7 Se III. — THE NORTHERN MAIDU. By RorLanp B. Dixon. Prates XXXVIII-XLIX. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION. i den a Le et i 121 BIBLIOGRAPHY 5... Lo i a sna a 122 Geography and History........ ...... 0... fbb NE 123 Habitat and Boundaries... .......: hoi didi 0nd a, 123 Topography... ..... 0.00 oi AG ou. LL 125 Divisions... 0... han Ln £27 Bhstory. o.oo ea a Re 129 Population. ...... cc if hier on dnd ad Sa 130 Migration... 5.0... AR SI RS ee 132 Ei Material Culture... co ado al We. 13% Manufactures...» .... 0 ouivn bn ni a ne, 132 Workin Stone... 00. iii i rain ae 132 Worle in Wood, Bone, and Shell... ........ ........... 139 Preparation of Hides. ....... ...0. 0.0. a oui I41 Cordage and Netting... .... ... li. oii. 5a ths aaa AT Basketry and Weaving. .7.... 0. hadi. du J, 145 Work im Peathers.h....\......... 000 0 0 alia, 149 Clothing and Personal Adornment........ .. uae hi 184 Pwellings and Household Utensils............. 0 0 163 Bood and its Preparation. ...........00 0h noi Ls 181 Hunting and Pishing. .<....... 000, id oh 192 Transportationand Trade. ..... oui. ool ough 198 Wasiave, ..... La ET 202 Games and Amusements... . ov... Jo a a Sd 207% Calendar, .... 2... 0. a LE Sa RE 217 BBE. rE a a Tee 218 Decorative Art: ............... oc ae 218 Muasic........ rE 221 Social Organization, Law, and Festivals: ................. 0... 223 Secial Organization... .... obi idl ih sno aE 223 Crimes and Punishments... .. i so vivid code v ds 227 Social Gatherings and Festivals. .... 300... 00... 00. 228 Birth, Puberty, Marriage, and Death... .L. 4... 0... tiia.. 228 Bist. oa Ss a a 228 Names... 0 230 Puberty... ca Ree 232 Marriage. .... |. ...... 0... 00 uh iigiind al oni ut 2309 Deathiand Burial... 000000 0.0 iis san. oil 241 11g Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII ] i PAGE Religion... i cv. vi oni ei 2509 Beliefs regarding the Soul, ete... c...... .L...... i... 259 Conceptions ofthe World... . ...................0..n. 7. 262, Miscellaneous Bellefs.... 0... 0. nu. a nooo 0 265 Charme). 0 a ea a ae la Ree eh 266 Shamanism. | Lbs a i ie 267 Ceremonials and Dances... 0 Loon ula, 283 The Secret Society. iii |. Lio Livan en 322 Mythalogy.. cu... ra hs a, 333 ConClUsilon Lc ah eee oh ay a. il iad be § ny ( 0 p> ~ A f - 32 ir \ N oOo pr 7 Missing RICO 265 "6b INTRODUCTION. THE present paper embodies a portion of the results of the work of the Huntington Expedition during the summers of 1899, 1900, 1902, and 1903. The whole of the first season, and considerable parts of the following seasons, were spent with the various fragments of the Northern Maidu, and the general ethnological results of that work are here presented. The linguistic material, of which a considerable mass has been obtained, is being prepared for publication as rapidly as possible. : In the work among the Maidu of the foot-hill and lower Sierra region in the vicinity of Mooretown, Butte County, the - writer was greatly aided by Mr. D. L. Spencer of Enterprise. Owing to his long residence in the region, and his sympathetic study of the Indians of the vicinity, Mr. Spencer was able to render valuable service in many ways; and for the descrip- tion of the “burning,” and many of the details of the cere- monial and daily life of this portion of the Maidu, the writer has relied largely on him. A number, also, of the specimens illustrated, in particular the images used at the ‘‘ burnings,” were obtained only through Mr. Spencer's diligent and per- sistent endeavors. Further notes on the “ burning’’ in 1904, containing additional important details, were made by Mr. S. A. Barrett of Ukiah. Much aid in the work among the Maidu was given by Dr. A. M. Tozzer during the summer of 1900, chiefly in connection with the southern portion of the stock. The work of the expedition during the first and part of the second seasons was also greatly facilitated by the many courtesies extended by Mr. H. F. Liston, superintendent of the Round Valley Reservation. The identification of the food and other plants mentioned in the course of the paper was kindly undertaken by Mr. M. L. Fernald of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University. In many instances, however, the specimens were so imperfect (having been largely collected by Indians) that identification was impossible. I21 ~ ‘122 Bulletin American M. shim of Natural History. [Vol XVII, BIBLIOGRAPHY. With the exception of Powers’s ‘Indians of California,” the Maidu have been but briefly described. The following is a list of the more important references to this stock. AssBor, H. I. Pacific RR Survey, Vol. VI, p. 53. Burrum, E. G. Six Months in the Gold-Mines (London, 1850), Pp. 40-51. Dixon, R. B. Basketry Designs of the Maidu Indians of California (American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. II, p. 266). Dixon, R. B. Some Coyote Stories from the Maidu Indians of Cali- fornia (Journal American Folk-Lore, Vol. XIII, p. 267). Dixon, R. B. Basketry Designs of the Maidu Indians of Northern California (Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, Vol. XVII, p. 1). Dixon, R. B. Maidu Myths (Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, Vol. XVII, p: 33). Dixon, R. B., and KrROEBER, A. L. The Native Languages of Califor- nia (American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. V, p. 1) Frémont, J. C. Report of an Exploring Expedition to Oregon and Northern California (Washington, 1845), pp. 241 et seq. Jounston, A. Report on the Indians of the Sacramento River and the Sierra Nevada (Report Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1850, pp. 122 et seq., 31st Cong., 2d Sess., Sen. Ex. Doc, Vol. I). MiLLER, L. Der Untergang der Maidu {Globus Vol. LXXII, No. 5). MILLER, M. L. The So-called California ‘‘ Diggers’ (Popular Science Monthly, Vol. L, p. 201). TassiN, A. G. The Concow Indians (Overland Monthly, N. S., Vol. IV. p. 7) TassiN, A. G. Unkoito; the Saviour. A Legend of the Concow Tribe (Overland Monthly, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 141). TassIN, A. G. Chronicles of Camp Wright (Overland Monthly, N. S., Vol. X, pp. 23, 169, 259, 365, 479). WozeENCRAFT, O. M. Report on the Indians of California (Report Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1851-52, 32d Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Ex. Doc., Vol. III). Hutching’s California Magazine, Vol. III, p. 322. California Farmer, passim and particularly Oct. 26, Nov. 2, 1860. History of Amador County (Oakland, 1881). History of Butte County (San Francisco, 1882). History of Yuba County (Oakland, 1879), pp. 24—28. 1905. | Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 123 (GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY. The Indians described in the following pages lack, in com- mon with many of those of the Pacific slope, any collective name in common use for themselves as a group or stock. From the very beginning they have been known by the vague and meaningless name of “Diggers,” a term first applied to various bands of the Shoshone of the Great Basin area, and later extended to cover a large proportion of all the Indians of California. In the earlier reports of the commissioner of Indian affairs, members of this stock were spoken of in geographical terms largely. With the publica- tion of Stephen Powers’s ** Tribes of California’ in 1877, the first rational name was proposed and used. Finding that any tribal or stock name was wanting, he used for these Indians the term ‘“*Meidoo” or ‘‘Maidu,” the word in their language meaning ‘‘Indian” or ‘“‘man.” Later Powell, in his “Indian Linguistic Families,” following the principle of priority, discarded Powers’s term in favor of ““Pujunan,” derived from the name of an insignificant village formerly existing near Sacramento. In view, however, of the unim- portance of this small settlement, and the more rational character of the term proposed and used by Powers, it seems better to adhere to the name ‘“‘Maidu,” giving it, however, a somewhat greater extension than Powers by including his so-called ‘‘Nishinam,” in reality merely a section of the Maidu. The language spoken by the Maidu is distinct from all others, and they therefore constitute a stock by themselves. To the surrounding tribes the Maidu are known by a variety of names. By the Hat Creek Indians (a branch of the Achoma’wi) they are called *‘ Tikisu’i;” and by the rest of the Achoma’wi, “PaQa’mali.”” To the Yana they were known as ‘‘Patcami’sa” or ““ Wawa’ltupai.”” Their Shoshone, Washo, Moquelumnan, and Wintun names are not yet known. HasitaT AND BouNDARIES.—The region occupied by the Maidu lies in the northeastern part of California, and com- prises, in whole or in part, the counties of Lassen, Plumas, Butte, Sierra, Yuba, Sutter, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, 124 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History [Vol. XVII, and Sacramento. On the north they were in contact with the Yana and Achoma’wi (Pit River and Hat Creek Indians), on the east with the Shoshone and Washo, on the south with the Moquelumnan, and on the west with the Wintun.” In more detail the boundary of the region occupied was as fol- lows: Beginning at a point on the Sacramento River some six or eight miles north of Chico, the northern boundary of the stock seems to have followed the course of Rock Creek eastward to its source, and thence approximately along the present county-line between Tehama and Butte, and Tehama and Plumas, as far as Lassen Butte.? The region drained by the upper waters of Deer, Mill, and Battle Creeks, although really a continuation of Big Meadows, was not occupied by the Maidu, but lay within the dominion of the much-dreaded Kombo or Yana. The immediate region of Lassen Butte and the upper valley of Warner Creek were rarely visited by the Maidu, as, owing to the prevalence of hot-springs and other volcanic features, the region was regarded as mysterious. From Lassen Peak eastwards, the line between the Achoma’wi and the Maidu seems to have been rather vague. The region of small lakes, cinder-cones, and lava-flows immediately east of the peak was apparently regarded as Maidu territory. The whole valley of Susan Creek was also within their control, although permanent settlements did not exist far above the present town of Susanville. Pine Creek and Eagle Lake were continually visited by hunting-parties, and were somewhat doubtfully regarded as also a part of Maidu territory. Be- yond Willow Creek, however, they never ventured. The entire valley of Honey Lake is said to have been permanently occupied in early times by the Maidu; and it is declared emphatically that no Piutes were settled there until after the coming of the first white immigrants, or just before.’ ! See map, Plate XXXVIIL. 2? This agrees in gen=ral with the boundary of the land ceded by the: Maidu in this. vicinity in the treaty of Aug. 1, 1851 (see Royce, Indian Land Cessions, Plate 7, in the Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1896-07, Part 2). 3 According to the map given by Royce in his Indian Land Cessions, the Washo claimed all the valley of Honey Lake and its tributaries, except Susan Creek, and extended up the latter as far as Susanville. Recent or detailed information as to the earlier Washo territory is lacking. The Maidu assert very definitely, however, that Honey Lake was in their control, although names of village sites in that area were not given. BurLETIN A. M. N. H. Vor. XVII, Prate XXXVIII. QUINCY a - 2 SILONGKOYO ATI ONoy o* \ > NU F<" Mooretown > 0 ———e mt tm. EN : ' PITSOKUT reas © PhACRVILIE / i > XoDOoW SN * Nos BAMOM ONTCOMA 2 Z 3 SERUMNE js C= WINTUN YgsicraiEnto Sk Reger pl - NT an 2 Sougn rork ZT 5 yo > RrY % h 2 % Zeosut™ FMOQUELMLMNAN rd J Ls Nes? MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION AND SUBDIVISIONS OF THE MAIDU INDIANS AND SURROUNDING TRIBES AND THE PRINCIPAL VILLAGES OF THE MAIDU. Statute Miles Leeebe————— 1995. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 125 Whether the Maidu occupied any part of upper Long Valley is very uncertain. From the fact, however, that Reno and the region thereabouts are mentioned in the creation myth, it 1s possible that the Maidu at one time extended farther in this direction. Although Sierra Valley was not permanently occupied by the Maidu or other Indians because of the heavy snows in winter, it seems to have been regarded as distinctly Maidu territory. The Washo occasionally sent strong hunting- parties there, however. From the southern end of Sierra Valley, the boundary would seem to have run nearly due south, following along or just west of the crest of the Sierras as far as the South Fork of the American River. From here it turned more to the southwest, crossed the head of the North Fork of the Cosumnes to the Middle Fork, and con- tinued down this stream to the forks. It is probable that from here the line followed the main river to its junction with the Moquelumne, and thence westward to the Sacramento. From this point the latter river formed in general the western boundary of the stock as far as the mouth of Rock Creek,: just north of Chico. ToroGraPHY.—The area just outlined divides itself topo- graphically into several sharply differentiated portions. The entire western section lies within the broad, flat Sacra- mento Valley,—a great plain a hundred and fifty miles or more in length, and from twenty to forty in width. This plain presents in general an almost absolutely level surface, broken only by the isolated volcanic mass of the Marysville Buttes, which stand approximately in its centre. Immedi- ately along the Sacramento River is a stretch characterized by tule swamps, or low-lying lands liable to flood, and hence un- suited for habitation Thus most all permanent settlements * Earlier statements and several maps give the Wintun quite a strip of land on the eastern side of the Sacramento. By the treaty of Sept. 9, 1851, the Wintun apparently claimed a belt from six to twelve miles wide on this eastern side, from just below Chico to the mouth of the Feather River. Powers (Tribes of California, p. 218) also speaks of the Wintun as overlapping the Sacramento in this region. Recent careful inquiry, however, shows, that while there would seem to have been no Maidu villages on Butte Creek much below Durham, there were, on the other hand, several between Butte Creek and the Feather River, and also on the western side of the latter stream to its mouth. From what could be learned, the Marysville Buttes and the region between Butte Creek and the Sacramento was more or less frequented by both Wintun and Maidu, both claiming it, but the Maidu seeming to have been in the ascendant. 