Fig. 4.—Various forms of the sky-dome symbol as employed in Iroquois moose hair and quill embroidery.
With the Iroquois the sky-dome and earth symbols are employed as pattern designs for decorating clothing. Nearly always these symbols are associated with the celestial-tree symbol, though sometimes this is employed alone. These patterns appear embroidered in moose hair, porcupine quills and beads as borders for leggings, skirts, breech-clouts and moccasins. (See fig. 5.) Occasionally the pattern is found on head-bands and hair ornaments. In some cases, especially in examples of silver work and beaded articles it seems evident that the decorator has not the meaning of his pattern in mind. This is true of some of the more modern attempts to use it.
These outward curving designs, beside being symbols of the celestial tree have a secondary meaning, that of life, living and light. Curving inward upon themselves they sometimes represent sleep and death. Fig. 3 shows this design on a leggin strip. In fig. 4 h we have it used in conjunction with a sleeping sun. The Onondaga call the double curve design oĕn’´shă’, tendril.
In this connection it may be well to note that the “horns” wampum when placed upon a dead civil chief’s body is curved inward, the two ends touching and forming the outline of a circle or heart. When the condoling ceremonial chief finishes his address and is about to lift the strands of wampum from the corpse to hand it to the successor he turns the wampum-string so that the ends point outward and away from each other. These particular symbols while being those of death and life respectively are regarded as horn and not tree symbols. The wampum so employed “the horns,” onă’gasho‘´ă, and alludes to the symbolic title of the civil chief (roya´ner).
The celestial-tree symbol appears also as a trefoil. The third tendril or branch unfolds from the center of the tree. (See fig. 4 c.) A fourth branch is often used and then appears as a double tree. (See fig. 4 d.) In 4, e the night-sun is represented over the world-tree and in meaning this sign is found to be the same as 4, h. In fig. 4, f the day-sun is represented as shining at zenith above the world-tree. In 4, g the sun-above-the-sky is awake and roosting in the celestial-tree. All of these designs are found on borders of Iroquois garments some of which are shown in plate I.
Another important modification of the sky-dome and celestial-tree combination is that which represents the sky-dome with the celestial-tree upon it and the earth-tree within the dome below and resting upon a long intersection of an oval (possibly the turtle) and sending its long leaves or branches upward to the sky-arch.
Sometimes the design is used as the motif of a rosette or other balanced design. Morgan figured several and the Report of the Director of the State Museum of New York for 1907 shows a picture of Red Jacket’s pipe pouch ornamented with such a pattern. There the ends of the tendrils are split and represented as conventional flowers. In other instances the motif is built upward upon itself as shown in figure 6. The first “tree” in this figure is copied from Lafitau[[91]] and the others from Mohawk moccasin toes.
With the Iroquois the celestial-tree symbol is generally represented by this anies-like figure. The earth-tree, on the other hand, is less highly conventionalized. With the Iroquois as with many other tribes in the forest area in North America, the Ojibwa for example, the ordinary tree sign is commonly used,—that depicting the upward slanting branches of the balsam fir. Figure 7 shows the Ojibwa pictograph which is interpreted as “the big tree in the middle of the earth.” The terminal buds on the conventionalized trees of the Huron moose hair embroidery type resemble in form this balsam fir symbol. The Huron indeed call the bud “balsam fir.”[[92]] The method of slanting the hair to form the design creates the resemblance and causes the confusion, in all probability. Used alone the “bud” would be a tree if placed in proper position but as ordinarily used by the Huron at the extremity of an embroidered branch, it seems paradoxical to find a tree on the small end of one of its branches. This is discussed more fully hereinafter.
Figure 4, e, and f show the Iroquois “middle-of-theworld-tree” as used in conjunction with the sky-dome and sun symbols.
