Identifier: britishnorthamer00hill (find matches)
Title: British North America: I. The far West, the home of the Salish and Déné
Year: 1907 (1900s)
Authors: Hill-Tout, Charles, 1858-1944
Subjects: Salishan Indians Tinne Indians
Publisher: Toronto, Copp Clark Co.
Contributing Library: University of Connecticut Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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.From this rise the strips of weasel-skin, the longi-tudinal edges of which are turned in and sewn together.These are stiffened and made to stand upright bymeans of larger bird-quills or slender wooden rods. Tothe top of each of these laps a scalp of the red-headedwoodpecker is secured, whilst their faces are decoratedwith the tail-feathers of another kind of woodpecker;two feathers to each face, one at the top and one in themiddle. These coronets are always open at the top, and arefilled up while dancing with down which the dancerthrows around her by characteristic jerks of the head. Next in importance to the head-dress was the breast-plate. This was crescentic in shape and formed fromdentalium shells, mounted on a groundwork of dressedcaribou-skin. Its two cusp-like extremities were claspedor tied with raw-hide thongs behind the neck. Thisarticle of adornment was valued by the natives at fourdressed moose-skins or forty beaver-skins, equivalentto about ;^40 of our currency. Plate 17
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Sarcee Braves in Ceremonial Costume Photo by C. W. Mathers, Vancouver, B.C. To face pa^i 82 DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT 83 The Raz or apron was valued at about the sameprice. This piece of the ceremonial costume wasusually made of tanned caribou-skin, and was wornbelow the breast-plate like an apron. They usuallyhad a fringe composed of dentalium shells and por-cupine quills dyed yellow and green, which wastasselled with thimbles and young caribou hoofs.These gave a pleasant jingle as the wearer dancedor walked. The noblewomen wore no Raz but substituted for ita cincture-like article of apparel which, though itresembled a girdle, was considered by the natives to bea breech-cloth, but being merely ornamental it wasnot used as such, being worn over the dress. It wascomposed entirely of dentalium shells threaded onsinew. In addition to his ceremonial garments the teneza ornobleman generally carried an ornamental fire-bagand quiver. These were made of skins decoratedwith fringes and shel

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