126 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVI 1, were situated a few miles back from the river, on slightly higher land. The climate of this region is one of long, dry, and often very hot summers (temperatures of 40° to 45°C. or even higher being not uncommon), with a mild and sometimes rainy winter. In its original state, the whole region seems to have been almost park-like, with its miles on miles of waving grass and flowers, and its magnificent open groves of oaks, and to have been fairly thronged with game, while its rivers teemed with salmon and other fish. Eastward from this rich valley lies the long chain of the Sierra Nevada, which, rising gradually from its western foot- hills, reaches an elevation of from twenty-three hundred to thirty-three hundred metres, along its eastern crest. This whole mountain region is very rugged, being, with the ex- ception of a small part in the northeast to be referred to presently, deeply cut by the canyons of the Feather, Yuba, .and American Rivers. These canyons vary in depth from three hundred to twelve hundred metres, and run in general northeast and southwest, dividing the country into a series of roughly parallel ridges, rendering travel at right angles to their trend often quite difficult. In its climate, this region varies notably as we go from west to east, for, with the in- creasing elevation, we pass from a somewhat arid to a less arid climate, and from a region of mild winters to one in which the winter is often of very considerable severity, and where the snowfall is probably as great as that in any other part of the United States, if not greater. The distribution of this heavy snowfall is not in exact accord with elevation, for the heaviest snow occurs in ‘‘belts,” and, here reaching depths of from ten to twenty feet, serves to render permanent occupation almost impossible. Compared with the region of the Sacramento Valley, the forest in this section is quite dense; and while oaks are found in large numbers, yet the prevailing timber is coniferous. Game would seem to have been plentiful here in early times; and the rivers, on the whole, were well supplied with fish. Extending from north to south in a more or less connected chain in the northern portion of this mountain area, is a 1905. | Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 127 series of large, perfectly flat-floored valleys, lying at an elevation of from twelve hundred to sixteen hundred metres. These valleys, beginning with Big Meadows in the north, and continuing through American, Indian, Genesee, and Red Clover Valleys to Sierra Valley in the south, are often of considerable size (the larger from twelve to fifteen kilometres wide and from twenty to twenty-five kilometres long), and combine a level, easily traversable country, such as that of the Sacra- mento Valley, with a high mountain environment and climate. The valleys of Honey Lake and its tributaries, lying to the east and northeast of the region just described, present a sharp contrast again to any of the preceding sections. We here come to the typical sagebrush and alkali plains, and barren, treeless ridges characteristic of the Great Basin area. Arid, with cold winters and hot summers, and with but a meagre supply of game, this last section is distinctly the least favorable and desirable of the whole area which the Maidu occupied. Divisions. —Linguistically and also culturally the Maidu are divided into three groups or divisions, in part coincid- ing with the topographic areas just outlined. These three sections of the Maidu may be called the Northeastern, the Northwestern, and the Southern. The first of these occupies exclusively the chain of high mountain-valleys already described, and also the arid region to the east and northeast. Besides the main valleys men- tioned, this section of the Maidu occupied Butt and Humbug Valleys just west of Big Meadows, and also held Mohawk Valley as a hunting-ground, the snowfall being too heavy there for a permanent residence. The western limit of this section was about three to ten miles east of the present line between Butte and Plumas Counties. It seems that on the whole they had comparatively little close association with the Northwestern Maidu, to whom they were known col- lectively as No’toma (‘‘ Northern or Eastern people”), and came in contact with them only on summer hunts, when the two divisions often met, and sometimes fought. The differ- 128 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, ences between the two sections were noticeable both in lan- guage and culture. The dialects were, however, sufficiently alike to enable each to understand partially the speech of the other, although considerable variation, both in vocabu- lary and in grammar, existed. Culturally the Northeastern Maidu were simpler than their neighbors to the west, lacking in particular the elaborate dance organization, the Secret Society, and several features of the ‘burning’ ceremony so characteristic of the northwestern section. The second division of the Maidu includes all the remainder of the stock living west of the above, and north of the Yuba River. One portion, therefore, of this section, occupied the eastern portion of the Sacramento Valley in this region, whereas the other was located in the foot-hills and western slopes of the Sierra. While variations in culture existed within this section, linguistically they may be regarded as one group. The foot-hill people in this section were known to the Northeastern Maidu as Ta’yima (‘‘ Western people’’), and to the dwellers in the Sacramento Valley as To¢’koma (‘‘ Cradle people [7], Flea people [?]”). All of the Maidu living south of the Yuba, whether in the mountains or in the Sacramento Valley, fall into the third division, which corresponds to the Nishinam of Powers. . They differ in language from both the other sections, showing apparently somewhat simpler and abbreviated forms gram- matically, and differ also considerably in vocabulary. In culture, again, they differ notably, approximating more and. more the type of the Moquelumnan peoples to the south. By both the Northeastern and Northwestern Maidu these Southern Maidu are called Tan’kéma (meaning unknown), The numbers of this section still surviving seem to be smaller than in the other divisions, and as yet information in regard to them has not been obtained as fully as with regard to the two other groups. The present paper is therefore devoted almost entirely to these latter sections. It is hoped to treat the Southern Maidu by themselves in a subsequent paper. The number of villages at one time occupied by the Maidu seems to have been large. It is probably impossible at the 1905. | Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 1209 present time to secure a complete list, and the informa- tion obtained in this particular is more exhaustive in some regions than in others. The map shown on Plate XXXVIII, however, gives most of the more important of these vil- lages. History.— Apparently the earliest meeting between Eu- ropeans and members of the Maidu stock of which there is definite record was in 1811, when Padre Abella made an exploring expedition through the lower San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys. About ten years later the valley of the Sacramento was more carefully and thoroughly explored by Don Luis Argiiello. His course seems, however, to have been entirely along the western bank of the river. In 1822 the Bear and Feather Rivers were explored by Spaniards, but only in their lower courses. As early as 1820, or possibly even earlier, the hardy and venturous trappers of the fur companies had found their way from the east and north into California, and unlike the Spaniards, who did not penetrate the mountains to any extent, had in ten years explored much, if not all, of the area occupied by the Maidu. During the decade from 1830 to 1840, in addition to the activity of the fur-traders, there were other visitors to the Maidu country, among whom were Ogden (1830), Bonneville (1832), Lafram- boise (1832), and Sutter, who started his settlement at New Helvetia in 1839. From the year 1840 up to. the time of the discovery of gold in 1848, exploring-parties (such as Fré- mont’s expedition in 1844), and immigrants began to pene- trate the region, and settlements were started in the valley of the Bear River. The tremendous and sudden influx of white population, due to the gold-fever, brought a rapid change to the whole Maidu country, which included within it a large part of the mining district. Party after party traversed their territory, along the Feather and American Rivers, and prospectors penetrated the most remote canyons and valleys in search of the precious metal. With some exceptions, the Maidu accepted rather passively this invasion of their territory, with the attendant driving-away of the game, and the destruction of the fish in [May, 1905.] 9 30 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. Xvi the streams by the mining refuse. The sudden contact with the civilization of the mining camps quickly produced its usual effect; and by drink and disease the once populous villages were rapidly depleted.* In not a few instances this speedy decimation was accelerated by wanton slaughter of inoffensive and defenceless Indians by the more lawless members of the mining community. The rapidly diminishing remnants, however, stood in the way of the desired development of the region; and early in 1851 treaties were made by which the Maidu gave up all claim to their territory, and were trans- ferred, so far as possible, to reservations established in western Amador, Nevada, and Butte Counties. Six years later some five hundred Maidu, chiefly from the Yuba and Feather Rivers, were taken to the then recently established Nome Lackee and Nome Cult (Round Valley) Reservations in the Coast Range. The majority of the Maidu escaped in the course of the next two years, however, and found their way back to their old homes. In the late '50’s and early ’60’s a desultory warfare was waged by State troops on the Maidu, with the result that their numbers were still further reduced. Except for the brief period during which the reservations in Butte, Nevada, and Amador Counties existed, and while the small body above referred to were kept at Nome Lackee and Nome Cult, the Maidu have not been ‘reservation Indians;”’ and except for the small band, chiefly from Concow Valley and the immediate vicinity, who are now at Round Valley, the Maidu are to-day scattered over the whole area of their former territory. To the majority, allotments of land have been made; but there are many who still have no land, or have been allotted such poor land that they cannot live upon it. Others, still, are located on land given by private gener- osity, as at Chico. PoruraTtioN.—It is very difficult to arrive at any satis- factory conclusions as to the numbers of the Maidu before the period of the discovery of gold. Warner, a member of the Ewing Young trapping-party that traversed the Sacramento 1 The population had, however, been much reduced before the immigrant days of ‘40; as in 1830, and at several other periods even earlier, very disastrous epidemics swept through the whole area. 19035. | Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 131 Valley in 1832 and 1833, speaks of the region as “studded with villages.” * Ridiculous estimates were made by some early visitors, as, for example, when Jedediah Smith estimated the number of Indians between Red Bluff and the mouth of the Sacramento, in 1820 or thereabouts, at over 80,000. In 1843 another observer estimated them at 50,000. It is un- questionable that the number of inhabitants in the whole Great Valley area decreased very largely in the period between 1820 and 1840, as the result of recurring epidemics of small- pox and other contagious diseases, which swept off the people by hundreds, if not by thousands. Several observers speak of finding entire villages ‘almost entirely depopulated, and hundreds of skeletons lying about unburied. * The only available figures of official estimates after the acquisition of California by the United States, as well as the census returns since then, are very fluctuating and not reliable. In 1830 Adam Johnston 2? estimated the Maidu in the Sacramento Valley and lower foot-hills as between 1300 and 1400; six years later, Henley 3 estimated that there were over 7000 in the whole area occupied by the stock; in the census of 1860 the number of “‘civilized Indians” in Maidu territory was given as 510, and in 1870 as only 95; in 1880 the figures jump to 1484; in 189o the population is given as 1202, and in 1900 as about 1100. The estimate of Henley is certainly excessive, and the figures from the census of 1860 and 1870 are equally useless. It appears from a personal rough enumeration that the more recent census figures are again excessive, and it is believed that the number of full-blood Maidu to-day is not much over 200 or 250, at the outside. That the original population throughout the area was large seems from all the testimony —not only of early settlers, but of the Indians themselves —to be certain. There were a large number of villages occupied, and a large number of old sites. Of course, all were not occupied at the same time; and much of the excess in local estimates seems to be due to having 1 History of Amador County, p. 260. ? Revort of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 31st Cong., 2d Sess., Sen. Ex. Doc., Vol. 1, Pt. 1, p. 124. 3 Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 34th Cong., 3d Sess. S:n.. Ex. Doc., Vol 11, p. 707. 132 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, overlooked this fact, as well as that of the frequent gatherings of the people for celebrations of one sort or another, the large numbers thus present at one time giving a false idea of the real population. I believe, however, that we should be within the mark if we assumed for the Maidu, before their association with Europeans, a population of about go00. MicratioN.— The Maidu, in common with nearly all Cali- fornian Indians, offer a sharp contrast to the Indians of the more easterly and southerly tribes, in that they have no traditions of having lived elsewhere than in their present home. Turning to culture and mythology, we find few certain evidences of movement. There are perhaps slight traces in the creation myths, of a movement from west to east; but such indications are faint, and the whole question of movement must remain problematical for the present. From all indications, therefore, we are forced to regard the Maidu as having been settled, for at least a long period, in the region they occupied when first known. MATERIAL CULTURE. MANUFACTURES. Work in Stone.