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                                  The
                             LIVING MUSEUM


                   Vol. XV    OCTOBER, 1953    No. 6


      Devoted to a better understanding of living things and fine
                     surroundings in which we live


                _MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI MAN—by Art Sieving_




                       THE ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM


                 Fifth Floor of the Centennial Building
               Springfield, Illinois, State Capitol Group
                              ALWAYS FREE
           Hours: Daily, 8:30 to 5.    Sundays, 2 to 5 p. m.
Open every day except New Year’s Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and
                               Christmas.
                 _Dept. of Registration and Education_
                          _State of Illinois_

                     Hon. Vera M. Binks, _Director_
                  Hon. William G. Stratton, _Governor_
                       _Museum Board of Advisers_
                  Hon. Vincent Y. Dallman, _Chairman_
              Editor, Illinois State Register, Springfield
                 Hon. Robt. H. Becker, _Outdoor Editor_
                        Chicago Tribune, Chicago
                     M. M. Leighton, Ph.D., _Chief_
                    State Geological Survey, Urbana


                       Virginia S. Eifert, Editor
                     Thorne Deuel, Museum Director
            (Printed by authority of the State of Illinois)


  Illinois Fashions a Thousand Years Ago                             418
  Scalamandre Textiles in the Art Gallery                            420
  The Badger, Master Excavator                                       421
  Science Adventure Program for School Age Young People              423
  The Program                                                        423
  Three Rivers South by Eifert: A Review                             424




                 ILLINOIS FASHIONS A THOUSAND YEARS AGO


              by Melvin Fowler, _Curator of Anthropology_

Museum visitors often wonder about the appearance of the prehistoric
peoples of Illinois, but pictures of unearthed skeletons and pieces of
aboriginal jewelry in museum cases do not wholly satisfy this interest.
Anthropologists also are deeply concerned with ancient fashions of
dress, yet remains or evidence of garments, cloth, and hair styles
seldom come to light. True, anthropologists are able to determine
something from beads, ear ornaments, and bracelets found with the dead
in graves, and the relationship of these objects to the skeleton
sometimes gives clues about the uses of the objects. For instance, it is
a fair presumption that disc-shaped ornaments found near the ear region
of a skull were ear pendants or decorations.

Occasionally, however, small clay figures are found which give
considerable information on the dress and appearance of prehistoric
Illinoisians. The purposes for which these statuettes were made by the
Indians is not known; they often depict human beings, their clothing,
and ornaments. Some are made of clay, others are carved of stone. In
addition to statuettes, sculptures are sometimes added as decoration on
pottery vessels and in modeling smoking pipes.

Recently a study has been made of the figures and objects made by
Hopewellian peoples (who lived about 200 B.C. to 800 A.D.?) and much has
been learned about their appearance.[1] Many figures and representations
of human beings belonging to the Middle Mississippi Culture in Illinois
(1200-1600 A.D.) have also been discovered. A study is being made of
these figures at the present time to learn about Middle Mississippi
costume, research which is necessary in preparing exhibits on
Amerindians (American Indians) in the Museum and the Museumobile.

Already, much has been learned from the study of the figures available.
For example, in studying a human figure in stone from the Kincaid Site
near Brookport in Massac County, it was observed that the hair styling
which was represented consisted of three main elements: a band of some
sort around the head, hair bobbed over the ears and cut at shoulder
length behind, and an appendage or hair braid commencing on top of the
head and trailing down behind. In turning to other Middle Mississippi
figures represented in the Museum collection, several were found showing
these same characteristics.

    [Illustration: _Original (right) and restored (left) Middle
    Mississippi Figurine_]

One of the most interesting figures of this type is the fragmentary top
of a water bottle from Cahokia found by Mr. Gregory Perino of
Belleville, Illinois. The opening of the bottle is made where the face
of the figure would be. The hairdo is shown in detail, including all of
the features mentioned above except that on this figure the hair is
bobbed all around the head. The novel feature of this figure is the knot
of hair shown in detail with the attached appendage indicating, in this
case at least, that the pendant which trails down behind is not of hair,
but something else.

When the early explorers came through the southeastern United States
they found Middle Mississippi Indians still living there. Because the
accounts of chroniclers of DeSoto’s expedition and the early French
settlers of Louisiana are especially full, we are thus able to fill in
our knowledge of the appearance of these Indians. From these sources, we
find that headbands were commonly worn and the hair was often knotted on
top of the head with “the tails of animals or their entire skins
fastened to the hair....”[2]

Putting these fragments of evidence together, we have been able to
construct a figure representing a Middle Mississippi man. The hair
styling consists of the main features shown in the statuettes and
figures. The head band is decorated with a circle and cross, a design
found painted on Middle Mississippi pottery and engraved on pendants. A
coon tail is attached to the hairknot on the crown of the head. In the
man’s hand is a string of cut shell beads to which is attached a gorget
(breast ornament) made of sea shell. At his side is a robe made of
turkey feathers.

