitchen apart from the men and
after the latter have finished. I understand that this habit is pecu-
liar, in Dominica, to the Caribs; though it would seem to be more a
matter of convenience than custom in a community where the women
do all their own housework. Vestiges of taboo seem to subsist with
regard to the eating of certain foods. One old woman gave as the
reason for not eating a species of sea crab, called agaya, that the
latter sometimes ‘had to do with women.”’ She averred that this
crab, were it to meet a girl or woman on the beach, would crawl up
and urinate on her leg, thus rendering her pregnant for him. We
read that the Caribs of other days would not eat hen, turtle, or eel
for fear of thereby acquiring the unworthy characteristics of these
beasts. There are Caribs in Dominica today who, for similar reasons,
will not touch the meat of shark, conger eel, or an elsewhere widely
consumed variety of fish, locally known as “vive.”
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 119
On the other hand, Caribs consider the white man’s custom of
manuring land as disgusting, and would never knowingly eat food so
grown. ‘The finding of dung in a provision ground is sufficient reason
for abandoning a part or the whole of the cultivation. A serious
dispute arose, while I was in the Reserve, because one family accused
members of another family of leaving excrement on their land. Per-
haps this is one more reason why the Caribs’ gardens are so far from
their dwellings.
There does not seem to be any hard and fast rule with regard to
the division of labor between the sexes, except such as physical
fitness dictates. Hunting, fishing, sawing, land clearing, canoe and
house building are obviously men’s occupations, here as elsewhere.
Work on the provision ground is fairly evenly shared. Twine and
cords, torches, shark oil, Carib panniers, manioc sifters, and “couleuv-
res’ are made by men usually, though not exclusively. Vegetable
oil (palma Christi, known here as ‘‘carapat’”’), open, radial kitchen
and garden baskets (corbeilles), the cleaning and (until recently)
spinning of cotton, the preparation of farime and cassava bread—
except for the grating of the manioc, at which the men often help—
and all other household duties are women’s work. Although a Carib
be returning straight to his house after a fishing expedition, he expects
his women folk to meet him on the shore and to carry the fish home.
When compelled to carry a load himself, the Carib man always puts
it on his shoulder or back, whereas the women have adopted the
Creole negro custom of bearing burdens on the head.
River bathing is a daily habit with all Caribs, but once a month
the Carib man takes a special kind of bath in the privacy of his own
home with water in which certain herbs have soaked. The names
of three so used are: the sensitive plant (dimosa pudica), sou marqué
(Cassia bicapsularis), and kudjuruk (or kugururk—unidentified).
The bath must be taken on the night when the moon is new or “‘good”’
(that is, for planting), and its object is that of a spiritual antiseptic,
said to counteract and defeat the evil effects of possible sorcery or
piai directed against the bather during the preceding moon.
A few simple remedies used by the Caribs of Dominica today are,
in the case of—
Local inflammation: Half of an ember-baked green papaya applied hot as a
poultice.
Internal contusion: The gum of the lowland red gommier (Bursera gummi-
fera) as a plaster.
Wounds and cuts: The pounded heart of the kanu tree(?), together with salt.
Shark oil and pimento leaves are also used, as is the fat of the Téte-Chien
boa.
Flux, or intestinal chill: An infusion of the bark or roots of the wild white
guava.
120 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
Colic: An infusion of the seeds or leaves of the bay tree (Carib, achuru:
Pimenta acris).
Debility in women: A concoction made from the tuber called Carib (or red)
chalotte (Cipura sp.?).
Lack of appetite: Water in which has soaked Cimaruba chips (wild quassia,
Simarouba amara).
These are straightforward houshold simples. Others partake more
of the nature of charms. Of the latter, the best known are: ‘Surette
de montagne,” a sweet-smelling vine found only in the depths of the
high-woods, and ‘“‘l’envers caraibe” (Maranta indica sp.?), a rare
species of small-leaved native arrowroot (not the ordinary white or
red maranta) with reddish leaf stems and tubers that go straight
down and are said to intertwine or “plait’’ themselves. Native
tobacco and a stupefying variety of ivy, or caapi, are known, but
are not, as far as I could learn, now used. Earth or clay is eaten
by some, but the practice is regarded as a vice by the community.
On the other hand, many vouch for the good effects of one’s own
or another’s urine, drunk warm, as a cure for poisoning or stomach
ache (an emetic?); while others chew the gum of the gommier (Dacry-
odes hexandra and Icica heptaphylla) in order to improve their wind.”
An aphrodisiac, known as “‘poudre pine tortue’’ (powdered turtle’s
penis) is made and sold in the island.
“A Carib does not dream for nothing,” I was told. He believes
his dreams announce or portend grave events affecting himself, his
family, or his friends. It certainly is amazing how often such omens
prove correct.
All serious sickness and death itself are looked upon, not as the
result of disease or age, but as the works of extra-natural agencies
known as piai. Thus, little confidence is placed in ordinary medical
means of restoring health. The Caribs do not fear death, but are
terrified at the idea of the hospital, and especially of being separated
from their home environment in their last moments.
A piai, to become effective, must be instituted by three persons—
usually two men anda woman. The actual harm in any piai is wrought
by spirits who have, so to speak, no personal grievance, but, bullet-
like, are merely unleashed and set onto a given person when he or
she unwittingly touches some object—such as a stick or branch placed
across the path—harmless in itself, but magically dealt with by the
piaimen in order to make it the agency for releasing the piai. So
one may, by good luck or cunning, escape a piai intended for oneself,
or fall, by ull chance, under a piai intended for somebody else.
“They are taking life tonight,’”’ said an old Carib friend of mine the
night he died of what I took to be a pleurisy brought on by the enforced
wearing of wet clothes. I have often wondered whether he referred
to the persons he believed to have bewitched him or to the death
spirits themselves. Three years later (two weeks ago as I write now)
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA it
his widow assured me that it was useless for me to try to save their
10-year-old daughter, as the child had fallen under the same spell
as the father, and had been sick ever since the latter’s death. The
girl was well grown, but very thin, and had swellings on neck and
shoulders. She said her whole body hurt her. At the time I last
saw her alive she kept vomiting a light colorless froth, and had a very
quick pulse and normal temperature. At her own request I procured
eggs and milk for her, and sent for the doctor on my own responsibility.
But the message was either distorted or misunderstood, for the doctor
neither sent any word nor put in an appearance; and when, 5 days
later, the girl died, she was buried without a certificate, as is customary
in the reserve. If, as is probable, it was a case of tubercular menin-
gitis, an immediate operation might have saved the child’s life.
Death is announced as soon as it takes place by a single protracted
blast of the conque shell (corne lambi). Law and hygiene demand
that burial take place within 24 hours (though Labat records having
seen the body of a Carib dead several months and perfectly preserved
through the use of roucou, Bira orellana), but this is preceded, whenever
possible, by a wake to which all and sundry come to make pigs of
themselves on the rum provided. When the last “grog” is drunk
and the cofin—made on the spot by some of the men present—nailed
down, a procession is formed to conduct the corpse to the little ceme-
tery of Sainte Marie, the last home of the last Antilleans. The reading
of a French prayer by some old woman more literate than the rest,
the tolling of a cracked bell, and the coffin is bestowed in a hastily
dug grave almost within reach of the Atlantic waves. Burial in the
foetal posture under the floor of the karbé was suppressed by the
priests some 70 years ago. The depth of the grave as dug today is
supposed to be equal to the length of the body.
Kight days after the burial a sort of second wake is held in the house
where the deceased died. In the event of this not having been his or
her usual abode, two wakes, or “‘priéres,”’ as they are called, are held.
The deathbed is decorated with white flowers, candles, and objects
having belonged to the dead man or woman. Until midnight women
and girls sit around a table and sing French cantiques, while men and
boys wander about, chatting and drinking. Fires are then lighted
outside the house and cocoa and cassava bread prepared and offered
to those present. At this time the girls usually pair off with the boys
and disappear into the bushes, while the older men and women sit
round the fire drinking rum and telling tales and conundrums. Some-
times a sort of ronde, or Reigen, is danced around the fire before the
dispersal at daybreak. The meaning and object of this ceremony
seems to be a kind of spiritual fumigation to rid the house of the now
nefarious spirit of the new dead, which continues to lurk there after
burial, as perhaps also of the evil powers that caused the death.
422 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
The belief in the ‘‘uncanny” quality of the newly dead as well as of
the newborn and yet unnamed child is very widespread. Whatever
its origin, the local priests condemn this ceremony; and several have
assured me that there is nothing in the Christian religion to justify it.
Until recent years a type of wrestling was much practiced by the
Dominica Caribs whenever they were drunk or quarrelsome. I have
never witnessed it personally, but from the accounts of all those who
have, it seems to have been more in the nature of a sporting contest
than of an aggressive attack.
CHILDHOOD: GAMES AND PASTIMES
Fred Ober wrote of the Carib children of Dominica in 1877 that
they should be the happiest on earth because of their freedom to play
and wander naked among rocks and river pools. Perhaps. But
children the world over are usually happy as long as they are well,
and rarely appreciate relative advantages or disadvantages. The
street urchin of our own lands takes the “slings and arrows of out-
rageous fortune”’ as much for granted as does the pampered darling of
wealthy parents his movies, candy, and other luxuries.
One may still find Carib youngsters clothed as nature made them
running around and about their homes. This does not mean that
they never wear clothes, but merely that dressing is to them what
dressing up is to our children. The school has come to Salybia since
Ober’s time, and although few of the present generation of young
Caribs have learned anything of value to them there, they have come
to regard the everyday use of clothes and shoes together with the
talking of broken English as marks of especial superiority. Can we
blame them? The Negro policemen who have established themselves
in the reserve despite Carib protest, the Negro storekeeper in Marigot
where they run errands for their parents, their own Negro school-
master—they all do these things, and who shall deny that such august
personages are their Carib elders’ superiors in authority, wealth, and
knowledge of the world?
Undemonstrative as they are, the Caribs show a great deal of affec-
tion for their children, and an almost equal reluctance to discipline or
punish them. In consequence, the children do pretty much as they
please, and neither eat, sleep, nor bathe at regular hours; but get their
whack of coffee, rum, or whatever else is going. Like other young
people brought up in the tropics, they seem apathetic when compared
with those of northern climes, and will often sit quiet and idle in a
corner for hours rather than bestir themselves to go out and play.
Even their games are usually of a sedentary order. In “pick-up,” a
game common to several parts of the world, the players squat opposite
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 123
one another and try to pick up from a heap before them a given number
of nut shells in time to catch another they have just thrown in the air.
Story telling and the asking of conundrums are among their favorite
pastimes—as indeed they are those of their elders when these have
leisure, as at a wake or during a “priére.””’ Some of the stories are
hashed-up versions of our own fairy lore and legend, while others have
a more local flavor. Here is one of the latter:
A little girl wanted to visit her Néne-néne (marraine, godmother), who lived
on the other side of a deep, wide river. When she reached its banks, she met a
woman whom she asked to carry her across. The woman—who was no other
than Maman d’ |’Eau herself (Water-Mama, protectress of all fish)—said she
would do so willingly were {t not for fear of being betrayed. The little girl prom-
ised secrecy and was borne to the other side. When she arrived at her god-
mother’s house everybody wanted to know who had helped her to cross the river.
At first she refused to tell, but on being pressed, finally gave the secret away.
Just before she set out for home her godmother gave her three seeds, one of gombo
(or ochra), one of pois (pea, perhaps the pois doux shade tree, Inga laurina), and
one of lavandre (Renealmea caribbaca, not our lavender), telling her to drop one
each time she heard the Fou-fou (sp. humming bird, smaller than that known as
colibri) sing. When the girl had gone a little way, Fou-fou came flying over her
head and sang:
“Cassa-linon bi-bi, cassa-linon bi;
O-bi-a, qui trahit Maman d’ |’Eau.
O-bi-a, qui trahit Maman d’ |’Eau.”
(N. B.—In Carib, cassa means porpoise, bibi is the word of address
for mother.)
Thereupon the girl dropped the lavandre seed, which immediately grew into a
big bush whose blossom Fou-fou stopped to suck. Later, when the bird had caught
up with her and repeated its song, she dropped the gombo seed, and the same thing
happened again. By the time she got to the river she had dropped all three seeds,
but the humming bird was still far behind, busy with the flowers of the pois tree.
Maman d’ !’Eau asked if she had been betrayed. The little girl said no, and was
carried across as before. She had reached the other bank safely, and was well on
her way home, when Fou-fou arrived at the river, singing his song, and alighted on
Maman d’]’Eau’s outstretched hand. Maman d’ |’Eau was so enraged with her
spy—for such the humming bird was—for his delay, that she seized and tore him
in four pieces.
Here, perhaps, is the explanation of a phrase I have heard used by
one or two children, when they did not wish to go unaccompanied on
some errand: ‘‘Fou-fou ké fai’ moin perd’—the Fou-fou will lead me
astray.”’ Again:
A young man, Lé, falls in love with a beautiful girl, Lidha, who unfortunately
is “moumou,” that is, deaf and dumb. Nevertheless he marries her. One day
he goes to the woods to hunt. He kills many birds, but instead of bringing them
home, he covers his body with their rotting carcasses. Malfini, the mansfénix
or West Indian hawk, flies to Lidha’s hut and sings:
“Lidha, Lidha, Lé mourut en bois,
La-ci-vo-ka.”’
124 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
Lidha perceives that something is wrong, and follows Malfini, who leads her to
the woods and repeats his song. On reaching the place where Lé is lying, Malfini
repeats the song a third time, and Lidha recovers her hearing and speech.
Or:
A newly married man notices that his wife habitually gets up and leaves the
hut as soon as she supposes him to be asleep. He follows her secretly to the
river, where, after singing the following incantation,
“Yantibu, my dear, my dear,
Yantibu;
Ma-sa-zing po-lian-pang—¢ca malheureux:
Sababap, sabap,”’
she turns into a crabier (sp. egret) and flies away.
The next day he challenges his wife to a singing contest, and, when she declares
she knows no more, repeats the above lines himself, whereupon the woman turns
back into a crabier, flies onto the roof, and is shot by the husband.
(N. B.—Yan in the first line and lian in the third line would seem to be parts
of the Carib verb, n-ié etc., I do, or say. Tibu is the pronominal suffix for thee.)
Another story, of which I have never been able to get a complete
version, tells of a man who used to go to the house of a ‘“‘zombie”’
(spirit) and sing:
Touk-téka touk, ankou-bab,
Mo-kotkoua, mo-koikoua, li teng teng
in order to make the spirits come out and dance. It appears he came
to a bad end, poor fellow. Whether the words have a meaning or
not I cannot say. Some say ‘“mo-kék’ra” instead of ‘‘mo-koukoua.”’
The conundrums, common to most of the islands, are innumerable,
and of the following order:
(What is it that) has no roots when it has leaves, and no leaves when it has
roots?—(Answer) A sailing vessel.
A child that beats its mother?—(Answer) A pestle.
Water standing upright?—(Answer) Sugarcane.
Before asking a conundrum one must challenge with the words
“Tim-tim,’’ whereupon the challenged answers “bras chesse (bras
sec).”’ Similarly, before starting out to tell a tale, it is usual to
preface the words “‘Cric crac.”’
In the water game called “Maman d’ |’Eau,” after the Fish-
Mamma—a personage, by the way, whose reputed presence in certain
pools at certain seasons still commands the very real respect of the
grown-ups—the child who is “it’”’ asks the others in turn whether they
eat flesh or fish. Those who say flesh may go free, while the more
daring spirits who reply ‘‘fish” must be caught, ducked, and devoured.
Tops and stilts are known and made on the reserve from local
materials.
The black wax of the native wild stingless bee (miel sur) is used by
children and others for modeling grotesque human and animal figures.
Out of six left-over strands of larouman, many children make a kind
of fingerstall, which contracts and holds fast the finger unwarily in-
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA
125
serted (fig. 12). It is known as an_“attrappe-la-main,” or “wife
leader.’’
They also make two toy figures from strands of split coconut palm.
One, accordeonlike and sometimes several feet long, they call a
‘“musique”’ (fig. 13) (Roth found these among the
Guiana Indian children, who call it a rattle); the
other, known as “‘soufflette’”’ (or whistle) strangely
resembles in miniature the large trumpets of spirally
rolled manjagua bark from the Rio Uaupes, de-
scribed by Roth.
Perhaps one reason why the Carib child does
not “‘waste’’ energy in play is that he or she is
expected at an early age to exert himself or herself
to help the parents with their tasks: Carrying up
water from the river, running errands, and so on.
Later they work in the provision grounds, catch
crayfish, and cut or carry louarouman from the
woods for basket making—and all this in conjunc-
tion with supposedly daily attendance at school. I
have seen girls of 12 sent off with
a nine-hand bunch of bananas
(70 pounds or more) on their
heads, carry it without any rest
over 10 miles of rough hilly road,
and return some hours later with
a heavy basket load of provi-
FIGURE 12.—‘‘Attrappe-la-
main” or ‘‘wife leader.”’
sions. Nor is this to be regarded as the result of
FIGURE 13.—‘‘ Musique.”
unkindness: the parents impose much harder tasks
upon themselves, and are ignorant of the require-
ments of immaturity. What wonder, then, if such
premature labor, often coupled with an insuffi-
ciency of sleep and nourishment, result in a small-
statured race who mature late (the average age for
puberty in girls is 15) and grow old early? The
Carib children of Dominica undoubtedly owe such
health and strength as they possess to a sound stock,
to their daily baths in the river pools, and to the
sun’s rays that constantly embrace their little
bodies; but I very much doubt whether their lot, today at any rate,
is as enviable as Ober supposed it to be.
SHELTERS, Huts, anp Housss
Temporary shelters, known generally as ajoupas or, among the
Carib, as karbé, are often built in the woods or elsewhere where there
126 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
is work to be done. Two, three, or more young saplings are cut and
their ends stuck in the ground, or simply bent over to form what may
be called the rafters. These are joined at their free ends by one or
more tie beams and attached to two uprights sunk in the ground.
The whole is covered with the leaves of the ailes mouche (Carludovica
plumierr) or, where available, of yanga (?).
Until recent times the usual but now rare dwelling of the Dominica
Caribs is known as the muinan (French spelling), the koubouya of the
FIGURE 14.—Scaffolding for karbé before covering. FIGURE 15.—Muinan before thatching.
Roucouyenne Indians. This is a simple structure consisting of a
ridge pole supported by a main post at either end (fig. 14). The
rafters, crossed by rods (gaulettes) to which the thatch is tied, reach
to the ground. ‘The whole is covered with cane straw, vetiveria, or,
more rarely, with the leaf of the yattaghu palm! (Syagrus sp.). The
lianas, called mibi and calabouli, are used to tie the thatch to the
thatching rods, which are made of wood
or bamboo. An interesting thing about
these muinans (fig. 15), of which several
are still in use as dwellings, is that they
x were commonly built double, one within
the other, after the style of a Carib pan-
nier,in order better to withstand storms.
Most kitchens in the reserve (in the
West Indies the kitchen is always in an
outhouse, even in the homes of the
whites), though curiously enough few dwellings, take the form of an
improved muinan, raised on posts and runner beams several feet from
the ground, the sides boarded in, and the roof covered with coconut
or yattaghu palm thatch (fig. 16). This type of house appears to
correspond to the taboui of Cayenne.
The most common type of dwelling house today—though only in
the last 15 to 20 years has it become so—is the regularly built hut,
raised some 2 to 4 feet from the ground on piles, with flooring and
FIGURE 16.—Structure for kitchen.
1 The palm called “yattaghu” or ‘‘yattahou”’ has a leaf similar to the glou-glou, no spines, and corresponds
to Duss, Syagrus in every respect except that the nuts are only half the size he mentions.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 127
walls of hardwood boards and roof of shingles (preferably from ca-
conier: Ormosia dasycarpa, or bois lézard: Vitex divaricata). This
type of hut is found, with variations, all through the islands, and
does not appear to be of native origin. The wood is usually cut and
hewn into shape by the future owner, the foundations dug with the
help of friends, the house raised (or mounted) with the assistance of a
professional carpenter (who may take 25 or 30 shillings for his work),
and the roof covered in 1 day at an almost ceremonious gathering of
by no means abstemious helpers and friends.
The following are among the commoner woods employed by the
Caribs in house building:
STAKES AND PILES.—Mangle rouge (Rhizophora mangle L.) and mangle blanc,
acouquoi (Bucida bucera L.).
Boarps.—Bois bander (Chiona glabra), bois riviére (Chimarris cymosa), bois
sept ans (Meliosma sp.), noyer (Zanthorylum tragodes).
Posts.—Balata (Mimusops sp.), carapite (“black-heart,’’ possibly Amanoa
caribbaea (?), not to be confused with carapate).
Rarters.—Angelin (Andira inermis), caconier (Ormosia dasycarpa).
Latus.—Bois riviére (Chimarris cymosa).
Brams.—Bois lézard (Vitex divaricata), laurier caca (Guettarda parvifolia),
laurier rose (a sweet-smelling wood of reddish hue, large tree. Not the so-called
rose laurel of other islands).
BASKETRY
Together with the building of dugout canoes, basketry now consti-
tutes the Caribs’ main industry and source of revenue. Apart from
those destined for sale, they make other articles for domestic use of a
superior quality, and which seldom are seen outside the reserve.
The materials used today, and the manner of their preparation,
are as follows:
(1) Larouman or, more correctly, l’uarumé (Jschnosiphon arouma),
the itirite of the Guiana Indians. A slender, palmlike reed with long
spatulate leaves, attaining from 12 to 15 feet in height. Cut and tied
in bundles of 70 to 100 stems and brought down to the coast, where it is
spread out on the beach to dry in the sun for several days. Without
this process, during which it acquires an agreeable red russet color, the
stems would soon become brittle and unworkable. Some of them
are subsequently steeped for a couple more days in “mudholes’” by
the riverbank, where they take on a fine shiny black. The blackened
stems are, however, less strong than those not so treated. Before
use, each stem is split in four or six strands which are then drawn be-
tween a knife blade and the finger until the pith is removed and they
have been made fine enough for the work in view. If white strands are
wanted, as for the linings of Carib panniers, they may be obtained by
scraping the outer surface of red strands, or merely by laying these
inner side uppermost.
128 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
(2) Roseau (Gynerium saccharoides), a sugarcanelike reed found
near water. The midrib of the leaf is peeled, bleached by laying it in
the dew, and dried in thesun. While inferior to larouman in strength,
it is of a purer white, and is therefore used in small decorative baskets
and for plaiting hats. Its cane, employed for edging Carib panniers,
is merely peeled and scraped.
(3) Racines-palmiste, the aerial, reddish colored roots of the moun-
tain palmiste (Euterpe montana, Areca regia). Used especially for
making shoulder carry-alls. Cut, peeled, and scraped, then split
into two or three strands according to their size and to the worker’s
requirements.
(4) Mibi (Stigmatophyllum puberum), liane-pomme (Merecwja sp.),
liane grise, calabouli, and corde caco are the local names of varying
and differently used lianas. The first requires only to be scraped,
after which it may be dyed yellow or mauve—in the first instance by
steeping it in the expressed juice of a small-bush carrotlike fruit,
locally called saffron; in the second case, by soaking it in an infusion
of the leaves of a small or medium sized tree known as “‘tan” (?)—not
Byrsonima spicata, which is also known as ‘‘tan.”’ Liane-pomme
(the water lemon of the English Creoles) is only peeled before use,
while the others require no preparation.
(5) Latanier (Thrinax sp.). The septa of the mature leaves are
split in two and worked before becoming too dry.
(6) Bamboo. Dried indoors and split into fine strands.
(7) Balizier (Heliconia bihai and H. caribbaea). The midrib is
sun-dried and parallel lengths tied with twine to form simple roll-up
mats.
(8) Bakua (Pandanus sp.). As (5).