— The stone objects made and used by the Maidu include knives, arrow and spear points, clubs (7), celts, arrow-straighteners, scrapers, pestles, mortars, metates, pipes, and charms. The methods of manufacture of knives and of spear and arrow points do not differ from those usually employed by Indians in other portions of the continent. The materials used were various: a rather hard black basalt being used in many cases for knives and spear-heads; while obsidian, obtained largely in trade, was used for arrow-points, and in some cases also for knives. Flint and jasper were also used. Near Oroville was one of the best-known spots for getting flint, from a cave on or near Table Mountain. The opening to the cave was very small, but, once in, the size was such that a man could stand upright. A person going to get flint must crawl in, and then throw ahead of him beads or dried meat as offerings to the spirits for the flint he was about to 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 133 take. A person was allowed to take only so much flint as he could break off at a single blow. The flint ob- tained, the person had to crawl out backwards. If the regulations were not complied with, the person would have bad luck; the flint would not chip well, or would fail to kill. Knives (Fig. 1) and spear-points (Fig. 2) were iti hing I il Fig. r, a (133), 6 (3383). Stone Knives. Length of Fig. 2, a (5%), 6 (23%). points, 11 em., 17 cm. Spear-points. Length, 7 cm., 16 cm, rather roughly made, and were generally, in the case of the for- mer, fastened into a handle of wood made of two pieces tied together and further secured by means of pitch. The spear- point was inserted in the end of the spear-shaft, which was then wrapped with sinew and heavily pitched. In the manu- 134 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol XVII, facture of arrow-points, a strip of buckskin was wound about the thumb, and passed down over the palm of the left hand. On this the piece of stone to be fashioned was held with the Fig. 3 (1388)- Arrow-point Flaker. Length, 29 cm. thumb. A bone flaker (Fig. 3) was used in the right hand, the flakes being thrown off by down- ward and forward pressure. Sharpened bone or . antler points were used to press out the serrations sometimes made on arrow-points, and to work out the notches at the base of the point. Arrow-points were always very small. Some of the stone im- plements seem to have been ground after being chipped. Stone scrapers were used chiefly by the Northwestern Maidu, it seems. They were flaked so as to have a sharp, serrated edge, and often hafted, one at each end of a wooden handle *= (Fig. a). In use, the scraper was drawn towards the body. : A rude axe seems to have been used, being merely a worked piece of trap, either held in the hand, or affixed by sinew wrappings to a wooden handle. The Northeastern Maidu claim that they had a species of axe, used in war : as well as for wood-cutting (Fig: 5). rig 4 azn. The stone heads for these were said Joie. not to have been made, but were found, as were the mortars. The head was fastened with pitch and sinew between two sticks, or in the cleft of a split stick. Arrow-straighteners were generally made of sandstone; two pieces of convenient size, with a groove worked in them, being used, the arrow-shaft being run back and forth between them (Fig. 6). The teeth were also much used in straighten- ing. The question of mortars is one which presents some diffi- 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu, 135 culty. The almost unanimous testimony of the Indians is to the effect that neither they nor their ancestors, within their recollection, ever made the finished, globular mortars of which so many hundreds have been found within the area occupied by the stock. In the manufac- ture of acorn-flour, they were ac- customed to use either thesmooth, flat surface of some large bowlder or ledge, or else a flat slab or block of stone of irregular shape Fig. 5 ($55). Stone Axe. Length, Fig. 6 (1835). Arrow-straightener. 13.5.cm, Length, 7 cm. sunk into the floor of their houses. On this flat surface the pulverization of the acorns took place. In the course of time, from the constant pounding, a hole or cavity would be worn in the surface of the stone. In all cases noted, these cavities were distinctly funnel-shaped, com- ing to a rather sharp point at the bottom (Pig. 7). The cavities are all the way from a few millimetres to twelve or even fifteen centimetres in depth, and rarely over ten centi- metres in diameter at their upper edge. The Maidu are agreed, that, so soon as such a cavity was worn to any depth in the stone, the stone was discarded, or, in the case of the large bowlders or ledges, a new spot on its surface was chosen. This was done because such a deep, narrow, funnel-shaped cavity rendered it very difficult to pulverize the acorns prop- erly, the meal collecting and packing into a solid, hard mass ‘at the bottom of the hole. In every case where the prepara- tion of acorn-meal has been personally witnessed, a flat or 136 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, nearly flat stone was in use, and in no case was there more than a very shallow depression at the spot where the pestle descended. When most marked, this hollow was not over two centimetres and a half in depth. Discarded blocks and slabs of stone were seen in which the cavity had, as above Fig. 7 (4%). Stone Mortar-block with Funnel-shaped Cavity. Greatest diameter, 34 cm. described, become too deep for use. In not a single case was a mortar with the usual broad excavation and globular form seen in use. The statement is made, moreover, by the Indians, that finished, widely and deeply excavated globular mortars were found by them in certain localities in considerable numbers. These localities were gravel-banks along the edges of streams, the stream-beds themselves, or the surface of the ground in certain stony places. They claim that in a few spots large numbers of mortars were to be found; and some declare that the shamans know where these spots are, and go there at times to secure mortars, which, as will be seen later in speak- ing of religious ceremonials, were used for various mysterious and sacred purposes. Everywhere throughout the Northern Maidu area these mortars are regarded with considerable awe 1903. ] Dion, The Northern Maidu. 137 and veneration, and are feared quite keenly in many instances. Apart from their ceremonial uses, every family is anxious to own a mortar; but it is never kept in the house or near it, being generally buried some distance away, and occasionally dug up and examined. Mortars were used by the shamans as receptacles in which to keep their most powerful and precious charms, especially the “pains” which they shot at people to cause disease or death. Such “pains” were kept in a mortar, with another mortar inverted over the first, the whole carefully secreted in a hollow log or under a large stone at a considerable distance from all habitations or trails. In the initiation ceremonies of the Secret Society the sacred meal used for sprinkling the novices must similarly be kept in a mortar. Lastly, the mortars are generally known by the name of ku’kinim t&’ni or 1"tGm toni (‘‘ spirit or pain baskets’), and are often supposed to be themselves the abiding-places of powerful spirits; although the belief in the mortars’ anima- tion, and their ability to move of their own accord from place to place, is not held here, as it is among the Shasta. By some the mortars are said to have been made by the Creator, or the Coyote, at the time of the creation, and scattered over the world for the use of mankind. By others they are supposed to have been people originally, during the b&té’ito, or time of the “first people,” who were turned into stone in this form at the coming of the Indian people, when the other “first people” became animals. It would seem, therefore, that the mortars of which such large numbers have been found, —in many cases, it is claimed, in the gold-bearing gravels,—and about which, in the latter instance, so much controversy and discussion have taken place, were not made by the Maidu, or at least have not been made by them within the traditional period. The pestles used for pounding the acorn-meal are of different sizes, but are substantially of the same type. Gen- erally cylindrical, with a circular or oval cross-section, they vary from fifteen to thirty-five centimetres in length, with a diameter ranging from six to almost ten centimetres (Fig. 8). Occasionally a form is found with a squarish cross-section, but 138 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, these are not common. Often river-pebbles of appropriate shape and size are used without further modification of form. Metates and mullers were in use chiefly for grinding the grass-seeds and other seeds, of which a considerable variety were used for food. The metate is merely a slab of coarse-grained stone, set at a low angle; the muller being a smaller piece of the same stone, convenient to grasp in the hand. Stone pipes (Fig. 9, a, b,) would seem to have been at all times objects of value, and to have been, on the whole, somewhat scarce, a wooden pipe being far more common. All pipes were of the tubular form. In general, the stone pipes were short, ranging from ten to fifteen centi- metres in length, and usually made from steatite. The pipe used by the pehéi’pe, or clown, was larger, as a rule, and Fig. 8 (s%% b). Pestle. Length, 26 cm. pipes were drilled by means of a piece of deer-antler, which was pounded with another stone, till, after a long time, the cavity was made. Some- times sand was added, which accelerated the work. It is claimed that there was no twirling of the deer-antler, or other method of drilling. The details of the manufacture seem to have been to a con- siderable extent lost. It is also claimed that occasionally a pipe was found, just as were the mortars. always made of soapstone. It had, moreover, a rim or ring about the mouth-end (see Fig. 66). The Fig. 9, a (1395), & (338s). Stone Pipes. Length, 8.5 cm., 14 cm. These pipes which were found were regarded as of mysterious origin, and were to be handled with great care. ~ 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu, 139 To drop a stone pipe of any sort, but in particular of this type, was very unfortunate, and bad luck or illness was sure to follow. As in the case of the mortars, the Shasta held the pipes as capable of independent motion, but this belief was not held by the Maidu. Small soapstone vessels (Fig. 10) were very sparingly in use, chiefly, it would seem, among the Northeastern Maidu. Fig. 10 (&%). Soapstone Vessel. Diameter, 15.5 cm. Cylindrical beads of stone were used, usually in the form of necklaces. These beads were either white or a yellowish pink, and were from two to five centimetres in length, and one centimetre in diameter. These stone beads were held in great esteem, and were among the most valuable of all the beads in use. It seems, they were obtained, as a rule, in a finished state, in trade with the Wintun. Shamans wore pendant from the neck obsidian knives, which were regarded as of great value and mysterious power (Fig. 11, a). The well-made stone object shown in Fig. 11, b, was worn suspended from the neck as a’ charm or lucky stone, and was chiefly used in the gambling-games, being stuck point down in the ground before the player. Work in Wood, Bone, and Shell.— With the exception of their excellent bows and arrows and their very crude dug-out canoes, the Maidu made little, if any, use of wood for imple- 140 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, ments. Small trees were felled by the laborious process of hacking with sharp flints held in the hand, or roughly hafted - as already described. Once felled, the trunk was commonly burned in two where desired. Large trees they did not attempt to cut down, but utilized such as were blown down by the wind or burned down in forest-fires. The rude dug-out canoes, in use only among the Northeastern Maidu, were made from fallen pines, as a rule. A section of the requisite length was burned off, the bark stripped, and the canoe excavated by fire, pitch being applied to the portions it was desired to burn out, and water or wet earth thrown on when it was wanted to stop the burning at any point. The charred wood was scraped off with rough axes or adzes, and the fire kept up till the canoe was completely hollowed out. Elk-antler wedges were used to split trees, being driven by a round hammer-stone held in the hand. None of these wedges seem now to be in existence. From bone and antler the Maidu made scrapers, awls, needles, wedges, arrow- flakers, and ear and nose ornaments, fish-hooks and Fig. 11, @ (5%), & (4327). Neck-pendants salmon-gigs. As a scraper, seas Charosl, [lang 08 ame sos 00 the deer-ulna was in com- mon use, but more in the Sierra than in the foot-hills and Sacramento Valley, where the stone scraper seems to have been more common. Awls and basket-needles were of bone (Fig. 12). Arrow-flakers of bone were often tied to wooden 1905. | Dixon, The Northern Maidu., 141 handles. For nose-ornaments, a simple bone needle was sometimes used. For ear-ornaments, a section of bird-bone was the most common type, ornamented with incised designs (see Fig. 38, a). Shell was used only for ornament and for cur- rency. The white, disk-shaped beads common to all this coast region were largely used by the Maidu. They were obtained apparently from the Wintun, who, in their turn, probably obtained them from the Pomo and Yuki along the coast. From the statements made by the Indians, 1t would appear that the beads were obtained either in the finished or partly finished state. In the latter case, they were already drilled and strung on cords, but were not yet rounded and smoothed. This finishing was accomplished in the usual man- ner, by rolling the string of imperfect disks be- tween two stones, thus grinding them to perfect circles. Abalone was used largely for ear-orna- Yio 12 (10D. ments and for necklaces. The shell was used in Befic Awl or irregular or rectangular pieces, and was hung Length, 16.5 cm. pendant from cords, either by itself, or in connection with the ordinary white disk beads. It was obtained, like the latter, from the Wintun. Dentalium was also known and highly prized. It was used, however, but little, because of its rarity. Preparation of Hides.