File:Image from page 375 of "Bulletin" (1901).jpg

English: Title: Bulletin

Identifier: bulletin3011907smit Year: 1901 (1900s) Authors: Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology Subjects: Ethnology Publisher: Washington : G. P. O. Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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Text Appearing Before Image: 358 CRADLES [b. a. e. this device. The infant, wrapped in furs, was entirely encased. Over the face was bent a flat bow adorned with pendants or amulets and covered, in the best ex- amples, with a costly hood. The whole upper surface of the hide was a field of beadwork, quillwork, or other decora- tion, in which symbolic and heraldic de- vices were wrought. The frame was supported and carried on the mother's back or swung frona the pommel of .a saddle by means of bands attached to the lattice frame in the rear. Among some tribes the upper ends of the frame pro- jected upward and were decorated. Board cr<tdles.—Nearly akin to the last named is the form seen among the Iro- quoian and Algonquian tribes of the E., in which a thin, rectangular board takes the place of the lattice. It was frequently carved and gorgeously painted, and had a projecting foot rest. The bow was also bent to a right angle and decorated. The infant, after swaddling, was laid upon the l)oard and lashed fast by means of a long Ijand. The tree for the Pawnee cradle-board was carefully selected, and the middle taken out so that the heart or life should be preserved, else the child would die. Equal care was taken that the head of the cradle should follow the grain. The spots on the wildcat skin used for a cover symbolized the stars, the bow the sky, and the crooked furrow cut thereon signified thelightning, whose WICKER power was typified by the arrows tied to the bow (Fletcher). All the parts were symbolic. Dugout cradles.—On the n. Pacific coast the infant was placed in a little box of cedar. The region furnished material, and the adz habit, acquired in canoe ex- cavation, made the manufacture easy. Interesting peculiarities of these cradles are the method of suspending theui hori- zontally, as in Siberia, the pads of shredded bark for head flattening, and the relaxation of the child's body in place of straight lacing. Decorative fea- tures are almost wanting. MaU'nig cradles.—Closely allied to dug- out cradles and similar in the arrange- ment of parts are those found in contigu- ous areas made from the bast of cedar. Basket cradles.—On the Pacific slope and throughout the interior basin the basket cradle predominates and exists in great variety. Form, structure, and dec- oration are borrowed from contiguous regions. In British Columbia the dugout cradle is beautifully copied in coiled work and decorated with imbrications. The Salish have developed such variety in bas-

Text Appearing After Image: ketry technic that mixed types of cradles are not surprising. In the coast region of n. Californiaand Oregon cradlesare more like little chairs; the child's feet are free, and it sits in the basket as if getting ready for emancipation from restraint. The woman lavishes her skill upon this vehicle for the object of her affection. Trinkets, face protectors, and soft beds complete the outfit. Elsewhere in California the baby lies flat. In the interior basin the use of basketry in cradles is characteristic of the iShoshonean tribes. In certain pue- blos of New Mexico wicker coverings are I^laced over them. Hurdle cradles.—These consist of a number of rods or small canes or sticks arranged in a plane on an oblong hoop and held in place by lashing with splints or cords. The Yunian tril^es and the Wichita so made them. The bed is of Cottonwood bast, shredded, and the child is held in place in some examples by an artistic wrapping of colored woven belts. The Apache, Navaho, and Pueblo tribes combine the basket, the hurdle, and the board cradles, the Navaho covering the framework with drapery of the softest buckskin and loading it with ornaments. The ancient cliff-dwellers used both the board and the hurdle forms. Hammock cradles.—Here and there were tribes that placed their infants in net- work or wooden hammocks suspended by the ends. In these the true function of the cradle as a sleeping place is better fulfilled, other varieties serving rather for carrying. Among the San Carlos Apache at least the cradle is made after the baby is born, to fit the bod}'; later on a larger one is prepared. The infant was not placed at once after birth into the cradle after the washing; a certain number of days elapsed before the act was performed with appropriate ceremonies. When the mother was working about the home the infant was not kept in the cradle, but was laid on a rol)e or mat and allowed free play of body and limbs. The final escape was gradual, the process taking a year or more. The cradle distorted the head by flattening the occiput as a natural con- sequence of contact between the resistant pillow and the inunature bone, and among certain tribes this action was enhanced by pressure of pads. The Navaho are said to adjust the padding under the shoulders also. Hrdlicka finds skull deformations more pronounced and conmion in males than in females (see Artificial head de- formation). In many tribes scented herbs were placed in the bedding. Among the Yuma difference was sometimes made in adorning boys' and girls' cradles, the former being much more costly. Some tribes make a new cradle for each child,

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