(9) Vétiver (Vetiveria odorata). The leaf is bleached by boiling,
dried in the sun, and split in two for plaiting into hats, ete.
(1) Carib panniers (pagara) are made in wicker (‘‘Armadillo’’)
pattern, multiple weft, and in duplicate. The inner lining, or “mama,”’
is all white, while the outer covering, or “skin,” is usually worked in
two or more colors (fig. 17). Between these two component parts a
layer of sun-dried cachibou (Maranta cachibou) or balizier leaves is
arranged carefully to render the basket watertight. The orthodox
style consists of a receptacle and a cover (both in duplicate), the latter
having two-thirds the depth and a foundation of four strands more
than the former, over which it fits tightly. Made in all sizes and
shapes, the commonest average, without the cover, is about 30 by 24
inches by 18 inches deep. Some are as large as an old-fashioned
trunk, while others, of miniature dimensions, are made in ‘‘niches” of
9 or 12 baskets that fit into one another after the manner of a Chinese
puzzle. A game-basketlike variety of identical construction, but
whose width is about one-third its height and a quarter its length (so
TAYLOR] “THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 129
as to admit being slung by a cord from the shoulder), is known as
“portemanteau.” ‘‘Valise’” is the name given to a still more flattened
type (fig. 18).
There are only two or three Caribs left in Dominica who claim to
know how to make baskets of the so-called tressed variety, and those
examples of the latter I so far have seen must be classed as of freak
WN
AS “
Rw
SW
SY
FiGurReE 17.—Carib pannier and cover.
rather than orthodox pattern. Probably as the market for the better
work grew worse—the average price for the ordinary Armadillo pagara
has fallen in 10 years from a dollar to a shillmg—the older men ceased
to interest themselves in these ornamental wefts and the young men
never learned them.
FIGURE 18.—Valise.
Other utensils manufactured from larouman strands are:
(a) The “panier cocaille,”’ used for storing eggs, etc., in shape
somewhat resembling an openwork basket with hexagonal base
(fig. 19). Made in open hexagonal weave with horizontal cross-weave.
About 1 foot to 18 inches across.
(b) The “hébichet,’”’ or cassava sifter, made in the alternate one-
over-and-under-two pattern, either round or, less commonly, rectan-
gular (fig. 20). The projecting strands are bound onto a double-hoop
edging made from two superimposed lengths of a stout liana known
130 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
locally as corde caco (Heteropteris platyptera). The rectangular
variety are of closer weave and somewhat resemble trays.
(c) Cassava squeezer (fig. 21) (matapi or couleuvre, so called) has
gone out of general use and become extremely rare in the last 20 years
through neglect or inability on the part of the younger generation in
their manufacture. The domestic article measures 4% to 5 feet in
length and about 4
inches across the
mouth when not in
use; its making en-
tails the use of a
great deal of larou-
man, of time, and of
care. The local
method seems to
have been that de-
scribed by Roth with
regard to the Guiana productions, except that here the final strands
seem to have been bound around a liana or bamboo ring sometimes
instead of being woven into the more usual stirrup-like contrivance for
taking the lever. I have endeavored to reintroduce their manufacture
and general use, especially with regard to the smaller models, which
might form an article of sale to
tourists.
(d) Matttu, or Carib tables.
These have quite disappeared to-
FIGURE 19.—“‘Panier cocaille.”
jzce=: aan lee Saupe =
efi om aiuas | | LESS TaN
aan le Aro a
Hr bod aan Sezys|stezs ann rr AES aN
Sezge| steer gan Seaye| stese sae
CTT Serpe | stece eus = N
day, though some old men re- Me ‘eee males
member having seen them in genes 5 HE sles i ESE EEN
their youth. From such descrip- epee ieee ilaeeA
tions as the latter could give me, GEEaeleee Saye th sel: tera
they would seem to have resem- Nerd ry Bera EE SESE Eo FLY
bled the rectangular hébichets, lea faery leeer leer ¢ Hey)
with short sticks, about 18 inches Seiler (deere cae eg plas =| aay
in height, set into the four Ser ier Hee ey
corners. From all verbal ac- Seep a
counts they were made of larou- Hie
man, and not, as some authors
state, from latanier (Thrinaz sp.).
(e) Finger traps, or ‘“‘wife leaders”, as they are sometimes called,
are also made of larouman, but have been described already in the
section entitled ‘Childhood: Games and Pastimes.”
(2) Roseau is often used, mixed with larouman, in Carib panniers
destined for sale. It is of a purer white than the latter and more
easily worked. The cane itself invariably forms the bordering or
edging of the panniers. In recent years hats have been woven by the
FIGURE 20.—Cassava sifter.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 131
women from this material. Fans resembling those of the Guiana
Indians are woven in Dominica today, though curiously, not by the
Caribs themselves, from a mixture of roseau and larouman strands
(fig. 22).
(3) Racines-palmistes, the reddish and, in the big tree, aerial roots
CN.
GON
NG 20eer aed:
s
SS
Ses
FIGURE 21.—Cassava squeezer.
of the mountain palmiste (Areca sp., Huterpe montana), provide
exceedingly stout strands which might serve a number of purposes,
but are used almost exclusively for the manufacture of shoulder
baskets (patois has “‘djola”’ and ‘‘conten”, more rarely the Carib
“catoli”; Roth calls them knapsacks) (fig. 23). They are made here in
both close and openwork
weave, the former being
more common, and of the
alternate, one-strand-over-
and-under-two-others
(which latter are in pairs)
pattern. The openwork
mesh is of the diagonal
type, with interpolated
horizontal weft.
(4) These lianas are
used, as is bamboo, in
making round and oval-
based baskets with simple
radiate warp and over-and-
) under-one weft. Since they
have a handle hooped over
the top, these are known
generally as “paniers 4
Vanse.” The warp strands cross at their centers in superimposed
groups of four or six, and into these the weft is woven spirally—at first
over and under each successive pair, then over and under each succes-
sive strand. Market baskets are made from mibi, while the stouter
lianas are used in those made for carrying produce from the provision
grounds. It seems likely, as Roth suggests with regard to similar
baskets in Guiana, that this type is of African and not native origin.
FIGURE 22.—Fan.
132 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 119
(5) Latanier (Thrinaz sp.), a fan-shaped palm which seems to have
been used in the past, according to old authors, much more than at
the present time, having then served in the manufacture of tables,
squeezers, and even baskets.
Perhaps the palm has become scarcer,
or it may be that the authors were mistaken. Within the reserve its
i;
i
Dy
[Re
=>
ala
7
Ee
cS
if
a
mi
=~
(t?
aia
zi
ai
ere
-
RRRVIRARE a:
cae
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i
cy
<
ry
a
si
et
oe
TL
ar
—
—
Ly
XZ
=
Say
sf
(Ar
al
Lf
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Ky
SS
SZ
S
ae!
ip
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2
Figure 23.—Shoulder basket.
use is confined today to broom
making, and to plaiting and sew-
ing its septae into a sort of game
basket (fig. 24) they call “djokom”’.
The people in another part of the
island (Penville), where there used
to be many and still are a few
Caribs, also make of latanier a kind
of sack which they use for pressing
their manioc.
(6) Bamboo is used as well as
for the round baskets mentioned in
(4) for making sambwa, a kind of
round basket with narrowed mouth,
used for carrying fish caught off the
rocks. It is also employed as an
alternate to cotton thread in making
kali, a local variety of fish pot or landing net used for catching flying
fish (fig.25). The sambwa is, except for its shape, of similar construction
to the round radial-type baskets and has a cord handle. The kali
RW
aN
N
Ze
SS
SS
5
ps
b>
0
DS
WH
=
.
S$
“e,
_
<
SK
25
NN
we
SSK
we
SSH
ee
COONS
XS
Lhe
7
PS
FIGURE 24.—Game basket.
have a bamboo frame and handle and an open hexagonal mesh (similar
to that of the panier cocaille) of cotton thread or bamboo.
(7) Simple roll-up mats (fig. 26), on which children or others may
sleep, are made from the balizier leaf, dried and bound together hori-
zontally to the required length by Bromelia twine.
(8) Bakwa (Pandanus sp.) and (9) vétiver (Vetiveria odorata),
imported, one from the Pacific, the other from the East Indies, and
used here for plaiting hats (an industry of obviously foreign origin)
and occasionally for covering huts and shelters.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 133
THREAD, TWwINrE, Corps, AND Roprs
Corron.—Two varieties, probably indigenous and known respec-
tively from the colors of their leaf stems as “black” and “white”
cotton, are to be found close to most of the houses, and attain, since
they are always left to themselves, the size of orange or apple trees.
Used today only for calking canoes and for stuffing pillows and mat-
tresses, cotton was spun by
the Caribs within the memory
of most of those now living
on the reserve. The native
method was shown to me by
an old woman. A band of
teased cotton wound around
the left wrist is spun onto a
long stick or spindle by rolling
the latter on the right knee.
The upper end of the spindle
(fuseau) is crooked. A round
disk of calabash, through
whose center the stick is
passed, acts as base for the
growing spool of thread.
La PITTE (KURUWA, KARATA, SILK GRASS, Bromelia sp.).—The leaf—
longer than that of the pineapple, and without thorns—is drawn
through a noose of maho or other cord attached to a projecting limb.
An even pull with both hands on a short round stick over which the
mT leaf is folded disengages the fiber
il AAR AAA RH HAHAHA §=and leaves the green pithy mat-
| terin the noose. The “drawn”
| |
| |
WHHHHE ilalaluls Halstalatital AHEM
fiber is next bleached and dried
lili madabelitil
in the sun, and twine spun from
FIGURE 26.—Roll-up mat.
FIGURE 25.—Fish pot or landing net.
it by rolling it on the naked
thigh with the flattened palm
of the hand (fig. 27)—a down-
ward stroke spinning simultane-
ously in the required thickness
two or as many single ply as are
wanted, followed by an upward stroke which unites them in one thread
or twine. Any length can be spun thus by the addition of more fiber
when the end of one lot is reached. Twine made from la pitte is
strong and lasts well in water. When used for fishing line it is streng-
thened and stiffened by the addition of a little gum from the gommier
tree. Thread made for binding the borders of Carib baskets is rubbed
with manni to render it more durable. La pitte may be made into
multiple-ply cords and bands for carrying loads, tying baskets, etc.
35729—38——10
134 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
It would, and doubtless has in the past, serve to weave excellent
hammocks.
Langue-boeuf, a species of wild agava (Agave americana), is also
used in the manufacture of thread and twine. In this case the
separation of the fiber necessitates a preliminary soaking or rotting
process, as in the case of hemp. Once disengaged, the fiber is sub-
mitted to the same processes as Bromelia.
Maho (or mahaut) is the name given to a number of trees of different
species, whose only common characteristic is the use to which their
bark may be put in making ropes and cords. They are: Maho noir
(or bois violon, Guatteria sp.), maho
piment (Daphnopsis cartbbaea), maho
cochon, maho doux, maho figue. Some,
such as bois violon, are indigenous,
while others, such as the bananalike
maho figue, are imported. Strips of
the bark from these trees are shredded
and twisted—some rudely, to make
halters and ropes, others being tressed
carefully into as fine a twine as that of
Bromelia or Agave.
Besides the above-mentioned raw
materials, all of which require more or
less preparation and manufacture, the
woods abound in all manner of natu-
ral cords and lianas, some as thick as
a man’s arm, some as fine as cotton
yarn. These are put to a number of
uses, some, such as mibi (Stigmatophyl-
lum puberum), being used for tying
palm-leaf or cane-straw thatchings of muinan and karbé, as well as
in basketry; while others, such as caapi (species of native ivy), are
employed in the catching of crayfish (see below).
FIGURE 27.—Spinning fiber twine.
Frre anv Licut, Gums, Wax, Resin, O1Ls, AND PIGMENTS
The so-called fire drill (fig. 28), with which fire was obtained by
revolving a long pointed stick between the palms of the hands, after
the manner of a swizzle stick or ‘‘lélé,” in a groove made in another
and softer piece of wood, is remembered, but no longer used.
The Carib tinder box (fig. 29), locally called ‘‘briquet’’ or “‘coucou
du feu” (the coyembouc mentioned by Father Labat as having been
used in his day for storing trinkets, etc.), is made from a species of
calabash known as “callebasse-boite.”? Two halves, which may be
decorated or plain, are fitted together after the manner of an Haster
egg, and contain a “fire stone” of red, white, or black jasper, an old
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 135
iron file, and a piece of dry rotten wood to catch the spark. The
specimen I have has a diameter of 6.5 cm and a total length of 12
cm. ‘These are still in general use, especially among those who go
hunting or canoe making in the high woods.
The dried root of the tree fern is used to preserve fire and to carry
it from place to place. Spongey and peat-like, this wood will burn
for hours without smoke or flame,
generating great heat and leaving
hardly any ash. Hence the Caribs
give it the name “watu hakuiya—
voracious fire.”
Torches (flambeaux) of two kinds
are still made and used. Gum— .
usually from the white gommier
(Dacryodes hexandra), of which prac-
tically all the dugout canoes are
made—is collected after scraping the
bark at the base of the trunk. It is
then molded, candlelike, around a
central wick made from the pounded
wood of the tree fern, of bois diable
(Licania hypleuca), or of icaque (Hirtella triandra). The whole is
wrapped in the shroud or outer covering of the unopened palmiste
heart, or in that of the yattaghu (?) palm, and bound up with Bromelia
twine. (The palmiste of the islands is the manicol (Luterpe sp.) palm.)
Another kind of torch is made from the so-
called bois chandelle (Amyris sp.). The wood
is merely split lengthwise and bound up in
bundles or faisceaux. The gum of the Jcica
FIGURE 28.—Fire drill.
BRS ON heptaphylla (gommier |’encens) is also used for
ESE Zp 6 5
SWEEBA 1 torches, while the gum of the courbaril (Hy-
— ?
J SS
Yi
l
S673
menea courbari) might well be but is not so
used. The size of the torches is largely a mat-
ter of taste, the average being about 4 feet
long and the thickness of aman’sleg. A good
gum torch will burn continuously for some 10
to 12 hours, while a candlewood torch lasts
only about 2 hours. Both give off a good
= deal of smoke, which has, however, a pleas-
Ficure 29.—Tinder box, engraved ant, hichly fragrant smell. The candlewood
and colored with roucou. i
gives, perhaps, the clearer flame.
The gum of the red lowland gommier (Bursera gummifera) is more
liquid than the preceding and is used only as a plaster applied to cure
contusions.
Beeswax is used principally for making into candles and is of two
distinct varieties. 'The common European honey bee, presumably
136 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
once imported but now found in a wild state, makes a typical comb
(locally called ‘‘cassava’’) whose wax, at first yellow, becomes quite
white on boiling and straining. Left to itself, it soon becomes hard.
On the other hand, the native stingless bee (sometimes called “pou
1616”), small and dark of color, makes a sort of pouch about a foot
long, interiorly divided into pockets, in lieu of comb. The wax is
brown-black and remains perfectly malleable, however long it is kept.
For this reason it is often used for molding figurines, etc. The honey
itself is liquid, very slightly viscous, of a clear brown hue, and has a
fragrant subacid taste (miel sir).
Two kinds of oil are commonly made and used in the reserve today.
Carapate oil, so-called, is nothing more than the oil of the palma
Christi, castor oil, one or two of which shrubs grow near every house.
The berries are gathered when ripe and stored until required in baskets
or calabashes in the kitchen. When oil is wanted they are roasted,
pounded in a mortar, and the resulting paste boiled, whereupon the
oil rises to the surface and is skimmed off. The women make this
oil and use it for anointing their hair. The Carapa guianensis, from
which oil used to be made, still grows in the woods of Dominica, but
is used today only for its wood.
Shark oil, made by the men, is used in cruses for interior lighting.
Boiled together with copal gum and mixed with dry plaintain straw, it
serves in the calking of canoes.
Turtle oil is known to have been made and used for cooking, but
owing to the present rarity of this animal and the laws made for its
preservation is seldom met with today.
Coconut oil is occasionally made for sale but is never put to any
domestic use in Carib households.
Manni (Moronobea coccinea?) is the name given to a blackish resinous
substance used by the Caribs for strengthening the Bromelia twine
with which they bind their baskets. I have seen lumps of it as big as
a man’s fist in the homes of basket makers. It is interesting to note
that the tree from which this resin comes is not found in Dominica, nor,
as far as I know, in the neighboring islands. The Caribs seek and
gather their supply on the beach, where the ocean currents deposit it
at certain times of the year, chiefly in February and March.
Pigments are singularly ignored nowadays. Roucou (Biza orellana)
still grows near many of the houses, but as the wearing of clothes has
become general since the introduction of Christianity, its use as a
skin protection against sun and insects has been forgotten. It is at
present used occasionally as a decorative coloring matter in the home,
but the present-day Caribs do not know of any fixative medium.
Formerly it was used, mixed with oil of carapa, as a body paint, and the
bright red pigment obtained by rubbing between the palms of the
hands the ripe seeds contained in a half-opened pod.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 137
The leaves of a tree known as bois tan (not Byrsonima spicata, also
called bois tan) give, when macerated in water, a mauve dye used for
coloring the strands of a liana called mibi, for basket making.
Saffron is the local name of a shrub, the expressed juice of whose
carrotlike fruit constitutes a yellow dye similarly employed.
Kwachi and Bois Cassave are the local names for two trees, the
juice of whose fruits provides a black stain or ink, used sometimes on
thread or cloth.
Though not properly coming under the heading of pigments, a kind
of mud found at certain points along the river banks may be mentioned
FIGURE 30.—Cassava grater and cassava canoe.
here, as it is used for staining the stems of the larouman, to which it
imparts a very fine black. The stems are merely buried in the mud,
and left there for 2 or 3 days.
OtruerR Domestic ReQuisirEs AND THEIR USES
The Caribs’ domestic utensils, apart from those which come under
the heading of basketry, consist of the following: Cassava grater,
cassava canoe, platine, palette, pestle and mortar, boucan or bar-
becue, cane press, terrine, bouri and coui (kinds of calabash), lélé or
swizzle stick. As many of these articles (all, with the exception of the
platine) are home-made, and serve principally in the preparation of
cassava, it will be as well to start by describing that process.
The tubers of the manioc (Manihot utilissima), of which there are
several varieties (see section on cultivation), are first scraped to re-
move the outer skin and then washed. Next they are grated on the
“orage’’? or cassava grater into the ‘‘counou” or cassava canoe (fig.
30). The former is a board, some 3 feet long by 1 broad, into which
sharp flints or nails have been driven. The latter is made from the
wood of the gommier tree in the same manner and in almost the
same shape as the real dugouts, except that the ‘‘counou”’ is neither
138 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
opened out nor bordered as is the “‘canot.’? At either end a small
handle is carved to facilitate manipulation. The cassava canoe is
usually about 5 to 6 feet long by about 2 feet high and 18 inches
across. When a sufficient quantity of manioc has been grated, the
pulp is pressed, in order to remove the poisonous juice, by one of
three methods: (a) 2 applying weight or leverage to a matapi
(see under basketry)
filled with the wet
, a =<. grated manioc; (b) by
Z Gi SS .
y AS NWS ASS SSs
tii CH AA ONNOSS SS SS Squeezing through
leverage a sack made
for this purpose from
latanier (Thrinaz sp.)
and filled with the
grated manioc pulp;
(c) by wringing out
the moisture in a
cloth. Thus dried, the grated, squeezed manioc is next passed
through the hébichet, or sifter (q. v. under basketry), in order to
remove lumps and to render it of an equal fineness. Meanwhile the
manioc water, or juice wrung from the grated manioc, has had time
to settle in the calabashes in which it was collected. The residue or
starch, known here as “‘moussache,’”’ is removed, dried, and either
mixed with the meal or set aside for separate use.
The dry sifted meal is now ready to be baked on the platine (fig.
31). This, in the old days a slab of stone or earthenware, is today a
round sheet of iron,
6 to 10 feet in diam-
eter, heated from be-
neath, and housed
in a special circular
shelter of thatch known as the “‘caie-platine.”” On it the meal is baked
either into cassavas or into farine. The former is a round flat pancake
about three-quarters of an inch thick and 2 feet in diameter. While
baking, the meal is patted into shape, flattened, and turned with the
help of a miniature paddle (fig. 32), some 2 to 3 feet long, known as a
palette. Farine (manioc flour) is likewise baked on the platine, but
instead of its being pressed and shaped it is constantly stirred during
the process. These two products (together with tannia, yams, edoes,
plantain, etc.) constitute the staple food of the Dominica Caribs today.
Toumalin (the tamali of the Mexicans?) is still made by the older
Caribs in the reserve. It is a brown pungent sauce with peculiar
flavor and the consistency of thick gravy, made by the prolonged
boiling of the manioc water from which the starch has been removed,
FIGURE 31.—Platine with cassava bread baking under shelter.
FIGURE 32.—Cassava palette.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 139
and to which pimentos, onions, fish, or ciriques (land crabs sp.) have
been added. ‘This sauce is used to moisten and season the otherwise
insipid cassava bread. ‘The noxious character of the manioc juice
disappears in the boiling.
The unbaked manioc meal is sometimes sweetened with sugarcane
juice, spiced, and then wrapped in plantain leaves, tied into little
packages, and boiled to form a sort of dumpling known as “‘canqui.”’
Fond of liquor as the Caribs undoubtedly are, they no longer make
any native drink (unless it be illicit rum), nor have they done so, it
seems, for a considerable time. There are those, however, who
remember an old man who used to make a beverage from the glou-
glou palm and from that known to the Caribs as yattahou (Acrocomia
sclerocarpa, and Syagrus amaro (?) respectively), but they were unable
to tell me how it was made.
Pestle and mortar are indispensable utensils in any Carib home.
With them are ground coffee, cocoa, castor-oil nuts, and everything
else that has to be reduced
to powder or paste. The
former is club-shaped and
about 3% feet long, the latter
being in the form of a jar
some 2% feet in height and
10 inches across the mouth.
Both are made of any hard
heavy wood such as white
cedar or “tan” (Byrsonima sp.). .
Inside or outside of every Carib kitchen stands one or several
boucan (fig. 33) (whence ‘‘buccaneer’’), ready for smoke drying an
excess of fish or game, which, thus preserved, will keep anywhere
from a month to a year. Sticks of guépois (Myrcia leptoclada D. G.)
or of bois d’Inde (Pimenta acris Sw.) are most often used for this
purpose, and are stuck in the ground so as to form an erection some
2% feet high resembling two football goals about 4 feet apart, across
which other sticks are laid to form a grid.
A primitive type of cane press, also common to Guiana, is to be
found outside nearly all the houses in the reserve (fig. 34). It con-
sists of a thick post stuck in the ground. A cavity is hollowed out
near the top, and a hole pierced, through which a lever passes. The
cane, placed transversely across the mouth of the cavity, is crushed
by the lever being brought down on successive sections, thus express-
ing the juice, which runs down grooves into a waiting receptacle.
“Vesou” (sugarcane juice) is a cheap and ever-ready sweetening
matter for coffee, cocoa, etc.
Despite its name, the terrine is a wooden bowl (rather like the
modern salad bowls), which was and sometimes still is used for wash-
FIGURE 33.—Boucan or Carib barbecue.
140 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
ing or sweetening food, or even as an eating and drinking bowl. Rare.
_ The canari, of earthenware, and no longer made locally, is the name
given to the “fait-tout” or “buck pot’ of the Creoles. Other pots
and pans, plates, and dishes, grow on trees in the calabash (Crescentia
cujete, various species). They
are of all shapes and sizes, but
may be classed in three main
groups according to the use
for which they are destined.
The largest, with a _ hole
pierced in the top, is used
for carrying water. Others,
cut in half, are used for pans
and dishes, or for drinking
cups (couis), according to
size. Still others are made
Ai if into containers of varying
4 cy shapes, and sometimes
i fi | decorated.