— The preparation of hides was carried on by the women, as a rule. The hair was first removed by means of bone or stone scrapers, the hide being laid either over a stump or on a slanting post set in the ground for the purpose. Next the skin was thoroughly soaked, and rubbed with deer- brains, either fresh or dried. The dried brains were prepared in the following manner: The fresh brains were mashed, and mixed with a quantity of dry moss, and the mixture was then made into flat cakes and dried. In this form the brains could be kept indefinitely. When used, the cake was dipped into warm water and rubbed over the hide. As a rule, skins were not smoked. After treatment with the brains, the hide ’ 142 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. | Vol, XVII was again soaked in water, wrung out, and rubbed between the hands before a fire until dry. If necessary, the soaking and rubbing till dry were repeated if the skin was not soft enough. Cordage and Netting.— Cord and thread of various sizes were made principally from the fibre of the milkweed (As- = ) iH f f ] — KL > SH CETL 72 CES ee Ie 22 7 = ST NN Fig. 13 (3335). Model of a Fish-net. Length of net, 9g cm. clepias speciosa, and probably another species as well) and wild hemp (Apocynum sp.). The stalks were gathered in the autumn when thoroughly dry, and were crushed and rolled between the hands till the woody stem had been separated from the long outer fibres. These were then rolled on the thigh into a two-strand twine. If stronger cord 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 143 was desired, several of these smaller cords were made into one of greater thickness. From this cord, which was of great strength and durability, the Maidu made their nets and their netted caps (wika’). Nets for fishing were made in varying sizes, heavy or light cord being used, and the mesh being made large or small, = = a i i Za 7 er = = = 7 r= La = mr, IA ar Looe re Fig. 14 (4395). Netting-shuttle and Knots. Length of shuttle, 34.5 cm. according to the uses of the net. Seine-nets seem to have been used by the Maidu of the Sacramento Valley, whereas in the mountains the favorite net was of the type shown in Fig. 13. In netting, the cord was kept on a netting-shuttle composed of two slender sticks (Fig. 14). No mesh-measures were used, the first two or three fingers of the hand being the only measure in making the mesh-loops. The knot used is shown in detail in Fig. 14. . In the manufacture of the netted cap, several different methods, it seems, are followed. All of these are alike ap- parently, in that, to begin with, a small forked stick is stuck into the ground, in front of the man making the cap. To the 144 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, top of the peg or stick a loop of cord is tied, and into this loop the maker proceeds to net other loops, as shown in TZ a NS N= Ns a= rl! # iio a DA A 4 he —,’/ 7 > NH FATA ze a ~~ Fig. 15 a (55%). 6 (3%), ¢ (F%). Manufacture and Technique of Netted Cap. Length of forked stick, 14 cm. Fig. 15,a. These loops, as fast as they are made, are strung on a long slender twig. This serves to keep the row of loops in Vor. XVII, PraTe XXXIX. BurLLeTiN A. M. N. H. MN a bil ’ aN EA - i oF LA : po se Ji 4 be N §) 4 PAN / Wu Ni i NE ie EAR 7 \> \ 6 ANN Lede « BO LAE Tr ‘® CARTAN i | 1} y | N \ i SHOWING DIFFERENT DESIGNS. ! ’ PORTIONS OF NETTED CAPS, OR WIKA » 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 145. order, and even in length. On completing the first row of loops, the maker starts a second row, netting this into the preceding, held in order on the twig, and using a second twig to string this second row upon. The second row being com- pleted, the first twig is pulled out, and used to string the third row upon, and so on. A considerable number of other stitches were in use besides this just described. The gen- eral appearance of these is shown in Plate XXXIX, and the technique in Fig. 135, b and ¢, in which ¢ represents the knot used in the open-work diamond-pattern cap. In b we have the type called by Mason “coiled work without foundation,” found among the northern Athapascan and the Pima, and extensively to the south, even in northern South America. Basketry and Weaving. — The manufacture of baskets is by far the most important of the arts of the Maidu. The materials used varied somewhat in different portions of the area, but were largely confined either to various species of willow or to the red-bud. (Cercis occidentalis Torr.). The spe- cies of willow most esteemed in the whole northern portion of the Maidu area seems to be Salix fluviatilis Nutt., var. argyrophylla, although a number of other species were also used. Shoots of the hazel (Corylus rostrata Ait. var., cali- fornica A.D. C.) were used for the radial elements in burden- baskets. In the higher Sierra the roots of the yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl.) were employed to a considerable extent in making large burden-baskets; and a grass (probably Xerophyllum tenax Nutt.), together with the roots of the common brake (Pteris aquilina L.) and the stems of the maiden-hair fern (Adiantum pedatum L.), were also used. The peeled willow only was used, and for both coil and sewing- splint. The red-bud was used also for both purposes, but was used both peeled and unpeeled for sewing-splint. The pine-root was in use only for sewing-splint, and was nearly always dyed black by burying it in a mixture of mud and charcoal for some time. ; Both coiled and twined basketry was in use among the Maidu, the former being employed for all except burden- [May, 1905.] 10 146 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, baskets, mortar or milling baskets, and coarse and open-work storage and dish baskets. In basketry of the coiled variety, the coil was composed of a bundle of three twigs, or stems, being of the type called by Mason ‘‘three-rod foundation.” These twigs or shoots of willow or red-bud were gathered in large quantities by the women, dried, and kept in bundles for future use. Previous to using them for basket-making, the twigs were soaked for some time in water, and the bark scraped off by means of a sharp fragment of stone, or, at present, a piece of glass. The bark removed, the surface was smoothed and evened. The sewing-splints were soaked similarly; and unless they were of red-bud, and were intended to form the red designs, the bark was removed as carefully as in case of the coil-twigs. When thoroughly soaked, the sewing-splints had to be split. This was done by splitting the end of the twig, holding one of the “splits” in the teeth and the other in the right hand, and then, while pulling the twig in two, following the split with the left hand, to see that it ran evenly from one end of the twig to the other. The skill shown in rapidly producing smooth, even splints in this way is remarkable. Thus pre-- pared, the splints are coiled in bundles, and kept for later use, or may be used at once if needed. In the manufacture of the basket, the bundle of three twigs is coiled tightly on itself, each successive coil being sewed firmly to the preceding by passing a strand of the sewing-splint over the three components of the coil, and un- der the upper member of the coil be- low (Fig. 16). A bone needle (sce Fig. 12) is used to make the opening between the rods of the lower coil. The direction of coiling is, among the _Fige Technique of Thee. Maidu, very uniform, all bowl or RT of = storage baskets being coiled from tional Museiriv, fgos.) right to left, and all platter or plaque baskets in the opposite direction. The reason for this re- versal is not clear. As the twigs composing the bundle are 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. : 147 not all of the same length, it follows, that, as the bundle is coiled upon itself, the end of one twig is reached before the whole bundle has been used. To keep the bundle at its original thickness, a new twig is added in such cases; and thus, by continually adding a new twig to take the place of that whose end has been reached, the diameter of the bundle is kept uniform. By using white or peeled sewing-splints with those which have the red bark still left on, patterns are produced in great variety. The supply of coil-twigs and sewing-splints are kept soaking, as a rule, while making a basket, and the basket itself is kept wet by thorough sprin- kling every few stitches. There was, of course, much varia- tion in the fineness of the stitch and in the diameter of the coil-bundle; the larger baskets having, as a rule, a bundle of greater size and strength than the smaller baskets, and also being proportionately coarser in stitch. Baskets of this type ROA {\ 0] IY YI Fig. 17, a, Technique of Simple Twined Basketry (after Otis T. Mason, Report of National Nahr 1902) ; 4, Twining with Double Overlay; ¢ (5535), Simple Twining used in Fish- were very firm, and were water-tight. The edges of all coiled baskets are simple. As already stated, twined basketry was used only on the burden-baskets, for the large open-work storage and food bas- kets and trays, for seed-beaters and fish-traps. Both simple twining (Fig. 17, a), and twining with double overlay (Fig. 17, b), were in use, the latter confined strictly, it seems, to the 148 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, Northeastern Maidu, who were in contact with the Pit River and Hat Creek peoples, who employed this method exten- sively. Fish-traps were usually of the simple twined type (Fig. 17, ¢). The inner funnel is not made by bending the rod over, but is inserted as shown in Fig. 17, ¢. Seed-beaters were, in the region of the Northwestern Maidu, predominantly of wicker-work (see Fig. 47, a). The designs on the baskets are produced, as already stated, by the use of different-colored sewing-splints. The unbarked red-bud is most frequently used for the purpose, although in the region occupied by the Northeastern Maidu fern-root and fern-stems are sometimes used. Mats were formerly much used for beds, for doors, and sometimes for covering temporary summer shelters. They were, as a rule, made from tule (Scirpus lacustris L.) or cat-tail (Typha latifolia L..). The use of the mats has now gone out. The method of manufacture was to lay the reeds close together on the ground, and then twine a double cord about them at each end, and at two or more points between. The making of robes and blankets from strips of rabbit and wild-cat skin, or of the skin of geese and crows, was also an important branch of the weaving-art as practised by the Maidu. The fur blankets were more common in the moun- tain region, it would seem; the bird-skin, in the Sacramento Valley. The skin, with fur or feathers left on, was prepared by cutting it into strips from one to two centimetres in width. The strips, on drying, curled or rolled, leaving the fur or feather side out, and forming thus a fur or feather rope or cord of great softness. A sufficient length having been pre- pared, it was, in the case of the bird-skins, usually twisted with a fibre cord to give added strength. Two poles about two metres in length were then set up about one metre apart. The fur or feather rope was then wound back and forth about the two poles till a sufficient length of warp was made. The process of weaving then began, and consisted merely in a slow and laborious twining of a double weft over the successive warp-strands, knotting the cord to the outer warp-strand at the top and bottom as they were alternately reached. The 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 149 completed blankets were loose in texture, but very warm, and were highly prized. Work in Feathers.— Feather ornaments were largely used by the Maidu. We may distinguish between the several manners of handling the feather. In some cases parts of the bird’s skin were glued to a leather strip. Feather belts, worn mainly by women in certain dances, are made in this manner. Those at present in use (Fig: 18) are made by attaching woodpeckers’ scalps to a leather strip, although it fig di i! (1 \ Wy IH 7 He, ERR LR Fig. 18 (5%). Portion of Feather Belt. Total length, 95 cm. is declared by some informants that formerly the separate feathers were attached singly to the buckskin or tied into a netted cord fabric. Often scalps or feathers of the duck and the wild canary were also used to give variety to the belt, and to produce patterns on it similar to the patterns produced by the Pomo on their feathered baskets. The belts were usually, but not always, edged with quail-plumes. Feather plume-sticks were also made by tying parts of bird-skins and quail-tips to a small stick, which was generally of manzanita or other fine-grained hard wood. The scalps and tips were arranged around a stick, beginning at the top, and tied on with a string, each turn of the string being covered by overlapping scalps. The end of the string is tied around the base of the plumes (Fig. 19, a; also Fig. 38, b, ¢). L150 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, Some of these plumes were further, decorated with beaded strings, which are inserted near the uppermost scalp and at Fig. 19 @ (F5%), & (f¥%). Feather Plume- sticks. Length, 39 cm., 43.5 cm. the base of the plume (Fig. 19,0; also Fig. 38,5). In some cases the beaded strings end in a tassel made by tying a wood- pecker-scalp around the end of the string. Feather pendants attached to strings are also sometimes added. Feathers are attached to the ends of plumes by being firmly wrapped around a stick, the wrapping then being covered with flannel or bird-skins. Of- ten a bit of down is tied around the bases of the feathers (Fig. 20, a, b). Sometimes the feathers are tied to the end of slender twigs. Generally white feathers are used for this pur- pose. Feathers are often at- tached to cords. The method of tying feathers to the end of a twig is shown in Fig. 21, a, while the tying to the middle of a twig is illustrated in Fig. 21, b. Often feathers are attached to strings. They are either knotted into the string, as illus- trated in Fig. 22, a—c, or tied between the twists of a double string, as shown in Fig. 23, a. The methods illustrated in Fig. 22, a, b, are used for inserting fairly long feathers into long feather strings which are used for making feather bunches, as will presently be described. 