Chapter XII

TANNING, CORDAGE, AND GLUE

Mountain Maidu buried bear skins in wet ground, but hides generally were soaked about a week in water by local Indians. Mountain Maidu used ashes to help dehair skins other than deer, but this was not a practice common to other tribes. Stone, or more frequently, shaped deer rib or pelvic bones were used as dehairing scraper tools on skins. The hide was draped over an inclined post and was soaked and squeezed occasionally during the process of scraping.

The tanning agent was a cooked soup of animal brains, particularly those of deer. This material might first have been mashed, mixed with dry moss, and then molded into small cakes for drying and storage. The deer brain agent was well rubbed into the cleaned, soaked skin. It was then allowed to soak overnight in the tanning solution. The next day while drying the skin in the sun, the operator stretched and worked the hide with his hands to make it soft and pliable.

Among Atsugewi the skin was then smoked over a fire of moist rotten logs or green juniper boughs burning in a shallow pit. The skin was laid on a domed framework of willow branches arched over the fire. The hide was turned occasionally to insure uniform treatment. Mr. Garth believes that this smoking process was recently learned. It was not generally practiced by neighboring tribes, but produced superior buckskin which resisted stiffening as a result of subsequent wetting. Even Atsugewi did not smoke other skins.

Men did all this work as well as the hunting, skinning, and fashioning of garments from hides. Skins were sewn with bone awls and deer sinew thread which was made by rolling fine deer sinew strands on the thigh with the open hand.

Like other local tribes, the Maidu used many woven skin blankets. These were fashioned from one inch strips of rabbit fur, especially, but also of the skins of wildcat, cougar, geese, or crows. These were not tanned so that upon drying they twisted or curled like the strands of a rope with the fur or feather side out. Ends were tied together to form a long fur or feather covered rope. This was wound about two poles set upright in the ground six feet or so apart to form the warp for the blanket. More of the same material was then woven up and down as weft to produce a soft and very warm skin blanket which was also quite durable. When bird skins were employed a cord core was threaded thru the center of the twisted strands before weaving for greater strength.

Mountain Maidu also did feather work like that of the Atsugewi, however foothill and valley Maidu did so to a greater extent and of a more elaborate nature.

Willow, serviceberry, and redbud withes, and at lower elevations, lengths of wild grape vines were used for tying purposes. However, Indians also had need for strong and more versatile and more durable string, cord, and rope. These were usually made from vegetable fibers. Atsugewi and mountain Maidu used Indian hemp and milkweed but not nettle or iris fibers as did some other tribes. When mature, but before they became old and brittle, the plants were collected and dried, stripped of leaves, and the flesh was scraped and pounded off leaving the free fibers. String was made by placing two small bundles of fibers parallel and close together on the thigh of the leg. These were rolled up into two strands side by side with one stroke of the open hand moving either up or down the thigh. On the return stroke the two separate and now twisted strands were twisted together into one string. Stout cord was made by repeating the process, substituting two strings for the two bundles of loose fibers this time. To make rope the process was repeated several times, successively doubling the cordage product. As the cordage strands were twined together, the product was held in the left hand, the rolling being done by the right hand on the right thigh.

Nets of good quality were fabricated in a variety of mesh sizes, the uniformity of which was controlled by use of squarish wooden blocks. Shuttles to hold the string for net tying were straight pieces of wood notched at each end and into which the strand was wrapped. As has been pointed out, nets were used chiefly for hunting, fishing, and carrying, although small nets were often worn in the hair by men.

Adhesives were important in the economy of the Indians too. Pine pitch and glue made from the skins of fish were used. A solution of the latter was mixed by the mountain Maidu with certain internal organs of fish and boiled vegetable materials to improve the quality of their glue.