The 1élé is a long, thin,
i natural swizzle stick, cut
Uh |
from the branch of a small
tree (Ximenia americana?) at
the junction of a number of
FIGURE 34.—Cane press. twigs. The wood is of hight
yellow color and has a spicy,
curry-like smell. Contrary to popular opinion, the batén 1élé or swiz-
zle stick is used mainly in the West Indies, not for making punches
(the native takes his rum straight), but for preparing chocolate, cala-
lou (a sort of gumbo soup) and other dishes of local repute.
My '
CANOES
Probably the most typical product of the Island Carib is, and
always has been, the dugout canoe. The word itself—as the French
“canot,” which term designates, in local patois, the dugout—is
derived through Spanish from the Carib ‘‘kanaua,’”’ which was their
name for the large variety of dugout or war canoe. The Carib name
for the smaller craft seems to have been, in the men’s language,
“ukuni,’”’ in the women’s, “kuridla,”’ whence our word, corial. The
Spanish called the smaller craft ‘piragua,’”’ whence French and
English “pirogue,” a term now applied to big, barge-like, open
vessels and to large canoes used for coastwise transport of cargo.
That there is or has been confusion of terms is obvious; Father Labat
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 141
refers to the smaller boat as pirogue, and tells us that the Caribs called
the larger one ‘“‘bacassa.” He says:
The pirogue measured 29 feet in length by 4 feet 6 inches in breadth in its
middle. Both ends were pointed and higher than the middle by about 15 to
20 inches. It was divided by nine benches, behind each of which—at about 8
inches distant from and higher than the seat—was a stick the size of an arm,
whose ends stuck into the sides of the pirogue, and which served to support and
keep open the sides of the craft as also for the paddlers to lean against.
He goes on to say:
The bacassa was 42 feet long and almost 7 feet wide in the middle. The
forward end was raised and pointed in a similar manner to the pirogue, but its
after end was flat and shaped like a poop. It had benches like the pirogue.
Both craft were built of red cedar (Cedrela odorata). The sides of the bacassa had
been raised about 15 inches by the addition of boards of the same wood, split
with an axe and not sawn. Neither boat had a rudder, steering was accom-
plished with the aid of a paddle a good third bigger than those serving to row or,
as they say in the islands, ‘‘swim” the boat. The Caribs’ pirogues have usually
two masts and two square sails, the bacassa, three masts.
This extract—obviously an accurate and painstaking description of
the Carib craft of his day—is interesting for the sake of comparison.
The dugout canoes made by the Caribs of Dominica today, though
of a general resemblance, differ in several respects from those just
mentioned. To begin with, they usually are much smaller (especially
when we consider that the Parisian foot was almost an inch longer
than ours). Those made today range from 16 to 30 feet in length,
but one of 21 feet is considered a good-sized canoe. The proportions
remain sensibly the same. Then again, Labat does not speak of the
smaller vessel’s sides being raised by boards, which they now invaria-
bly are. Red cedar, or acajou (Cedrela odorata), though still fairly
common in the woods, is no longer used for canoe building, its place
being taken by the gommier tree (Dacryodes hexandra). Nevertheless,
much remains that is unchanged and traditional in the making and
shaping of the Carib canoes.
Having found a suitable tree—that is to say, one of sufficient
symmetry, proportions, and perfection—the Carib proceeds to fell it
unaided, an operation which usually takes him from dawn until
sunset. If in a hurry for the boat, he will build himself a karbé on
the spot, and subsist on whatever wild foods the forest may provide
until the canoe is ready for hauling. More often, however, he will
leave the felled tree for days, and return home to attend to other
matters. In the latter case he takes the precaution of felling his tree
only at the new moon; for were he to do so at any other time grubs
would soon take possession and the wood become spoiled by borers.
The tree is next shaped and dug out or, to use the patois term,
“fouillé,” first with an ax, then with a hand adze. Supposing our
Carib stays on the job all and every day, it will now take him any-
thing from 4 days to 2 weeks—depending on the size of the canoe and
142 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
the diligence of its maker—until he is ready for “hauling.” This
takes 10 to 12 men, and is usually paid for—like all work the Caribs do
to help one another—by a liberal provision of rum. Cords of maho
or of natural liana are attached to the canoe through eyelets pierced
in its prow, and the boat literally hauled, to the rhythm of chanties
reserved for these occasions, through dense bush and by rough forest
tracks, up and over an incredibly steep ridge and down to the home
of the new craft’s master, where it is installed in the shade of some
nearby tree to be finished and bordered.
Although the heaviest of the work is now done, the canoe is as yet
only half made. Work goes on with the hand adze until the sides
are of the requisite even thickness and the prow properly shaped
and smoothed. Supposing the canoe to have a total length of 24
feet, its greatest width in the middle, at this stage, will not be more
than 18 or 20 inches. Before it can be serviceable the canoe must
be opened. ‘This is done by half filling the interior with stones and
water, and leaving them thus until the wood has begun to warp.
Fires are then lit on either side and a few feet distant. The canoe
opens up under the influence of the heat like a flower in the sun.
While this process is going on, a number of cross sticks, known as
“totes” (Carib, ‘‘totaka,’”’ to support) are introduced to aid the process
and keep the sides open. When a width of 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches
has been attained amidships (the two ends having been previously
tied securely to prevent splitting) the fires are extinguished. Five or
six knees, or ‘‘courbes,” of white cedar or other pliable wood are now
hewn and bent into shape and fixed in place at intervals across the
bottom of the boat in order to strengthen it. The canoe is now
ready to have its sides raised by the addition of two boards or planks
of the same wood as the boat, i. e., gommier. These are hewn in
such a way (not sawn) as to compensate for the loss of depth amid-
ships due to the opening up; and have a width varying from about 9
inches at the forward end by 15 or more in the middle to about 8
inches aft. Thin strips of wood, known as “‘taquets,” are fixed be-
tween the knees; but whereas the latter reach only-to the mouth of
the dugout proper, the former come up to join the gunwale, which
encircles the upper edge of the raised sides, or bordage. ‘The number
of seats, of permanent cross beams, or totes, will depend on the size
of the canoe and the use for which it is destined. In Labat’s day
manpower—for speed and strength in warfare—was the most impor-
tant factor; today, convenience for fishing or for carrying loads is the
first consideration. ‘Two benches and three totes (two of the latter
being pierced to take masts) would be usual in a canoe of the size
(24 feet) we are considering. As Father Labat goes on to say, the
Caribs’ canoes have, as a rule, two masts (bois céte, Tapura guianen-
sis, or bois violon, Guatteria sp., being the best woods for this pur-
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 143
pose), and two square lugsails, traversed diagonally by yards. The
local names for various parts of the boat and rigging are given in the
diagram (fig. 35). Curious is the forward part of the finished canoe:
the prow, called noeud (knot), forming a separate piece shaped out of
white cedar (Tacoma leucorylon), and the stem, or pince, with its
forward cant. The noeud is fitted into the front of the canoe proper,
with which it forms an angle, and to it are attached the sides and
gunwale. The canoe is calked along the jointure of the sideboards
(and if and where there are any defects) with cotton lint or plantain
straw soaked in a mixture of shark oil and powdered gum boiled
together.
As will readily be seen from the above, such a canoe is, at the very
least, 3 weeks in the making. Besides a good deal of labor, it has cost
— fointure de grande voile
Vergue (sat/-yard)
Grande volje
balancirve
jj
i
ad Sieg oe a aes
Z
Tote Larrinage Tore rambaud
FIGURE 35.—Carib canoe with raised sides, masts. and sails.
its owner the price of the rum for the hauling. It is all the more
significant of the Carib’s character that he will often, when pressed
for cash, sell his craft for as little as $3.
Although the Caribs have, to some extent, adopted our oars—just
as we sometimes use paddles—the latter are still common for steering
and, under certain circumstances, for propelling their dugouts. It is
undeniable that the decreased necessity for speed and strength in the
shape of manpower has diminished the importance of paddles and,
consequently, the skill employed in their making. The best woods
known and used in Dominica for this purpose are bois caimite (Chryso-
phyllum glabrum) and quina (Hxostemma caribbaeum). The size and
shape of the modern paddles is much the same as those of the old
days (about 5 feet long, of which the blade occupies a quarter to a
third), but there is no ornamentation in the shape of grooves or lines
of any sort at the present time.
FIsHING
Having forgotten the use of bows and arrows, it is natural that
river and sea food should form the most important food adjunct of
the present-day Caribs in Dominica. Owing to the roughness of the
144 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
ocean on the windward side of the island, and to the Caribs’ primitive
methods of capture, fish are rarely caught in sufficient quantities for
commercial sale, but when plentiful—as during the flying-fish season—
the fish are dried on the boucan or barbecue, and, thus preserved, are
stored for periods of greater scarcity.
The localities where fishing is carried out may be divided as follows:
river, on or off the rocks, inshore, offshore, or in the canal. Nets are
neither made nor used in the reserve, line (home-made of Bromelia
karatas) and hook (purchased) fishing from dugout Carib canoes being
by far the commonest technique used today. Fishermen usually go
out in groups of three. Except for all-night fishing in the canal
(between the islands) or rod fishing off the rocks (also at night), they
go out soon after sunrise, to return around 4 in the afternoon. The
owner (and usually maker) of the canoe also provides the tackle, and
for his service is assured of an extra lot of fish; so that if he is not him-
self a fisherman, as is often the case, the day’s catch is shared equally
among the actual fisherman plus the owner; it being understood that
should the owner fish himself, he receives two shares for their one.
When more fish is caught than is actually needed the extra is more
often given away than sold.
Fish caught in the open canal are: flying fish, tunny, dorado, king
fish, shark, ‘‘vareu,’’ and “mé.” Except for flying fish, which are
caught above water in a specially made receptacle called kali (see
under Basketry), these are all caught with hook and line—the larger
specimens with the help of a harpoon or a spear (vare).
Inshore, but still with hook and line from a dugout: pirame,
couvally (carangue), ‘“‘vivanneau,” ‘‘vieille,” ‘‘bourse,” ‘‘oreilles
noires” (species of red snapper), ‘‘vive”; and, with a casting net or
“épervier” of fine mesh weighted at the corners and drawn through
an ox’s horn, “sardines,” “pisquet,” “‘cailles.”’
From the rocks, with rod and line and usually at night: “tanche,”’
“cirusien,”’ ‘“cibouli,” ‘“valioua,’’ “‘lipi.”’
Lobsters are caught by diving. Turtles are seldom sought, but
must be taken with a special pot known as ‘‘fol.”
The rocks themselves offer a source of food in the shape of sea eggs
or urchins (patois, chadrons), octopus (chatou), various sea crabs,
“chaloupes” (Carib: maburi) and ‘‘bugaus’”—two species of shellfish.
A sort of seaweed similar to the ‘‘carrageen moss” of the west of
Ireland is occasionally gathered and eaten and is likewise reputed to
be good for lung trouble.
At certain times of the year a delicious and diminutive fry of clear
gray color, known as “‘titiri,’”’ is taken in sheets at the river mouths.
They are thought to be the young of the fish locally called coulirou
and balaou, which, though very common to leeward, are not taken
by the Caribs, as their capture requires the use of nets.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 145
The most common river fish are popularly known as mullet, pike,
“flathead” (tétard, Carib: maktiba), “‘cocos,”’ “loches.”” To these
must be added two varieties of fresh-water crayfish (Carib: wagu,
and smaller, igulu), prawns (‘‘bouques”), and shrimps (chevrettes).
A kind of river periwinkle, called vignot, is also eaten. Methods of
capture vary a good deal: flatheads, prawns, shrimps, and sometimes
small crayfish are “felt for’? under rocks and banks; cocos are caught
with hook and prawn for bait, or with the épervier at the river mouth.
A special and rather curious method of catching crayfish is sometimes
practiced: a length of caapi (species of ivy) is passed through a bit of
raw manioc which is then hung in the water, the other end of the caapi
being attached to a rock or stone on the bank. Returning some hours
later, usually after dark, the fisherman finds a quantity of stupefied
crayfish collected around the manioc, whose poisonous juice has
rendered them incapable of flight. Loche, pike, and mullet may be
caught witb hook and worm, or in a special trap known as bachoua,
now becoming extremely rare. A more usual method, however, is
by poisoning the river.
Two fish poisons are known and used commonly by the Caribs of
Dominica today: the leaves of the shrub Phyllanthus conami (usually
called ‘‘énivrage’’) and the applelike fruit of a small to medium sized
tree called babarra or bambarra (Diospyros sp., Piscidia erythrina L.).
The latter is more powerful, but may be used only in fresh water,
whereas the leaves of the conami are sometimes employed to poison
small creeks and pools along the seashore. Each member of the party
(women for the most part) arrives at the river with a load of conami
leaves. These are then pounded and thrown in the river. As soon
as the fish begin to jump out of the water to escape the effects of the
poison the Caribs dive in and seize them. The babarra apples are also
crushed, but are enclosed in a basket which is immersed only for the
time being, as it would poison the water for almost a week were it
left there.
A third variety of fish poison, used by some, is the bark of the tree
known in Dominica as bois savonette (soap tree), bois cicérou, or bois
pipiri. It is a large tree with small, diamond-shaped leaves which
froth when rubbed in water, and bears a pod about 6 inches long con-
taining three smooth red seeds the size of a pea. Possibly a species
of Lonchocarpus. Not to be confused with the soap bush called
Malvinia or Sang Dragon. All catalogs of West Indian flora are very
confused and contradictory.
CULTIVATION
The Caribs’ main food supply comes from individual family gardens
or provision grounds, made by burning the forest (usually secondary
growth) and sowing or planting in the ashes between the burned tree
146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
stumps. Partly as a protection against the depredations of domestic
animals (hens, pigs, goats, cows) and partly because, under primitive
methods of culture, the ground becomes exhausted and a new garden
must be made every 2 or 8 years, the provision grounds are for the
most part situated beyond the coastal hill crest on the slopes of the
Pegoua Valley, some miles distant from the homes of their owners.
Practically the only implements of culture used today are the cutlass
(machete) and the digging stick—a strong, sharp-pointed stick popu-
larly known as “‘lochette” (Carib: koyéré).
Manioc (Manthot utilissima) still forms the principal crop, although
its importance as a staple diet has diminished in the last half century.
Several varieties are known and distinguished by the following local
appellations: manioc noir (the commonest), m. blanc, m. violet,
m. bleu, m. beurre, m. 100 livres, m. doux, camanioc. The last two
are nonpoisonous and may be eaten as vegetables. Manioc is planted
by cuttings—usually by groups of three to one pit—and takes from 1
year to 18 months to reach maturity. The process of farine and
cassava making is described elsewhere.
Next to manioc, the most important tubers cultivated are: chou
(Xantosoma saggitifolium Sch., malanga, tannia, taya) of various
species, varieties of yam (Dioscorea alata, piloswuscula, multiflora,
Cayennensis, trifida, tuberosa—blanc and de |’eau, batard, marron, &
piquants noirs, couch-couche, yam bonda, etc.), of sweet potato (red,
yellow, white), of Maranta (red, white), Solanum, and Cipura. Squash
and Indian corn are also grown, but do not form a staple food, as with
the Indians of central and southern North America. The latter is
never ground into flour, but is roasted and eaten whole, rather after
the manner of a delicacy or sweetmeat. Bananas, plantains, and
breadfruit (Artocarpus) of the ordinary and of the “chestnut” (semi-
nifera) varieties are grown and eaten extensively. Various fruit trees
and other utilitarian trees and bushes are cultivated around and near
the houses. Such are: cotton,! coffee, cocoa, palma Christi or castor-
oil plant, roucou (Biza orellana), calabash (Crescentia cujete), guava,
mango, sugarcane, papaya, various species of anona (muricata,
reticulata, sguamosa—corossol, cachiman, pomme canelle, etc.), and
la pitte or silk grass (Bromelia sp.) for the making of twine and fishing
lines, Phyllanthus conami or ‘‘nivrage”’ for fish poisoning, Malvinia
or “soap bush,’ sapodilla, and pineapples (of which several small
species grow wild in the woods).
The clearing of the land is done by the men, the rest of the work
(planting, weeding, digging, and gathering) being divided among
both sexes largely according to individual taste or family arrangement.
1 Two varieties—so-called black and white, according to leaf-stem color. The former is esteemed better.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 147
Tue HigH Woops
The Caribs’ intelligence is in their hands and feet. I suspect their
own word for incompetent, mabuku, to mean “without feet’; and,
just as the typical Frenchman’s ability is best described by that un-
translatable word, ‘‘débrouillard,”’ so the characteristic virtue of the
Carib may be summed up in the word ‘“‘mainoeuvre.” The true Carib
is neither a hard nor a quick worker, but he is always able to maneuver
his way out of a difficult situation in order to accomplish what he is
after. ‘‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’ is a motto which suits
him well, and nowhere does he show this better than on the high sea
and in the high woods.
The high woods (in patois: les grands bois) are those tracts of virgin
forest that still cover much of the island’s mountainous interior.
They lie, as a rule, well over 500 feet above sea level, and it is in them
that the gigantic gommiers, chataigniers (Sloanea), cedars, rosewood,
and other forest kings reach their full majesty. Here the Caribs come
to saw wood for posts, boards, and shingles; to fell and hew the gom-
mier for their canoes; to cut larouman for their basketry; to hunt the
agouti, the wild pig, the wood pigeon, and the parrot; to search for
wawa (Rajania cordata L.), berries, and wild honey; to fish the streams
with bait, trap, and poison for mullet, crayfish, and other varieties.
The young shoot or cabbage of the mountain palmiste (Huterpe
montana) provides a pleasant and wholesome salad. It is true the
tree must be felled in order to obtain this, but, when this is done at full
moon, the bole becomes the refuge of a species of beetle, the Calandra
palmarum, whose fat white grub constitutes a culinary delicacy much
appreciated locally under the name of ver palmiste. This is the re-
verse of the process employed in cutting trees for dugouts. These are
felled at the new moon in order to prevent the incursion of borer worms
and grubs. Certain plants and trees, such as the male papaya, are
cut down at certain phases of the moon in order to make them spring
up again as female, that is, as fruit-bearing trees. Wild pineapples,
sapodillas (Anacardium occidentale) are to be found in the woods, as
also the fruits of the balate and balata trees (Oxythece hahnianum and
Mimusops riedleana), of the bois cote (Tapura guianensis), courbaril
(Hymenaea courbaril), and icacque (Hirtella sp.).
Wild honey of two sorts is to be found: that known as “sfr’’ (sour)
from the small native stingless bee, or “‘pou lélé,”’ which produces the
black wax already mentioned, and the ‘‘gros miel”’ from the (probably
imported) ordinary bee in a wild state. The Caribs are fond of eating
the white grub or larvae (in patois: cousins) of both varieties—usually
together with the honey, raw.
Water may be obtained on the heights from the corde de |’eau (Pin-
zona), a species of stout liana which releases, when cut, a pint or so of
cool, refreshing sap.
148 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
Ciriques, a yellow-and-black species of land crab common in and
around the reserve, make a very palatable dish. The green sperm of
the male cirique is one of the ingredients of the typical Carib sauce,
toumalin or tumali. They are usually caught at night with the aid of
flambeaux. The Caribs sometimes obtain salt from the roasted and
ground-up shells of these crustaceans by
maceration and subsequent evaporation.
Another and odd species of land crab, abound-
ing in the woods and sometimes eaten by the
Caribs, is the so-called soldier crab. When
small, he finds and takes possession of a
vignot, or river periwinkle’s shell, exchang-
ing this when he grows larger for that of
a bugau (a snail-like sea shellfish), and
’ that again, perhaps, for a lambi or conque
Seed-bait ‘+ hell, Seuttling along among the leaves, a
FIGURE 36,—Spring snare for game gegshell on their backs, their one claw stick-
birds. : 3 < ° .
ing out behind and their two hairy horns in
front, these “soldiers” present a truly comical appearance. Like the
black crab of the leeward coast, the soldier is a great traveler, and at
certain seasons battalions of them are to be seen’on the march,'going
down to or up from the sea.
Tguana lizards are not uncommon in some parts of the woods. They
have a delicate flesh whose taste resembles that of chicken. They are
Trap
String
Kelease
Trap
FIGURE 37.—Fall trap.
found on the branches of trees, hypnotized by whistling, and caught
with a running noose tied to the end of a rod.
Two kinds of spring snares are made and used for catching birds: one
for such small pilferers as sucriers, moissons, gros becs; another (fig. 36)
for the succulent game birds known as perdrix or mountain dove, and
tourterelle. A simple basketlike fall trap (fig. 37) is also used, as also
birdlime, or rod and noose. The old Caribs are said to have caught
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 149
parrots alive by stupefying them in their roosts with the smoke of green
peppers placed together with burning charcoal in a calabash raised on
the end of a long bamboo rod.
Birds are sometimes enticed to the snares by an imitation of their
call or by a live captive of their own species used as a decoy.
There is no particular interest attaching to the local methods of
hunting. wild pig, agouti, and manicou. The latter (the West Indian
opossum) is often caught by hand; whereas the Caribs, without bows
or guns, rely upon their dogs both to find and kill agouti and pig.
LEGEND AND TRADITION
The present-day Caribs have not the long memories of the Scottish
Highlanders. Anything that happened a long time ago took place,
for them, in the reign of one P’tit Francois. Little Francois seems
to have been, in spite of his name, a very big chief. One would be
inclined to regard him as an almost Jegendary figure were it not that,
from all accounts, Jolly John, the present chief, is only his sixth
successor. Here is the list:
1. P’tit Francois.
2. Wakanik (also called Popote).
3. Joseph (mentioned by Ober as alive in 1877).
4. Brunie (whose son, Fanfan, is now about 75).
5. Auguste.
6. Coriette.
7. Jolly John.
Joseph and his sister, Ma’ Augustin, noted for having spoken little
else but Carib, are said to have been the younger brother and sister
of P’tit Frangois. As both of them died within the memory of old
people still living, P’tit Frangois himself cannot possibly take us
much farther back than the middle of the last century. Fanfan
says he was “a big little boy”’ at the time of Joseph’s death. Supposing
Joseph and his predecessor, Wakanik, to have reigned 30 years
between them (a generous allowance), this would place P’tit Frangois’
death at about 1845.
P’tit Francois is said to have been, among other things, a ‘‘manitise”’
(magnétiseur), which I understand to mean a sort of spiritualistic
medium. Before holding communication with the spirits he would
request his client to place a full unopened bottle of rum upon the
table for the use of the ethereal visitors, whose thirsty ‘glou-glou-glou”
might thereafter be heard distinctly and taken as a sure sign of their
arrival and readiness to cooperate. Strange to relate, after the
spirits’ departure, the bottle was always found as full and intact as
ever.
35729—38——11
150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
When the people were troubled by the depredations of rats, P’tit
Francois would invoke their king, and demand—it is said with
success—that His Ratty Majesty keep his subjects in order.
A fragment of what I believe to be a very old legend was recounted
to me by Fanfan as something that actually happened in the days of
this wonderful chief.
At that time there lived in Salybia two brothers called Maruka and Cimanari,
famous for the charms they made. They would go up to the house of the Téte-
Chien! to find the Master Téte-Chien—the same who, when the earth was soft,
made the Stairway of the Téte-Chien at Cinéku.? He is big, big, big, has a crest
of diamond on his head, and crows just like a cock. Well, when they found
him, they would take powdered tobacco and burn it before him on the blade of
a paddle. Then that téte-chien would vomit, and all that he vomited was red
‘Venvers caraibe’”’.2 After that the snake would disappear gradually, and in his
place came a young man “sans culotte’”’ (naked). The young man said nothing
about his being the Téte-Chien, but asked Maruka and Cimanari what it was
they wanted, and instructed them, when they had told him, how they must use
the envers caraibe to make their charms.
Maruka and Cimanari did not die in Salybia. When they felt old age ap-
proaching they went away to the other country. When they reached the shores
of the Orinoco River they plunged into the stream, and when they came out on
the opposite bank they had become two young lads again, and on the water
where they had been there floated two turtle shells.
