CHAPTER VI.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIANS.
What the savages wore - A brilliant princess - Love of ornament - Light attire of boys - Cleanliness not a virtue - Domestic arts - The Great Spirit-Warfare and gambling-Management of babiesTraining of boys and girls-The pipe, its significance and usesDelaware tradition.
Indian Costumes. 1
ThE costume of the men consists of a colored shirt; a woolen blanket, white, red or blue: a pair of leggins or gaiters, of red or blue cloth, adorned with silk ribbons of various colors; an azeeun, or small piece of blue cloth passed between the legs: slippers of tanned deer skin, adorned with beads and silk ribbons: a bead necklace or a silver crescent, or both together, are often worn, with four or five bracelets of silver on each arm. Ear-rings are common to both sexes. They always carry a big knife in a sheath, attached to a belt which at the same time supports the azeeun and the leggins. The head is decorated with a band of tanned hide, which holds back the hair and has feathers stuck in it. This piece is often omitted. The hair is worn very
long. Every Indian has two braids, one of which hangs over his face and the other down behind; they are generally adorned with little silver trinkets or with silk rib bons or feathers. They use various colors to paint their
faces. A young man who is a recognized hunter, capable of supporting himself, carries a calumet or pipe and a
skipetagun or tobacco-bag. This bag is usually made of the entire skin of some animal, as the otter, beaver or lynx,
1 A hitherto unpublished fragment dating from the Potawatomi period in 1838-9.