Knee length leggings of various materials were common in winter. These were tied on with buckskin strips at ankle and knee. Yana used hip-length pantleg type leggings held on with waist bands. Atsugewi sometimes employed fur pieces, twined tule, or spiral wrap-around fur strip leggings. Maidu used deerhide leggings with the hair side inside. These went from ankles to above the knees where they were tied, and were held close to the leg by an outside spirally wound thong from top to bottom.
Snowshoes were a necessity too in the rigorous climate of even the lower portions of the areas inhabited by tribes of the Lassen area, particularly in those of the Atsugewi and mountain Maidu. Snowshoes of the former Indians were circular in plan; those of the latter were oval. Snowshoes were fashioned from small green wooden limbs shaped while hot, and then crisscrossed with strips of buckskin or hide with the fur side down for better traction. Atsugewi used green juniper limbs for the purpose. Since the whole foot was bound firmly to this footgear, there was no heel play as in the case of white mans’ snowshoes.
Chapter XVI
BEAUTY AND PERSONAL GROOMING
Of Atsugewi standards of beauty Garth states: “The ideal woman was short but plump and solidly built so that she could do much work. A slim woman was considered too weak, and a very tall woman was made fun of and called lohkata (stick woman). Heavy breasts, a straight slim nose, large eyes, long black hair, and small feet were all admirable qualities. A girl with big feet was likely to be lazy, also a small foot was desirable because it would not take so large a moccasin. A mother pressed her girl child’s foot together to make it slender. The ideal man was of average height and was heavy set. If a child had a flat nose, his mother pinched it and tried to give it a higher bridge. Bow legs, it was said, might be straightened by the mother when the child was young. Also a child’s ears were pressed against his head; if the ears stood out, this was thought to indicate poor hearing. A slim hand indicated a lazy person; a short stubby hand signified a good worker.”
Garth also comments to the effect that evidently the ideals of Indian beauty had a very practical basis. The same general criteria of beauty and desirability of women seem to have prevailed among the other tribes of this region also, but Yana preferred a rather flat and broad faced feminine beauty.
The hair of both men and women among California Indians was generally worn long. The tribes of the Lassen area were no exception. However, bangs on the forehead were known. Boys and girls let their hair hang loosely, except that Atsugewi sometimes cut small boys’ hair short to make it grow better later.
Women usually parted their hair in the middle wearing it in two hanks, one hanging in front of each shoulder. Each was tied with a piece of rawhide. Women of Yana tribes often used strips of otter or mink fur for the purpose as did some Atsugewi. Yana women might add further decoration in the form of a small string of shell beads. Atsugewi women might paint their scalps at the part in the hair with red paint.
The male Indian tied his hair in a bunch which hung down the back. All local tribes, except mountain Maidu, seem also to have frequently used a small mesh hairnet made of plant fibers with a buckskin band to hold a man’s hair in a sort of roll at the back of his head. Maidu called the net wee-kah. In preparation for war or for the hunt Yana men coiled their hair on their heads with well defined top knots. For dances and other special events, male Maidu and Yana, if rich, wore mesh bonnets thickly covered with white eagle down feathers tied in so that the net strands were not visible. Bone hairpins were sometimes used among Yana and mountain Maidu men.
Men’s hair net type of cap worn by adult males of all Lassen area tribes, the wearer’s long hair being piled on top of the head when worn as in upper sketch (after Dixon) with the loose excess net allowed to fall straight down behind.