They never came back to Dominica, and at last one of them died; but the
other, as far as I know, is still living there.
Leaving the Stairway of the Téte-Chien, and going northward by
way of the Maho, Gaulette, Salybia, and Crayfish Rivers almost to
the present northern boundary of the Reserve, we come to the little
hamlet of Bataka (or Baraici), nestling on the hillside 15 minutes
hard climb above the “highway.” Most of the full-blooded Caribs
remaining are to be found here today. The people of Bataka are not
very well liked by the other Caribs, among whom they have a name for
treachery and for practicing ‘‘piais,”” even against one another.
On the extremity of a narrow ridge opposite and beyond Bataka is
perched a huge rock, itself some 60 feet in height, that overlooks the
valley of the Pegoua, the ocean, and the Reserve. It is composed of a
blackish, crumbling rock, and on its summit and from its precipitous
sides grow vines and plants, a stunted scrub, and a kind of wild orchid.
It is known as La Roche Pegoua, and is the home of a benevolent
spirit about whom many tales are told, one of which is related below.
1 Téte-Chien: ‘‘dog-headed”’ Antillean constrictor, small boa attaining up to 12 feet in length and the
thickness of a man’s thigh. Carib: wa-na-cai.
1 House of Téte-Chien; so-called. Rocky cliff in the heights of the Couanary River, said to be much
frequented by these snakes. Legendary home of the giant snake of this and other legends, said to have
had a precious stone (variously called carbuncle, diamond) of extraordinary brilliance on its head, and
which it was capable of covering with a sort of movable membrane, or eyelid, thus creating at will light or
darkness in the forest. The Stairway of the Téte-Chien, so-called, is a formation of soft gritty or rotten
rock of reddish color and apparently volcanic origin, which emerges from the soil on the crest of the ridge
called Cinéku, above the Akayu River, and proceeds in a series of ‘‘steps’’ down the side of the cliff to the
sea, under which it continues and can be followed from a boat for quite a distance,
3 L’envers caralbe: a species of red maranta whose roots are said to ‘‘plait,’”? and which is used only for
charms. When planting, it is usual to place a piece of silver in the ground along with it. Has become rare.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 151
The people of Bataka used to go up to the Pegoua Rock in search of charms.
There are steps leading to the base of the rock, and, on its top, a crack that goes
through to the inside. That is where the zombie lives, but if ever you see him
it means some one is going to die soon. On the top of the rock there grow all
manner of charms, but in particular you may sometimes find there a white flower
(surette de montagne?) with so sweet a smell that people passing on the highway
at the foot of the cliff may easily perceive it. When it is flowering a new blossom
comes every hour of the day and every hour another fades and falls. If you are
lucky enough to get one of these flowers you may command with it whom you
will. You have only to rub it on the palm of your hand, then raise the hand in
the direction of a person and speak his name. However far away he may be he
will have to obey and come to you. If you go in quest of the flower it is wise to
take a white cock, or at least some powdered tobacco, as a gift to the spirit of
the rock.
There was one old woman of Bataka whose husband treated her badly and
neglected her to run after other women. One day when he was gone fishing she
made a lot, a big lot, of cassava bread; and, taking her children with her, went up
to the Pegoua Rock, where she was lucky enough to get one of these flowers.
With it she went down to the river to bathe, and when she had bathed she rubbed
the flower all over her body and flung the remnants to the winds, saying: “Go
join your master”, which they did, disappearing in that same instant. After
this, she and her children took the highway, and went quickly in the direction
of Toulamon, now called Londonderry. Soon after they had passed the Cachibona
River she heard her husband coming after her with the fish (presumably as a peace
offering), but taking her children by the hand she ran and ran until they reached
the old Caserne Caraibe (literally, Carib Barracks, but perhaps a mistake for
“caverne’’, a deep cave on the shore between the village of Wesley, or La Soie,
and the Londonderry Estate, showing signs of human occupancy, or at least,
frequentation). Here she knocked and was admitted just as her husband caught
up and made a grab at her. Once safely inside, she shouted to him to go away,
as she needed him no longer. There was nothing else for him to do; but as he
turned to go he was changed into a bird with yellow beak and claws, called Pierrot
Vanter, whose shrill persistent call you will often hear even today. The woman
is still inside the cave, together with all the other old Caribs. They will not leave
it until the end of the world, though it is said they sometimes come out at night
to use their boat (an islet about a hundred yards off shore), for one night I passed
there myself as I was going fishing, and when I returned the same way some 2
hours later it had disappeared.
I was told that for the last 20 years at least nobody had attempted
to scale the rock, as the white cedar which had grown nearby and
helped in the ascent had long since been felled by a windstorm. How-
ever, Carib ingenuity and agility overcame all difficulties. A slender
sapling whose stem rose some 8 feet distant from the sides of the rock
served as prop for a crooked stick, hewn and tied in place from mate-
rials growing on the spot, whose other end was made to rest on a
narrow projecting ledge opposite and above. This precarious bridge
once passed, the summit was reached by holding onto handfuls of
plant and vine, or onto knobs of crumbling rock. Alas, I did not find
the flower. It may be that it was the wrong season, but, in any case,
I certainly should not have been so stupid as to forget that white cock.
152 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
LANGUAGE AND VOCABULARY
The last Caribs in Dominica to speak the native Indian idiom as
their mother tongue died some 20 to 25 years ago. But even 60 years
ago, at the time of Ober’s first visit, the language was employed only
by a small minority of older men and women. The urge for economic
contacts with the Creole-negro population surrounding them com-
bined, in all probability, with the priests’ disapproval of continued
isolation of a flock whose conversion was henceforth secure, ended in
the adoption of that lingua franca of the West Indies, Creole patois.
Those Caribs who today remember some smattering of their fathers’
and mothers’ tongue regard such knowledge rather in the light of a
joke.
Whether the proverbial distinction between the men’s and the
women’s languages persisted to the end is hard to say, but it is certain
that some of the words given below belong to the Carib, and others—
the majority—to the Arawak stock of languages. Creole patois itself
is rich in the debris of many tongues and it is to be hoped that some
philologist will soon undertake its excavation.
The following vocabulary is neither exhaustive of living linguistic
vestiges nor is the whole of it necessarily known to any one person
now living in the Reserve. My chief informants were: Jimmy
(Dordor) Benjamin of Bataka and his brother, Jean Noél (now dead),
“Fanfan’” and Ma’ Bernard of St. Cyr, Lucien of Waicgima, Ma’
Henri and her sister Ma’ Janney of Bataka, and Choline and Chief
Jolly John of Ste. Marie, Salybia. The latter furnished me with the
song and some of the words, but was especially helpful in acting as my
host, guide, and sponsor in the Reserve.
The words have been put down as they were given me—in their
final form only after hearing them repeated many times by different
people. Other vocabularies (in particular that of Father Raymond
Breton, published 1665) have been consulted only as a check to word
meaning and form. The spelling, as with all unwritten idioms, has
been rather a problem. Breton wrote Carib like French, bu tat the
best, and apart from the fact that French pronunciation has changed
since his time, such a method is clumsy. I very much regret not
having had a recording apparatus, but have done my best with the
means at my disposal. In general, and taking the following modifi-
cations into account, the vowels have been given their Latin values,
while the consonants are as in English. Stress is denoted by the
apostrophe, as in supplemen’tary.
a, as in father; ao, as in how: 4o, as in Portuguese ‘‘c&o”’.
é, as indefinite vowel sound in mother; becomes nasal when final.
4, as ‘‘an’’ in French; 4, as in cat.
e, as in wet; 6, as em (final) in Portuguese.
é, as in French, née.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 153
i, as in machine; ?, as in the Portuguese word “‘fim’’.
u, as in French ‘“‘poule’’; 0, as ‘‘um” in Portuguese.
0, as in not in closed, as (Spanish) no in open syllables.
6, as “on” in French.
au, eu, ae (but not ai, ay) are disyllabic. Ai, ay, as in fly.
¢, always soft, is intermediate between the s sound in seen and sheen, as in the
name of the god Siva; ch as in machine.
hw, more strongly aspirated than English wh; n and r also aspirated when followed
by h; whereas gh and kh are soft though distinct gutturals.
p, k, and t often become confused with b, g, and d, as do 1 with r, ¢ with ch, long o
with u.
ph represents a more explosive sound than that of English f, with something like
the trace of a p.
ui, ue, ua (except where there is a stress division, as in u’a) are the same sounds as
wi, we, wa, and are pronounced as in wit, wet, wax, etc.
Alternative versions of the Carib are given in brackets.
Where the English equivalent for a Carib word is unknown its
patois equivalent is given in parentheses.
(C) denotes a word still in local patois usage.
(M) denotes a word of the men’s language.
(F). denotes a word of the women’s language.
ya’wahu, ya’wa =bush god or spirit.
ma’phuiya =devil.
kariphu’né =carib.
mé’keru =negro.
ka’buru =negro-indian mestizo (from Span. cabra?).
ankéli’tsi =white (Englishman: from Span. Inglese).
hué’yu, (hui’yu) =sun (M).
ka’ci =sun (F).
nu’nt =moon.
bi’ (r?) umd —star.
waruku’m6 = star.
wa’tu =fire.
tu’na = water.
hu’ya =— retin (8) je
kuno’bu =rain (M).
bara’na =sea, ocean.
kara’bali =breeze (the trade wind).
iwai’yu hurru’ =storm.
The so-called inseparable pronominal prefixes are, for the men’s and
for the women’s languages respectively:
n-, and i- =my; w-, or k-=our.
b-(p), and a- =thy; hui- =your.
1- =his
t- =her; nh- =their. Thus:
nubu’ali =my husband (lit. head, leader).
nia’ni =my wife.
iba’mui (M) =my (man speaking) sister’s husband.
buku’ili (F) =thy father.
buku’guru (F) =thy mother.
pi’bu ke’hé =thy elder brother.
limeta’muru =his father-in-law.
154 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
liment(s)i’ =his mother-in-law.
numuiydé’, (nubuiya’,
(nulubuiy4’) (?) =my ‘combosse” (relationship of two people who
have had connection with the same man or woman).
hyi’haru (F)
=woman.
na’ tari =sweetheart.
nha’phtaha’ (?).
no’kobu =my body.
na’nici (F) =my heart.
ba’ku =thy eyes.
niti’buri =my hair.
ni’giri =my nose.
niu’ma =my mouth.
warikae =our ears.
turakae =her belly.
laka’bo (luka’bo) =his hand.
pu’guti =thy foot.
lici’bu =his face.
nw ruku =my genitalia (female).
bré’ke (bué’ke)
=thy glans penis.
alu’kui =genitalia (male).
pe’te-roku’ =thy anus.
way’ku (C) =loin cloth.
mué’n4 (mui’n4) (C) =permanent shelter, the ‘“‘koubouya” of (Cayenne).
akae =pot.
ku’muri (ku’mori)
=calabash for carrying water (patois: bouri).
tu’ba =half calabash for cooking.
ba’té kuilé’ =half calabash for drinking, etc. (‘‘coui’’).
paga’ra = Carib toilet basket.
kataori = Carib shoulder carry-all.
te’le = Carib kitchen basket.
ecu’ baraté’ =knife, cutlass.
ibi’taru = fishing line.
u’kuni (M) =dugout canoe.
kuria’la (F) =dugout canoe.
matutu’ = Carib table.
matapi’ =cassava squeezer; “couleuvre.”
mé’ruwa =kind of clay or soft rock: “tuff.”
mam’ba =honey.
nu’ni = victuals.
nf iti =eating.
kA iti =“canqui”’: grated manioc, sweetened and boiled.
bam-bam =cassava bread.
ha’liyé =arrowroot.
baku’ku =“fig’’ banana.
bari’ru =banana.
kala’buli (C)
kwai, (kwaik)
=kind of liana used in thatching.
=‘‘tannia”’, variety (Colocasia esculenta).
kawa’i (F) =manioc, variety (Manihot utilissima).
ki’ere (M) =manioe, variety (Manihot sp.).
kapla’o (C) =var. yam (Dioscorea sp.).
kum6 =var. of “tannia’”’ or “chou caraibe.”’
mé’bi =red variety sweet potato (bataia sp.).
pi’ka =yam, variety (Dioscorea sp.).
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 155
wai’bukuré (wai’buruké) =water yam (Dioscorea sp.).
wawi’amdé =squash.
yuri =tobacco.
yat’ta(gh)u (C) =kind of palm (Syagrus amara?).
yaya (C) =fine, hair-like prickles on cane, etc.
taw4’i (C) =kind of tree (? see word for manioc).
hwéhwé = tree (generic).
The following, given to me as Carib, are obvious corruptions and
show how Carib absorbed foreign words:
ga’utéru’=cauldron (French, chaudiére).
pula’tu =dishes (French, plats).
bakagu’ =cow, ox (Spanish, vaca).
kabayu’ =horse (Spanish, caballo).
On the other hand, many words of current Creole patois appear to
be of native origin. Such are (French orthography) canari, cali,
cabouya, counou, hébichet, manni, toumalin, djola, djokome, samboi,
bachoua (a fish pot of woven liana). The meanings of these terms
are made clear in the other sections.
Before going on with the Carib names of fish, reptiles, birds, animals,
etc., it may be as well to look at the all-too-few other parts of speech
I have been able to collect as separate words. They consist of nu-
merals, qualifying adjectives, and verbs, together with their derivatives:
a’ba =one.
bia’ma =two.
é’rua = three.
biam’buri =four.!
cemehé’éti = good (as to senses) it is.
iropo’éti =good (as to fitness) it is.
bii’meti =sweet, it is.
yetimeni =injury, hurt, pain.
yehé’meni =evil, badness.
hya’mohya-adli, =it is cold.
(hyé’muhya—ali)
ihi’laha—4li (F) =he is dead.
Aohwé-eli (M) =he is dead.
chalala-ali =he is drowned, immersed.
ca’Tu =hard, green, not yet ripe.
mu’ru =soft, overripe.
ka’luru =exposed or turgid glans.
ma/niciku tibu’ =false, lying thou art (m, negative; a’nici, heart; tibu, thou
hast).
mabuku =incompetent (perhaps=‘“‘spineless’”’ from abo, bone).
hé’kuiy4’ =gluttonous, voracious.
nu’buiya’ =(see above, but looks like adjectival form. Breton gives
nulu’buiyé’ = “engoué’’).
(b)aga’rua =to get drunk (thou).
(a) ba’raua =to call father, husband, master.
chi’rakua =to pierce, split, copulate.
(a) bi’nakha =to dance.
1 The Island Carib seem never to have got farther than this. Five was expressed as “all one hand,” 10
as two hands, etc.
156 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
pépéha’ =? (perhaps related to pepeite, wind).
wirikad’ =abduction, rape, taking of woman by force.
A’oli, (Aori)? =dog.
ara’ kuri =agouti*® (Dasyprocta aguti).
bui’roku =pig (from Span. ‘“‘puerco’’?).
karaté’, (karato’ni) =rat.
méhlu’ri =bat.
mécu =cat.
pi’ kuri =agouti 3
hé’hwé =snake (generic. C only in “héhwé-congre’’).
wanacaé =snake ‘‘téte-chien”: Dominica constrictor.
ta’pu hu’a =‘crapaud’”’: Dominica’s edible toad.
waya’ maka =iguana lizard.
hina/ori =abolo lizard.
huru’ma =anoli 3 lizard.
keke’meru =mabouya lizard.
warai’ba =white land crab.
ba’khu, (ba’khri) =cirique * land crab.
yelé’u = ‘‘soft-shell’”’ cirique.
utu =fish (generic).
han’nao =(local name) bourse: a fish.
hacw lali =(local name) vive: a fish.
hépi = (local name) la queue: a fish.
i’culu =river crayfish.
kata’ru =turtle (edible).
kuruné = (local name) grand’gueule: sp. snapper.
ma’buri = (local name) chaloupe: sp. shellfish.
maku’ba =(local name) tétard: sp. ‘‘flathead.”
ma’wali (C) =(local name) téte-z’os, small vive.
ci’ buli =(local name) négre: dark-colored fish.
wlika laka’bo = (local name) oreilles noires: sp. snapper.
waiba’rawa =shark.
waiwan’nao =(local name) vivaneau: sp. snapper.
wa’cu (C) =large variety river crayfish.
watéri’bi = (local names) tanche, tench.
ka’yu =domestic hen.
ka’turi =screech owl, ‘‘chat-huant.”
ku’rapia’u (C) =small songbird.
cécé (C) =small grassbird.
cigéru (C) = Dominica parrot: Chrysotis augusta.
waku’kua = wood pigeon or ramier.
ya’bura = (local name) crabier: sp. heron.
It might be worth while noting here some of the commoner Creole
names of obviously Indian origin (French orthography).
Animals: Manicou, agouti.
Crustaceans, fish, reptiles: Tourourou, cirique, agaya (crabs), balaou, coulirou,
mombein, titiri, valioua, boubou (fish).
Birds, insects: Pipiri, cayali, ién-ién (Indian: ihenni; sp. fly).
Trees, plants: Acouquoi, acoma, cachibou, caconier, couachi, couroupoume, galba
(Calophyllum calaba), loudrouman (Ischnosiphon arouma), l’arali (Clusia sp.),
yanga, yatta(g)hou (Syagrus amara sp?), taouanhi (Car. orth. tawé’i), calabouli.
2 Alonso de Herrera gave “‘auri’’ as the Indians’ name for the native mute dog, now extinct.
3 Words so marked seem to be themselves of native origin.
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 157
Moreover, such Creole patois expressions as ‘“‘titac’”’, tote, lélé
(a swizzle stick), lolo (penis) probably derive from Carib: titaka, a
little bit; totaka, to support; élé, energy; loloti, swollen.
Place names, principally those of rivers, were and to some extent
still are Indian. Many, however, have been lost through constant
rebaptism by new owners, while others, though still remembered by
some, are no longer in general use. Thus Couanary has become Castle
Bruce, Hiroula is now Blenheim, Cachacrou is Scott’s Head, Mame-
labou is Hodge’s. The following are taken from the Carib quarter
and its immediate surroundings.
aratu’ri (Atori, Ginette, French River). |i’guluka’ti (Cribiche, Crayfish River).
aka’yu (Ma’ Jenny, Raymond River). | baraigi (Bataka: place and river).
ci’néku (same: a ridge). wai’nika (a ravine).
kugara’wa (Ravine Gros Rochers). kua’ria (Big River: a dry ravine).
kué’rek (Maho River). wa’raka (Atkinson).
kua’nara (Ravine Viville). pe’goua (same: river).
wai’cima (same: a ravine). ciméri (same: river).
kuga’rakua (Riviére Gaulette). mantipo (same: river).
“mekeru”’ (old negro settlement). cachibo’nd (Clyde River).
saly’bia (Ste. Marie). tu’lamé (Tweed River).
ay’waci’ (same: a ravine).
The following little song was taught me by Chief Jolly John, who
learned it from Tanaze, now dead:
ti-ki ma-ku-ra’-ué, tuki ma-kura?-udé
They make war, O lazy one, They make war, O lazy one.
binhari tanura ma’nnére imu
unwilling thou to flee, thou my son
ka’ -ima bi-gi-ka-ni kai wa-ku (repeat last line
more slowly, softly and with more emphasis)
Come, take the lead. Come, wake up.
Bar lines divide into groups, not into bars. The meaning of the
words was not known to the singer and I cannot vouch for my own
translation.
PHRASES, ETC.
(1) ma’brika (ma’buika) kariphu’na, yuru-ha’o katu karréhi’?
Greeting, Carib, Carib, content you? strength
(Are you well?)
(2) ite’lyé karréhi (tuti or tuki karréhi)
“so-so’”’ strength (hardy).
158 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
(20)
(21)
ti’aka (tiakha’ba) nia’bu u’tu
to catch I go fish
ka’im4 waibu’ka a’kao-wa allia’gua
let us go away bathe (us) copulate
ba’yu bu’ka (ha’yu bu’ka) a’kao bu’ka etc.
Go (thou) away (go you) go bathe
ka’im4 wa-ta’bura tuné
let us go-us-draw water
tabu’ bu’ka tuné
draw go water
en’ ni-ta’bu na’ku
here is closing my eyes (I’m going to sleep)
en ay a’takua, en ay-maeri
here thy drink, here thy food
a’la kua’butu
I want a drink
en kai amulAai’
here let us appease it (‘‘here’s how’’)
ruba’ yete takéré tu’né ni-a’takua
give here some water me to drink
makra’bu-ha’tina
thirst T have
ni-lam4-ha’tina
me hunger I have
ruba’yte twa-twa n4’iti nu’ni nuraka’e
give here plenty food to eat (for) my belly
rubai paipaté puman iu’ti kumola’kha
bring go thou from thee a share to smoke (give me some of your tobacco to smoke)
bi’riha-ali arhya’bu ri’cha
lightning tonight rears up (stands out, flashes, streaks)
ité’ke karréma’ti buinuha’ali nurakae
thanks powerful (for having) filled my belly
me’keru k-hi’ingi ka’¢i kamukuru (kama-, kamukulu)
negro stinks like _ grass-gourd (the last word was also said to mean a ghost or spirit)
ibien’ biam’buri ka’pa bi’nu
please four pence rum (“kapa’’ is corrupt English ‘‘copper’’, while ‘‘binu’”’ is Spanish
“‘vino’’)
pas chagrinez (patois) hAbéna’: bai’-ba lakurigi’
do not bother me not (imperative) go on the beach
lakarahi’ ma’buri nu’ni
gather chaloupes to eat (chaloupe—kind of rock-shellfish)
TAYLOR] THE CARIBS OF DOMINICA 159
(22) bai’-bai, hu’ya, bai’-bai: lakré4’ nu’bu (iubu)
goaway, rain, go away; itismy wish my husband
(or) as much my husband
nuba’yahd@’ (iubayah4) 4’ku amé’ti la’ku (limé’ti ba’ku)
I not jealous ; as (those) eyes
ba’tibu
thou hast (are of me) !
(23) nubuid’ru
she is no longer a virgin.?
(24) cemehé’éti bano’ki
goodisthy ?
(25) Ba’yu ri bam-bam
Go make cassava bread
1 This phrase seems rather obscure, though my informants were agreed as to the general meaning of the
whole: that the woman was not jealous of her husband as the rain was jealous. I am very uncertain of the
meanings of the two words “‘l-akré &” and “‘amé’ti”—or “limé’ti’’. The first seems to have the same stem
as Breton’s ao-clée, I wish; the latter to correspond with his amouéi and amenti, celui qui, ceux qui, etc. On
the other hand, the alternative—some of my informants gave the word as “‘limé’ti”’—looks suspiciously like
“mother-in-law.”
2 This looks like Breton’s noulouwboui-enrou, given as ““engouée’’; but see above.
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 13
Basket making.
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 119 PLATE 15
* wt
a, Working on canoe before hauling. 6, Hand adz at work on interior of canoe. c, Preparation for hauling
canoe.
91
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 119
Anthropological Papers, No. 4
What Happened to Green Bear Who Was
Blessed With a Sacred Pack
By TRUMAN MICHELSON
161
int 1 Peak Aan sAveH
iad con es, hol yee You oy te
We Acai,
a
i tiga aR Nts Nin fet rar
a7 f od VY years ee ed Tha Gea ay
Heat! MAA
Sedge 4 ed .
WHAT HAPPENED TO GREEN BEAR WHO WAS
BLESSED WITH A SACRED PACK
By Truman MicHELSON
INTRODUCTION
This account of a Sauk sacred pack was written in the current
syllabic script by a Fox Indian, now deceased, many years ago. The
English translation is by myself; and I have purposely adhered closely
to the Indian original. Any marked deviations are enclosed in paren-
theses. The songs are given in roman type but the principles of the
syllabary are followed. In 1924 Harry Lincoln told me that the sacred
pack was among the Indians at Tama, Iowa, until 1897, when it was
returned to the Sauks. He adds that the attached performance was
something like the Thunder dance of the Bear gens. ‘The ritualistic
origin myth is similar to Fox myths. ‘Green Bear,’ the name of the
one blessed, in the Fox dialect is A‘tckipagima‘kwa. That a shaman
can understand children before they know how to talk (p. 165) is a
common Fox belief. (See Fortieth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p.
