Ornaments
All Indians are excessively fond of display in ornaments. Indeed, as may have been gathered from the preceding, the value of their dresses depends entirely upon the nature and extent of these decorations. Small round beads of all colors are used in adorning every portion of their dress, as also agate for their ears, hair, neck, and wrists, but these are by no means as valuable as several kinds of shells or as their ornamenting with colored porcupine quills. A shell, called by the traders Ioquois,[35] is sought after by them more eagerly than anything else of the kind. They are procured on the coast of the Pacific and find their way to our tribes across the mountains through the different nations by traffic with each other until the Crows and Blackfeet get them from some bands of the Snake and Flathead Indians with whom they are at peace.
These shells are about 2 inches long, pure white, about the size of a raven’s feather at the larger end, curved, tapering, and hollow, so as to admit of being strung or worn in the ears of the women, worked on the breast and arms of their cotillions, also adorn the frontlets of young men, and are worth in this country $3 for every 10 shells. Frequently three or four hundred are seen on some of the young Crow or Blackfoot women’s dresses. The large blue or pearl California shell was once very valuable and still is partially so. It is shaped like an oyster shell and handsomely tinted with blue, green, and golden colors in the inside. One of these used to be worth $20, but of late years, owing to the quantity being introduced by the traders, the price has depreciated to about half that amount. These shells they cut in triangular pieces and wear them as ear pendants. Silver is worn in the shape of arm and wrist bands. Hat bands, gorgets, brooches, ear wheels, finger rings, and ear bobs are mostly in use among the Sioux, the upper nations preferring shells. Other ornaments consist of elk teeth, colored porcupine quills, and feathers of the white plover dyed. Feathers of ravens, owls, hawks, and eagles, furs cut in strips and wrought in various parts of their dress, besides a great variety of trinkets and paints furnished by the traders, among which are brass rings, brass and iron wire, beads, brass hair and breast plates, brass and silver gorgets, wampum moons, hair pipe, St. Lawrence shells, spotted sea shells, hawk bells, horse and sleigh bells, cock and ostrich feathers, thimbles, gold and silver lace, etc.