By these means we can at last answer the Museum visitor’s and the
anthropologist’s questions, “How did they look?”—“How did Middle
Mississippi people dress?”




                SCALAMANDRE TEXTILES IN THE ART GALLERY


Beginning October 10th, the Illinois State Museum Art Gallery under the
direction of Frances S. Ridgely, Curator of Art, features an exhibition
of textiles used in the restoration of pre-revolutionary homes. From
among the many fabrics which Franco Scalamandré has reproduced for
restoration of historic American houses, the Scalamandré Museum of
Textiles has assembled this exhibition of woven materials of the 17th
and 18th centuries.

Among the 17th century homes are those of the two noted Quakers,
“Pennsbury Manor”, the country estate of William Penn, and the John
Bowne House, Flushing, New York. The Hudson River Valley Dutch era is
shown in “Philipse Castle”, North Tarrytown, New York. New England is
represented by the modest cottage of Paul Revere, Boston, Massachusetts.
The Howland House, Plymouth, Massachusetts, is reputed to be the only
house still standing where once was heard the foot treads of the
Pilgrims, and there is the famous Buckman Tavern, Lexington,
Massachusetts, which was headquarters of the Minute Men, April 19, 1775,
the night that ushered in the War of Independence.

As the colonies increased in population and wealth in the succeeding
century, the homes became more pretentious in their furnishings. The
textiles used in the 18th century homes were the beautiful silk damasks,
brocatelles, lampases, brocades, velvets, and toiles.

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, is represented by the Governor’s
Palace, the abode of the royal governors appointed by the King; the
Wythe House, residence of George Wythe, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, and the Raleigh Tavern, the most famous
hostelry of its time.

The town and plantation houses of the landed gentry include “Kenmore”,
the home of George Washington’s only sister, Betty Washington Lewis, at
Fredericksburg, Virginia; the Heyward-Washington House, Charleston,
South Carolina; the Hammond-Harwood House, Annapolis, Maryland; the Ford
Mansion, Morristown, New Jersey, Washington’s headquarters at the time
Lafayette arrived to bring the glad tidings that France was sending an
army to help the American cause. There are a number of others equally as
famous. The owners of these houses were the famous colonists who, with
the exception of a few who remained royalists, played prominent roles in
the struggle for freedom. They are the patriots who obtained their niche
in history as having fought and struggled in making America a free and
great nation.

Some of this atmosphere of the exciting past comes to the Museum with
this exhibition of textiles from these old homes. The walls of the
Museum Gallery hung with five-yard lengths of these colorful textiles
radiate a galaxy of colors in shimmering and lustrous silks. Framed
charts are included with photographs of exteriors and interiors of each
house. A brief resume of the lives of the owners, the period of
architecture, and a description of color schemes of the rooms and
contents are also given.

It is an exhibit of interest and educational value to every American,
and alike, instructive to interior decorators and students of interior
design. College and public school students studying American history
will be enlightened as to how their famous forefathers lived.




                      THE BADGER, MASTER EXCAVATOR


 by Donald F. Hoffmeister, _Assistant Professor of Zoology and Curator
         of the Natural History Museum, University of Illinois_

    [Illustration: _Photograph by E. P. Haddon, Fish and Wild Life
    Service_]

Although for many years the badger was common in Illinois, it all but
vanished from this State about the first half of the 19th century. By
1861, an Illinois biologist commenting on the badger wrote that the
species had “nearly abandoned the State,” and by the latter part of the
past century the badger was definitely on the wane in Illinois.

But strangely enough, within recent years the badger once more has
increased in numbers in northern Illinois and has reinvaded some of the
territory it formerly occupied in central Illinois. It is most abundant
in our northwestern counties, but even as far south as Fulton County
this animal has been seen in nearly a dozen different localities in the
past ten years. Two badgers were taken nearly as far east as the Indiana
line in 1953. The badger, in spite of man’s attempt to control it,
apparently is increasing and spreading.