343, note 29.) It is not many years ago when to my personal knowl-
edge an ailing Fox infant was brought to a shaman by its parents to
find out what was the matter with it. This belief also occurs among the
Menomini (see Bloomfield, Menomini Texts, PAES., vol. x11, p. 43)
and Omaha (personal communication of the late Francis La Flesche) ;
it probably also occurs elsewhere. Speaking ‘“‘to the rocks which he
saw” (p. 167) is quite conventional in narratives of this kind. (See
Bull. 89, Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 53; Bull. 95, pp. 31, 73; Bull. 105, p.
131.) “He had fasted for 4 years” (p. 167) and “‘he looked at him the
fourth time” (p. 167) is because 4 is the sacred number among the
Foxes. (See also pp. 169, 176; compare Bull. 87, Bur. Amer. Ethn.,
pp. 5, 6.) The expression “who looked gentle” ((ai‘ke‘cA*tcinagu‘-
sini‘tci) on page 168 is clearly intended as a prelude to the ‘‘Gentle
Manitou” (Ke‘cimanetdwa) on page 168. On the ‘Gentle Manitou”
see Bull. 105, Bur. Amer. Ethn., pages 17, 18. Thunder-Sauk-Sacred-
Pack (p. 169) is Neneme‘kiwi-‘Sagiwi-Mi‘cami. It may be well to
recall the fact that (with the proper phonetic shifts) the Fox word for
sacred pack (mi‘cdmi) has precise equivalents in Sauk, Kickapoo, and
Shawnee, but, as far as is known, in no other Algonquian languages.
163
164 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
“Those who shall have the sane guardian spirit” (p. 169) is ‘‘wi'-
wi‘tci'somA‘tcigi’”’ which may be freely rendered ‘‘those of your gens,
your clansmen.” In Fox this is a participial formation. Thus it
happens that wi‘tci‘sdmaitci'i “his fellow clansmen” (p. 169) is what
is technically called an obviative. The speech (pp. 171, 172) contains
some of the regular formulas (cf. Bull. 105, Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 3,
footnote 8). On page 172 the English ‘‘Comanches”’ in the Indian
text is ko me tti A i, an obviative, the phonetic restoration of which is
Kodmi*tci‘ai. This is a modern Fox word; the old term, in the general
case of the singular, is Patd*ka‘a. The Fox did not come in contact
with the Comanche until after the removal from Iowa into Kansas.
And the fight with them occurred in 1854. The enmity is projected
backward in time. Putting foes to sleep by singing songs (p. 172) is
a common Fox idea. (See Jones’ Fox Texts, p. 11; Bull. 105, Bur.
Amer. Ethn., p.3.) It may be noted that the Fox stem keto- “growl”
(p. 173) has equivalents at least in Cree and Menomini. The Fox
did not come in contact with the Arapaho (p. 173) until after the former
came to Kansas. JI do not know the exact phonetic restoration of
A nila o kai (Arapahos), the obviative plural. As long as the eating
of raw snapping turtles is mentioned on page 175 it may be added
that among the Menomini eating a turtle’s heart raw is supposed to
make a warrior brave. (See Bloomfield’s Menomini Texts, p. 29.)
General familiarity with the published Sauk and Fox “literature”
is presupposed; hence the above notes are very brief. For the Sauk
it is sufficient to refer to the article Sauk by J. N. B. Hewitt, in Bull.
30, Bur. Amer. Ethn., pt. 2; M. R. Harrington, Sacred Bundles of the
Sac and Fox Indians, Univ. Pa., Univ. Mus. Anthrop. Pub., vol. 4,
no. 2 (reviewed by Michelson, Amer. Anthrop., n. s. 17, pp. 576,
577; reviewed by Skinner, ibidem, pp. 577-579); Alanson Skinner,
Observations on the Ethnology of the Sauk Indians, Bull. 5, nos. 1-3,
Pub. Mus. City Milwaukee (reviewed by Michelson, Amer. Anthrop.,
n. s. 26, pp. 938-100; 29, pp. 185-138), Michelson on Sauk social
organization in the American Anthropologist, n. s. 37, p. 449, and
M. R. Harrington, Old Sauk and Fox beaded garters, Indian Notes
and Monographs, X, pp. 39-41, A bird-quill belt of the Sauk and Fox,
Indian Notes and Monographs, X, pp. 47-50. A fairly full bibliog-
raphy on the Fox Indians will be found in the Fortieth Ann. Rept.
Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 30 et seq. This could be easily greatly expanded,
but the following additions are probably the most important items:
Annals of Iowa, Third Series, IV, page 196 et seq. (from Soc. Anthrop.
N. A. ed. Eggan), XIX, p. 115 et seq., p. 221 et seq., p. 352 et seq.,
XX, p. 123 et seq., p. 381 et seq.; Bulletins 85, 87, 89, 95, 105, 114 of
the Bur. Amer. Ethn.; P. V. Lawson, Mission of St. Mark at the
Village of the Outagamis located at Manawa, Wis. (privately printed;
Menasha, 1901); T. Michelson, The changing character of Fox
MICHELSON] WHAT HAPPENED TO GREEN BEAR 165
adoption-feasts, Amer. J. Sociology, XXXIV, pp. 890-892, Sol Tax on
the Social Organization of the Fox Indians, American Anthropologist,
n. s. 40, pp. 177-179, Miss Owen’s ‘‘Folk-Lore of the Musquakie
Indians,’ American Anthropologist, n. s. 38, pp. 143-145; Sol Tax,
The Social Organization of the Fox Indians, apud Social Anthropology
of North American Tribes, Fred Eggan, editor, Chicago, 1937. [New
linguistics are not cited; but an exception must be made in the case
of L. Bloomfield’s remarkable paper on Central Algonquian phonology,
Language, I, p. 130 et seq.] Finally, though Sauk and Fox are
closely related, nevertheless they are linguistically and ethnologically
distinct.
Wuat Happened To GREEN Bear WHo was BLESSED WITH A
SacRED Pack
When he was 8 years old his father died. Thereupon his mother
became a widow unreleased from death ceremonies; and she fasted.
Moreover, he himself was made to fast. They both fasted the same
length of time.
Now, when he was a boy, as soon as he was 10 years old, he under-
stood little children who did not yet know how to talk. Soon it was
known that he understood them. Whenever they were sick they
were brought to him, and he told what was the matter with them.
Surely, it is said, he told exactly what ailed them. Every one was
very fond of him. He went around the people in a circle when he told
them what was going to happen to the children.
And soon his mother took a husband. At the very time she took a
husband he ceased to understand children. Then, it is said, the
people on all sides wailed over him; and he himself felt as badly as
possible. Soon he informed his mother, ‘‘Well, mother, by marrying
you now have made the people wail everywhere. And you were fully
grown when you remembered marriage. Verily, you have made the
people wail, not I,’”’ he said to her. ‘‘Verily, I shall stop staying here
where you live. I shall cease living with you,” he said to her.
“Wherever you go, I shall go”’ (she said).
“T shall not be where our fellow people are” (he said).
“Wherever you die I shall die, for I am ashamed that I married”’
(she said).
“You will be that way for that reason. If you had not done so,
I should not feel ruined in any way. That is what I say to you,
mother. Verily, do not think of doing anything,” he said to his
mother.
She wept. “In that way you will make me wretched there,” he
was told. ‘No, mother, you and this husband of yours shall be fond
of each other,” he said to her.
35729—38——12
166 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
Then, it is said, he started to go outside. He went in no particular
direction. And he was scolded by his friend. ‘‘Now, my friend, do
not think of going some place and dying uselessly. Do not think of
abandoning your mother,” he was told by his friend. Then he himself
departed, and he went off as far as possible in one day. When he
had gone off as far as possible on the eighth day he did not even carry
anything to eat, but merely had his bow, his knife, and a stone ax.
Precisely that, it is said, was the property he had.
He built a lodge somewhere where there was a large valley. The
water was fine. Later on he built a small bark house. He placed the
bark house in a different location. Just as soon as he made it, he
became hungry. Yet there was nothing for him to eat, as he could
not hunt. When he was suddenly hungry he merely kept lying down
inside. Finally, it is said, he was made mindful. ‘Now very likely
I shall die,’”’ he thought. He merely kept lying down. But he did
not even remember his mother.
Soon, it is said, he went outside as if crazy. “TI shall stop to look
at the sun and sky,” he thought. As he looked up above he saw some-
thing. ‘What, pray, may it be?” he thought. It did not fly around
at all. Finally he lay on his back. Once in a while it fell from the
south. But it seemed to be of the same size, and the distance re-
mained the same. Soon he thought, ‘‘Now, it appears, I shall die.”
He went inside. “I shall cease looking at it,’’ he thought, and lay
down comfortably. ‘I shall place my body well,” he thought, and
lay down carefully.
As soon as he lay down nicely he lay blinded. This is how he
became blind; it was after he had seen it. As soon as it fell toward
him he surely saw it as he peeped. Surely he sawit. He saw through
his dwelling. He indeed disliked looking at it. Soon he thought,
“T shall probably cease to be conscious. Oh, if it should fall here,
then very likely I shall cease being conscious.” He disliked looking
at it. As he lay down steadily the place by which he had entered
opened and someone came in and stood where his own head was as
he himself lay down comfortably. ‘I wonder who this is,” he thought.
In his sleep he did not examine it. And, it is said, he woke up early
in the morning. He even had a headache. He felt dreadfully. He
was hungry. Then he thought, ‘‘Who, pray, is this being? He will
probably eat me as soon as J am dead. That is why he has jumped
down from the sky, that is, the manitou who resides there.”
And he departed. He went in no particular direction. He con-
tinued to run back and forth. Soon he lay down comfortably some-
where, for he was afraid of the spot when he came. Surely soon that
being came into view. ‘Why,’ he thought as the other came where
he was lying down. And the other lay down with his head pointing
to him as he lay down. As soon as the other lay down with his head
MICHELSON) WHAT HAPPENED TO GREEN BEAR 167
pointing at him, he looked at him. Lo! It was a white hide tied
up ina bundle. He opened it. Lo, it was a cooked fish. He began
eating. When his belly was well filled he was strong and he departed.
As soon as he arrived where he lived, he began to be very attentive.
“T declare!’ he thought. Then, it is said, he said, “Gad! I nearly
died. That would not have come to pass for no reason. Surely, it
must have been the manitou’s thought,” he thought. ‘‘Perhaps it is
a fact that the manitou must have blessed me prodigally,”’ he thought.
Then, it is said, he began to fast. Every morning he painted his
face. He told everything which he saw, even the rocks which he
saw, ‘‘I am wretched, my grandfather,’ he said to them. He made a
grandfather of all things. He always did thus. As soon as he had
fasted for 4 years, then the spot from which he came became a lake.
It was a large lake.
Soon he dreamed. ‘‘Well, tomorrow you will see the one who
blessed you, the one who gave wherewith to eat. ‘I declare,’ you will
think. ‘Tomorrow at noon, verily, you will come to him here. You
will ask him for whatever you say to him,” he was told in his dream.
And later on he woke up. At exactly noon he arose. ‘Well, I
shall go and lie down,” he thought, and departed. As soon as he got a
view, lo, there was a being that kept standing upon one leg. The
latter did not even see him. And as soon as he looked at him the
latter became less in size. As soon as he looked at him the tbird
time the latter became very much less in size. And as soon as he
looked at him the fourth time the latter became very tiny. At that
time, it is said, he at once spoke to him, ‘‘Well, if you are the one whom
I have madé my grandfather, you must bless me, so I think. You
surely will bless me? But you shall have the power to think of me in
whatever way you wish. I shall not know pity. But you are a
manitou. That is why I say to you, ‘You shall have the power over
what you control.’ Certainly, whatever I contrive to ask would not
come (if you willed otherwise),’’ he said to his grandfather. ‘Oh,
my grandson, you surely speak nicely,” he was told for the first time
by his grandfather. ‘Well, I bless you that you may live. At the
time you were hungry, verily, I fed you. Thatis how I fed you. In
person I fed you my food. Verily it helped you. Today you are
truly in excellent health. And I think of you, my grandchild. Verily,
Iamproud. Verily, you must accompany me wherelam going. You
also shall go. You will come. I shall tell my fellow manitous that
I bless you,” he was told.
The Indian accompanied him. They went up above. When they
came yonder the sky parted and they entered by this means and
followed a road from there. Yonder they saw alodge. They entered.
This is how they entered. He felt as gentle as possible. He saw a
168 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
man who looked gentle. And the one by whom he himself had been
blessed began to speak, ‘Well, I bless this our grandchild. This,
verily, is why I bless him. He was extremely ill. Verily, I fed him
what I eat. This is how I think of him, that he attain hoary old age,
that he continue for a long time to be with his fellow mortals. I so
bless him. And if he fights against his foes, he shall never be shot.
And I shall give him songs, my very own songs of which I am fond.
And this is why I give them to him, that he will be helped by them
whenever he thinks of anything. Whatever he thinks the same shall
be. That is why I give him my songs. If his body is in any way in
peril, well, he shall merely sing. Exactly whatever he desires shall
happen to him. Nothing adverse shall happen to him. Even if he
~ falls down to die in a certain spot, it will not be possible. He shall
survive. That is how the songs which I shall give him are to be.
Moreover, I shall give him dancing songs. If he is at all happy he
shall make the people dance. And if he kills many of his foes he shall
make the people dance. Well, anyone shall dance. Not only he
shall dance, but everyone, a woman, a child, as many as are happy and
mortal shall dance to my songs, That verily is how I bless this our
grandchild,” he said to the Gentle Manitou.
The Gentle Manitou spoke: ‘‘Well, you have surely gladdened me
by what you have done. I am glad that you have blessed our grand-
child. ‘Now he really has pleased our grandchild by blessing him’
(is what I think). Verily, I too shall bless him. Exactly as you
blessed him; you merely blessed him in the manner I helped you.
And in giving him these songs,”’ he said to him, ‘‘you have also pleased
him. Our grandchild will always remember you. Verily you shall
go and exist as a mortal with our grandchildren. You will place your
body there. But those who live here on the earth shall accompany
you,” he was told. ‘‘Now you must continue to lead this our grand-
child downward. As soon as you shall quietly come yonder, you
shall give him something. He shall continue to take care of it. It
will carry him. ‘You will firmly tell him to remember it,” the one
who blessed the Indian was told. ‘Oh, I shall do exactly that,” the
latter said and led the Indian downward. Then he brought him
where he lived.
Thereupon he told him, “I give you this my body.” As soon as
(the Indian) was told that this identical sacred pack was there, “I
shall go and think of you from there. I shall never forget what you
tell me. Verily, at the time when ye shall have ceased to remember it,
ye shall cease to think of me. But I shall go and speak to you at the
distant time when this earth is old, not before that time, surely not
beforehand. If you soon throw it away, at that time I shall surely
tell you,’ he was told. ‘This, verily, is what will happen to you.
You will know even the songs. I shall not tell you of them in detail
MICHELSON] WHAT HAPPENED TO GREEN BEAR 169
here. You will know them from your heart,” that man was told.
“In the same way you shall know what you are to continue to do and
what you are to say if you worship,” he was told. ‘And you shall
name this sacred pack ‘sacred pack.’ You shall tell those who shall
have the same guardian spirit as you (i. e., those of your gens). This
is what you shall name it for them, ‘Thunder-Sauk-Sacred-Pack.’
That is what you shall name it for them. For you shall tell the news.
And now I shall tell you something else which you shall always do if
you are first in great fights,” he was told. ‘Verily, you shall lead a
war party four times,” he was told. ‘And you shall continue to heal
those who are sick. Even if anyone breaks his bones, you will heal
‘him. Even if he has tuberculosis, you will also cure him. No matter
what his ailment may be, you will continue to cure him. You will
not even think those sick will be difficult to cure. Even if anyone
ceases to be conscious you will restore him. That is how powerful
my blessing is. That is the way you shall continue to do. My
mouth shall not speak falsely, not even one mouthful,’’ he was told.
“Surely you must do as much as I have told you. I am telling you
the truth in what I say to you,” he was told.
As soon as he was told that he only saw smoke rising upward.
Then, it is said, he picked up the sacred pack on his way and brought
it inside his dwelling. And later on he went off. Eventually he went
whence he had come. When he arrived yonder he merely saw old,
scrubby grass. ‘Why,’ he thought. Then he went about carrying
his sacred pack on his back. And he went off blindly. He lay down
at night near the bushes. Then he was told by an owl where he was
to go. ‘My grandchild, this is where people of your own language
have a town,” he was told. ‘Here, to the north, not far off, they
have their town. You will be on your way for several days. Then
you will come there. And even your relatives will be lonely for you,”
he was told. ‘Finally, my grandson, you will sing of me, as I please
you this day. This is why I'tell you.” As soon as he was told that,
the other began to fly off.
Now, when he went in that direction, sure enough he came to a
Meskwakie town. Then he covered his sacred pack as he was carrying
it on his back. He concealed it as he approached some old wigwam.
Now it is a fact, it is said, it was exactly where his mother lived. So
he went in. But, it is said, they did not recognize each other. He
was surely told, ‘Hello!’ by aman. He himself recognized the other,
but be was not recognized. As soon as he was fed he began to speak.
Then indeed the woman rose to her feet and went to kiss her son.
Then in 4 days he held a gens festival. He summoned his fellow-
clansmen. As soon as they were seated in a cluster he told what had
happened to himself, that he was hungry, and how it was that he
was blessed, When he was fed he gave another speech. After he
170 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
had spoken he said to the members of his gens, “Oh, the manitou
did not bless me for a short time when he took compassion upon me.
This, verily, is how far he thought of me: at whatever time there shall
cease to be a people is how far he thought of me. He, the one who
blessed me, gave me his songs; he did so in person so that he would
not fail to hear me. That is what he said to me; that he would hear
me, is what he said to me. You must carefully and thoroughly
learn by experience these songs which you are going to have. Re-
member them firmly. Do not think, ‘I am not worthy to know
them.’’’ He began to sing. But he blew the flute four times. As
soon as he had blown the flute he sang.
This is how he sang the first song:
Whosoever fails to remember me;
Whosoever fails to remember me;
Yo 0 0; my grandfather;
Whosoever fails to remember me;
Whosoever fails to remember me.
[Wa wa ne ne mi ge ni;
Wa wa ne ne mi ge ni;
Yooo;wina yo nemedo mesa;
Wa wa ne ne mi ge ni;
Wa wa ne ne mi ge ni.]
Wa ne nino wanenino wane ni no;
They bless me, yo, the thunderers; my grandfathers;
Wane nino wanenino waneni no.
[Wane nino wanenino wane nino;
Ne ke ne me ko ki yo ne ne mekiwaki ne me do mesa ki;
Wa nenino wanenino wane ni no.]
I was made to go around; the one who goes around this;
I was made to go around; the one who goes around this;
He, this sky;
I was made to go around; the one who goes around this;
I was made to go around; the one who goes around this.
[Ki yosaiki kiyokiyosata mani;
Ki yosaiki kiyokiyosata ma mi;
Wina ki de ge ye;
Ki yosaiki kiyokiyosata mane;
Ki yosaiki ki yokiyosata ma ne.]
I make the manitous sorrowful;
I make the manitous sorrowful;
I, my friend, was made to stand on this earth;
I make the manitous sorrowful;
I make the manitous sorrowful.
[Ki wa ki wa ttina we Ake mane to wa ki;
Ki wa ki wa ttina we A ke mane to wa ki;
Nina nikane wina Aki yo ne maswii ki;
Ki wa ki wa ttina we A ke mane to wa ki;
Ki wa ki wa ttina we Ake mane to wa ki.]
MICHELSON] WHAT HAPPENED TO GREEN BEAR a71
And then they danced. And this is how the songs go:
All the tree-men are dancing;
All the tree-men are dancing;
All the tree-men are dancing;
All the tree-men are dancing;
I; the tree-men bunch their heads together;
All the tree-men are dancing;
All the tree-men are dancing.
[Tta ki mete gine ni Aki ni mi ni mi wa ki;
Tta ki mete gineni Aki ni mini mi wa ki;
Ta ki mete gine niAki ni mi ni mi wa ke;
Tta ki mete gine ni Aki ni mi ni mi wa ki;
Nina wa wane te gese waki me te gine A ki;
Tta ki mete gine ni Aki ni mi ni mi wa ki;
Tta ki mete gineni Aki ni mi ni mi wa ki.]
I am raising my hands up;
(Repeat six additional times)
[Tti tti ki ne ke sa ya ni;
(Repeat six additional times.) ] .
From where I dance for the first time, to be sure;
(Repeat five additional times)
[Wetekaiyani Atta wina
(Repeat five additional times.) ]
A ta mo ya bi
(Repeat four additional times)
Mani yo mane to wi
(“This mystic power’’)
A ta mo ya ni
(Repeat three times)
A ta mo ya
A ta mo ya ni.
And the eating songs were:
I go about eating;
(Repeat seven additional times)
A human being, a human being;
The one whom I shall eat (i. e., kill);
I go about eating;
(Repeat five additional times)
[Ki wi se ni ya ni;
(Repeat seven additional times)
Me tose neni A me tose ne ni A;
Wi A mwa ke na;
Ki wi se ni ya ni;
(Repeat five additional times.) ]
That is as many as the songs are. When this is done, when worship
is held, this is what the one worshipping says:
“Oh, so be it, our grandfather, so be it, our grandfather who dwells
above, so be it, is the one whom we worship. Verily that we may
ie BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
exist as mortals for a long time is what we desire of him; oh, so be
it, we shall think alike, so be it, so that we shall gladden, so be it,
our grandfather.
‘All of us who are mortals must always feel that toward him in order
that we may make him merciful. We must always think steadfastly
of him so that he will make a donation to us, that he bless us with life.
The reason why we are holding a gens festival is so that he in person
shall listen to us here. That is how his natureis. Thatis why hesits
here. He is permitted to do so by his fellow-manitous. So that is
why he is here. That is what he was told, that he should watch over
us here where our chief has a town. And if any one talks against us,
he shall not speak truthfully (. e., be unsuccessful with his impreca-
tions). And that moreover we be not customarily sick is what we
desire of him, so be it. You must always, so be it, sit and think in one
day as long as we worship. Think exactly that, men, and you, too,
women.”
That is how the speech is when there is worship, when this holy hide
is worshipped.
And a long time ago the Meskwakies were surrounded by the
Comanches. Eleven was the number of the families. And the one
who made this sacred pack was there. They were surrounded. That
they all would be killed, is what they thought. At night they held a
gens festival. ‘You are not to sing: you are merely to dance once.
As soon as I stop singing we shall depart. But you must dance
vigorously. You must open my sacred pack. You shall make an
offering to our grandfather,” he said to them when it seems that they
were surrounded. It was impossible for them to go out, it seemed.
And at midnight he gave a dance. “TI shall use one song,” he said.
A te mo ya ni
(Repeat three additional times)
Mani yomane to wa ki
(This, yo, the manitous)
A te mo ya ni
(Repeat three additional times.)
Thus he sang, and the Comanche all slept. And they themselves
escaped. They were not, it is said, seen by any one; nor was it known
whither they continued to go. Their dwellings were all burned.
And as soon as he came yonder, he forthwith held a gens festival.
He held a gens festival when it was daylight. “TI shall burn them out
so that they who nearly killed us shall come toward us,” he said.
“You verily will see how many there are. Do not think that they will
get the better of you. You shall slay them all. That is the way you
will treat them. They will wake up here at the end of the village.
While they are fast asleep you shall begin to strike them down,” the
youths were told.
