. Bulletin. Ethnology. 92 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 159. Figure 15.—Construction of a "prairie chicken snare saddle," Blackfoot. hide flaps to the centers of pommel and cantle. Holes were punched in the flaps and, after the load was in place, a rawhide line was passed back and forth over the pack and through these holes and tied to hold the load securely and prevent its shifting. This saddle was never decorated. It could be made with less time and effort than either the pad or wood saddle. Thus it was less valuable. These factors undoubtedly encouraged its wide use. DISTMBX
. Bulletin. Ethnology. 92 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 159. Figure 15.—Construction of a "prairie chicken snare saddle," Blackfoot. hide flaps to the centers of pommel and cantle. Holes were punched in the flaps and, after the load was in place, a rawhide line was passed back and forth over the pack and through these holes and tied to hold the load securely and prevent its shifting. This saddle was never decorated. It could be made with less time and effort than either the pad or wood saddle. Thus it was less valuable. These factors undoubtedly encouraged its wide use. DISTMBXn'ION OF THE "PRAIEIE CHICKEN SNAKE SADDLE" There is every reason to believe that the "prairie chicken snare saddle" is not an old type among the Plains Indians. Alexander Henry made no mention of it in his description of Blackfoot saddles in 1809. Bradley, writing in the 1870's, was the first to mention the use of elkhorn in Blackfoot saddle construction. This saddle type does not appear in the works of artists who interpreted the Plains Indians from personal observations in the field prior to 1850. Kurz did not illustrate it in his many representations of saddles seen by him among the Upper Missouri tribes in 1851-52. In his description of the Cheyenne use of this saddle type, Grinnell (1923, vol. 1, p. 207) termed it a comparatively modern invention of the Kiowa, from whom the Cheyenne learned how to make it. If we may credit this explanation of the origin of the "prairie chicken snare saddle," we must recognize that the type spread rapidly over the Plains and deep into the Plateau as far as the Sanpoil and Thompson (Ray, 1932, p. 118; Wissler, 1915, fig. 20). Its use by Coeur d'Alene, Plains Cree, and Teton Dakota has been reported. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectethnolo, bookyear1901