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 151 Both these styles illustrate the same method, the only differ- ence being that in Fig. 22; b, the quill ends of the feathers are used for ornamentation, while in Fig. 22, a, the feather itself is so used. Fig. 22, ¢, illustrates the tying of single Fig. 20 (fx d, b). Feather Plume-s cks. Length, Fig. 21, a (3% a), & (5195). about 34 cm. Feather * Tremblers.” Length, 36.5 cm., 81 cm. feathers, such as are used in the dancing-implements shown in Figs. 59 and 65. Fig. 23, a, illustrates the technique of the feather boa Fig. 23, b. Fig. 22, d, illustrates the method of tying a feather to the end of a string. The attachment of the feather to the network which forms the foundation of feather capes and cloaks (Plates XL and 152 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol XVII, XLI) is illustrated in Fig. 24. The separate feathers, generally of the hawk, were attached to the net by folding the end of the quill over, and inserting it in the quill itself, the base having been cut off on a long slant for a distance of two centimetres or more. SEA Peculiar ornaments were made of scraped feathers of the yellow-hammer. Their manufacture is illustrated in Fig. 25, a,b. The feathers are carefully scraped and i i placed side by side, A 1 usually being laid butt NI 4 and tip. They are \ 0 | \ then sewed together Ww | 2 by three threads pass- X ing through the \ 1 /f quills. Of these orna- © ments, peculiar square pendants, such as are shown in Figs. 25 ¢ and 30, are made. The long feather bands of the type common throughout a large part of California are made in the same manner. A portion of one of these is shown Fig. 22. Technique of Feather-tying. in Fig. 25,0. In this case some of the feath- ers are only partially stripped, and from three to five of the pinkish stripped quills are alternated with a pair of partially stripped quills laid butt and tip. Feather bunches (Figs. 26 and 27) are made of long feathered strings such as were de- scribed before (Fig. 22). The feathers which are inserted into the feathered rope are often halved. In other cases they are partly stripped, and the feathers are turned over near the middle point. The bunches are formed by making a coil of the feathered rope in such a way that the feathers all turn one — aa Sots — == ~~ == = = Pea hui mica 22) ~ | =< —_— SS i a Vor. XVII, Prate XLI, N. H. M. BULLETIN A. FEATHER CLOAK WORN IN DANCES. 1905.] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 153 way. Then the coils are tied together in the manner illus- trated in Fig. 28, a. In other cases, when the feather bunch is not quite so full, a construction like the one indicated in Fig. 28, b, is used, the feathered rope being attached to four Fig. 23 (338y). Feather Boa. Length, 145 cm. points of a ring, and feathers being also inserted in one cen- tral feathered string which reaches across the ring. An interesting form of head-ornament is shown in the crown Fig. 29, a. This crown is made of four turns of a feathered rope, which are tied together by twos, and then connected as indicated in Fig. 29, b. The details of the at- tachments to this crown are the same as those illustrated in 154 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, Fig. 31, a. Fig. 30 represents a large crown similar to the one just described, but much more complex in construction. It is built on a double ring, part of which is shown in Fig. 31, a. From this ring rise a series of feathers, which are tied firmly into the inner ring, as shown in Fig. 31, b. Near the base of the vanes 1s a hoop of the same size as the inner ring of the bottom of the crown. The feathers are firmly tied to it, and thus form a cylin- drical support for the whole crown. Outside of and around this is laid a feath- ered coil which forms the ring shown in the lower part of the crown. A number of small attachments are in- serted in the outer ring. One of these is illustrated in Pig. 31. 0. It consists of a stripped feather, which is wrapped with string. The outer end consists of a single shell bead, which is held in place by a small peg, which is driven into the open end of the quill. This peg also holds the string supporting the quilled square and the beads. Inside of the whole crown is a feather bunch similar to the one illustrated in Fig. 26, a. CLoTHING AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT.— Throughout the area occupied by the Maidu, as a rule, only the scantiest clothing was worn. In spite of the much greater severity of the climate in the mountains as compared with that of the Sacramento Valley, it would seem that almost the same kind of clothing was worn in both regions. During the long, hot summer, men, as a rule, throughout \ \ \ = 2" ; {J Fig. 24 (3335). Technique of Keather Capes. 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. : 155 the area, went completely naked, or at most wore a narrow Pe ——— — b Z = a Fig. 25, a, & (1§%y, 24%), Feather Bands ; ¢ (£% b), ** Trembler”’ with Quill Squares. Length, 40 cm., 76 cm., 26.5 cm. breech-cloth of buckskin, In the Sacramento Valley and lower foot-hills, moccasins would seem not to have been very 156 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, a ee co i generally worn. In the higher Sierra, however, they were universally worn in winter, and were stuffed with a soft grass or sedge to keep the feet warm when walking in the snow Fig. 26, @ (3331), 6 (Fr). Feather Bunches. (Fig.32). With the moccasin in this section, a deer-hide legging was worn, tanned with the hair on, and reaching from the ankle to just above the knee, where it was tied. The legging was worn hair-side in, and, in addition to the fastening above Vor. XVII, PrLaTtE XL. BuLLETIN A. M. N. H. FEATHER CAPE WORN IN DANCES. 157° Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 1905.] Feather Bunches. Fig. 27, a ($5), 6 (33%2). 158 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, the knee, was wound spirally with a thong from top. to bottom. For body-cover- | a ing in cold or : rainy weather, the men of the North- | eastern Maidu wore a deer-skin or mountain-lion skin robe over the shoulders. Some robes were of two skins roughly sewed . together; and in all cases the fur was left on the skin, and Fe 5 : ES edi ~ Yt ay =r oA a = a” A eR ” NEF = — oS : — =r Fig. 29 (+%%). Feather Coronet or Crown. — iE : 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 159 ‘the robe generally worn fur-side in. Occasionally the woven wild-cat or rabbit-skin robes were used, although this sort of robe was in general reserved for the bed only. Head-coverings seem to have been largely absent. The older men, however, in the mountain area, often wore the netted cap known as wika’. Netted caps of this type were in use not only throughout the Maidu area, but also by the Wintun, Yana, and Achoma’wi, and perhaps other stocks. = Fig. 30 (%%). Feather Crown. Fig. 31 (5s . Technique of Largs Feather Crown. This cap is everywhere made in substantially the same manner, and consists of a rather closely netted strip or band made of cord. The strip of netted work is from eighteen to twenty centimetres in width, and from forty to forty-five in length. Along either long side (Fig. 33, 5), a row of cord loops, eight to twelve centimetres long, is added. Through the row of loops on each side a string is passed, gathering all the small loops together; on one side, a strip of buckskin or 160 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, cloth about thirty centimetres long and two or three centi- metres wide is tied to this loop, to the end of which, again, another string is attached about the length of the strip. On the other side the gathering-string forms a loop about thirty centimetres in length. In putting the cap on, it was first rolled lengthwise and placed on the forehead. The hair being gathered in a mass on the top of the head, the strip of cloth is passed through the long loop on the opposite side, and is pulled back. The strip of buckskin is thus brought to the front of the head; and the remainder of the cord is then wrapped tightly about the head, the end being tucked under Fig. 32 (5% b). Moccasins. Length, 28 cm. to secure it. The buckskin strip is then pulled down, cover- ing the cord and the edge of the cap. Lastly the cap itself is unrolled over the mass of hair on top of the head, and allowed to fall straight down behind, the fold standing out on either side of the head like a wing (Fig. 33, a). The principal use of the wika’ was in the dance, when the often elaborate head- dresses were firmly fixed to the head by means of pins stuck through the netted cap and the cushion of hair beneath. In the mountains, where the snowfall was heavy, snowshoes of the type shown in Fig. 34 were worn. The shoes were solidly fixed to the feet, and no heel-play was allowed. The costume of the women was little more extensive than that of the men. Although in some cases, particularly in the 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Matdu. 161 Sacramento Valley, the older women went completely nude, as a rule all women wore two bunches or tassels of grass or bark, generally of the willow or maple (Fig. 35). The latter: material seems to have been a favorite, the bark being peeled in the spring, dried, and then rubbed and worked till it shredded and split into thin layers in some- whatthe manner of Dbirch-bark. The bark, thus softened, was cat: into long strips, and formed into bundles, one of which was worn in front, the other behind, attached to a belt either of buckskin or cord. The length of the tassels was in general about forty centimetres. In sitting down, the front tassel was carefully tucked between the legs. In the region of the Northeastern Maidu, somewhat similar aprons were made of [#ay, 1905.] : 11 Fig. 33 (355). Wika’, or Netted Cap. 162 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, buckskin as well as of bark. The buckskin was cut into long narrow strips or cords, and to the ends were tied deer- hoofs, pine-nuts, etc. This style was essentially similar to that in use by the Achoma’wi, although among them the more common form was one where the whole length of the cords was filled with pine-nuts. Skirts of this type were rarely made by this section of the Maidu, and no buckskin ones were made by the Sacramento Valley people. Like the men, M7 ¥ xX Commi] TI rn = Fig. 34 (5% a). Snowshoes. Greatest diameter, 45 cm. g. 34 45 women went barefoot except in the mountains, where they wore moccasins similar to those of the men. They also wore similar deer-skin and mountain-lion skin robes in cold weather. As head-covering, they wore almost universally a basket hat or cap, made in many cases of tule or reeds. These caps were in character like those of the Achoma’wi, Yana, Lutuami, and Sahaptin, being flat-topped, and not rounded as were those of the Shasta, Yurok, and Karok, and other stocks of the Lower Klamath River and adjacent coast. They have at present gone entirely out of use. . held back from the face by a band of - 1905.] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 163 The manner of wearing the hair varied somewhat. In the Sacramento Valley, the men wore the hair long, allowing it to hang loosely, or tucked up under the netted cap, or merely [Cy fur. The Northeastern Maidu, as a == rule, wore the hair long, and allowed it to hang loose, particularly the younger men. In the region occupied by the Southern Maidu, on the other hand, the hair was often tied in a bunch at the back of the head with a cord. Women generally wore their hair long, either loose, or tied by a band passing over the top of the head and under the chin. The North- western Maidu, however, seem to have cut their hair rather shorter. In cutting the hair, a sharp flint was often used, the hair being laid on a stick for the purpose. A glowing ember was also used in a similar man- ner. Both men and women seem to have been particular to wash their heads rather frequently, using for the purpose the common soap-root (Chlorogalum pomeridianum Kunth.). The men plucked out their usually scanty beard and mustache, either with the finger-nails alone or with the nails and a piece of stick. The mus- tache was sometimes allowed to grow among the Northeastern Maidu, but was never suffered to become thick or SEI, Womans Apren of long. The hair on the pubes and in the axille was not pulled out. Combs of two or three sorts were in use. Pine-cones were frequently used as combs, also pine- needles in bunches. Perhaps the most common form in the higher Sierra is the porcupine-tail, as shown in Pig. 386, a. 164 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, Wooden combs (Fig. 36, b) are said also to have been made, but it is somewhat doubtful whether they were made before white contact. : The ornaments worn by the Maidu were chiefly of shell, bone, feathers, and wood. Necklaces of beads were much used, and worn chiefly by the women. The beads most com- monly used were the ordinary white disk-shaped variety ) mn im nl SI /) Fig. 36, a (3385), 6 (5395). Combs. Length, 24 cm., 20.5 cm. general throughout the greater part of the State. Strings of such beads, often yards in length, were worn by women at dances and social gatherings. Similar strings were looped and wound about the bodies of the dead previous to burial. Cylindrical beads of stone, either white or pink in color, were regarded as very valuable, and were worn in the form of neck- laces by such as could afford them. Dentalium was known and worn in strings for necklaces, but was apparently very BurLLeTin A. M. N. H. Yor. XVII, Prare XLII. a - Eo yt Sad - be SE 33: rad iP 5% pe Re SE oan: Se a Sap i, AA oy PROT NECKLACE OF MODERN BEAD-WORK, WITH ABALONE PENDANTS. 1905. ] : Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 165 rare. Abalone, cut in rectangular or irregular shapes, was made into necklaces, being suspended from cords, or attached directly to the necklace. It was also used for ear-rings. Men often wore necklaces of bear-claws (Fig. 37, a), and these necklaces were regarded as proof of the man’s bravery and strength. The mourning necklaces, whose use will be described in speaking of the ceremony of the ‘“‘burning,” consisted of strings on which ordinary white disk-shaped shell beads were tied, the beads being arranged in groups, the number and spacing varying at the different ‘‘burning” grounds. The pehei’pe, or clown, wore necklaces of acorns (Fig. 37, b) which had been bitten by some insect, and Fig 37, a (5881). 