MICHELSON] WHAT HAPPENED TO GREEN BEAR 173
Sure enough, early in the morning while many were lying asleep in a
heap the others began clubbing them to death. At last there was
(but) one. They were about to slay him when the Comanche turned
into a grizzly bear. He began to growl and rushed to attack them.
And one man who was unable to begin to flee was told, “Stand and
fear (i. e., fight) him.”” Soon he was rushed with an attack. And he
rushed against the other. Soon the grizzly bear was held fast. He
was wounded as soon as he was properly held. As soon, it is said, as
he was properly held, he was made tocry. ‘‘That’s the way I make a
woman bawl,” he was told. ‘Lo, it must be a female grizzly bear.
If it were a male he could not have been made to bawl,”’ he said to him.
And indeed, it is said, he killed him. And as soon as (the Meskwakie)
had killed him that grizzly bear became an Indian.
Many Comanche were killed. Not even one was saved. All were
killed.
And moreover, when there was a war party this sacred pack was
taken along. Many youths and men accompanied the party. And
the one who carried this sacred pack on his back was always the leader.
He always traveled all day long. Finally it was 8 days since they had
eaten. ‘Well, now we shall eat,” he said on the eighth day. “But
tomorrow early in the morning is when we shall eat,’’ he said to those
who accompanied him. ‘What will I eat now?” thought some one
who, it seems, did not bring anything wherewith to eat. The next
day their heads were where the bundles were. And the one who car-
ried this sacred pack on his back said, ‘‘Untie each one at the same
time.”” When they untied the bundles there were cooked fishes. All
had their bellies filled. After they had eaten, he said to them, “Well,
men, this very one who fed us is the one who is in my sacred pack.
He is the very one we eat. So finally you must begin to hunt. Now,
as long as you are on your way, do not fear anything. You will kill
something and we shall eat. After we fight against the foe, then we
must keep up a fast pace on our way home. Today, however, we
must continue slowly on our way,” he said to the men. “That is
what I say to you,” he said to them.
Then he put his sacred pack on his shoulder and went off. Finally
they continued to hunt for game animals and killed many. As soon as
they had camped they did much roasting and ate bounteously.
Then, it is said, they soon came where the Arapahos were. There
were many lodges. ‘Well, when it is after midnight, then we shall
begin striking them down,” the Meskwakies said. As soon as it was
past midnight they began to strike them down. They killed most of
them in a hurry. Soon it was learned how few they were, and they
were surrounded. They stood in the middle bunched together. They
began to shoot arrowheads in a lively manner. Soon they were told,
“They will not hit us’’; so they were told by the leader of the war party.
174 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
Soon they were told, ‘‘Well, perhaps now you have had enough of
fighting. We shall all jump up at the same time. Let no one fail to
jump up. You must jump up. We shall depart. I shall be really
white; wherever I shall continue to go, you shall go. Hold your bows
and arrows in your mouths,” he said to his friends. That is exactly
what they did. As soon as all had them in their mouths then he had
his sacred pack in his mouth. ‘‘Now,” he said to them. They all
jumped up at the same time and they traveled from there at high
speed. All got out and they flew around mixing with each other.
“Void faeces upon the foe,’ they said to each other. They voided
faeces upon them. They escaped and all were carrying something
in their mouths as they flew up above. When they arrived up above
as far as it was possible then they went to the earth. Then indeed, itis
said, they lay down.
As soon as they ceased coming out they were very tired; that is,
their wings were. Well, they lay there for 2 days. On the second day
they began to feel like smiling. They were told how they had voided
faeces upon the foe. It is said faeces fell upon the heads of some of
the Arapahos. And some were struck on their faces. That, verily,
it is said, is why the Meskwakie laughed. And they urinated on some
from there.
And after they had given full explanations, they departed. ‘Well,
now we shall go home,” he said to them. ‘‘We must go a little faster,”
he said to them. Then he put his sacred pack on his back and started
to begin to run. Then indeed they all started to run. They always
had the same rate of speed while running. Finally early at night he
halted in his running. Immediately they camped. ‘Hunt,’ he said
to them. The men hunted at night. They killed many turkeys and
then they roasted them. All ate one turkey apiece. ‘You must
eat all of them” (they were told). They slept fora little while. Early
in the morning they were told by the one who had the sacred pack,
“Men, wake up, we must depart.” They all woke up suddenly.
‘“‘We must go on a little faster,’”’ he said, and started off. Surely they
ran fast. At noon he halted running at a big mountain. ‘Well, you
must all stop to urinate and void faeces,” he said. They urinated
and voided faeces mightily. The length of time it takes for one who
urinates and voids faeces slowly to do so is the exact length of time
they halted.
And, it is said, after they had gathered, they were instructed,
“Now, men, do not think, ‘we are going at a fast pace for fun.’ A
manitou is pursuing us. That is why I want you to hurry,” he said
to them. The men were afraid. They were all afraid. And so,
it is said, they went at full speed. They halted for a short time at
night.
MICHELSON] WHAT HAPPENED TO GREEN BEAR 175
Very early in the morning they were told, ‘“Now, men, we must
depart. We must run faster,” he said. Surely they ran at full
speed. They were again told at noon, “Stop to hurriedly attend to
nature.’ They hurriedly attended to nature. As soon as they had
attended to nature they traveled on.
Much later, at night, he halted in his run where a creek flowed by.
Then, it is said, some were hungry. ‘‘Now, men, hunt for snapping
turtles,” they were told. ‘You must all eat hurriedly one apiece.
That is the exact amount you must eat, men,” they were told. They
ate the snapping turtles raw. They were exactly of the same size
(i. e., the snapping turtles). As soon as they had eaten them, the
one who had the sacred pack said, ‘‘Now is the last time. But we
must go as fast as we can. If we come to a stony mountain, then the
manitou will not slay us. Then we shall as if overpower him,” he
said. ‘‘You shall be strong. As soon as it is midnight then we shall
depart. If, however, we discover (the pursuing manitou), then I
shall save you,”’ he said to them.
They started off after midnight. At first they traveled slowly, and
as it got toward morning they continued on their way at full speed.
Soon they were going as fast as they could. Then, it is said, some
were tired. Now, at noon, it is said, they saw a stony mountain.
‘Yonder really is where we are going,” he said to his friends. As soon
as they ran close by, as they looked backward they surely saw a white
otter. It was very white. ‘There he is. Go fast,’’ they were told
by the one who had the sacred pack. As soon as he arrived in person
the men ran up the hill. ‘Now indeed we are ahead of him,” he said
to his friends. Then, it is said, the white otter became much smaller.
Soon it cried out loudly and began to go away. ‘‘Now, men, hunt.
You must now cease to be afraid of anything,” he said to them. And
the men had a great hunt. Well, they killed two deer. As soon as
they had killed them they began to roast them on spits; and they
roasted them. Well, it is said, they ate those two deer.
They stayed there several days. As soon as they had eaten heartily
they wenton. And, itis said, they came yonder from where they had
departed. All the people were glad.
And the one who took care of the sacred pack began to doctor his
fellow-Indians a good deal. Surely he continued to cure them. He
cured very hard cases. Even, it is said, when they had broken bones
he cured them. He was able, it is said, to make the bones grow
together. And, it is said, he was loved by all the people, and he was
feared. And even when he became an old man he did not marry.
He always remained a bachelor. Yet, it is said, he was repeatedly
given maidens, but, it is said, he did not desire to marry. And his
name was Green Bear. That washisname. And, itis said, he began
176 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY fpund. 118
to be ill. He became ill very quickly as he was an old man. He
became worse, and, it is said, he was doctored by any one, as he was
an old man. Soon, it is said, he doctored himself. As soon as he
knew how he had been treated, he told the news when he was well.
“Well, I declare, a long time ago the manitou must have begun to
bless us. One blessed by a manitou is the very one who nearly killed
me, one who knows an evil medicine. He is the very one whom you
will call ‘witch.’ One who does that will always be with you. One
who does that shall never disappear. He is the one who will continue
to kill us. Also he has the nature of a manitou. But he will never
have any mercy upon us. He will always continue to killus. He will
not even have mercy upon a child. He will killit, that is, the one who
does so, the one who knows an evil medicine. Such a one is not even
fearful of me. He has tried to witch me. So I have full knowledge of
a person who acts like that when he is blessed by a manitou. At night
he surely has the nature of amanitou. Iam not just talking. Verily,
blindly fear him, people,” he said to them. ‘Thus you shall continue
in succession to tell each other of him. And let no one of you accept
from him whatever he may give you. You will make yourselves
wretched if you do that, if you accept it from him. That is how it is.
That is the message I give to you. You shall merely remember firmly
this sacred pack of ours,’’ he said to his fellow clansmen.
And soon he again instructed them later on when he was an old man.
“Clansmen of mine, you know that I have now reached an old age.
Surely the manitou blessed me. If I die, I am not to be buried. I shall
sit in the open. But wherever there is a separate mountain, you shall
bury me (in that position). In4daysI shall disappear. You will not
seeme. Now I must depart. I shall go to the land of the manitous.
But you must firmly remember this sacred pack. You must always
hold gens festivals with due solemnity. This is what you must do.
You must never establish a new way. And these nine songs: exactly
that shall be their number. There never must be more. But you
must always remember our future boys. You must tel] them to keep
this up. Do not think of changing the rules m any way. You must
tell (our boys) exactly what I have been telling you. This day I shall
as if go somewhere for a while. It is certain that as soon as I finish
speaking I shall die,” he said. As soon as he finished speaking he died.
After he had been dead for 4 days they went to look where he was.
There were merely marks on the ground. He had disappeared. All
the people waited, and lamented Green Bear. That is the end of the
story of a sacred pack called ‘Thunder-Sauk-Sacred-Pack.”’
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 119
Anthropological Papers, No. 5
Lemhi Shoshoni Physical Therapy
By JULIAN H. STEWARD
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LEMHI SHOSHONI PHYSICAL THERAPY
By Juuian H: Stewarp
Description of primitive therapy is likely to emphasize supernatural
causes and cures of disease at the expense of simpler practices of
physical therapy. The present paper is based upon an inquiry con-
cerning the latter among Lemhi Shoshoni of Idaho.
The causes of disabilities, unless attributable to supernatural
agencies or to obvious injury, were little understood. Ordinary
remedies were first tried for any illness. The illness was believed to
have been caused by soul loss, intrusion of a foreign object, or witch-
craft, and was treated by a shaman only when it was serious and
lingering. Shamanistic treatments will be described elsewhere.
Ills were classified by a simple descriptive terminology which usually
referred to the ailing part of the body rather than to general cate-
gories of sickness. The term niitsi, ill, was affixed to the term for
head, heart, lung, etc.
Remedies were few and elementary. They comprised administra-
tion of herbs, both internally and externally, massage (called nado-
kunt), application of heat, and bleeding. The last was, until recently,
used only for head and eye troubles. Occasionally the sweat house
was used for general debility.
Some remedies were administered by anyone. The use of others
was restricted to specialists. Most specialists acquired their knowl-
edge through experience, though some, like the massager or tumgaun-
ait, seemed to have dreamed their powers. Unlike the true shaman or
puhagiint, however, the specialist did not sing and though his skill
might be of supernatural origin, his cure was purely physical. He
was named according to his specialty, for example, bui nait (bui,
eye-+nait, making), an eye doctor. The only supernatural element
involved in physical therapy was the patient’s prayer when taking a
remedy, “I am drinking (or applying) you for such and such a purpose.”
Treatment of the different parts of the body was as follows:
Head ailments, especially headaches, bambi (head) niitsi. Cause,
unknown. Cure: roots called pa (water) sowii’' which grow along
streams in the mountains were pounded and the emulsion mixed with
warm water and tied on the head with buckskin. Manner of effecting
cure unknown. If this failed, the inside of the nose was punctured
with an awl to cause bleeding.
179
180 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
Eye troubles, bui (eye) niitsikw", were of several kinds. For sore
and inflamed eyes, the root of a grayish plant about 3 feet tall with
vertical leaves growing close to the stem, called pavohop (possibly
Artemisia gnaphalodes) was pounded, mixed with warm water, and
the juice squeezed on the eyes. If there were sore veins (?) in the
upper and lower lids (trachoma?), the lids were scraped with sharp
obsidian and allowed to bleed. Only experts performed this opera-
tion. If small white spots had formed on the eyeball (cataract?),
a grayish willow called agai (salmon) suhu (willow) which grows along
the Salmon River was burned and the fine ashes applied to the eyes.
Eyes which were sore from the glare of the snow, especially in the
spring when the sun is becoming bright, were thought to be infected
by little specks of dust, buisi, left on the surface of the melting snow.
This ailment was called buisi imbukun (cause). Leaves of hunap
(probably Cowama stansburiana) were boiled and the face with the
eyes open held over the steam.
Nose troubles were not known.
Toothaches. Cause, unknown. The belief that a worm had gotten
into the tooth was not held. There were three remedies: 1, leaves of
Artemisia tridentata were chewed to ease the pain; 2, a heated stone
was held on the face over the pain; 3, a loose tooth was extracted by
attaching one end of a vegetable fiber string to the tooth, the other
to a stick, and pulling.
Heart trouble, bixhii (heart) niitsi. Cause, unknown. Cure: a
large stone was heated and placed over the heart.
Chest pains, especially stabbing pains that hurt when one moved,
were called tu’inawiin:iix (tu’inap, stick+wiin:iix or wiin:ikw*,
stuck with a point). This and other chest ailments were treated by
laying a heated stone on the chest.
Abdomen. Ailments of the various internal organs, except heart
and chest, were not distinguished. Those in the region of the abdo-
men involving aches were called w6:ra (abdomen) niitsi; those involy-
ing bloating were called wé:ra begwix (swell). Causes, unknown.
To stop diarrhea, which was called kwahucu, the fine silt which dries
on the top of a boulder after a rain and slightly curls (called tumboamb,
tumbi, rock+?) was mixed with white clay (evi) and drunk. For a
physic, the roots of a plant about 1 foot high with white flowers (called
togoa, rattlesnake yungiiwil, serrate leaf; possibly crane’s bill) were
boiled and drunk. For a physic which also produced vomiting the
roots of a sunflower (called pi:akonzip:) were boiled and drunk. No
doubt other herbal remedies were used for internal disorders. Follow-
ing the use of these remedies, the ailing spot might be massaged with
the heated green leaves of young sage (Artemisia tridentata, called
pagwiomp).
STEWARD] LEMHI SHOSHONI PHYSICAL THERAPY 181
Arms and legs. For pains, leaves of Artemisia tridentata were
pounded, heated, tied on by means of buckskin and left overnight.
If this failed, a specialist (not a singing shaman) might be called to
massage.
Broken bones. Ina case of a broken leg described by the informant,
@ specialist (possibly having the power of tithiimiti, a bluish or black
lizard), but not a true shaman, washed the wound, set the bone, cut the
flesh around the break which was at the ankle, and put the dried pul-
verized remains of a certain species of lizard under the skin. This
lizard, which was traded from southern Nevada, was believed to bind
the broken parts. (A Shoshoni doctor at Elko also had a dried lizard
from southern Nevada which he used for wounds.) Some doctors did
not use this lizard. In the case described, the invalid was kept in bed
two months and his break healed.
Wounds. Regardless of size or cause, wounds were always treated
by applying pulverized pine pitch and holding it in place by means of
buckskin. This dressing was changed every 4 days. The pitch was
believed to act as adhesive and was probably also curative. There
was no means of sewing large wounds. Ants were not used to bite
the edges of wounds together.
Fevers. Two kinds of fever were distinguished. Those producing
a red rash (called anga, red+tasia, insect) were considered dangerous
and were treated by drinking a weak tea made of pasowii’#. Those
which resulted from grippe or colds (called onivukun) were treated
with Artemisia tridentata. Fevers had no general name. Those not
falling into the above two classes were said to have been caused by a
ghost (dzoap) and were treated by a shaman.
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Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 119
Anthropological Papers, No. 6
Panatiibiji’, an Owens Valley Paiute
By JULIAN H. STEWARD
183
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PANATUBIJT, AN OWENS VALLEY PAIUTE!
By Juxian H. Stewarp
INTRODUCTION
In 1934 the writer supplemented an earlier ethnographic sketch
of the Northern Paiute ? of Owens Valley, Calif., with two autobiog-
raphies * procured from aged informants, both of whom have since
died. An opportunity to obtain further biographical material came
during field work in 1935. The new biography is that of Panatiibiji’,
a Paiute man who matured before the settling of the white man in his
country and who died at a ripe age in 1911. The biography was
procured from Panatiibiji”’s grandson, Tom Stone, a native ethnog-
rapher of sorts, whose keen interest in Paiute culture and remarkable
memory for information obtained from his grandfather had made
him an invaluable informant. When Tom Stone was a small boy
his father died, leaving him to be reared by his grandfather. During
long evenings Tom eagerly listened to his grandfather’s stories of
aboriginal Paiute life and Panatiibiji’’s own varied career.
Tom Stone reproduced the biography as closely as he could remem-
berit. To be unable to give episodes in precise chronological sequence
is characteristic of the Paiute, who lacks an historical sense probably
more than most Indians, although he may remember particular events
in great detail. Even the profound disturbances caused by the arrival
of the white man about 80 years ago have produced a sense neither of
tribal nor individual history. Biographies are always elicited pain-
fully, by means of concrete questions relating to different kinds of
events. Consequently the order of events in this biography is estab-
lished through inference as often as through an idea of proper sequence
obtained by Tom Stone from his grandfather. That this lack of a
sense of continuity did not result from the second-hand nature of the
material but was inherent in the Shoshonean attitude was evident
from other investigations in the Great Basin where, of some 45 inform-
ants, not over 2 or 3, who had been in close contact with white men all
their lives, were historically minded.
1 This biography was procured during ethnographic investigations among the Great Basin Shoshoneans
{p 1935, The fleld work was financed by the University of California and a grant-in-aid from the Social
Science Research Council.
2 Ethnography of the Owens Valley Paiute, Univ. of Calif., Publ. Amer. Arch. and Ethn., 33 (3):233-350,
1933.
3 Two Paiute Autobiographies. Univ. of Calif. Publ. Amer. Arch. and Ethn., 33 (5): 423-438, 1934.
185
186 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
PanatTuBisi’’s BloGRAPHY
Panatiibiji’ was an Owens Valley Paiute. He was named for the
Fish Springs community and band, Panatii (pa, water+natii, place),
where he was born and of which he was later chief. The duration of
his life may be estimated only roughly. By 1850 he had been married
once or probably twice. By 1871, the year of the great earthquake,
he claimed to have been past middle age. At his death in 1911 he
thought he was more than 100. He was therefore probably born
about 1820, some 30 years before the white man began to settle his
country.
Panatiibiji’”’s mother was from West Bishop, the village called
Paukamatii (pauka, gravel bluff+witii, place) of the Pitana patii
(‘‘south place’’) band and his father was from Panatii. They met at
Panatii when his mother came down from Bishop to gather kuha, a
wild seed, on the hills west of Fish Springs and Black Rock. Pana-
tiibiji’’s father, attracted by the girl, gave money to her family who
approved of the match and reciprocated with presents. Later they
were married at Paukamatii and lived for some time with the bride’s
family before moving down to Panatii, where Panatiibiji’ was born.
Panatiibiji’ had a sister, Joe Westerville’s mother, and a half brother,
Jim Olds.
Panatiibiji’’s instruction came from his father, who was a famous
hunter. He was first taught to shoot rabbits and smaller game in the
valley and later, when he had grown stronger and more experienced,
to hunt deer and sheep in the mountains. He was also taught nature
lore and the place names of the mountains and springs.
When Panatiibiji’ killed his first deer he took it to his uncle, who
made a large loop of the entrails and lowered it over the young man’s
head, wishing (i. e. ‘“‘talking’’) for hunting success and luck. Pana-
tibiji’ was not permitted to eat any of this first kill and was instructed
that henceforth he must not eat deer heart, lung, tail (napia, i. e., the
rump, including the tail), nor some internal section which attaches to
the ribs and backbone and separates the heart and liver, because these
were reserved for older persons.* He was also told that when a hunter
killed any large game he might retain only the ribs, exclusive of neck
and forelimbs, for himself, and that he must distribute the remainder
of the animal among the other families in the village.
Panatiibiji’ was first married after he had hunted in the mountains
for several years. For some time his family had urged him to marry,
but he had no desire to do so. Although a competent hunter he was
still a young man, disinclined to assume responsibility. He lacked,
moreover, all comprehension of sex. He did not oppose the marriage,
however, and his family arranged to procure him a wife from Panatii.
They paid shell money to her family, who reciprocated with food and
4 The same taboo applied to young women.
STEWARD] AN OWENS VALLEY PAIUTE 187
other goods,® and Panatiibiji’ began to share his kills of game with his
future bride’s family.
When Panatiibiji’ and the girl married they resided 6 months or a
year with her family, then moved to his parents’ house, where he felt
that they would be more welcome. Six months later Panatiibiji’’s
parents took the married pair to Tiinemaha and gave them a hut.
Until now, Panatiibiji’ had discovered nothing about sex. He re-
garded his wife as a comely and companionable person, but did not
understand the reason for marriage. Alone in their new home at
Tiinemaha, however, his wife quickly taught him to consummate the
marriage.®
Later Panatiibiji’ and his wife returned to live near his parents, but
occupied a separate house. After several years, domestic discord,
arising largely from his wife’s sterility, led them to separate.
Panatiibiji’ received his first vision about the time of his marriage.’
He dreamed that he was far away in a strange country, leading a
group of fighters who had become exhausted. When he called upon
the “great spirit”’® for help, a huge mountain opened, and when Pana-
tiibiji’ led his men into a large cavern the entrance closed behind them.
After resting in safety, Panatiibiji’ again called upon the “great
spirit.” Above them appeared an opening through which they were
carried by a great whirlwind and set down on the earth in their own
country. This dream gave Panatiibiji’ power to protect himself
from danger, especially in battle.®
Two other visions or powers also came to Panatiibiji’ when he was
a young man. In one dream he found himself in the mountains with
a conflagration sweeping the land and threatening to consume the
entire country and destroy him. When he requested the great spirit
for rain a downpour promptly extinguished the fire. Panatiibiji’
said to the spirits, “Now you have done what I asked. We have a
fine country here. Nothing will ever happen to me or my country.”
This dream gave Panatiibiji’ a special power for extinguishing fires."°
5 This established a mukici relationship between the parents-in-law.
6 It is remarkable if true that a year or more should have elapsed before marriage was consummated.
Tom Stone could not explain how Panatiibiji’ had failed to learn the nature of sex before this, but said he
had heard of 1 or 2 equally uninformed Indians. Such ignorance is almost incredible in view of the oppor-
tunities any Indian has to observe animals in nature and to hear circle dance songs, some of which are braz-
enly descriptive of the sex act, and the vagina dentata myth theme which is a major feature of the creation
story. There is no reason, however, to doubt that Tom Stone’s information from his grandfather was cor-
rect. This is an extraordinary beginning for a man who was to be married 5 times.
7 The vision or dream comes to the Owens Valley Paiute unsought during natural sleep.
8 This is vaguely described as something connected with the east, perhaps dawn, the morning star, or the
sun.
9 It is possible that this came to Panatiibiji’ in the eighteen sixties during the wars with the white men,
for in aboriginal times the Paiute seem to have done little fighting.
10 It is curious that, in this sage-covered country, where it is impossible to force a fire to spread or do dam-
age, this power should have come to Panatiibiji’. It is interesting to record that in Panatiibiji’’s old age
his grandson, Tom Stone, inadvertently set their grass house on fire when Panatiibiji’ was a short distance
from home. The house and its contents, including two rabbit-skin blankets, were destroyed, in spite of
Panatiibiji’’s efforts to extinguish the fire.
