OF THE INDIANS.
Though the Indians are profusely furnished with hair on their heads, yet on none of the other parts of the body, usually covered with it amongst us, is the smallest sign of hair visible, except, indeed, on the chins of old men, where a few slender straggling hairs are sometimes seen, not different from what may be occasionally seen on women of a certain age in Europe. Many persons have supposed that the Indians have been created without hair on those parts of the body where it appears wanting; others, on the contrary, are of opinion, that nature has not been less bountiful to them than to us; and that this apparent deficiency of hair is wholly owing to their plucking it out themselves by the roots, as soon as it appears above the skin. It is well known, indeed, that the Indians have a great dislike to hair, and that such of the men as are ambitious of appearing gayer than the rest, pluck it not only from their eye-brows and eye-lashes, but also from every part of the head, except one spot on the back part of the crown, where they leave a long lock. For my own part, from every thing I have seen and heard, I am fully persuaded, that if an Indian were to lay aside this custom of plucking out the hair, he would not only have a beard, but likewise hair on the same parts of the body as white people have; I think, however, at the same time, that this hair would be much finer, and not grow as thickly as upon our bodies, notwithstanding that the hair of their heads is so much thicker than ours. The few hairs that are seen on the faces of old men are to be attributed to the carelessness of old people about their external appearance.
To pluck out their hair, all such as have any connection with the traders make use of a pliable worm, formed of flattened brass wire. This instrument is closely applied, in its open state, to the surface of the body where the hair grows; it is then compressed by the finger and thumb; a great number of hairs are caught at once between the spiral evolutions of the wire, and by a sudden twitch they are all drawn out by the roots. An old squaw, with one of these instruments, would deprive you of your beard in a very few minutes, and a slight application of the worm two or three times in the year would be sufficient to keep your chin smooth ever afterwards. A very great number of the white people, in the neighbourhood of Malden and Detroit, from having submitted to this operation, appear at first sight as little indebted to nature for beards as the Indians. The operation is very painful, but it is soon over, and when one considers how much time and trouble is saved and ease gained by it in the end, it is only surprising that more people do not summon up resolution, and patiently submit to it.
OF THE INDIANS.
The long lock of hair on the top of the head, with the skin on which it grows, constitutes the true scalp; and in scalping a person that has a full head of hair, an experienced warrior never thinks of taking off more of the skin than a bit of about the size of a crown piece, from the part of the head where this lock is usually left. They ornament this solitary lock of hair with beads, silver trinkets, &c. and on grand occasions with feathers. The women do not pluck any of the hair from off their heads, and pride themselves upon having it as long as possible. They commonly wear it neatly platted up behind, and divided in front on the middle of the forehead. When they wish to appear finer than usual, they paint the small part of the skin, which appears on the separation of the hair, with a streak of vermilion; when neatly done, it looks extremely well, and forms a pleasing contrast to the jetty black of their hair.
OF THE INDIANS.
The Indians, who have any dealings with the English or American traders, and all of them have that live in the neighbourhood, and to the east of the Mississippi, and in the neighbourhood of the great lakes to the north-west, have now totally laid aside the use of furs and skins in their dress, except for their shoes or moccasins, and sometimes for their leggings, as they find they can exchange them to advantage for blankets and woollen cloths, &c. which they consider likewise as much more agreeable and commodious materials for wearing apparel. The moccasin is made of the skin of the deer, elk, or buffalo, which is commonly dressed without the hair, and rendered of a deep brown colour by being exposed to the smoke of a wood fire. It is formed of a single piece of leather, with a seam from the toe to the instep, and another behind, similar to that in a common shoe; by means of a thong, it is fastened round the instep, just under the ankle-bone, and is thus made to fit very close to the foot. Round that part where the foot is put in, a flap of the depth of an inch or two is left, which hangs loosely down over the string by which the moccasin is fastened; and this flap, as also the seam, are tastefully ornamented with porcupine quills and beads: the flap is edged with tin or copper tags filled with scarlet hair, if the moccasin be intended for a man, and with ribands if for a woman. An ornamented moccasin of this sort is only worn in dress, as the ornaments are expensive, and the leather soon wears out; one of plain leather answers for ordinary use. Many of the white people on the Indian frontiers wear this kind of shoe; but a person not accustomed to walk in it, or to walk barefoot, cannot wear it abroad, on a rough road, without great inconvenience, as every unevenness of surface is felt through the leather, which is soft and pliable: in a house it is the most agreeable sort of shoe that can be imagined: the Indians wear it universally. Above the moccasin all the Indians wear what are called leggings, which reach from the instep to the middle of the thigh. They are commonly made of blue or scarlet cloth, and are formed so as to fit close to the limbs, like the modern pantaloons; but the edges of the cloth annexed to the seam, instead of being turned in, are left on the outside, and are ornamented with beads, ribands, &c. when the leggings are intended for dress. Many of the young warriors are so desirous that their leggings should fit them neatly, that they make the squaws, who are the tailors, and really very good ones, sow them tight on their limbs, so that they cannot be taken off, and they continue to wear them constantly till they are reduced to rags. The leggings are kept up by means of two strings, one on the outside of each thigh, which are fastened to a third, that is tied round the waist.
They also wear round the waist another string, from which are suspended two little aprons, somewhat more than a foot square, one hanging down before and the other behind, and under these a piece of cloth, drawn close up to the body between the legs, forming a sort of truss. The aprons and this piece of cloth, which are all fastened together, are called the breech cloth. The utmost ingenuity of the squaws is exerted in adorning the little aprons with beads, ribands, &c.
The moccasins, leggings, and breech cloth constitute the whole of the dress which they wear when they enter upon a campaign, except indeed it be a girdle, from which hangs their tobacco pouch and scalping knife, &c.; nor do they wear any thing more when the weather is very warm; but when it is cool, or when they dress themselves to visit their friends, they put on a short shirt, loose at the neck and wrists, generally made of coarse figured cotton or callico of some gaudy pattern, not unlike what would be used for window or bed curtains at a common inn in England. Over the shirt they wear either a blanket, large piece of broad cloth, or else a loose coat made somewhat similarly to a common riding frock; a blanket is more commonly worn than any thing else. They tie one end of it round their waist with a girdle, and then drawing it over their shoulders, either fasten it across their breasts with a skewer, or hold the corners of it together in the left hand. One would imagine that this last mode of wearing it could not but be highly inconvenient to them, as it must deprive them in a great measure of the use of one hand; yet it is the mode in which it is commonly worn, even when they are shooting in the woods; they generally, however, keep the right arm disengaged when they carry a gun, and draw the blanket over the left shoulder.
OF THE INDIANS.