6 (53¢5). Bear-claw and Acorn Necklaces. Length, 74 cm., 50 cm, “skewed” in their growth in consequence. These abnormal acorns were not very common, and a long and patient search was necessary to secure enough to make a necklace. At the present time, necklaces of glass beads are largely worn by the women (Plate XLII). The use of these beads is rather modern, the Maidu having learned to use them apparently from their eastern neighbors. Abalone pendants are common in connection with this bead-work. Bracelets of beads were sometimes worn, but seem not to have been general. Ear-ornaments were worn by both men and women. The latter seem, however, to have worn them most. One variety was of beads and abalone-shell, strung on or hanging from narrow buckskin thongs or fibre-cords passing through" the pierced ear-lobe. Another variety was of bone, generally a bird-bone, decorated with incised designs into which a black 166 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, pigment was rubbed (Fig. 38,a). In some cases feathers, beads, and abalone were added to these bone ear-ornaments (Fig. 38,0). In other cases, women wore ear-ornaments of sticks, generally of maple, to which woodpecker-scalps and quail-tips were at- tached (Fig. 38, ¢). These wooden or bone ear-ornaments were thrust through the pierced ear-lobe from front to back. The piercing of the ears does not seem to have been an occasion of much cere- of the pherts ceremonies. In the region occupied by the Northwestern Maidu a breastbone of the perch was always used for the opera- tion, the ear being first rubbed with ashes. The septum of the nose Was pierced only by men; and in the opening the usual ornan ent was a feather, or some- times two feathers, one being inserted from either side. Small woodpecker- feathers were com- : : monly used for this ik heii SRL (e3dx a). Ear-ornaments. Length, purpose. Instead of feathers, some wore a small piece of wood to which feathers were tied. Among the Northwestern Maidu the piercing of the nose seems to have formed part of the initiatory ceremonies into the Secret Society. A sharpened martin-bone was used here for the purpose, and a heavy fee had to be paid to the old man who performed the operation. 1905. | Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 167 The use of paint seems to have been considerable. Ex- cept, however, in the girl's puberty ceremonies, it was used mainly at dances. White clay, a reddish clay, or a deep red stone, finely powdered, a species of fungus of a brilliant red color growing on fir-trees chiefly, and charcoal, seem to have been the paints in use. The pigment was mixed with water or grease when wanted. No elaborate body-painting was practised by the Maidu, the paint being applied either uni- formly over the whole body, or parts of it, or in rough streaks or dots. ; : Tattooing was practised perhaps somewhat more commonly among the Northern Maidu than among the southern members of the stock. Women were more often and more elaborately tattooed than men. As a rule, the women had three, five, or ‘seven vertical lines on the chin. In the Sacramento Valley region two marks were also made on the cheeks, running obliquely downward from the cheek-bones toward the corners of the mouth, and lines were also made on the breast. In this section and in the foot-hills, lines or dots were made occasion- ally on the backs of the hands. Among the Northeastern Maidu, women were not so commonly tattooed as in the rest of the area. Men occasionally had one or two vertical lines on the chin, but more commonly had a single line, about two inches in length, rising vertically from the root of the nose. They also frequently had rows of dots on the breast, arm, or abdomen. It is said that sometimes both men and women had more elaborate designs, such as those called in basketry “flying geese” and ‘‘quail-tip.”” Such designs have, how- ever, not been seen. The method used in tattooing was not always the same. Among the Sacramento Valley portion of the Northwestern Maidu the designs were made by making fine parallel cuts with a small sharp flake of flint or obsid- ian, and then rubbing charcoal into the cuts so made, the charcoal used in this region for the purpose being obtained generally from the wild nutmeg (Tumion californicum Greene). Sometimes a reddish pigment was used, obtained from a roasted and pulverized rock. Designs made in this manner rarely show solid color, and the individual cuts can usually 168 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, be seen. This method, among the Maidu, is restricted, ap- parently, to this section alone. It is also in use by the Shasta. The more common method by puncture was used by all the rest of the Maidu people. Fish-bones, pine-needles, or sharpened bird-bones were used for pricking the skin. After the skin was pricked, the pigment was rubbed in, the pricking- instrument being also dipped in the pigment while making the punctures. This process is said to be much more painful than the other; and it is said that serious illness, or even death, has followed its use in some cases. The operation was per- formed, as a rule, at about the age of ten or fifteen years, and was performed by any one, there being no special persons who were regarded as proficient, and no ceremony apparently connected with the matter. Girls were usually tattooed by an older woman, a relative if possible; boys were tattooed by the younger men. DweLrLiNgs AND HousEnoLp UTENSILS. —The houses and shelters constructed by the Maidu were of three sorts: (1) the large circular, semi-subterranean, earth-covered dance or sweat houses, used also as regular dwellings; (2) the smaller, less carefully made conical huts, built on the surface of the ground, with little or no excavation, and either wholly with- out, or with but a partial, earth cover; and (3) the rude summer shelters of boughs and branches. The semi-subterranean, earth-covered lodge, known as ~ kiim, constituted a type of dwelling widely spread, not only throughout the California area, but also through a large por- tion of the interior plateaus and the Plains. Of the many such structures built by the Maidu, but one now remains which adheres at all closely to the original type. This single remaining example is located at Chico (Plates XLIII, XLIV). Although the general plan of these structures was everywhere much alike, some differences may be noted in the three different divisions of the Maidu. Among the Northwestern section, the method and plan of construction were as follows: A suitable site being selected, where the soil was soft and no large rocks were to be encountered, an excavation was made to a depth of not over one metre, and over a circular area from six to THE KUM, oR EARTH-LODGE DANCE-HOUSE AT CHIcO, CAL, JLLETIN A. M. N. H. VoL. XVI11, Prare XLIV. INTERIOR OF DANCE-HOUSE. * MAIN Post IN BACKGROUND, FRONT PO FOREGROUND. 1905.] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 169 twelve metres in diameter. The ground was loosened by the aid of digging-sticks, and then gathered into baskets, in which it was carried off and dumped, to be used later in making the earth covering. Spring was the season usually selected for building a house, as at that time the earth was soft, whereas later in the summer the ground becomes hard and baked. The excavation having been completed, the posts which support the roof-beams were next procured. These posts, when possible, were of oak, and were cut, brought to the site, and set up with much ceremony (see p. 309). The number of posts varied. In all cases there were, however, two main posts,— one standing behind, and the other in front of, the fireplace (Fig. 39, b,c). These posts were known respectively as nem sitidoko or ku’kinim stidoko (‘‘great post’ or ‘spirit post’’) and humpem stidoko; and the former, that behind the fireplace, was the more important of the two, and was regarded as really sacred. Near it the chief dancers stood, on it the shamans and spirits pounded with their rattles, and down it into the house the spirits themselves occasionally came. In speaking of the dances and ceremonies, it is this post which is referred to as the ‘main post” always. On either side of these two posts, and halfway between them and the walls, was generally a row of shorter posts, four in number, thus making ten in all. The two main posts were from three to six metres in height, whereas the shorter posts were from two to three metres. Occasionally an eleventh post was placed back of the main post, but this seems not to have been" usual. The sides of the excavation were left vertical, and lined or walled with logs, either whole or split, set on end, or with large slabs of bark, forming thus a solid wooden wall around the interior of the house. From the edge of the excava- tion, then, the long beams to support the roof were leaned toward the centre, resting on the posts already set, and tied to them securely with grape-vines or osiers. In some cases rude sockets seem to have been made for the beams to rest in; in other cases a crotch-post wasused. On these beams as a basis, cross-poles were laid ; and on these, again, large pieces of bark, branches, leaves, and pine-needles; and lastly, a heavy covering 170 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, of earth, generally from twenty to fifty centimetres thick. In the centre of the roof, at the top, an opening was left for a smoke-hole. This was covered, when necessary, by a skin, a basket, or a slab of bark. Directly in line with the two main posts, a doorway was made, less than a metre wide and from one metre to a metre and a half high; and a passage was built out So) Fig. 39. Roof-plan of the Earth Lodge of the Northwestern Maidu. a, Fire: 4, Main post ; ¢, Front post. about two metres in length, slanting up from the floor of the house to the level of the ground outside. In the Sacramento Valley area it would seem that these doors opened, as a rule, to the south or southwest. It also appears probable that origi- nally in this region the doors were much smaller, having to be entered on hands and knees, and being really little more than. draught-holes, the real entrance and exit being by way of the ° 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 171 smoke-hole. Since the coming of Europeans, however, the door has been enlarged, and the old entrance by the smoke- hole given up. When the latter was in use, however, a ladder composed of two poles, with cross-pieces tied with grape- vine, afforded the means of ascent and descent, and ran p I~ Cs 3 AA A Fig. 40. Roof-plan of the Earth Lodge of the Maidu. a, Fireplace ; 4, Main post; ¢, c¢*, Front posts. almost vertically from the base of the main post to the smoke- hole. In some cases, it is said, a notched log was in use instead of the ladder. It was through the draught-hole, how- ever, that wood was generally carried into the house. In the construction of these earth lodges, several families 172 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, generally took part; and these occupied the house when fin- ished. In the case of the large dance-houses, the whole vil- lage seems to have joined, to a greater or less extent; and, since they all helped, all had a right to the use of the house. Among the Northeastern Maidu, the earth-covered lodge was built in a rather simpler and somewhat different manner. Instead of ten or eleven posts to support the roof, only three were in use in this section (Fig. 40),—one main post (b), forked at the top, placed immediately back of the fireplace; and one (c ¢’) on either side, near the door-posts. A large flat stone was always placed upright at the foot of the main post, between it and the fire. Around the edge of the ex- cavation, which is made here in the same manner as before described, logs were laid horizontally; and the radial rafters supporting the roof ran from these logs to the main post, or to the sloping pair of beams running from the main post ‘toward the door. The subsequent steps in the building of the house were similar to those described before; the covering of bark, pine-needles, and earth being placed on the cross- poles which are laid on the main beams. We find here also that the usual entrance was formerly by the smoke-hole, whence a ladder led down to the interior. Women and children often, however, came in by the draught-hole, or door. There was far less ceremony in the construction of the houses in this region than in the Sacramento Valley. The Southern Maidu appear to have had, as a rule, the same form of earth lodge as that first described, except in the ex- treme south, where the type approaches the Moquelumnan. In this most southerly portion of the Maidu area, four posts are set up in a square (Fig. 41 *), the sides of which are generally oriented with some care. On the tops of these four posts horizontal rafters or beams were laid, and then to these the radial rafters ran from the edges of the excavation. The main post, so typical of the Maidu houses, is thus lacking here (Fig. 41). The second type of house, or hobo’, was a much ruder affair than the earth lodge. In its simplest form, an excava- tion was made to a depth of from twenty-five to fifty centi- ~ ff) ev, BurLLeETIN A. M. N. H. Vou. XVI, Prate XLV, 6BO', OR BARK AND BruUsn HuT, OF THE SIERRA AND FOOT-HILLS, f I / § le” ige3.] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. wf ® pos X. 2 metres over a circular area from two and a half to five metres in diameter. Several poles (usually, when obtainable, of second-growth pine) were then leaned together from the circumference, and securely tied in the centre, forming a conical frame. On this frame, branches, slabs of bark, and splinters of wood from large fallen trees, were leaned, and then pine-needles and leaves added; the final touch being given by banking up around the edge, to a height of about Fig. 41. Roof-plan of Houses of Southern Maidu. «, Fire; z, 2, 3, 4, The four posts upholding the roof-frame. one metre, the earth removed in excavating. At one side an opening was left for a door, closed by a piece of skin or a slab of bark. At the apex of the rude conical structure thus constructed, a smoke-hole was left. In this type of house, however, this never served as either entrance or exit. In some cases, apparently, a central pole was erected, and to it the other poles were tied. This form of hut was much in use by the Northwestern Maidu of the foot-hills (see Plate XLV). The Northeastern Maidu had a form somewhat different. 