188 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
In the other dream Panatiibiji’ was on Birch Mountain (Pau’okud-
auwa) and heard a voice speaking in Paiute. Wondering about whence
it came he went toward it and heard it say, ‘“‘Nothing will happen to
me. I will live to be old. The country is clear. Nothing can kill
me.” Panatiibiji’ thought that this was a person talking to himself and
sought to find him. Peering around a rock, he saw a crack with a
bubble of saliva coming out of it. He put his ear to the crack and found
that the voice came from within. This dream gave him longevity and
protection from sickness, other than ills caused by accidents or evil
magic.
Only one native conflict was related by Panatiibiji’. The South
Fork Indians, Tubatulabal, once came into Owens Valley to raid
Paiute villages. A Paiute from the southern part of the Valley
recruited a war party from various villages to the north and the
warriors went somewhere below Owens Lake to avenge themselves
on two of the invaders who had lingered to hunt rabbits with a line
of traps. The Paiute spread out in a wide circle and waited to enclose
the men. One of them, forewarned of danger by some supernatural
power, had refused to risk his life, and returned. The other, who
had scoffed at the danger, was killed. The Paiute removed his entire
scalp and carried it home, but held no ceremony in connection with
it, eventually losing it.
About this time Panatiibiji’, with several other men, made a trading
expedition across the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Western
Mono.!! His wares comprised principally grass seeds and pine nuts.
During the westward journey, which required several days, he got
into poison oak, and, seriously afflicted, had to remain among the
Western Mono 6 or 8 days after his tribesmen had started home.
When Panatiibiji’ was ready to depart an old man who had been his
host showed him how to avoid the danger of bears. While walking
he must beat a deerskin, which the old man gave him, and whistle at
short intervals. He must also stop traveling early each day and
gather firewood sufficient to keep a burning circle around himself all
night. Panatiibiji’ followed instructions and arrived safely home in
a few days.
About this time, also, he made a trip to Owens Lake (Paya’witit)
with several young men from Panatii, to participate in a huge deer
drive into the Monachi country in the southern Sierra Nevada
Mountains, west of Owens Lake. The hunters, numbering between
50 and 100 men, went into the mountains, firing the brush and killing
many deer. During the hunt they encountered several bears, all of
which ran away.
1! This may have been immediately after the termination of Panatiibiji’’s first marriage, for he seems to
have made a long trip after each dissolution of matrimony. One of the autobiographies records the same
thing,
STEWARD] AN OWENS VALLEY PAIUTE 189
On the third or fourth day, after they had traversed five or six
mountains, several young men from Owens Lake were standing with
Panatiibiji’ on a ridge. They dared him to walk down through a
canyon full of thickets where a bear had fled. Panatiibiji’ refused,
saying that he thought it would be foolhardy to confront the animal.
One of his companions said, “I will go down there. I will meet this
bear and fight him face to face. I will wash his face in his own faeces.”’
The boaster thereupon descended into the canyon and was not seen
again.
That night when this man had not yet returned the hunters organ-
ized searching parties. They failed to find him during the darkness,
but in the morning, tracking him from the place where he had made
his boast, soon came upon his body. The tracks made his fate amply
clear. The bear had killed him, broken his left collarbone, torn out
his heart 2 and departed. The hunters made a stretcher of willows
and carried the body to the man’s home.
After this the hunt was discontinued and a few days later Panatiibiji’
returned home.
After living with his parents 2 or 3 years, Panatiibiji’ decided to
marry again. He chose a girl in Big Pine, for whom his parents paid
as before. For several years the pair lived together, and had a number
of children, all of whom died. Panatiibiji’ attributed their death
to his wife’s failure to observe the birth taboos, which he had followed
conscientiously, and to her deep, and presumably evil, dreams.
After 7 or 8 years of increasing dissatisfaction with his marriage and
keen grief at the loss of his children, Panatiibiji’ left his wife.
Panatiibiji’ now sojourned for a year or two at the Paiute village
where Fort Independence now stands, and there met a girl with whom
he was intimate on various occasions but would not marry. Again
Panatiibiji’ returned to his parents’ home and spent several quiet
years hunting in the valley and mountains, helping to care for his
family.
During this time Panatiibiji’ made a trip east to Deer Horn Valley
Flat to help his people gather hupahya. There he met his mother’s
male cousin whom he found to be married to the girl he, Panatiibiji’,
had known at Fort Independence. Pantiibiji’ stayed with the pair
for a while helping them to gather seeds. Because the Paiute kinship
terms for parent’s cousins are the same as for parent’s brothers and
sisters, Panatiibiji’ commenced to call this girl ‘“‘aunt,’”’ vahwa, which
is father’s sister. This, from a former lover, infuriated her and she
said, ‘I am not your vahwa and I do not care for your relationship.”
Panatiibiji’, deciding that he must not be wanted, returned home to
his parents.
12 Bears which attack human beings are said always to remove the heart.
190 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
One fall, also during this second intermarital period, Panatiibiji’,
with several companions from Panatii, visited Ozanwitii, a village at
Deep Springs Lake which is across the Inyo mountains from Owens
Valley, to gather pine nuts. Sudden early cold and deep snow cur-
tailed gathering and prevented the Owens Valley people from returning
home. There was a total of some 6 to 10 camps.
One afternoon a white man appeared calling in the distance, and
as he approached the village made clear, by motions, that he was
starving. Although these Paiute had never before seen or heard of a
white man, they brought him into camp and set before him a stew
made of rabbits, pine nuts, and other seeds. When seated, the stranger
motioned that Panatiibiji’ should accompany him somewhere, cut
something with an ax which he carried, and cook it. The Indians
urged Panatiibiji’ to go with him.
Panatiibiji’ and the white man set out through the snow, the former
fearful lest this stranger kill him with the ax. Several miles from the
village, near Soldier’s Pass, they came to the body of another white
man. The stranger cut both legs from the corpse, giving one to
Panatiibiji’ and taking the other himself. Panatiibiji’, in utter terror
at this unheard-of behavior, kept well ahead of the white man as they
returned to the Indian village. Upon reaching the village, the white
man cut up the leg he had carried and called for a stew pot. The
Indians were greatly taken aback but proffered a pot which the man
filled and placed on the fire to boil. The people said, ‘“This man looks
somewhat like a human being, but we don’t know whether he will be a
friend or will eat us all up.” They planned to escape that night,
leaving Panatiibiji’ to care for the visitor, but warning him to be on
his guard. About dark, the white man ate his human stew and satis-
fied his hunger. Meanwhile, the Indians left the eamp and went to a
cave in the mountains a short distance north of Deep Springs Lake.
As Panatiibiji’ was preparing the fire to last the night the white
man indicated by motions that he desired to trade his heavy coat for
Panatiibiji’s horse. Panatiibiji? agreed and accepted the coat.
When the stranger was asleep, Panatiibiji’, wearing the coat, left the
house and mounted his horse. He rode for a long time in the snow
until lost, then crawled into a wood rat’s nest in a knoll for the night.
In the morning, finding himself but a few hundred yards from the hut
in which the white man was, Panatiibiji’ set out again and crossed
with difficulty the deep snow on the Inyo Mountains to McMurray
Spring. The following day he arrived at Panatii. A few days later
13 The horse had reached the Owens Valley country before the Americans had come. They had been
stolen from Mexicans, tcidagapatua, ‘‘people with hats,’’ somewhere to the south. Panatiibiji’ had pro-
cured his horse from a friend who lived at Owens Lake. Although these first horses were usually eaten,
Panatiibiji’ could ride his, and it was not until several years later during a food shortage at Panatti that he
had to eat it.
STEWARD] AN OWENS VALLEY PAIUTE 191
he learned that the white man had been killed by a group of Indians
from Fish Lake Valley.
About this time Panatiibiji’ made another trading expedition across
the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The party consisted principally of
men from the Big Pine village, led by one who knew the country but
was not a chief. They carried a considerable amount of salt, bought
from Saline Valley Shoshoni, to trade for acorns, deerskins, and other
goods. At their second encampment the leader said that if anyone
should have a bad dream during the night he was to take a cold bath
and talk to the spirits in the morning. The next morning, however,
no one admitted anything unusual. That day a large rattlesnake bit
the leader’s nephew, whereupon the young man confessed having
dreamed that something resembling a rope had attacked him.’* Aman
at once returned to Owens Valley and brought up a doctor who had
buzzard power” and was therefore presumed to be competent to cure
rattlesnake bites. As the doctor was ineffective, they carried the
feverish patient as far toward home as they could during the cool of
the night. Next day they procured a doctor with deer power,’® but
the patient continued to decline. The third day, about sunrise, he
died, still far from home.
The traders now made a large pyre of dry boughs and placed the
corpse onit.!7 Asit burned the uncle wept. After this, they gathered
the bones into a blanket and carried them home, all leaving their salt
in the mountains.
One spring the Big Pine village planned a rabbit drive. As they
wished to hunt along Owens River from Big Pine into Panatii territory,
they sent a messenger to Panatii to announce the date of the drive and
to invite the people to participate. About sunrise the messenger
trotted into Panatii.’2 He was seated ona blanket spread for his recep-
tion and, after telling the latest Big Pine gossip, delivered his message.
He also remarked that he had observed the tracks of three deer going
west. The Panatii people accepted the invitation to participate in
the rabbit drive and the messenger departed.
Panatiibiji’, more interested in the deer than the rabbit drive, at
once got his bow and arrows and set out to find them. He discovered
the tracks on the western side of the volcanic cone, which is north of
Panatii, followed them to the head of Little Pine Creek (tsagadu), and
finally discerned the animals under a mountain mahogany tree. He
circled them from above and was about to surprise them when a small
whirlwind (toyazaupi, “mountain sister”) carried his scent to the
animals and frightened them into flight. While Panatiibiji’ watched
4 Tt is interesting to note that the dream was announced after the casualty of which it was to bave been
an omen.
18 Commonly believed in southern California to give power to cure rattlesnake bite.
16 Kanoka.
17 Only people dying away from home are cremated.
18 Messengers always pretended to have run the entire distance.
192 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
the running deer and considered his next move, he remembered a
power he had dreamed years earlier. It was a soft wind, toya wisuedua
({toya, mountain + wisuedua, slight?). He wished that it might help
him, and said, “I will run them down.” Taking his mountain stick
(toyopodo) which all hunters carried, he raced shouting down Little
Pine Creek, along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains,
across Tiinemaha Creek, and a short distance past Red Mountain
Creek, where he stopped running knowing that the animals were
tired and would not go much farther. He then tracked them toward
Sticker’s Bench (waucodovo’, pine tree knoll), peering over each ridge
to see whether they were resting concealed somewhere. About noon
he discovered them lying under a cliff, watching for their pursuer.
Undetected, he circled above them and advanced cautiously from
rock to rock to the cliff edge. When only 50 feet away he shot an
arrow which struck one of the deer in the neck but did not killit. All
three animals jumped up in alarm, but unaware of the source of their
danger, did not flee. Panatiibiji’ shot some 10 or 12 arrows, none of
which did injury, before the deer fled. Following their tracks again,
he found that one, which he judged to be the wounded deer, had
separated from the others. Judging this one to be his easiest prey,
he followed its tracks until he observed it in the distance returning
toward him. Panatiibiji’? concealed himself by the trail and when
the animal passed within 6 feet of him, shot his last arrow into its
side. When the deer, seemingly unaffected, ran away over the hill,
Panatiibiji’? concluded that such ill fortune could only mean that
someone had bewitched him. He followed the wounded animal,
however, and in a short distance found it dead. After skinning and
eviscerating it, he carried the entrails to Taboose Creek, about a mile
away. He washed them and filled them with water and returned to
the carcass. While roasting strips of venison, he saw a man with long
hair in the distance whom he motioned to come to him. It proved
to be Tiinemaha (for whom the stream was later named), Panatiibiji’”s
distant uncle on his mother’s side. They feasted on the venison and
together carried it down to the valley. Panatiibiji’? never found out
who had charmed his hunting that day.
At another time, Panatiibiji’ was hunting late in the fall on Sticker’s
Bench. He had searched all over it but found no deer. As it was
extremely cold, with a north wind blowing, he sat down on the sunny
side of a mountain mahogany tree and threw his quiver on it. Some-
time later he left, forgetting his quiver and carrying only three
atrows in his hand. Eventually he came to a place near Tiinemaha
where hunters often spent the night. He had set about carrying
brush to build a fire when he remembered that his quiver containing
his fire outfit still hung on the mahogany tree. Angry, he ran all the
way back to the place to punish himself. Although it was now about
STEWARD] AN OWENS VALLEY PAIUTE 193
sundown, he thought of his wind power and when he arrived at the
camping place again it was only dusk.
The next day he started for Birch Mountain, where he usually had
good hunting. He came upon the tracks of three deer which he
followed, but they got his scent and ran up the hill. He followed
them until late that afternoon to the cliffs at the foot of Birch Moun-
tain, beyond McMurray Meadows, where he cornered them in a cave
or cul-de-sac in the cliffs. He shot all three deer and they fled.
After running a short distance, two died and the third, less seriously
wounded, disappeared. Panatiibiji’ skinned the two deer, spent the
night at the foot of the mountain, and in the morning went down to
the village to the toni or men’s gathering house.’® While smoking, the
men questioned him about his trip. He told them what had happened,
saying that he had killed two and the third, slightly wounded, had run.
away, but he had not followed it. A young man at once volunteered
to trail the wounded one. He did so and found it dead not far from
the others. Other men volunteered to bring down the other two.
deer. When they were brought into the village, Panatiibiji’ was
given the ribs of each, which he sold, and the remaining meat was.
distributed throughout the village.
After his second marriage, Panatiibiji’ became chief of Panatii.
His father’s brother had been chief but retired when old, and ap-
pointed Panatiibiji’, who met with popular approval. He was at
once called upon to mete out justice to a man who was presumed to.
have killed many people and who was now charged with the recent
death of a woman.” Several men came to Panatiibiji’ and requested
his assistance in killing the suspect.” He said to them, ‘‘Why did
you not speak of dealing with this man before the woman’s death?”
thinking that she might have recovered if they had done so.” ‘Now,”
he said, “I am not going with you. You may go and do what you
think best.” Soon after that the men killed the supposed witch.
Panatiibiji’ had been seriously ill at Panatii one winter following
his first marriage. During a long sickness his parents and aunts and.
uncles, who had been caring for him, decided to procure a doctor.
They sent a messenger to request the services of an old woman,
Panatiibiji’s great aunt, who lived at Padohahumatu, a village to
the south. She agreed to come the next day and told the messenger
to return and get plenty of wood ready for her. Early the following
morning, as she neared Panatii, several young men escorted her in,
breaking a trail in the snow and supporting her. She rested during
the day and in the evening, after eating, she began to doctor.
19 Not sweat house.
*% Witches may be either doctors whose power has turned bad, as indicated by the loss of too
many patients, or other people who possess the power of wishing sickness or bad luck.
21 The usual fate of witches charged with deaths.
21 Apprehension of the witch who has caused sickness and confession of the crime is sufficient to remove
the curse.
194 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 119
Many visitors had come to watch the old woman perform. She
doctored until after midnight, then announced that Panatiibiji’ had
been bewitched by two young women who were present. She then
named the women and asked them whether they were guilty. They
denied the charge. She continued to doctor and after a little while
accused the women a second time. At this point, someone asked the
doctor why these young women had bewitched Panatiibiji’. She
replied that because Panatiibiji’ was such an excellent hunter and a
fine-looking man they had become enamored of him, but, angered at
not getting him in marriage, they had taken revenge. The women
now admitted their guilt. The admission withdrew the curse, and
Panatiibiji’ soon recovered.
The doctor was paid a buckskin sack full of shell bead money
threaded on a string. She rested the following day and night and
then returned home.
Panatiibiji’s third marriage was with a girl from Tiinemaha, for
whom money was paid as for his previous wives. The couple lived
at Tiinemaha for 4 or 5 years where they had several children. Then
the wife died. Panatiibiji’ took his children to his own parents, who
were extremely fond of them. But soon, to Panatiibiji’’s great grief,
the children died. Panatiibiji’ now despaired of marriage, for the
cost of wives and of doctors during illnesses had been considerable
and had taxed his parents and uncles who had helped him, and the
worry and grief to himself had been great.
Eventually, however, Panatiibiji’ took a fourth wife, a woman from
Panapiiduhumatii, a village near Big Pine. He gave the customary
bride price and the families concerned exchanged presents. At first
the pair lived with Panatiibiji”s wife’s family; later they moved to
Panatii. Within a few years the wife took sick, and although
Panatiibiji’ hired various doctors, their treatments were without avail
and the woman died, leaving him childless.
Panatiibiji’”’s fifth and last marriage came when he was “middle
aged,” about 60 years old, he thought. After his previous costly and
grievous experiences, he had resolved never to try matrimony again
and when the parents of his last wife, considering him still to be a
capable hunter, offered him her younger sister, he was doubtful
whether to take her. His father had died by this time, adding to his
grief. At length, however, he consented to wed his sister-in-law. The
marriage was so successful that it compensated in some measure for
his previous misfortunes. He lived for many years with this woman
and had many children, of whom three, Tom Stone’s mother, aunt,
and uncle, grew up to marry and have children.
Meanwhile the wars with the white man had broken out. After
various unsuccessful attempts to subdue the Indians, the white men
% Perhaps 2 pounds.
STEWARD] AN OWENS VALLEY PAIUTE 195
proposed peace and arranged a big feast at Fort Independence for all
the Indians in the region. The Indians arrived, Panatiibiji’ among
them, and were at once deprived of their arms. The following morn-
ing the soldiers drove them down Owens Valley and then across the
Sierra Nevada Mountains from the Mojave Desert to Fort Tejon, a
journey of many days. Many people escaped en route and returned
home, but Panatiibiji’ remained among the captives because his sister
and his son were with him. After staying at Fort Tejon about 2 years,
an epidemic of dysentery (?) broke out and many of the Indians died.
Panatiibiji’ became sick but was cured by a concoction of salt grass
which his sister boiled. When he had recovered, he and his son,
“Bronco Jim,” escaped and returned home, killing a burro for food
on the way.
When Panatiibiji? was about 60 or 70 years old, having been chief
for many years, he retired in favor of his sister’s son, Joe Westerville
(puhipi’', yellow color (?)). He chose Joe in preference to his own
son, Jim, because the latter was a doctor and was much younger than
Joe.
Panatiibiji’ was comparatively active to the end of his life. Once,
however, his horse became frightened, jumped, threw him so that his
foot caught in the stirrup, and kicked him. Badly hurt, he managed
to get himself to Black Rock (tunupuwiupu). His daughter, Tom
Stone’s mother, brought a doctor known as Adova” (Oliver?), Mary
Cromwell’s father, from Bishop. For 2 days and nights Adova’
doctored by lamplight in the sweat house, sitting by his patient and
singing of his power from a mountain. There was no question of
witchcraft and the treatment was for natural sickness. Panatiibiji’
recovered slowly.
Panatiibiji’ lived about 10 years longer, rearing his orphaned grand-
son, Tom Stone. About 1910 Panatiibiji’ went to South Fork (of the
San Joaquin River) and visited a distant cousin, Bill Chico, for a year
or two. There he died of pneumonia.
Of Panatiibiji’’s children, the most remarkable was Jim Dehey, an
interpreter, cowboy, and doctor. Jim worked for white men from his
youth and was the first Paiute to learn reading and writing. When the
Indians were urged to take legal homesteads in Owens Valley, he,
serving as interpreter, procured 80 acres for himself, his father, and
for several other Indians. He was an expert cowboy and reputedly
the best rider in the valley, which merited him the nickname Bronco
Jim. His death, which occurred between 1890 and 1895, seems to have
resulted from his doctoring. An unknown person got him drunk, cut
his throat, and severed his right hand. His only child, a son, re-
mained with Panatiibiji’ and died some years later.
Tom Stone’s mother, another of Panatiibiji’”’s children, was also
killed, possibly because, like Jim, she was a doctor.
Of Panatiibiji’s children only a daughter remains alive today.
