Show NOW TANE UP BEADS indian women devote the winter to fancy work passing of season of feasts and dane I 1 ing enables squaws squads to devote time to making indian trappings thomas okla now th that at the cheyenne Choy enno social season has ended with the close of sum summer merthe the women of the tribes have more leisure for making and decoration of and other indian trappings their children are at school their homes aro are stationary and dances anil and feasts infrequent dealers in beadwork have learned that they get best results by supplying tho the indian woman with all her materials and then paying for the work when whan finished lif in this way an export header will receive better pay than she might be able to do if she had to 9 get et tan and cut hides for herself the design for beadwork Is often agreed upon beforehand as well in Ws ba way tho the indian is saved from decision and the dealer can be sure buro he will gettko get the tho designs and sizes whip which if have hava been found to suit tho the markets moreover Moreo this pre prevents Nants the low insteps which ave aie invariably found in moccasins made for indian wear the indian has worn heelless footgear for so many generations that his instep to Is not as high as that of most civilized men and and the result is that it left to themselves the tha moccasin makers tu turn rn out footgear that cadou tear few white people can wear but for all this the pattern making and beaded design are genuine indian in every respect and have bavo been carefully copied from old models the present system probably has done a great deal to preserve old indian patterns which might have been forgotten or changed if left it Is remarkable with what deftness and speed an expert can coyer a tair pair of buckskin moccasins using only a thin strand of sinew and a sharp awl the indian woman has been adopt adept at this thia work tor for years upon years and her best work is easily distinguished from the cheap and irregular work 0 ot fA factories dorles the art work of cheyenne women and cheyenne men Is quite different the mans art Is realistic and Is intended to represent things as they are lie he devoted his attention to painting tepees shields and buffalo robes and those ailiese pictures are never twice the same the kyomen women on tho the other hand employ un unchanging geometrical designs squares circles triangles and lines flowering lines and flower patterns are utterly unknown to the women of the plains tribes and whenever seen been should bo be regarded with by the collector as it is more than able they camo came germany in reading the designs on a moccasin one can usually say that the triangles are tepees it if they stand upright round lound the solo it if not and es ca specially pec lally ally it they are pointed toward somo some other figure they stand for arrowheads row heads oads every indian design moans soni i thing and sometimes the colors have a second significance quite in do bellfl ent ot if the design lk MA to velh triangles pointing 61 anard ard it represents a 0 buffalo attack by hunters with arrows without the arrow heads about it a square Is usually meant for a star diamonds stand for lakes sometimes moccasins were made with a bunch of fringes a foot long at tho the heel these wore were intended to smooth over tho the tra tracks ka by tho the wearer bo so that anyone following him might bo be unable to know who had passed of course they also worn were decorated especially when anen the wearer was wag mounted As time goes on and buckskin becomes scarcer the tha makers of moccasins will have to turn more and it more to other kinds of leather it if t they inny do not have to give up making them altogether |