Handbook to the ethnographical collections . Fig. 255.—Ancient stone knife-bladein modern setting. British Columbiii, NOKTH AMERICA 273 These were made of a framework of ash wood filled in like aracquet with a network of thongs, and were some five feet long byeighteen inches broad. The weight being thus distrii)uted over alarge surface, the wearer was enabled to glide over the surface ofthe snow without sinking in. For navigating the rivers, various forms of canoe were used, themost characteristic being made of birchbark on a light woodenframe, and paddled from one side. On the Pacific coast c
Handbook to the ethnographical collections . Fig. 255.—Ancient stone knife-bladein modern setting. British Columbiii, NOKTH AMERICA 273 These were made of a framework of ash wood filled in like aracquet with a network of thongs, and were some five feet long byeighteen inches broad. The weight being thus distrii)uted over alarge surface, the wearer was enabled to glide over the surface ofthe snow without sinking in. For navigating the rivers, various forms of canoe were used, themost characteristic being made of birchbark on a light woodenframe, and paddled from one side. On the Pacific coast canoeswere all made of wood, but some Californian tribes possessednothing but Fig. 2-jO.—Buffaln-hair bag. Plains Indians. N. America. The tribal and clan system prevailed over the whole NorthAmerican continent, each clan usually having as its symbola particular kind of animal called a totem (see p. 19). The totem-animal might not be eaten by any member of the clan, and noclansman might marry a woman having the same totem ashimself. Descent was usually reckoned in the female line, andwhere a family owned land it would often belong to the motherrather than the father. Land was considered to belong to thetribe as a whole, l>ut families who cultivated plots acquireda prescriptive right to their ownership. Marriage was almost universally a question of ])iirehase, and thenumber of a mans wives was regulated by his means. On reaching jc T 274 AMERICA udult years, Ijotli sexes were subjected to painful trials of endurance,especially severe in the case of youths aspiring to bo warriors. The Indians had hardly any musical instruments other thansmall drums and rattl
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjoycetho, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1910
