The dress of the women differs but very little from that of the men. They wear moccasins, leggings, and loose short shirts, and like them they throw over their shoulders, occasionally, a blanket or piece of broad cloth, but most generally the latter; they do not tie it round their waist, however, but suffer it to hang down so as to hide their legs; instead also of the breech cloth, they wear a piece of cloth folded closely round their middle, which reaches from the waist to the knees. Dark blue or green cloths in general are preferred to those of any other colour; a few of the men are fond of wearing scarlet.
The women in warm weather appear in the villages without any other covering above their waists than these shirts, or shifts if you please so to call them, though they differ in no respect from the shirts of the men; they usually, however, fasten them with a broach round the neck. In full dress they also appear in these shirts, but then they are covered entirely over with silver broaches, about the size of a sixpenny piece. In full dress they likewise fasten pieces of ribands of various colours to their hair behind, which are suffered to hang down to their very heels. I have seen a young squaw, that has been a favourite with the men, come forth at a dance with upwards of five guineas worth of ribands streaming from her hair.
OF THE INDIANS.
On their wrists the women wear silver bracelets when they can procure them; they also wear silver ear-rings; the latter are in general of a very small size; but it is not merely one pair which they wear, but several. To admit them, they bore a number of holes in their ears, sometimes entirely round the edges. The men wear ear-rings likewise, but of a sort totally different from those worn by the women; they mostly consist of round flat thin pieces of silver, about the size of a dollar, perforated with holes in different patterns; others, however, equally large, are made in a triangular form. Some of the tribes are very select in the choice of the pattern, and will not wear any but the one sort of pendants. Instead of boring their ears, the men slit them along the outward edge from top to bottom, and as soon as the gash is healed hang heavy weights to them in order to stretch the rim thus separated as low down as possible; Some of them are so successful in this operation, that they contrive to draw the rims of the ear in form of a bow, down to their very shoulders, and their large ear-rings hang dangling on their breasts. To prevent the rim thus extended from breaking, they bind it with brass wire; however, I observed that there was not one in six that had his ears perfect; the least touch, indeed, is sufficient to break the skin, and it would be most wonderful if they were able to preserve it entire, engaged so often as they are in drunken quarrels, and so often liable to be entangled in thickets whilst pursuing their game.
Some of the men wear pendants in their noses, but these are not so common as ear-rings. The chiefs and principal warriors wear breast plates, consisting of large pieces of silver, sea shells, or the like. Silver gorgets, such as are usually worn by officers, please them extremely, and to favourite chiefs they are given out, amongst other presents, on the part of government. Another sort of ornament is likewise worn by the men, consisting of a large silver clasp or bracelet, to which is attached a bunch of hair dyed of a scarlet colour, usually taken from the knee of the buffalo. This is worn on the narrow part of the arm above the elbow, and it is deemed very ornamental, and also a badge of honour, for no person wears it that has not distinguished himself in the field. Silver ornaments are universally preferred to those of any other metal.
The Indians not only paint themselves when they go to war, but likewise when they wish to appear full dressed. Red and black are their favourite colours, and they daub themselves in the most fantastic manner. I have seen some with their faces entirely covered with black, except a round spot in the center, which included the upper lip and end of the nose, which was painted red; others again I have seen with their heads entirely black, except a large red round spot on each ear; others with one eye black and the other red, &c.; but the most common style of painting I observed, was to black their faces entirely over with charcoal, and then wetting their nails, to draw parallel undulating lines on their cheeks. They generally carry a little looking glass about them to enable them to dispose of their colours judiciously. When they go to war they rub in the paint with grease, and are much more particular about their appearance, which they study to render as horrible as possible; they then cover their whole body with red, white, and black paint, and seem more like devils than human beings. Different tribes have different methods of painting themselves.
OF THE INDIANS.
Though the Indians spend so much of their time in adorning their persons, yet they take no pains to ornament their habitations, which for the most part are wretched indeed. Some of them are formed of logs, in a style somewhat similar to the common houses in the United States; but the greater part of them are of a moveable nature, and formed of bark. The bark of the birch tree is deemed preferable to every other sort, and where it is to be had is always made use of; but in this part of the country not being often met with, the bark of the elm tree is used in its stead. The Indians are very expert in stripping it from a tree; and frequently take the entire bark from off the trunk in one piece. The skeletons of their huts consist of slender poles, and on them the bark is fastened with strips of the tough rind of some young tree: this, if sound, proves a very effectual defence against the weather. The huts are built in various forms: some of them have walls on every side, doors, and also a chimney in the middle of the roof; others are open on one side, and are nothing better than sheds. When built in this last style, four of them are commonly placed together, so as to form a quadrangle, with the open parts towards the inside, and a fire common to them all is kindled in the middle. In fine weather these huts are agreeable dwellings; but in the depth of winter they must be dreadfully uncomfortable. Others of their huts are built in a conical shape. The Nandowessies, Mr. Carver tells us, live entirely in tents formed of skins. A great many of the families that were encamped on the island of Bois Blanc, I observed, lived in the canvas tents which they had taken from St. Clair’s army. Many of the Indian nations have no permanent place of residence, but move about from one spot to another, and in the hunting season they all have moveable encampments, which last are in general very rude, and insufficient to give them even tolerable shelter from a fall of rain or snow. The hunting season commences on the fall of the leaf, and continues till the snow dissolves.
SOAP STONE.
In the depth of winter, when the snow is frozen on the ground, they form their hunting sheds of the snow itself; a few twigs platted together being simply placed overhead to prevent the snow which forms the roof from falling down. These snowy habitations are much more comfortable, and warmer in winter time than any others that can be erected, as they effectually screen you from the keen piercing blasts of the wind, and a bed of snow is far from being uncomfortable. To accustom the troops to encamp in this style, in case of a winter campaign, a party of them, headed by some of the young officers, used regularly to be sent from Quebec by the late governor, into the woods, there to shift for themselves during the month of February. Care was always taken, however, to send with them two or three experienced persons, to shew them how to build the huts, otherwise death might have been the consequence to many. In these encampments they always sleep with their feet to the fire; and indeed in the Indian encampments in general, during cold weather, they sleep on the ground with their feet to the fire; during mild weather, many of them sleep on benches of bark in their huts, which are raised from two to four feet from the ground.