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INDEX
Page
AspoMEN, treatment for ail-
DEDLEVDE SUC TN SS ee 180
AGRICULTURE:
early, on Macon Plateau- -—-_ 61
of the Caribs.«=... 2... 145-146
prehistoric, evidence of__-_-_ 10
ARAPAHO TRIBE:
CIENT HN) 7 75-76
MPTHINODNN ese os: oo = 75
Northern and Southern _-__-_ 76
ARTEMISIA GNAPHALODES, medic-
MA AUMUSC IO hese ee ee is 180
ARTEMISIA TRIDENTATA, medic-
Hi URC) Oe a 180, 181
ARTIFACTS:
@isimibution Of. =... 20
European, in mounds- --_-__- 16
flint, illustrations of__-__-- 5, 6, 7
Atwoop, Tuomas, cited_-_-__-._- 110
Batcom, Roy H., mention of ___ 74
BASKETRY:
OT a 127-132
materials used in-___.__.. 127-132
preparation of materials for
RUS Ue Be ae ce Ee 127-128
toy figures of. = ......-- 124-125
Baskets, Carib:
description of_......__-.- 128-132
uustrationsiof=2 22... - 128-132
Baraka, a Carib settlement__ 112, 150
Baruine, Carib customs con-
Coonan ee. LO LLG, 119
Brars:
human hearts devoured by_-- 189
Paiute encounter with _-_ 188-189
Brrswax, Carib use of______- 135-136
Brrps, methods of capturing__ 148-149
BLESSING:
byathevtartiquss ss 5. lt * 83-84
Gumnae top wows SSS 88-89
BonkEs, BROKEN, treatmentfor.___ 181
Breton, FarHer Raymonn,
Caribs described by____--~- 109-110
Bronco Jim, reference to___---- 195
35729—38——14
Page
Brown, Dr., mention of_______ 74
Brown, Hanna(n):
information furnished by___ 74
peace pipe held by________ 74
Brown, Prete L., mention of___ 82
Brown’s Mount:
archeological reconnaissance
(SR 2 ES 2 ee 23-25
destriptron of... 23-24
explorations)at-. = 22... 43
BUFFALOES, permanent division
Of $22 ele: 22 et 75-76
Buu CrEmK sITE, investigation
CP Se ee EE 8 as ee 5g An tae 51
BuRIAL customs, Carib_-____-__- 1211
BurtAL urns, description of ____ 17
BurRIALS:
at trading post_._.-.-.-.-. 52-53
beneath mounds_______--- 16
IDULUSIVE Sao Ss a): Ee 16
StubbissMound= 522-2 = 37
Burt, Hartow E., information
received! from 32-42 2e3 355. 74
BusHNELL, D. I., Jr., acknowl-
edementtoie®s3 4.52. 55
Ca aBasuH, Carib use of_______- 140
CANE PRESS:
Ulustrationyof< 23 ae 140
WSC) MOB ae i ag 139
CANNIBALISM, Paiute story of-. 190
CANOES, DUGOUT:
construction of._...-.--- 141-1438
desenpiion of s252-5-—_-... 141
CARDINAL POINTS, ceremonial ob-
RET Van CCyOhe a 43s ea 89, 90
CARIB LANGUAGE:
Giscussion) Of. 225-25 see 152
MODREGROBAIIE | 2 oo dca 157-159
WOcRDUIAEY.Of 152-156
CarRIB RESERVE:
boundaries Of=: =22- 5-5-2 111
MTCAlIOny Ol. 2. 95.2 oS eee lil
desenipiion.ofs.. 3. = =-- S38 112
Map Oss. sass oss- nee 113
197
198 INDEX
Page Page
Carin War, so-called, account CLANSMEN, Fox word for-_-_-_-_-- 163-164
Ofzys See See ey Roe 111-112] CLassiFICATION AND TERMI-
CARIBS: NOLOGY, discussion of_______- 66-68
change in life of___-___--- 110, 114| CLorxine, use of, among Carib
decline in population of_---- i? \|\yyehildren=—-2 >... 122
manners and customs of__ 114-115] Comancuss:
mentalstiraitsobs=_ 22255 4- = 113 modern Fox term for_-___--- 164
physical characteristics of. 112-113 old Hoxterm for: -=23Sea=e— 164
Carry SHor Gun, mention of-_-_- 82| CONCLUSIONS, GENERAL, ON ex-
Carrer, JOHN G., paper by-_--- 69-101 plorations at Macon___-_----- 58-68
Cassava, preparation of___--- 137-138 | ConunpRums, Carib fondness
CASSAVA CANOE: fore. Moku cus ss ee 123, 124
description Mrs 222.2 e Le 137-138 | Corry, DR., feast given by__---- 74
HlusirationrOlee= 4-22 o™ 137 | Corton, use of, by the Caribs___- 133
CASSAVA GRATER: COWANIA STANSBURIANA, medic-
deseripuom Gr -- "= 2-2 137}. inalcuse of... _._-. 32a 180
HiteeraniomOLses. 262252 137 | CREATION MyTH of the Arapaho__ 73-74
CASSAVA SIFTER: CREMATION, among the Paiute___ 191
constructioniOf=.-_.-— == 129-130} CromwE.LL, Mary, reference
MUStraviOnOLe 2] - == Se 130)| > to.22 22S 195
CASSAVA SQUEEZER: DEHEY, JIM, brief account of___ 195
Construction Olea 2 => 2---- = 130| DeLTaA WARE, application of the
MlUStrahioniOlea sss ae 131 NAME. 2525554522255 = ee 9
CEREMONIAL BUILDING, two types DeEstTRUCTION by supernatural
Of 2 Ae See oe, eee 39 means es a ee 172-173
CEREMONY OF COVERING THE Drvunt, DAoORN, cited 22 s2ase== 66
PIPE: DIARRHEA, treatment for___---- 180
description oft 22—-5 2222 c= 80-101} DircH, MOAT-LIKE, description
Pier Oren eee eee | of. saat eee ee 54
ODE Cine ees ee eee 77 | DomINIcA:
preliminaries tou 2.-_=2-=2-- 80 discovery of-.3-= 109
procession in 22572 te | 2s 80-82 native name of. 22-2 ae 109, 110
seating of persons in_------- 82, 83 the Garibs off ae 103-159
CHEST PAINS, treatment for-__-_--- 180| Dorsny, Grorce A., mention
CHEYENNE, separation of, from Oe ase eee 73
Ja ME6 0° 10 eRe PON GES A Nyc g hd 75 | Dreams, power bestowed by-_ 187-188
Cuico, Brut, reference to-_------ 195] Dyucouts:
Curnr, Parurs, appointment of. 193 comparison of_._.--------- 20-21
CurerrainsHip, Paiute, succes- conclusions derived from_-_. 12, 22
sion in_------------------ 193, 195 depressions suggestive of _-- 25
CHILDBIRTH, customs connected discussion Of... eee 12-14
with, among Caribs_--_--_----- uit pottery from.____ 2 ae 21-22
CHILDREN: - DunuapP Movunp, exploration of_ 18
Carib, clothing of ---------- 122) faprH LODGE, CEREMONIAL:
Carib, games of___------- 122-125 description of__..-_------- 11
Carib, labor of----- ie aaa 125 destruction of. = 52 =3e—e—==— 11
Indian belief concerning - -_- 163 discovery af base ak Loreen 11
CHRONOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS, foahites Of... 2. 24
Statement: Ofwes =e ne ee 63-65 ;
Ckrononocy; of Macén Pla. EATING customs, Carib_------- 118
tea conn ee 39-44| Hrriay Dog pots, funerary ware
Crvit Worxs ADMINISTRATION, Of. -s=-—.- 35 Ba Eee 51
PrOjeeL Uses ee ene 1| EFFIGY HEADS, animal__-_-_-- 24-25, 38
INDEX 199
Page Page
Ekin, Mr. anp Mrs., mention Foop:
Gee, Seo 55253 5222S oe 81, 82, 85 ceremonial, blessing of_-_-_-_- 88-89
ETHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH, diffi- ceremonial, offering of_____ 89-91
culties attending, in Domin- left-over, distribution of____ 92
Ree oe os AED AAA 115 of the Caribs____..._._.._ 138-139
EvreLyn PLANTATION, reference
U,0 12 = ee ee ee Oe Ma a 29
Excavation, method used in-__ 8,15
EYE TROUBLES, treatment for___ 180
FactaL PAINTING in Pipe cere-
148
166, 167
Feast, in honor of the Flat Pipe. 77, 91
Fevers, treatment for________- 181
FIRE DRILL:
description’ Of_2 » fo 2 2k
mlusiration of 2. 22...--_. 23 135
FisHineG, among the Caribs___ 143-145
Fuat Prrpe:
ceremony of touching the_. 96—98
deseription: of s—+222.01 2222 94-95
illustration of 22 s2.....=-. 95
place of, in Arapaho myth-
ee as 73, 76
purpose of touching__-_-__-_-_ 98
supernatural sealing of _-_-__- 78
transportation of________-_- 76
Fiat PirpE BUNDLE:
aeseription: of >— 22 oo soe 93
Opening of a> farey ny: vie 92-94
place of, in Sun dance_--_--_- 76-77
requirements for opening___ 78-79
PRA pine: Of = 2-8 98-99
Fiat PIrE CEREMONY:
description’ of =2L 2S.
See also CEREMONY.
FLINT INDUSTRY, prepottery, evi-
OS Uo (Clee Ge old er 2-8
FLINTS, WORKED:
eharacteristics of _......-_- 2-3
distribution of, with regard
LG) SOILS pee 6-7
DAMNATION Ole a a 3-4
MAGE y OL ee es a 2
FOLSOM POINTS, occurrence of_- ii
FONTENELLE, VICTOR:
assistance rendered by__-_-- 75
part taken by, in ceremony- 81,
82, 84, 85, 94
Forp, Jamas A.:
collections studied by_____- 57
field data recorded by_____-_ 48
work directed by_.-.------ 46
Fort INDEPENDENCE, betrayal of
Pndianawatiisabos.. 2425238 195
Fort Mountain State Park,
rock walltate. 2355252. eee 25
Four, the ceremonial number___ 163,
167, 169, 176
Fox InpIANs:
belief of, concerning chil-
Gren senerears bene siti oss SS 163
first contact of, with Arap-
AGUHLG SOC vss. weve - 164
first contact of, with Co-
MmsanchesuNes LU Ses es 164
Fripay, Mrs. Rosrrr:
acknowledgment to___-_-_- 75
ceremony managed by----- 79, 80
information furnished by_- 77, 101
FRIDAY, ROBERT:
assistance rendered by_--_-- 75
ceremony managed by----- 79
information furnished by_-_- 74,
75, 77, 78, 80, 101
part taken by, in ceremony~- 80,
82, 90, 96-97, 99, 100
GAME BASKET, illustration of__.. 132
GAMES AND PASTIMES of Carib
childvenives 2 see eee 122-125
GentLe Manitou, mention of__ 163
GrorciA, outstaning archeo-
Jovical/ sites ini 2222 Sc seubsi 50
GRASSHOPPER, Esau, mention of_ 82
GREEN BEAR:
sickness and death of _____- 176
the one who was blessed__ 163, 175
GrizzLy Brar, transformation of,
into: Indians. 20s bl. dhe? 173
Gros VENTRES OF THE PRAIRID,
separation of, from Arapaho-- 75
Gon; Carib tse of. _o esto ces 135
Hasirations, Carib__..----- 125-127
Harris, Gen. WALTER, mention
Ge cy sce ee Rate O 55
200 IND
Page
HarRro.p, C. C.:
acknowledgment to___-_---- 29
mention Of 222 ese Pear: 55
Hastines, Mr., feast given by-_- 74
“He WHO COVERS THE PIPB’’:
author referred to as______- 74-75
part taken by, in ceremony_ 99-100
HEAD AILMENTS, treatment for_._ 179
HEAD DEFORMATION, among the
Carilys 44 ingot) ceo ugh pegele were: 110
HEART TROUBLE, treatment for__ 180
HEREDITY, in connection with
Plat ivBipesis se aR Ste 83
HiguH woops:
application of the name --_-- 147
Carib dependence on____- 147-149
HouprrR, PRESTON, mention of _-_ 29,
51, 60
Horsss, first use of, by Paiute__ 190
House sites, Stubbs’ Mound,
significanceioies: > . Seep 35-36
HUNTING cUSsTOMS, Paiute_____-_ 186
Huts, Caris, construction of_ 126-127
INCENSE, use of, in Flat Pipe
CELEINO MY {set fet el iy ey wee 96
INCISED WARE, absence of ___-_-_- 31, 32
INDUSTRIES, CHIEF, of the Caribs_ 127
IrENE Movnp, archeological
workjatg st Sepe pee hy ers ol
JACKSON, JAMES A.,_ sketch
MAG ety es Saas feels ae ile
Jonss, C. C., structures noted by_ 25
KEELING’s Camp, reference to
collections} frome) 22 yaa 45
Keiiy dA. R.,ipaper by 2. ser =. v-68
KENTIAN EOLITHS, comparison
of, with Macon specimens_- --- 4
Kitcuens, location of, in the
Wiestingiege = 8 is a8 aah fs 126
Ko.omokI, study of pottery from- 29
Krorser, A. L., mention of____ 73, 74
BARAT Cited...te Bia tony gone s 110
LABor:
division of, among Caribs_- 119
of Carib children____+--_-- 125
LABORATORY OF ANTHROPOLOGY,
work of students of______-_-- 26
EAEBORDE \cited: | 2 sy eas: eet 110
Lapp Movuntan, rock wall at_- 25
La Fiescue, FRANctIs, informa-
Lion furnished toys see 163
LAMAR MOUNDS AND VILLAGE
SITE, exploration of_....----- 46-51
EX
Page
LAMAR SITE:
pottery complex____-___--- 46-48
stratified indications at_____ 48-49
LAND CRABS, description of _---- 148
LANGUAGE, CARIB:
discussion) of 4=-25224422" = 152
phrases ins, 2 ee 157-159
vocabulany, of5..-=-4- 255 152-156
La Rocue Pscova, legend of-_ 150-151
Luecrenps,;/GaARIB. . 222222528 149-151
LEMUI SHOSHONI PuysIcaL THER-
177-181
DY Dan ete e ek ee ee 51
Lincotn, Harry, information
furnished, by... .:...--- 3333 163
LITERATURE on Sauk and Fox. 164-165
LIZARDS:
dried, medicinal use of___-- 181
method of catching____-__-- 148
LovIstIANA STATE UNIVERSITY,
reference to_..-.._ 4542-33 46
McDovuceatp Movunp, explora-
tion Of n42--te22¢4.e eee 17-18
McKern, W. C., cited_-.------ 66
Macon PLATEAU:
chronology:of 1-42 22422 5 32-44
conclusions regarding cul-
ture:0f.*= 3.4432 23
cutting and filling on____-- 20
description of_._ - 33-22 ===ee 2
heavy occupation of___---- 20
map showing archeological
features of. -- 5. bees 4
Mantoc:
cassava made from__------ 137
cultivation of... 1242333522 146
Manourine, Carib attitude to-
wardriis. 2b Ue 0 eee 119
MARRIAGE CUSTOMS:
Caribaket 116-117
Panites ss ae 186, 194
Mats, ROLL-UP:
Ulustrationiohs =. 133
materialused (or. =e 182
MEDICAL PRACTICES:
Carib: . 2. eee 119-120
(Pape te Me yw ee ee 191, 193-194
MeEpIcINnE, use of the word. _---- 73
MBENOMINI:
belief of, concerning children, 163
belief of, concerning turtle_. 164
INDEX 201
Page Page
MicHetson, TRUMAN, paper OcmutcErE Nationat Monv-
OW Aa eee ee 161-176 MENT:
Mippte Puateav, investigations development of_____------ 51
Ties = eee 18-19 establishment of_____------ 2
Mrxep BLOODS, increasing pro- OFFERINGS:
On lh ia 114 ceremony determined by - -- 82
Moonry, JAmgs, mention of__--- 73, 74 tothe Fiat Pipe... _- 77
Moore, Cot. Jamzs, mention of - 5b1 Ores, Cary Use.0l 2... 136
Movunp A, Macon Group: OxpMan, Domic, information fur-
Construction of_.--_------- Da mMnEBHed: Nye ee oe ee 74
exploration of-__._.--.--- 19-23 | Oups, Jim, mention of______---- 186
location and size of_.------- 19|Omauna Inprans, belief of, con-
Movunp B, Macon GRoupP: cerning children________----- 163
ponstwruction Of_.—_---_.-.- 23 | Omens, Carib belief in_____--__- 120
Sie, 19-23 | One Mite Track SITE, explora-
OCCT 7 ela ge RU Undies 31-32
Mowunp C: ORIGIN MyTH, Sauk, similar to
construction of__----- panes ss USN CT Dad GIA teste Lal: ln ig eal 163
Belomion Of... - ~ =~ 15-17 | Pains, arm and leg, treatment
Mownp D, stratification of ------ pe 0 Rag ie oa ns Sv ee 181
Movunp-svILpine, period of, on PAINTING:
Maron Piatcau._-.-_—-=--.-— 14-18 face and body, in ceremony. 85-87
Movunps: face and body, symbolism
Adkin’s pasture, exploration Of eee oe ee 87
od ete ee 26|ParuTE, AN OwrENs VALLEY,
Gampasition.of_.. . .-. -_=-- 10; 19} biggmaniy @be 2s. .- 2s 183-195
covered with clay shell_----- 17,18] Panatipis1, AN OwENS VALLEY
nasural ot clay... -_----~-~- Pe?) (va) Eyre c's Seer igh gaaiaiaen 183-195
Pitpose OF... 2. =—...——~-— 27 | PANNIERS AND VALISES-..------- 129
Switt Creek, excavation of-- 26 | PATINATION:
Swift Creek, habitation levels OL iintes 22 ee ee 3-5
Tn ap 2a a eal ete ae 27 restricted use of the word_- 4
Swift Creek, occupational Patterson, Mrs. H. Wayne,
hg! 6 real 26-27| cooperation of, at Bull Creek
NAMES BIGGS Rigas a eh 3 ng 51
Creole, of Indian origin-_ 156-157
Personal, Caribavoidanceof. 118
NAMING customs, Carib----- 117-118
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, work
of, in Ocmulgee Basin___-_---- 2
NET LANDING, illustration of__-. 133
NortTHerRN ARAPAHO FLAT PIPE
AND THE CEREMONY OF COVER-
ING PH. Prey. Jeo Si et 69-101
OxseEeR, FREDERICK:
stories:told by 2<. 2% 110-111
visit of, to Salybia_..__---= 110
OcMULGEE BasIN:
exploration of sites in___--~- 2
key maps to site exploration
Ol EL ie lee 3
Mississippian influences on_ 57-58,
61-62
result of exploration in__--- 1
PHRASES, CONVENTIONAL, in Sauk
ceremonials and sacred narra-
[igs ena 163, 164, 167, 171, 172
PrAt, explanation Of —— oc ce 120
PIEGAN TRIBE, joined by the
IOS y VERE A ion cpt = — Bh ae 75
PiegmEnts, Carib use of__-~--- 136-137
PINE PITCH, application of, to
SOV OUINGS he te ara Sg tee 181
Pits. See Duaovurts.
PEAGHNIAMINS) MO ARIB == 7c ceo = 157
POISONS tons. 22. se 145
Pors, inverted, description of_-- 53
PorsHERDS, apparent migration
fy ioe net honed Sei he aie ao 41
PorrErRy:
checker stamp or grid-bar_- 30
fiber-tempered -__---------- 30
from Brown’s Mount------ 24-25
202 INDEX
Porrery—Continued. Page Page
from Mound O22 2225-22255 17 | SEXUAL RELATIONS, CARIB_____- 116
from Mounds A and B____- 21 |SHavEe Hwan:
from prehistoric dugouts___ 21-22 assistance rendered by- -_-_- 75
from the trading post___-__-_ 56 information furnished by___- Ile
incised, absence of________-_ Sloe 80, 82, 94, 101
plain, characteristics of_____ 29-30 | Suet Rock Cave srs, explora-
scarcity of, from ceremonial ©
LOGEES Lees eee ates: 2 een 38
Slampedesee ses Ses ee eer 8-9
Stubbs’ Mound, conclusions
GUA wi erOre eset eee 36-37
Swift Creek, discussion of... 27-31
See also STAMPED WARE.
“PorrERY COMPLEX,” use of the
PRAYER, in Pipe ceremony ----- 81-82,
85, 89, 100
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON
ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS
AT MACONe Gi Ase = s2 eee v-68
Procession of the Flat Pipe, de-
SCHIPULLONVO Lamas seen os ae 80-81
PROJECTILES showing ‘‘Folsom-
Old FECES Ip ee eae te ee 7
P’riT Francots, legends of._.._ 149-150
PUBERTY CUSTOMS, CARIB_.-_ 115-116
RATTLESNAKE BITE, treatment
LO See NR Soyer Rees meee 191
RELATIONSHIP, Paiute terms of__ 189
RueMEDInS; CARIB. - 2-202 _ 3 119-120
RopeEkrts, JOHN:
acknowledgment to______-- 75
MENTION Olen ae eee 74
ROCHEFORT, cited. 2 Le oe 110
Rock WALLs, theory concerning 25
RvSsSsELL, R. J., site visited by__-_ 6
SacrEep Pack:
name for, in Sauk, Fox,
Kickapoo, and Shawnee__ 163
Sauk, account of____-_-- 163-176
Sac, medicinal use of________- 180
St. Cyr, a Carib settlement____ 112
Saver, C. O., site visited by__-_- 6
SAUK AND Fox:
close relationship of____---- 165
literature ono ss. 2 =e 164-165
Sauk Inprans, account of sacred
PAckvOl Hla s See 163-176
ScRAPERS, specialized_-_-_------ 7-8
Sex, ignorance of, among Indian
VOUNP IMCs ee a 2 ee ok 187
tlon Of22_ 2022.) 2 32
SHELTERS, temporary Carib, con-
struction) Of 2) = 125-126
SHOULDER BASKET, illustration of 132
SICKNESS:
Carib beliefs concerning__ 120-121
Shoshoni beliefs concerning. 179
simple remedies used for___._ 179
Srtk Grass (Bromelia sp.), twine
made from-.-- 2.2 52S 133
SITE EXPLORATION, tabulation of. 63-65
SLAVERY, among the Dominicans. 110
Smitu, LEon P.:
investigations of__..._-____ 4
studies made by_._--_---_- 20
Smiru, LUKE:
assistance rendered by_.__- 75
keeper of the Flat Pipe____-_ 74
part taken by, in ceremony_ 80,
82, 83, 85, 87, 88, 92, 93, 94,
96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, work
under @uUspices of. e722 eeeee 1
SMOKING:
Arapho custom concerning._ 88, 91
ceremonial... _ 2 ae 100
OCIA 2-2 eee 87-88, 99
SNARE, BIRD, illustration of____~ 148
SocraAL ORGANIZATION among the
Caribs.2..3252-¢,- 2 eee 115
Society ror GrorGcia ARCHAE-
OLOGY, assistance of_.___-_--- 1
Sones:
Carib, words and music of_. 157
cerem@niale/. 242225252 170-171
hypnotic effect of.___------ 164
SPEECH, in worship__-_------ 171-172
SPOON, CEREMONIAL, painting of _ 89
SPRING siITEs, on Middle Macon
Plateausatec.el See eee 18-19
SPRING SITES, PREHISTORIC, con-
clusions derived from_-_----- 22
Starrway, clay-molded_------- 16
STAMPED DESIGN:
development of__._.------ 28
method used In_ 222242 =ee= 30-31
INDEX 203
STAMPED DESIGN—Continued. Page Page
Swift Creek, periods indi- THREAD, TWINE, AND ROPE, ma-~
meee yas ok 33-34 |.. terials used in___....._..__ 133-134
STAMPED WARE: THUNDER DANCE OF THE BEAR
antiquity of, in central GENS, mention of._......._.- 163
eS re 58—61 | TrnDER Box, CARIB:
MISMOUtONVOtS= ——- 5.53 44-45 gdeseription of ....--....... 134
sien, Glage 31 PULTE seh ites hy er a ir 135
significance of location of___ 22 | Toornacues, treatment for______ 180
Stewarp, Juuian H., papers by. 177—| Torcuss, Carib_______________ 135
181, 183-195
Stone, Forrest R., assistance
ReNOered Diy a sete se oop eS ok 75
Strong, Tom, biography furnished
ad ee 185
123-124
bf ee er 8-12
Srusss’ Mounp:
CONSPTUCtION Ol-_—.-—=-.=-- 35
discussion of structures of__ 35-36
SxCAVbONUOb se = =< sok
PoOLweny frome. 2--.=-=-.
Sun Dances, Southern Arapaho,
Pemrener to_................ 87
SUNFLOWER ROOTS, medicinal use
i p32 ee 180
SUPERNATURAL BLESSINGS---_-_-_- 167,
168, 169
Swanton, J. R.:
acknowledgment to____-_-- 55
SiG ws ee 51
mention of work of_______-_ 51
SWEAT BATH, preliminary to cere-
Swirt CREEK sITE:
chronological position of__.__ 32-44
discussion of pottery of... 27-31
exPlOraion) Olea a) 2... 25-31
TaBLes, Carrs, disappearance
{eee 130
TABOOS:
‘Cing) tae. 2. 118
concerning game_______-_ 186, 187
TALES OF THE Pip, telling of__- 78
TERRACE OR WALL, ROCK, de-
scribed as fortification. ______ 25
ThrE CHIEN:
‘EPS [so CR a aes Soe eee 74
URN BURIALS, indications of__._ 52-53
UTEnNsILS, Carib domestic__._._ 137-140
VARIATIONS, TYPOLOGICAL, in
DOLIGRY 2542 5 ees eee ee 33
VILLAGE, stratified, excavation
Ob: hye tia ee ees i 8-12
VINING sITE, decoration of pot-
boty inane a0 5 ae 31
VOCABULARY, Canrs. 2.2. _.. 152-156
WALKING, Carib manner of____-_ 114
Wak PARTY, account of_____- 173-175
WEASEL Bear, keeper of the
leit rary es en ee 74
WESLEYAN COLLEGE, Macon,
Ga.; reference to... 2222222 4, 20
West Inp1gs, indigenous Indians
AS ae Srp re Ne et et 109
WHAT HAPPENED TO GREEN BEAR
WHO WAS BLESSED WITH A
SACKED) PACK. oo. 22225 .-- 161-176
Waits, Oscar:
assistance rendered by_---- 75
custodian of the Flat Pipe_- 73
Gesthtor ss) eo. eee 74
part taken by, in ceremony~- 80
82, 83, 87, 89, 93, 97, 98, 99, 100
204 INDEX
Page Page
WHITE ANTELOPE, GEORGE, WoopwarkbD, ARTHUR, acknowl-
MENON COL. oe ee ee ee 82 edgment'to: ==---.-3 See 55
Wuitr Piume, Lizzie, mention WorsHip, speech in___..___-- 171-172
Ole Sea 82, 83, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90} Wounps, treatment of_______- 181
WHITE PLUME, PETE, mention WRESTLING, practice of, among
OLD a AAR AA eer. 82, 87, 97 | ° Caribs: 222224...) See 122
Wuiteman, Mnr., information YAMASSEE WARS, result of______ 55
furnished by 22242 -.- 22 74| YELLow Brar, CHESTER, men-
WILLEY, GorDON, work of___--- 42, 48|~ ‘tion of2_2e025. . 2) eee 82
WircucraAFt, Paiute belief in__. 192,| YeErtow Berar, Mrs., mention
193, 194 | \ of 2882222224 _. >. eee 82
Wo.tr Lune, Indian name of YELLOW Car, mention of____- 82,
LokeSimiti tie eS 74 84, 88, 92. 96, 100
Woops, used in Carib house
Ip al hie a 2 Ne cee 127
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