174 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, Here, after the slight excavation was completed, two poles were leaned together from opposite sides of the hollow made, and securely tied. From their intersection, poles were laid to a pair of slender posts about one metre high, set up a little less than a metre apart, on the circumference of the excavation. On this framework, which was more nearly like that of the earth lodge, the bark, branches, and leaves were leaned and piled, and the earth heaped about the bottom. The door was generally closed by a tule mat or a skin. The menstrual huts used in both regions were similar to the respective types just described, but were even more hastily and rudely con- structed, and were also much smaller. The summer shelter or shade was usually erected close by the winter hut, or wherever the family was camped. It con- sisted merely of a flat roof of leafy branches of oak or other trees, supported by upright poles. These shade-roofs were often of large size, and generally at least from three to seven metres square. In most cases thére were no walls; but some- times a few small oaks and bundles of branches, or blankets, were placed on the southwestern or southern side to keep out the hot afternoon sun. The earth-covered lodge seems to have been the traditional and the most common type of dwelling among the Maidu. The earlier explorers in Maidu territory describe this form almost exclusively; and from the myths, and the statements of the people. themselves, we may believe that all save the poorest originally lived in these well-built structures. The large houses accommodated several families, each of which had its recognized portion of the interior. It seems that the chief or head man of the village occupied the largest and best house; and that this was sometimes, but not always, also the dance or sweat house of the village. In large villages there was almost always a special structure, larger than the dwelling- houses, for this purpose. The ruder conical hut was neither as warm nor as roomy as the earth-covered lodge, and was by no means weather-proof; yet, in spite of these defects, it seems to have been more common in the foot-hills and moun- tain region than in the Sacramento Valley. 1905.] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 175 In the mountains the earth and conical lodges were oc- cupied for four or five months of the year, beginning about November. In the summer time they were practically deserted, the whole population being off in the hills, engaged in hunting. In the Sacramento Valley the occupancy of the earth lodge would seem to have been more continuous; for, while in the summer months the people were living out of doors practically all the time, yet the heavy earth cover of the lodge made it by far the coolest place throughout the period of summer heat, and the men in, particular were not slow to take advantage of this fact. The dance-house in par- ticular was a favorite lounging-place. The sites chosen for the erection of lodges and permanent villages varied considerably. In the Sacramento Valley the villages were usually scattered along near the banks of the larger streams, from the point where they came out from the mountains, to some distance above their mouths. No villages, it seems, were placed at their mouths, or along the Sacramento, as the immediate vicinity of the larger river was one much exposed to flood. Throughout the foot-hills and the higher Sierra, except where occupied by the Northeastern Maidu, the canyons and river-valleys were so narrow and deep that the villages were situated by preference on the ridges, high above the rivers, and generally on small flats on the crest of the ridge, or part way down the canyon-side. The sites chosen were almost always selected with reference to attack and defence; and a slight knoll was, as a rule, pre- ferred. The Northeastern Maidu, occupying the chain of level valleys already described, were free to locate almost anywhere. As a rule, however, they selected sites along the edges of these valleys, and rarely lived out in the middle of the level stretches. . ( The size of villages seems, as would be expected, to have varied much. In some there were as many as twenty or more earth-covered lodges. In other cases, a village, or, | rather, settlement, would consist of but a single lodge. The interior furnishings and arrangements of the houses were, as a whole, very simple. Usually in the earth-covered 176 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, [Vol. XVII, lodges there was a low platform of willows, covered with pine-needles and skins, situated on each side of the house. This platform was used for a lounging-place and bed, the inmates of the house sleeping with their heads toward the fire. A pole from ten to twenty centimetres in diameter ran along the edge of the platform nearest the fire, and served as a common pillow for all. In other cases a piece of an old plaque-basket was set up at an angle, and used for an indi- vidual pillow. In some instances, particularly in the hobo’ or ruder conical lodge, there was no platform, but merely a thick layer of pine-needles covered with skins and mats, the rolled-up ends of which served as pillows. For bed-coverings, robes woven of strips of fur of the rabbit, wild-cat, etc., or of crow or duck skins, were most prized and used. The earth- - covered lodges were, however, so warm, that much covering was not necessary; and the heat was often so great when the smoke-hole was closed, that the inmates of the house slept almost if not quite naked. Food and property of various sorts were stored in baskets about the edge of the walls, or under the platform occasionally, where this was high enough. In the region of the North- eastern Maidu there was commonly an enlargement or excava- tion in the wall at the rear of the house; and in this apse-like cellar, food was stored. Granaries or caches for the storage of food were, in much of the region occupied by the Maidu, made by planting poles in a circle about a metre in diameter, and twining willows between them, making a cylindrical receptacle capable of containing from eight to ten bushels. These granaries were used chiefly for acorns and seeds, and were most in use in the Sacramento Valley region and the foot-hills. The Northeastern Maidu made, besides the cellar "or storage-cave in the back wall of the house, also small hut-like structures, resembling the conical lodge (hobo’), in which they placed food to be stored. Very large rough storage-baskets were also made, somewhat similar to those in use by the Achoma’wi. In the well-stamped earth floor there were usually one or more flat stones sunk to serve as pounding- stones or mortar-slabs on which to pulverize acorns in stormy 1905. | ie Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 170 weather. Pestles of various sizes and a rough metate and muller completed the list of implements connected with the preparation of acorns and seeds for food. Baskets of various sorts, cradle-frames, nets, fish-spears, and other utensils and implements, were either piled near the walls or suspended from the roof-beams. Mats of tule and other reeds, twined together by cords, were much used both for beds and for doors. Food was generally eaten in common, out of the cooking-basket in which it had been prepared. Some made use, however, of small globular baskets, with which they dipped out soup or food from the larger vessel, or used the flat tray-baskets for holding meats or fish. The Maidu, with very few exceptions, had no vessels of wood or stone; and baskets of various shapes and sizes served for all purposes of gathering, storing, and cooking food. For storage-purposes, circular coiled baskets in the form of a truncated cone were most generally used (Fig. 42, e—g, Plate 111, Fig. 1, Plate IV, Pigs. 4, 5, of this volume). These baskets, made as a rule of willow or red-bud, were often of large size, having in some cases a diameter of nearly a metre. They were used chiefly to store acorn-meal, grass-seeds, pine- nuts, and berries. For whole acorns, dried meat, or fish, a more conical, open-twined basket was often used. Food was also frequently kept on large circular tray-baskets of coiled make, similar tray-baskets being often used as covers for the large conical baskets (Fig. 42, 7, j). Smaller tray or platter baskets of this type were used as plates to eat from, and open-twined tray-baskets when eating dried meat or fish (Fig. 43). In the manufacture of acorn-meal, the milling-basket was used in some portions of the Maidu territory. This form of basket (Fig. 44) was of twined make, and averaged from thirty-five to forty centimetres in diameter across the top, standing about twenty or twenty-five centimetres high. The upper edge was firm and strong; the bottom was open, forming a circle twelve or fifteen centimetres in diameter. In use, the basket was set on the stone slab, as shown in the [May, 1905.] 12 178 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, Fig. 42. Outlines of Maidu Basket-forms. 1905. Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 179 figure, and the acorns pounded through the hole in the bottom of the basket, the flaring sides of the basket keeping the meal from flying and scattering at each blow. The meal, once ESE AEN —Na 2 ay == = =A — - =~ X h RQ NN | ’ 0 I | 0 \ 0 I IT | 4 I Ji) N nN i I) Ml Il = 5 | ji I NN 1 3 Me lt In | J I (IY JA | il I ] AN i’ 1 \Y ) hi { 4 i Fiz 43 (339s). Open-twined Tray or Plate Basket. Length, 24.5 cm. pounded, had to be sifted; and for this a perfectly flat circular tray of coiled make was used. A flattish tray-basket of the ordinary type was also used. For cooking, several forms of basket were in use. Perhaps Fig. 44, a (7%), é (£5). Milling-basket and Mortar Slab. Diameter, 46 cm., 42 cm, the most common was the circular, truncated-conical form, the sides usually convex (Fig. 42, c—g). Circular baskets with 180 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, almost vertical sides were sometimes employed. Globular forms (Fig. 42, a, b) were rarely used for cooking. Burden-baskets were practically all of the same type (see Pig. 42}; Plate VI, Fig. 4; Plate XI, Pig. 7), conical and pointed, and were invariably of twined make. They were occasionally, but not often, used for storage. Small globular baskets (Fig. 42, a, b; Plate IV, Fig. 2; Plate XI, Fig. 2) were in use for a variety of purposes, such as food-bowls; dipping- baskets, or work-baskets, in which the women kept their bone needles and sewing thread and sinew. With very few exceptions, all the baskets made by the Maidu were circular. Oval-globular baskets of small size (Plate XI, Fig. 5; Plate XVI, Fig. 3) were occasionally made, more by the western members of the stock than by the eastern, however. They were used for women’s work or as trinket- baskets, and are said sometimes to have had feathers inserted similar to those made by the Pomo. It would seem probable that this use of feathers on basketry was due to Pomo in- fluence. The Maidu had no mush-paddles for stirring their acorn- " soup, making use, for this purpose, of any common stick. They were also without spoons or ladles of any kind, although a mussel-shell was now and then used as a spoon. Acorn- mush as a rule, however, was eaten with the index and middle fingers of the right hand, formed into a shallow scoop. Among the Northeastern Maidu, at least, the hands and face were wiped, after eating thus, on a tassel or bunch of grass twined together at one end. For tongs to take hot stones from the fire for cooking, two sticks were used. These were sometimes flattened a little at the ends. In making a fire, the simple fire-drill was in use (Fig. 43). The base, generally of cedar, was thirty centimetres or more in length, from three to six centimetres wide, and two centi- metres thick. Notches were cut in the side, and a small hole cut or scraped out at the head of each notch. The twirling- stick was usually forty-five or fifty centimetres in length, and from seven to fifteen millimetres in diameter. Buckeye was 1905. Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 181 used when it could be obtained. The base was held firmly on the ground with the knees, and the twirling-stick rapidly twirled between the hands, the hands being plas at the top, and working down, thus giving the requisite pressure. Grass thoroughly dried, or punky wood, was used as tinder. Fires were rarely allowed to go out; and while travelling, a punky piece of wood, in which the fire smouldered, was always carried. Foop AND 117s PREPARATION. — The food-supply of the Maidu was large, and included practically everything edible to be found in the region. Vege- table foods were perhaps a little more used in the Sacramento Valley area than in the mountains, where game was rather more abundant. The chief dependence of the Maidu, in common with most of the Indians of the central part of the State, was upon the acorn. The Maidu recog- nize about a dozen different varieties of these. In the creation myth itis declared that the Creator's first act, after forming the dry land, was to cause a great oak-tree to spring up, on which grew all the twelve varieties of acorns. Later these different varieties came to grow on different trees. The miraculous tree, however, created by Ko’doyanpé, was still standing, according to old men, at Durham (Ta’doiko) at the time when, in the early '40’s, the first settler arrived. The tree was cut down by him in spite of strong protest by the Mo Fig. 45 (dh, Indians; and it is declared that the stump bled Lei $9.oh profusely at the first stroke of the axe, and that in the heart of the tree was found a peculiar substance “like a roll of thin, strong paper,” from which the blood flowed. The exact spot at which the tree stood is still pointed out. Although the acorns of all species of oaks growing in the region are eaten, some varieties are distinctly preferred to others. In general, Quercus Kelloggii Newberry, Quercus chrysolepis Liebmann, and Quercus Wislizeni A. D. C., were the favorite species. 