middle Wisconsin. Formerly, temporary shelter-tents of bark were erected, but now the simpler and less troublesome canvas tent is used. Large quantities of snakeroot (Senega polygala) also were collected and afterward pressed, for transportation to the larger towns. Now, however, this plant has become rather scarce, and search therefor has been practically abandoned. Most of the snakeroot now comes from northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, both localities being within the territory of the Ojibwa.

CANOES

The Menomini have almost entirely discontinued the making of both the simple dugout and the birch bark canoe, and even among the old men but few are now recognized as having, in their day, been experts in this industrial art.

The simpler form of boat was the dugout, made of the single trunkpreferably that of a butternut tree. This wood is much heavier than most others available, but the Indians believe it to resist better than any other variety the effects of long contact with water, as well as the erosion to which the bottom is subjected by frequent rowing in shallow streams with beds of gravel or bowlders.

The specimen represented in plate XXXV is of pine. It was made by Mä'tshi-kine'u-Bad-eagle-shortly after the removal of the Menomini to their present reservation. The canoe is therefore about fifty years old, but it is a typical example. The total length is 20 feet, the diameter across the gunwale at the point of the first inside rib is 214 inches, and at the second rib 204 inches. The total height is 11 inches. It will be observed that on the inside of the bottom of the canoe, near each end, stands a ridge of wood resembling a rude rib-for which it is really intended to serve-to give strength to the sides and to preserve the form of the vessel.

As the dugout is only from an inch to au inch and a half in thickness, it becomes apparent that such a permanent support is necessary to prevent the breaking of the bottom, such damage easily resulting from exposure to the air after having been in the water for a long time. In the example above illustrated, a longitudinal crack, at some points over half an inch wide and extending nearly the entire length of the boat, resulted from drying.

The paddles employed are the same as for the birchbark canoe, the blade and handle each being about 2 feet in length.

When a single oarsman uses a canoe, he always kneels at the stern or narrower end of the canoe, the difference in the width of this part corresponding to the smallest diameter of the trunk from which it was made. When the tree does not have any perceptible variation in diameter, the outside is chipped down with an ax and a draw-knife, in order to make the stern narrower, and thus to give the canoe almost the shape of a cigar. The oarsman places a small bunch of grass in the bottom. On this he kneels and paddles only at one side, readily keeping the canoe

in a straight course by following each stroke with a slight outward turn, thus compensating for the divergence of the bow from a true course. When a second oarsman is present, he occupies the bow and uses his paddle at the opposite side to that of the oarsman at the stern. Frequently these canoes are laden with people from stern to bow until the gunwale touches the water's edge; yet the occupants appear entirely unconscious of any danger, on account of the skill with which the oarsmen manipulate their paddles and control every movement of the canoe. The birch bark canoe is by far the most graceful piece of mechanism produced by the Menomini. But few are now either made or owned by these people, since their more advanced mode of life does not demand extensive travel by such means.

It is believed that the birchbark canoe is the invention of the Indian. The earliest reports concerning the discoveries of the French mention this vessel, and Indians arrived by canoe at French settlements from parts which no explorers had then penetrated.

The general form of the canoe differs to some extent among the various northern tribes. The type of canoe made by the Menomini resembles that of the Ojibwa of Wisconsin, who are their nearest northern neighbors, and with whom they have for many years maintained friendly relations, and to some extent intermarried. For their manufacture large birch trees that appear to furnish the best bark are selected, and the pieces are cut as large as possible. These sections are sewed together with threads made of the long, thin roots of a species of spruce, a material both durable and well adapted, notwithstanding constant wetting.

The framework of the bark canoe is made of white cedar, which is durable, light, and elastic. The ribs are thinned with a drawing knife (plate XXXVI), and when the required number have been made, they are curved according to the part of the canoe which they are intended to brace the middle, of course, being much more distended laterally, while the ends gradually narrow to a point.

The tops of the ribs are held in place by being tied to a crosspiece, the rib and crosspiece thus resembling a bow and its string. Then the entire series of ribs is fastened by tying to the longitudinal strips corresponding to the gunwale, thus setting up the skeleton, as it were. These strips also are cut to the required thickness by means of a draw-knife.

When the framework has reached this stage, the bark, which in the meantime has been stitched together, is laid on the ground, the framework placed upon it, and then the bark is turned up over the sides, when short posts are driven into the ground, all around the canoe, to hold the outside strips, to reinforce the edge or gunwale, and to prevent the breaking of the bark at that edge. The appearance of the work at this stage is presented in plate XXXVII. All the necessary stitching is then done to hold in place the tightly secured bark. The bow and the

stern, though apparently similar, are still sufficiently unlike for the Indian to note which is the bow, for that end of the canoe, as in the dugout, is usually a little broader across the shoulders. The bottom of the canoe is lined with thin slats or shingles to protect the delicate bark from being broken. The seams, small punctures, and knot holes are then sealed with pine resin.

Although the women have many duties to perform in connection with the building of a canoe-such as cord-spinning, the stitching together of the pieces of bark, and the final lashing of the long pieces forming the gunwale-the men are generally the ones to use the paddle when traveling.

The paddle is made of cedar or some other light wood. It measures about 4 feet in length, of which nearly one-half is devoted to the blade, which varies from 4 to 6 inches in width. Generally the top of the handle has two projecting pieces resembling the letter T, giving the oarsman an easy and effective means of holding and using the paddle. When not in use the canoe is always pulled ashore and turned over in order to allow the bottom to dry.

VOCABULARY

INTRODUCTORY

In reviewing the subject of Menomini linguistics, it may be stated that two printed works, a vocabulary of about four hundred words (which has supplied the material for nearly all comparative purposes to which reference is made in bibliographies) and the Lord's prayer (which has been reprinted in a number of works), comprise all the published material in the Menomini language.

The two works mentioned are a Catholic prayer-book and a catechism, both by Father Zephyrin, O. S. F., formerly missionary at Keshena, Wisconsin, the editions of which are exhausted. A few hymns also were printed by Father Zephyrin, on a small hand-press, the entire number covering only twelve unpaged, unstitched leaves, some of them being printed on the backs of picture cards.

Père Flavien J. Bonduel1 published the Lord's prayer in Menomini, which has been reprinted by Bergholtz, Shea, Trumbull, and other students of Indian linguistics.

The Menomini vocabulary referred to is that compiled by W. H. Bruce and published by Henry R. Schoolcraft. The copy in the library of the Bureau of Ethnology bears many corrections by some unknown person, indicating, apparently, that numerous errors in phonetics existed. This vocabulary has been used by many writers from which to select numerals and other words for comparison with various Indian languages.

1 Souvenir religieux d'une mission Indienne, Tournai, imprimerie de Malo et Levasseur, 1855. 2 Indian Tribes, vol. ii, Philadelphia, 1852, pp. 470-481.