the leaves on the inside of the mat. The extreme ends are secured by tying to two strips of wood, one above and one below, and wrapped with basswood cords. The rush-leaf mats are compactly woven, and are used upon the floors and in the medicine structure for seats.

Leaves for mat-making are prepared by first cutting them when green, then steeping them in boiling water, and laying them in the sun. to bleach. Some leaves are then dyed, to produce in the final work various designs in colored stripes. These colors are chiefly dull green, red, and brown. The frame employed in making mats consists of two upright poles about 10 feet high and 6 to 8 feet apart (plate xx). Another pole is then tied transversely as high as the face of the worker. Along the crosspiece is then stretched a stout cord of basswood fiber, to which the leaves are attached by plaiting, thus making the latter pendent, one against the other, for as great a length as it is desired to make the mat. A long thread, also of basswood fiber, with a diameter of nearly three-sixteenths of an inch, is then attached to the left side of the row of leaves and run across toward the right by passing it in and out alternately over and beneath the leaves in succession. At intervals. of every 4 or 6 inches a loop is made, to prevent the woof from slipping down, the loop being pulled out when another space of 4 or 6 inches is woven and stretched taut. The worker is occasionally obliged to spray water on the leaves, to make them pliable and to prevent breaking. When the right side is reached, the woof is secured to a heavier warp cord, which had been previously attached to the vertical pole. The colored leaves have already been placed at proper points, in the first instance, to give the desired stripes when finally woven. The lower edge is finished by cutting the leaves of equal length and plaiting them from left to right, when the last leaves are turned under and tied. A typical specimen of rush mat is illustrated in plate XXI.

Bark mats are now rare among the Menomini; plate XXII represents an entire specimen, while in plate XXIII a section only is shown. They are made of the inner bark of the cedar, cut in strips averaging half an inch in width. Some of the mats are nearly white, others are colored dark red and sometimes black with native vegetal dyes. The decoration is effectively produced in diamond and lozenge patterns, as well as in zigzag lines, both by color and by the weaving of the weft strips, the latter being accomplished by taking up and dropping certain numbers of the warp strips.

BASKETS

Baskets are made much on the same principle of plaiting as is employed for bark mats. The strips or osiers are made from black elm, the necessary limbs being from 3 to 4 inches in diameter (figure 37); these are thoroughly hammered with a wooden mallet (figure 38) until the individual layers of the branch are detached from the

layers immediately beneath. These layers are then cut into thin narrow strips by means of the knife universally used (figure 39). The

FIG. 37-Elm log for making splints.

strips are kept in coils (figure 40) until ready for use, when they are soaked in water. Figure 41 illustrates a finished basket.

Cutting is always done away from the hand holding the material to be cut, and toward the body.

The club or mallet employed in hammering the elm wood is about 20 inches long and has one end thinner, so as to form a handle.

TWINE AND ROPE

Thread, cord, twine, and rope are made of vegetal fiber, the chief material being derived from the inner bark of the young sprouts of basswood. The bark is removed in sheets and boiled in water to which a large quantity of lye from wood ashes has been added. This softens the fiber and permits the worker to manipu late it without breaking. The shoulderblade of a deer or other large animal is then nailed or otherwise fastened to an upright post, and through it a hole about an inch in diameter is drilled; through this hole bunches of the boiled bark are pulled backward and forward, from right to left, to remove from it all splinters or other hard fragments. After the fiber has become soft and pliable, bunches of it are hung up in hanks, to be twisted as desired.

The manner of making cord or twine, such as is used in weaving mats and for almost all other household purposes, is by holding in the left hand the fiber as it is pulled from a hank, and separating it into two parts, which are laid across the thigh. The palm of the right hand is then rolled forward over both, so as to tightly twist the pair of strands, when they are permitted to unite and twist into a cord. The twisted end being pushed a little to the right,

FIG. 39-Knife of native workmanship.

the next continuous portion of the united strands also are twisted to form a single cord. The same process is followed in all fiber twisting, even to the finest nettle

deer are rubbed into the skin, which is then stretched and pulled and rubbed until dry. This is supposed to prevent the subsequent stiffen

ing of buckskin garments when subjected

to water or rain. The hair is removed by laying the skin on a large smooth piece of wood, or by stretching it on a frame or on the ground. This process is represented in plate XXIV, in connection with which another stage of tanning also is illustrated. This is almost the final process-that of hanging the skin like an inverted bag or funnel over a small fire, in order that the smoke may penetrate the skin and cure it.

MEDICINE BAGS

The members of the Mitä'wit employ for medicine bags the skins of small animals, birds, and snakes, also panther and bear paws, and similar objects of animal origin; but at no time have bags been seen or even heard of, made of any part of a fish. The reason for this could not be ascertained from the Indians themselves, but an explanation of the tabu will perhaps be found in the mythology relating to the totems.