The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1903-01-09
The Woman's Club.


The Woman's Club held an interest
Ing meeting Saturday afternoon with
Miss Jones, Elm street. AT the bust
ness session 1t was unanimously voted
to tender the president Mrs. A. A.
Crawford, reception. After the pa
pers had been read light refreshments
were served. The next meeting will
be with Mrs. e. L. Devereaux.
Papers were read by Mrs. Mary Nor.
rice Norris and Mrs. Dwight North.
"Characteristics and Customs" was
the subject OF Mrs. Norris paper. As
the time was limited a few OF the char
acteristics and customs of the Iroquois
tribe were givens
The IroQuois was the Indian of In
dians-a thorough savage yet a finish
ed and developed savage. He was
scrupulOusly honest, truthful and law
abiding. Theft was scarcely know n
and no wigwam was ever fastened.
immortality was OF rare occurrence and
was punished with great severity. To
friend the last ration was always
divided and the shelter of the teut was
offered, but to an enemy he was
treacherous, unforgiving and revenge
full. Polyeamy was not allowed among
the IroQuois.
The woman invented and made her
vn tools. Her needle was splint
found In the foreleg Of the deer and
her thread was black spruce root.
Her white birch bark pals, pots and
kettles were made water tight with
spruce pitch, and when necessary were
suspended over the blaze with bass
wood cord.
The hoe for FILLING the ground was
often only q deer's horn. With this
rude implement she raised corn, beans,
squash and tobacco, For her knives
she used pieces of bone, sharp stones
and Shells. All the skins used in any
manner were prepared by the women
of the household and were often decor
ated with the most brilliant colOrs
which the native idea of art could fur
nish.
The chief aim of the male Indian
was to kill-to kill either his fellow
man or the beast of the forest. At
war he was demon let loose and ex-
hausted his inventive genius to make
himself as fierce and hideous as posi-
BILE. The respect paid him by his fell
low creatures was governed by the
mum ber of victims whom he had slain
and whose scalps he wore. However,
they believed ina future existence
aud future reward according to their
character in life. To the Great Spirit
they offered many prayers and sacri-
fees.
Their governme emit was republican In
form and principle. Both men and
women were counted for representa-
tion and the latter were allowed to
vote for all officers.
"What Basketry Meant to the In
dian Woman" was the subject of Mrs.
North 8 paper. A synopsis follows:
What basketry meant to the Indian
woman isl subject to which no one In
this age can do justice, as it lays be-
fore us a field in which is an almost an
unlimited fund of UNEMPLOYED treasure.
Careful study shows but few sue
cessful attempts to elicit from the
Indian woman, whose fear OF being
ridiculed cannot be exaggerated, the
meaning of her basketry designs.
Many people living constantly among
the Indians positively deny that SYM
bolism has any place In the basketry
ornamentation. But these people GER
tainly know little of the Indian and
his work, for all who do know him lind
he is remarkable for his poetic concep-
tions, and that imagery, symbolism
and the picturiDg of what he sees are
habits of his daily life.
Many Indian women weave for their
design the Greek fret, pure and simple,
as well as numberless variations work
ed from the self same basis. Then
again, the barbaric basket maker will
attempt to mimic nature with cher y
trees, ferns, starfsh and the Thousand
and one objects that are every day pre-
sented to them. The only reliable
way of determining the meaning OF a
basketry design is to obtain a clear ex-
PLANTATION from its maker, and this
must be done carefully. With her
.habitual reserve and fear of the ridi.
Guile of thelwhites, the Indian woman
is exceedingly susceptible to sugges-
tion. II you ask her II her design
means this or that, she is certain to
answer with an Affirmative grunt, for
she is smart enough to know that she
is at least safe in accepting your sug-
gestion.
A charming example of Indian SYM
bolism is the prevalence of the heart
shape In the cane baskets Of Louisiana.
Their ceremonial baskets were made
to hold gifts and their shapes indicat-
ed the feelings from which the Offer
ings emanated. Only few instances
so far have been found where the form
H.