M. R. HARRINGTON — SACRED BUNDLES OP THE SAC AND FOX INDIANS. 199

the middle of the belt, hangs the skin, minus the head, of what seems to be a crow, to the neck of which are attached two bunches of eagle down feathers dyed red, some slender thongs of buckskin wrapped in red and yellow quills and terminating in brass jinglers, a hawk feather dyed red and three little bunches of root tied on with sinew. To the belt itself is fast- ened a brass sleigh bell. One wing and the tail of the bird are decorated with wooden strips so wrapped in porcupine quills as to produce a pattern in black and white, and terminating in tufts of colored hair.
Buffalo tail amulet (C), the proximal end bent over to form a loop for the belt, bearing three medicine packets, two bits of root and a brass hawk bell. The flesh side of the tail skin is painted red. The most unusual thing is a tiny white weasel skin, wrapped in a piece of bladder with only the nose protruding at one end and the hind feet and tail at the other, and held fast to the amulet by a woven bead strap f" in width on yellow and red yam, possibly buffalo wool. The beads are very small.
Brown weasel skin (D), probably used as an amulet.
Polished slender stick, 7 \" long (E).
Bag of cedar leaves (F).
Piece fungus (G).
Braid of sweet grass (H).
Five packages roots, the wrappings being cloth, birch bark and parts of pages from some Indian primer (I, J, K, L, M).
Another bundle from Albert Moore was once, he said, the property of the late Benan'akw, as was the last one described. This specimen Moore characterized as “ Wi tee ka no bi kwe 1 ni ma gun,” for which I did not get a satisfactory interpreta- tion. He also remarked that it was a “leading” bundle, but professed ignorance as to any details. It is:
1 This word may refer to the mythic horned serpents.
Digitized by
Google
200 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM — ANTHROPOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS VOL. IV.
Bundle 2/8738.
Size closed, 18f" x 6§". Covers, two, of buckskin, the outer one in fair condition, the inner in fragments. Ties, three, of leather and buckskin. To this last is fastened the shell of a gourd rattle and a bag of Indian tobacco. Beneath the ties is a cane war whistle.
Contents. — Some of the objects are so badly injured by insects and other destructive agencies that they can hardly be identified.
Remains of a hawk skin, split for a head band, now stripped nearly bare of feathers by insects. Two medicine packets were tied to the neck, where may also be seen a tan- gled mass of the large white beads, strung on fibre, such as were sold to the Indians in the early days of the frontier by “pony traders” who carried their stock on horse- or mule- back. The beads probably once formed part of a woven band now destroyed.
Weasel skin, now bare of fur, folded and attached head down, to a woven necklace of red yam, into which were woven some of the same large white beads. At the back of the weasel’s neck, just behind the ears, were tied two medicine packets. Three bunches of dark feathers, each on a separate buckskin string, were also tied to the necklace; and bits of root were attached at intervals of about §*' with sinew, a feature not seen in the other bundles.
Weasel skin, loose.
Another woven necklace, similar to the first, except that there is no weasel, the black feathers are larger and many of the bits of root have fallen off and been lost.
A third woven necklace (PI. XXXIII, A), apparently of buf- falo wool yam in brown and black, with interwoven white beads. In this case there was but one bunch of feathers, short ones, and many of them brown instead of black; there was no weasel, but there were four medicine packets (besides the roots) instead of two. The sinew wrapping on some of the roots has been replaced with coarse cotton thread.
Digitized by
Google