182 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, Besides the acorn, a great number of other nuts, fruits and berries, were eaten. The fruit of the buckeye (Esculus californica Nutt.) and the wild nutmeg (Tumion califor- nicum Greene) were eaten, but required more preparation than the acorn. The nuts of the digger-pine (Pinus Sabini- ana Dougl.), the sugar-pine (Pinus Lambertiana Dougl.), and the yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl.), were very large- ly used. The nuts of the digger-pine were most used in the foot-hill region, where alone the species grows in quantity, but the nuts were sent in trade to considerable distances. Other nuts, such as the hazel (Corylus rostrata Ait., var. californica A. D. C.), were collected also. Of berries and fruits there were many sorts, particularly in the higher Sierra occupied by the Northeastern Maidu. Throughout the area the manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens H. B. K.) grows in immense quantities, and the berries were collected in abundance for use in making the so-called “manzanita-cider.” The berries of the snow-brush, sweet- brush, or buck-brush (Ceanothus integerrimus Hook. and Arn., and probably also Ceanothus cordulatus Kellogg.? and Ceanothus velutinus Dougl.?) were used to some ex- tent; and there were also the strawberry (Fragaria sp.), the thimbleberry (Rubus glaucifolinus Greene), the service-berry (Amelanchier pallida Greene), the elderberry (Sambucus glauca Nutt. and racemosa L.), the chokecherry (Prunus demissa Walpers), the wild plum (Prunus sub-cordata Benth.), the gooseberry (Ribes occidentale Hook. and Arn.), the black currant (Ribes sanguinewm Pursh., var. variegatum Wats.), and several others of less importance. Rose-hips of Rosa pisocarpa Gray were also eaten. Roots and bulbs of many sorts were eaten, and, while never a predominant portion of the food-supply, their use gave to the Maidu their early name of ‘‘diggers.” The following is a partial list of those most used by the Northeastern Maidu, although many were common also to the other portions of the stock: Allium parvum Kellogg., Allium platycaule Wats. , Brodiea Douglasii Wats., Brodiea lactea Wats., Camassia esculenta Lindl., Hastingsia alba Wats., Lewisia nevadensis 1905. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 183 Rob., Lilium washingtonianum Kellogg., Polygonum bistortoides Pursh. Grass-seed, other seeds, and clover, were also appreciable factors in the food-supply of the Maidu, the seeds being stored in considerable quantities for winter use. The following are a few of the plants so used: Aquilegia formosa Fisch., Madia glome- rata Hook. (tar-weed), Madia sp., Wyethia angustifolia Nutt. Early travellers and explorers speak frequently of the fondness of the Maidu and neighboring tribes for fresh clover and a variety of wild pea, and describe them in the Sacra- mento Valley as getting down on hands and knees in the fields, and browsing like so many cattle. The Northeastern Maidu, in times of want or in early spring, occasionally ate the inner bark and sap of the tamarack pine (Pinus contorta Dougl., var. Murrayana Wats.). It was, however, more in use as a medicine, because of its marked cathartic properties. The leaves of the fir and cedar were used occasionally to make teas of, but, like the pine-bark, their uses were mainly medicinal. Horse-mint (Mentha sp.) and other aromatic plants were used in a similar manner. The ‘‘sugar’ of the sugar- pine (Pinus Lambertiana Dougl.) was eaten in small quantities. The mistletoe (Phorodendron juniperinum Engelm.) was used now and then as a medicine. The tobacco formerly grown and gathered by the Maidu of the Sierra region was Nicotiana attenuata Torr. A large number of other foods of vegetable origin were collected, but, owing to the fact that most of them were gathered by Indians for the writer, they were impossible to identify, as the specimens often consisted, unfortunately, of merely the seeds, roots, or a few leaves, which were insuf- ficient for purposes of identification. Of animal food there was an abundance. In the mountains, deer, elk, mountain-sheep, and bear were plenty; while in the Sacramento Valley there were great herds of antelope. Of smaller game, rabbits, raccoons, and squirrels were nu- merous. In addition to the animals mentioned, nearly all others known in the region, such as the badger, skunk, wild- cat, and mountain-lion, were eaten. Only the wolf, coyote, { 184 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, and dog were not used for food, and in the southern section the grisly bear was also exempt. All birds practically, except the buzzard, were eaten, ducks and geese in particular being caught in hundreds at the proper seasons. Lizards, snakes, and frogs were not eaten. Yellow-jacket larvae were, how- ever, eagerly sought, as were also angle-worms. Grass- hoppers, locusts, and crickets were highly esteemed, and in their dried condition were much used in trade. Fish of many kinds were to be had, salmon being caught in considerable quantities in the early days. Eels were a favorite food, and, dried, formed an indispensable part of the winter’s food- supply for the foot-hill and valley people. Shellfish, such as mussels, were to be had in some abundance, particularly in the Sacramento River. Salmon-bones and deer-vertebrae were pounded up and used for food; the salmon-bones being eaten raw, whereas the deer-vertebra, after Joundias were made into little cakes and baked. The collection and preparation of acorns for food were among the most important industries of the Maidu, in common with most of the Central Californian tribes. At the time in the autumn when the acorns are ripe, every one is busy. The men and larger boys climb the trees, and, by the aid of long poles, beat the branches, knocking off the acorns. The women and smaller children gather these in burden-baskets, and carry them to the village, storing them in the granaries or in the large storage-baskets in the houses. The first step in the preparation of the gathered nuts is to remove the shell and dry the meat. This, as well as all other labor in connection with the preparation of the acorn, is done by women only. The acorns are usually cracked by means of two stones, the acorn being placed point down on one, and the butt-end being struck several sharp blows with the other. The acorn is thus cracked in halves, and the shell is then separated from each half by the aid of the teeth. The split meats are then spread in the sun, where they rapidly become dry. The preparation of acorn-meal from the dried nuts is carried on with or without a mortar or milling basket. Per- I 90s. ] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 185 haps most commonly this mortar-basket is dispensed with. Selecting a flat rock or bowlder, or using a flat stone sunk in the floor of the house, the woman sits cross-legged, or with legs extended, on the ground, and, in the absence of a mortar- basket, spreads out a couple of quarts of dried acorns in a circle. Holding the pestle in the one hand, she strikes regularly in the centre of this circle, and with the other hand constantly gathers, and sweeps back under the descending Fig. 46, « (18%), ¢ (3%z), Tapper and Brush used in sifting Acorn-meal, Length, 17 CM.; 14 CM. pestle, the acorns that scatter with each blow. The pestle is changed from one hand to the other now and then, thus in- suring an even pounding of the acorns, and resting the hands and arms. When a considerable quantity of acorns has thus been reduced to meal, the finer flour must be separated from the coarser particles. In this process, several handfuls of the meal are placed on one of the flat winnowing baskets or trays, and are tossed and caught several times. Then, holding the 186 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XV1I, tray on the palm of the left hand, and tilting it at an angle of about 40°, the edge of the tray is tapped with a deer-bone or wooden tapper (Fig. 46, a), the tray being slowly revolved meanwhile by the aid of the fingers underneath. In this manner the coarser particles are separated, and roll off over the edge of the tray, leaving the fine flour behind. Some- times the same result is accomplished without a beater, by holding the tray by the edge, in both hands, and tilting and shaking it dexterously. In whatever manner the coarser grains are separated, the basket with. the fine flour on it is brushed with a brush of soap-root fibre (Fig. 46, b), and all the flour brushed off into a soup-basket near at hand. The coarser particles are then thrown back into the centre of the ring of acorn-meats, and pounded again until they are reduced to the requisite fine- ness, more acorns being added from time to time to keep the mass that is being pounded about the same. The winnowing is likewise repeated from time to time until a sufficient quantity of the fine flour has been prepared. In case the mortar-basket is used, there is not the necessity of constantly throwing the meal and acorns under the pestle, as these are kept from scattering by the sloping sides of the basket. Otherwise the process is identical. The flour must next be sweetened by removing the bitter element present. For this purpose a spot is selected where the soil is sandy and soft. Here a circular depression is scraped out to a depth of five or seven centimetres, and the earth heaped up in a little wall round about the excavation. The diameter of these bowl-like hollows may vary from one third of a metre to a metre. The acorn-flour, being first dampened, is carefully plastered over the whole interior of the hollow, the layer of dampened meal being about five centimetres thick. Over this layer of meal a few small cedar sprigs or boughs are laid, so that in pouring on the water the meal shall not be disturbed. Warm water, heated in baskets by hot stones, is now poured gently on the cedar-boughs, and allowed to trickle through until the hollow is filled to the brim. Slowly the water soaks through the layer of meal, and is 1905.] Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 187 absorbed by the sandy soil. As soon as the first water has soaked away, a second lot is poured in, this time somewhat hotter; and so on, until finally water at boiling-heat is used. From time to time the woman tastes the flour, until she finds that every trace of the bitter principle has been dissolved out. The sweetening-process is then completed, and the flour is ready for its final cooking. Taking the dough from the hollow in pieces, the sand adhering to the under side is carefully removed, and the mass placed in a cooking-basket, with the addition of water. For the usual soup the proportion is about two quarts of dough to three gallons of water. The mass is stirred, and then hot stones, taken from the fire with the aid of two sticks, are placed in the basket, till the whole contents is brought to a boil. The soup is then ready to eat, and is taken either hot or cold. A thicker soup, or mush, was made in the same way, only less water was used in mixing. If it is desired to make bread of the flour instead of soup or mush, the dough, after its sweetening as above described, is made into a lump or loaf perhaps fifteen centimetres in diameter. This loaf is then flattened, a hot rock rolled in oak-leaves placed in the centre, and the dough folded over and pressed down all around it. The'whole mass is then wrapped in oak-leaves, and placed in the ashes or under a pile of hot stones to bake. The resulting bread is very solid and heavy, resembling almost a lump of putty, and is, like the soup and mush, almost tasteless. In both soup and bread there is a frequent mixture of sand and ashes, which makes the bread, in particular, rather gritty. The use of the cedar-sprigs in the process of sweetening imparts usually a slight flavor to the flour, which is not dis- agreeable. In some cases a leaf or two of bay or mint is added to the soup in its final cooking, to give it an added flavor. The fruit of the buckeye (Esculus californica Nutt.), like the acorn, has to have the bitter principle extracted before it can be eaten. The buckeye fruit, however, requires more thorough and protracted leaching. The “‘balls’ are usually steamed for some time first, then boiled and washed in running 188 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, water for ten or fifteen hours. The fruit of the wild nutmeg (Tumion californicum Greene) requires even more thorough treatment than the buckeye. The nuts are first cracked, and the shell removed. They are then buried in the ground for several months. At the end of that time they are dug up, and roasted in the ashes. Grass and other small seeds were formerly eaten in consider- able amount. The seeds were gathered by the women with the b TR { hs SI i i FA iil) Rat SRR Le Fig. 47, a (158s), & (3335). Seed-beaters. Length, 51 cm., 38 cm. aid of a beater (Fig. 47). One of these (Fig. 47, a) is the type used by the Northwestern Maidu; the other (Fig. 47,5), that used by the Northeastern. Holding one of these in the hand, the grass or plant heads were struck by it, thus knocking out the seeds, which were caught in a tray-basket held underneath. From the latter the seeds were transferred to the burden-basket on the back. In the region occupied by the Northeastern Maidu the seeds seem to have been fre- 1905. | Dixon, The Northern Maidu. 189 quently ground with water on the rude metates, and either made into a dough and baked in little cakes, or made into a soup in a manner similar to that followed in the case of the acorn-flour. The seeds of the sweet-birch were thrashed from the hulls when dry, mixed with wild oats, and parched in a tray-basket with hot sand, coals, and ashes, the mixture being stirred to keep the basket from burning. When cold, the sand and ashes were winnowed or blown away, the seeds pounded fine and eaten dry, with no further preparation. Roots were gathered by means of a digging-stick, usually one metre or more in length, straight, and with the end hardened in the fire. The roots were eaten in a variety of ways,— raw, roasted, or boiled, or sometimes dried, pounded fine, mixed with berries, and baked in small flat cakes. Pine-nuts were collected in the fall in large quantities, the mountain people trading the sugar-pine nuts to the Sacra- mento Valley people for digger-pine nuts. The cones of the latter are very large and solid. To extract the nuts, the cones or ‘burrs’ were generally piled in heaps of ten or twelve, and set afire. The pitch burned off in this manner, and the heat partially opened the ‘“‘burr,” which was then crushed by means of heavy stones. Berries of various sorts were gathered, and dried for winter use; or mashed, made into little cakes with seeds and pounded. roots, and either dried, or wrapped in leaves and baked (Fig. 48). To prepare these cakes for use, they were soaked, and then made into a sort of soup. Manzanita-berries are still stored in considerable quantities, and largely used to prepare the so-called ‘“manzanita-cider.”” The berries consist, when ripe, of a mass of sweet, dry meal, surrounding two or more hard seeds. To prepare the “cider,” the berries are first crushed, and then mixed with water to form a stiff dough. A rough frame of willow, large enough to cover the top of a soup-basket, is then made, and «