The record-union., 1897-08-30
POOR 10 AT THE FORGE.
Indian Ornaments Showing Great
Skill in Working Metals.

Skill In Working Metals.
The majority of persons who view
articles Of the American Indian worked
in metal, as exhibited in the museums
of the country, express surprise at the
proficiency disclosed" said one of the
curators at the National Museum yes
terday. Many of the amulets, arm
let's, buttons and other decorations to
be found in the possession of the In
dian are of SURPRISING finish and work.
manship. In silver especially are they
skilled, and the delicate tracing and
outline Of the silver decorations are
often source of wonder, even to those
most familiar with the red men of the
plains.
Among the tribes most remote from
ciVilization-those who have not been
brought to agricultural pursuits, but
roam over the country as in the days of
| old-there is to be found scarcely an
Indian who does not possess numerous
articles of silver, which are worn in
| lavish profusion. The smallest child
in the tribe is robed in skins fastened
with silver buttons and otherwise or
namented; indeed, it is a characters
tic of the Indian parent to lavish the
extent of his wealth on the boy who
VIII be his heir if he survives a life of
strife. The beautiful buckskin, which,
in finish, is like that of undressed kid,
| is often heavy with the weight of sill
yer, and even the tiny moccasins of the
same skin are adorned with buttons
and fasteners of precious metals"
The ornaments of this class of In
dian are not of crude workmanship,
but are of excellent finish and design.
The general conception of the Indian
is that Of an individual totally, or
largely, devoid of invention. There
can scarcely be a more erroneous i'm
preston. In place of lacking capac-
tiles for invention, the Indian on the
contrary, is a person of great inventive
genius, and his crude surroundings and
the infrequent need of exercising his
talents prevent his genius from being
developed. In other generations and
under other conditions the inventive
genius of the Indian was developed to
an extent far beyond the modern con-
ception. The mound builders and the
cliff dWellers have left monuments
which display genius equal to, if not
surprising, the originality of the mod
ern inventor
An attempt is being made by the Ma
tiOnal Museum to eliminate this ignor-
ance of the Indian, as far as it lies
in the scientists power. Consequently,
with this work of education in view,
the scientists are preparing groups of
| figures dealing directly with the life
and customs of the Indians, and as far
| as possible forming ac-similes of the
! home life of the uncivilized man, his
| code Of religious belief and worships,
and the aids which he employs in per-
| forming the little work which his ne
| cessities and the love of adornment
require. Among the group of figures
which have recently been placed on ex-
hibition in the west hall of the mu-
scum is one representing the methods
employed in working silver into decor
atio1s and useful articles
| Among other erroneous impressions
/ concerning the Indian is one that no
| forge is used in melting metals, but
that the slow and rather unsatisfactory
method used is simply placing the
melting pot in a bed of glowing Goals.
The exhibit entirely dispels this i'm
preston. The first thing TO attract at
tention is a forge, in a crude state, it
is true, but entirely adequate to meet
all the demands of the native black
| smith. The bed of the forge is of clay,
on a framework of wood, and is raised
a little over two feet from the ground
There are two pairs of bellows, circu-
lar in form and fashioned from buffalo
| hide A handle is attached to each
| pair, and they are worked alternately,
in much the same manner as hand tri-
cycles are propelled. a steady flow of
wind is thus insured
The Indian seldom melts the quartz
In preference the Mexican dollar is
melted and run into moulds shaped to
his use. At times the coin is hammer
ed to thin sheet and then pounded
into molds or impressions which have
been followed out in the stone In
this way are the buttons made, the
rough edges being smoothed off by con-
tinued friction on the hard sandstones.
The use of the blowpipe is also a ia
miliar art, and the eyes of the buttons
are attached to the oval button by this
means The lamp is probably the
crudest part of the whole exhibit 1t is
simply a rag covered with a mass of
Buffalo tallow and placed in an open
dish of metal, or on a stone which has
been followed out for some such pur-
pose. Three of the figures are repre-
sented /as working, while the fourth,
that of little child is closely watch
ing the labors of his elders and antici-
pating the appearance of the new or
naments on his already gorgeous dress.
The figures themselves are robed in a
painstal1ing way, after the manner of
the bona fide Indian, and are covered
With the best examples of the proficien-
1xy af fGn in, fa1
ington Post.