ot need, as the family eat directly from the pot in which
the food is cooked. The principal food is mutton, boiled, and corn
prepared in many ways. Considerable flour obtained from traders is
consumed; this is leavened slightly and made into small cakes, which are
cooked over the embers like Mexican tortillas.

The women are an important factor in the Navaho tribe. The sheep usually,
and the house, with all that pertains to it, always are the property of
the wife. The independent spirit of the women, instilled by this
incontestable property right, manifests itself throughout the tribe, and
by reason of it the Navaho husband is not apt to seek an opportunity to
criticise his wife so long as she is in a position to say, "If I and the
hogan do not suit you, go elsewhere!" Polygamy is common, but as a rule
the wives of one man are sisters, an arrangement conducive to domestic
harmony.

Many of the Navaho men are skilled silversmiths. Every well-to-do Navaho
possesses a silver belt consisting of a dozen or more wrought oval discs,
each about two by three inches, fastened to a leather strap. Such a belt,
weighing several pounds, is of course a valuable piece of property. The
wearer may also have a broad silver bracelet set with turquoise, a heavy
string of silver beads with a massive pendant of the same material, and a
pair of deerskin leggings with a row of silver buttons on the outer side.
Frequently their horses are gaily bedecked with bridles and saddles
heavily weighted with silver ornaments. The long strap over the shoulder,
from which the pouch of the medicine-man is suspended, is always studded
with silver buttons. Mexican coins, especially the peso, are the principal
source of all this silverwork, the Navaho preferring this coin to our own
dollar because it is heavier. Buttons and beads also are made from
American dimes and twenty-five cent pieces; the small beads from dimes,
and the larger ones from two coins of the same value. They learned
silversmithing from the Mexicans, but since their first lessons have
developed a high degree of individuality in the art. While the metal-work
of the Navaho at the present time is practically all in silver, only a few
copper objects being made, their earliest work in metal was with iron, and
occasionally an example of this is found. The silver and shell bead
jewelry of the Navaho is his savings bank. During times of prosperity he
becomes the possessor of all the jewelry his means