oidery; the
lateral lines of broken direction are water waves moving in masses.
There are clouds and stars and moons to be found among them, and if we
could interpret them we might even find records of the sensations with
which they were regarded.

[Illustration: MAN'S JACKET OF PORCUPINE QUILLWORK Made by Sioux
Indians.

_Courtesy American Museum of Natural History, New York_]

[Illustration: MAN'S JACKET OF PORCUPINE QUILLWORK Made by Plains
Indians.

_Courtesy of American Museum of Natural History, New York_]

It would seem to argue a want of inventive faculty, that the
aboriginal women never conceived the idea of weaving fibers together in
textiles, but were contented with the skins of animals for warmth of
body covering. The two alternatives of so close and warm a substance as
tanned skins, or nakedness, seem to a civilized mind to demand some
intermediate substance. This, however, was not felt as a want, at least
not to the extent of inspiring a textile. Perhaps we should never have
had the unique porcupine quill embroidery except for the close-grained
skin foundation, which made it possible and permanent. Certainly the
cleverness with which the idea of weaving has been used in the evolution
of the Indian blanket shows that only the initial thought was lacking.
The subsequent use of the arts of spinning and weaving, with the
retention of the original idea of decoration in design and coloring, has
made the Indian blanket an article of great commercial value.

Fortunately, these productions are valuable to their producers, and even
to other members of the tribes, and were carefully preserved from
casualties, so that there are still many examples of Indian manufacture,
such as belts of wampum, and headbands of ceremony, to be found among
existing tribes.

These early specimens are not only intrinsically valuable, but give many
a clue to what may be called the spiritual side of the aborigines. They
had not learned the limits of representation, and as this history deals
with results of life and not with the impulse toward expression which
lies at the root of design, we need not attempt more than a suggestion
of some of the results. The unguided impulses of Indian art, as seen or
imagined in their work, lies behind the work itself and can be read only
by its materialization.

CHAPTER II -- THE CREWELWORK OF OUR PURITAN MOTHERS

The crewelwork of New England was the first ornamental stitchery
practice