. Bulletin. Ethnology. ANTHROP. Pap. No. 17] ALGONQUIN BIRCHBARK—SPECK 255 wood")>^' a similar nativity is asserted, but I would quite agree with the sceptic who, upon critical consideration, places these, with the card emblems, in the category of patterns borrowed recently, that is, within 50 years, from decorations in common use among the Canadians. The element designs, nevertheless, lie strictly within the con- structional realm of the bark cut-out stencU patterns and we cannot deny without suflScient proof that they are as indigenous to the old art Ufe of the region as the cut-out
. Bulletin. Ethnology. ANTHROP. Pap. No. 17] ALGONQUIN BIRCHBARK—SPECK 255 wood")>^' a similar nativity is asserted, but I would quite agree with the sceptic who, upon critical consideration, places these, with the card emblems, in the category of patterns borrowed recently, that is, within 50 years, from decorations in common use among the Canadians. The element designs, nevertheless, lie strictly within the con- structional realm of the bark cut-out stencU patterns and we cannot deny without suflScient proof that they are as indigenous to the old art Ufe of the region as the cut-out process itself is. After setting to one side those designs whose European origin need not be questioned, we observe the remainder to form elements in the ornamentations of peoples in the north as far as the Cree, the Naskapi, and Figure 12.—Designs on birchbark containers (River Desert and Mattawa Bands). a, b, c, Designs from sides and ends of bark container (Mattawa Band) (NMC, III, L, 191); d, scene from side of basket, representing hares' heads in setting of forest profile, as interpreted by Mrs. Buckshot (River Desert Band) (NMC, III, L, 89). Thus, it would seem, there existed an old category of design elements, common to a wide area in the northeast, which has descended more or less intact among the dispersed populations, suffering in the course of time some losses from the original body of motives as well as some accretions from the outside. And finally, whether the cut-out figures have ever possessed a different symbohsm than they now have (see M The figure 14, a, is an unusually suggestive conception of the River Desert artist. She has combined the "cross" figure with that of the heart of Christ shown in the middle of the group, and, being unable to resist the habit of tradition, has introduced a floral modification above the heart and turned the arms of the cross into leaf Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page i
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