r.

In case of illness, however, the Indians resort much to bleeding, and
this is the mode of operation: a sharp flint is fastened to the split
end of a stick, a U-shaped piece of wood is laid over the intended
spot, and the thickness of the wood determines the depth of the
incision. The flint end of the stick is raised while the other end is
held down in such a way as to bend the stick; on releasing the end
containing the flint, the stick strikes downward and drives the flint
into the flesh to the required depth and no more. The bowl of a pipe
is then applied to the cut, and the blood is drawn off through the
stem. Young birch roots boiled in a second water make a tea which they
sweeten with sugar and use as a laxative. Yellow water-lily roots are
boiled until a black sediment forms--somewhat similar to iodine in
appearance--and with a feather dipped in this liquid wounds are painted
in order to consume proud flesh and to prevent mortification. The
upper tips--about four inches long--of juniper trees having been
boiled, and the outer bark removed, the inner bark is scraped off and
mashed up for poultices. The liquor in which the juniper has been
boiled is employed for washing wounds, as it causes the rapid formation
of a healing cicatrix. To cure colic, the dried root of the "rat root"
is chewed, and the juice swallowed.

Among other work that was well under way was the making of the
moccasins, known as the "mitten moccasin"--by far the best for
snowshoeing, as the seam runs round only the outer side of the foot and
leaves no puckering above the toes to cause blistering. True, the
mitten moccasin is not of the Ojibway style, but Mrs. Oo-koo-hoo had
learned to make it when she and her husband formerly sojourned among
the Wood-Crees on the upper Athabasca.

Supplying the family with socks was a very easy affair, as these
articles were simply rectangular shapes, 12 x 18 inches (for adults)
cut from duffle--a woollen material resembling an extra closely woven
H.B.C. blanket--and worn wrapped about the foot. Such socks have an
advantage over the ordinary kind as they are more easily dried, and
they wear much longer, as the sock can be shifted about every time the
wearer puts it on, thus warding off the evil day when holes appear.

Amik, during the summer, had made a number of snowshoe frames, and now
the women were lacing them. They used fine caribou thongs, especially
fine for the heel and toe. I have seen s