Tensas gazette., 1915-12-03
NOW TAKE UP BEADS
Indian Women Devote the Winter
to Fancy Work.
Passing Of Season Of Feasts and Dane.
ing Enables Squaws to Devote
Time to Making Indian
Trappings.

Thomas, Okla-Now that the
Cheyenne social season has ended
with the close of summer the women
of the tribes have more leisure for
making and decoration of moccasins
and other Indian trappings. Their
children are at school, their homes
are stationary and dances and feasts
infrequent.
Dealers in beadwork have learned
that they get best results by supply
ing the Indian woman with all her
materials and then paying for the
work when finished In this way an
expert beader will receive better pay
than she might be able to do if she
had to get. tan and cut hides for
herself.
The design for beadwork is often
agreed upon beforehand. as well. In
this way the Indian is saved from de-
cision and the dealer can be sure he
will get the designs and sizes which
have been found to suit the markets.
Moreover, this prevents the low in.
steps which are invariably found in
moccasins made for Indian wear.
The Indian has worn heelless foot
gear for 50 many generations that his
instep is not as high as that of most
civilized men, and and the result is
that, II left to themselves, the moe
casin makers turn out footgear that
few white people can wear.
But for all this the pattern. making
and beaded design are genuine I'm
dian" in every respect. and have been
carefully copied from old models The
present system probably has done a
great deal to preserve old Indian pat
terms. which might have been for
gotten or changed IL left unstandard.
ized.
1t is remarkable with what deftness
and speed an expert can cover a pair
Of buckskin moccasins. using only a
thin strand Of sinew and sharp awl.
The Indian woman has been adept at
this work for years upon years. and
her best work is easily distinguished
from the cheap and irregular work of
factories.
The art work of Cheyenne women
and Cheyenne men is quite different
The mans art is realistic and is in
tended to represent things as they
are. He devoted his attention to
painting tepees, shields and buffalo
robes. and these pictures are never
twice the same.
The women, on the other hand, en-
ploy unchanging geometrical designs.
squares. circles. triangles and lines.
Flowering lines and flower patterns
are utterly unknown to the women of
the plains tribes. and whenever seen
should be regarded with suspicion by
the collector, as 1t is more than prob
able they came from Germany.
In reading the designs on a mocca-
sin one can usually say that the
trianglss are tepees IL they stand up
right round the sole. II not. and >es-
pecially IL they are pointed toward
some other figure. they stand for ar.
rowheads.
Every Indian design means some
thing and sometimes the colors have
a second Significance. quite independ.
ent of the design. A square with
triangles pointing toward it repre-
sents a buffalo attack by hunters
with arrows. Without the arrow.
heads about 1t square is usually
meant for q star. Diamonds stand
for lakes.
Sometimes moccasins were made
with q bunch of fringes q foot long
at the heel. These were intended to
smooth over the tracks by the wearer.
so that anyone following him might
be unable to know who had passed
OF course they also were decorated,
especially when the wearer was
mounted.
As time goes on and buckskin be-
comes scarcer the makers of moe
casins will have to turn more and
more to other kinds Of leather. II they
do not have to give up making them
altogether.