The corn-husk women also wear tissue-paper clothes. The waists are made in the same manner as the men's coats, only shorter and confined at the belt-line with paste. Straight dress skirts are slipped over the waists, and held in place at the belt by winding string around the pinched-up gathers. Long, severely plain white aprons, minus strings, are pasted to the waist-line, and white-bordered black caps and large white three-cornered neckerchiefs complete the costume.
The cap is a straight piece of black tissue-paper with a narrow strip of white folded over the front edge. When ready, the white-bordered black strip is laid over the head, smoothly brought down on the sides, puckered together at the back and tied around the neck with a string. You have only to clip loose the outside layer of white close to the string at the neck-line to give the flare to the cap's white border.
The crisp dress skirt forms sufficient support to enable the little women to stand alone.
With the exception of Squanto, whose manly chest, back, and arms have no covering, the Indians wear suits of tan tissue-paper made on the same principle as the white men's costume, only the trouser-legs are narrow, long, and have the seam cut in fringe and run up on the outside. The bottom edge of the coat and the sleeve seams are also fringed. The coat is not wide and no belt is worn.
Pieces of colored tissue-paper adjusted blanket fashion over the Indians, and fastened here and there with bits of paste to hold them in place, form the Indian blankets.
The Indians' hair is merely a strip of black tissue-paper pasted over the top, back, and sides of the head with the ends loosely twisted and allowed to hang down in front on either side.
Governor Bradford, Priscilla, Chief Massasoit and Elder Brewster. Made of corn-husks.
The war-bonnet is cut from a strip of white writing-paper, the tips of the feathers are inked, and one end of the strip is then pasted around Massasoit's head, as shown in the picture.
It is best to make a number of corn-husk people at one time. Put the two husks together for each pioneer and Indian, then wind a string around the neck of each to form the head ([Fig. 186]). Again tie a string around each at the belt-line ([Fig. 187]). Continue making the people in this way, step by step, until all are finished at the same time. Have ready as many arms as you have people, and run the arms through each, one after another.