Although you may live in an area where the badger is common, it would
not be surprising if you had never seen this animal, for it is abroad
principally at night. However, its presence is usually well known by the
abundance of its diggings. The badger is excellently equipped to dig,
with powerful forelegs tipped with long, strong claws. It is squat and
streamlined for getting through—not over—the ground. More than once, a
group of men have cornered a badger in a shallow burrow, but one badger
with its own digging apparatus extended the burrow faster than the crew
of men could shovel. When pursuing or pursued, the badger never rests on
its “shovels”, but keeps them going at such a rapid pace that the tunnel
behind is soon filled with moved dirt. The front legs loosen the dirt
and push it under the animal, where the hind legs pick up the process
and continue the earth on out behind. The operation proceeds like an
endless track, without a wasted motion. As many as ten men, all equipped
with shovels, have failed to keep up with the excavating of a badger,
and the latter has escaped their intents. Ten men against a 30-pound
badger! No wonder it has been called a master excavator. With the
powerful front legs, the badger is not readily deterred in its
burrowing. I have seen where a badger had decided to come to the surface
from its subterranean burrow beneath a heavily macadamized road. The
well-packed rocks, gravel, and tar, some four or five inches thick, were
torn away and a sizeable hole made as if no roadway were there. A
captive badger was given the run of a concrete basement. This seemed
like a safe enough place. However, the animal found a crack and enlarged
it until he was successful in removing a piece of concrete.

The badger is yellowish gray in color, with a conspicuous white stripe
on the head, extending from the nose over the forehead, and disappearing
on the back. Because the animal belongs to the weasel and skunk family,
it possesses scent glands and a strong odor which is emitted only
infrequently. When tormented, the badger holds its stubby tail erect,
skunk-fashion, and hisses in a menacing way.

In Illinois, the badger is at home on the rolling, sandy prairies, as
well as on prairies with heavier soils. Franklin ground squirrels,
thirteen-lined ground squirrels, woodchucks, and meadow mice provide
food for the badger population. When prey is sensed in the badger’s
underground burrow, the dirt flies until the hunter has it securely in
mouth. Snakes, frogs, insects, and rabbits also are eaten; and because
the majority of these items in its diet are pests of man, the badger is
considered a most important animal in northern Illinois in keeping small
mammals in check and is vastly underrated as a natural control of many
of our pests. To condemn the woodchuck and badger, or the ground
squirrel and badger, in the same breath would be like despising both
garbage and the garbage man.

Badgers have a single litter of young each year in May or June. The
young are cared for in a nest at the end of a protective subterranean
burrow. In wintertime, badgers are said to hibernate, but they do not do
so in the strict sense of the word. They may become inactive during
periods of extreme cold, but they do not enter into the deep sleep, with
reduced metabolic activities, that the woodchucks and ground squirrels
do in Illinois.

In our State, the badger has few, if any, enemies, other than man. Man
traps the badger, makes unusable some of its preferred habitat, poisons
off the squirrels and woodchucks which are its preferred source of food,
and runs it down on the highway. The fur of the badger nowadays has
little or no value, but in former years it was in demand, and a badger
hide, at inflated prices, would have been worth as much as ten dollars.
Conservationists maintain that it is unwise not to give some protection
to one of our most interesting mammals, a potentially valuable
fur-bearer, and a foremost controller of rodent pests.

May the “diggings” of the badger, the next time you encounter them,
thrill you with the thoughts of one of Illinois’ first and foremost
engineers, a master excavator.




         SCIENCE ADVENTURE PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL AGE YOUNG PEOPLE


              by Milton D. Thompson, _Assistant Director_

There will be two identical programs each Saturday this fall, on four
consecutive Saturdays from October 31 to November 21, one at 9:00 A.M.
and the second at 10:30 A.M. in the auditorium of the Centennial
Building. This double program is offered in response to the tremendous
crowds with standing room only which we experienced last spring. We will
have room for between 1200 and 1300 persons each Saturday. Parents and
group leaders are invited to attend with their young people. We
appreciate a few adults scattered through the audience.

Out-of-town groups making reservations in advance will have a block of
seats reserved for them until five minutes before starting time. These
Saturday morning programs and a visit to the Museum, Lincoln’s Home,
Lincoln’s Tomb, and perhaps a trip out to New Salem make a wonderful
weekend excursion for your club or class, and these interesting places
are not nearly as crowded in the fall as in the spring.




                              THE PROGRAM


                        9:00 A.M. and 10:30 A.M.

                    About 1 Hour and 15 Minutes Each

October 31—The Forgotten Village. This is the story of a small Mexican
      village, a primitive place, where the people prefer the chants and
      lotions of their “Witch Doctor” or “Wise Woman” to the modern
      knowledge of the village teacher. It is a stirring and vigorous
      film with the thrills and suspense of a Hollywood production.

November 7—Wedding of Palo. An exciting story of Greenland Eskimo life
      filmed by that famous Danish Arctic explorer, Knud Rasmussen. The
      sound track is in native Eskimo with English titles; there is a
      rousing surprise-ending to this tale of the Far North.

November 14—Wildlife Wonders. Presented in person by Drs. Lorus and
      Margery Milne, a “Western movie” like no other Western, for this
      is the story of wildlife of the Jackson Hole country of Wyoming.
      We will see elk roaming in herds among the quaking aspen trees,
      pronghorn antelope and badger in the sagebrush, moose browsing
      along the Snake River, buffalo taking dust baths, and the rare
      trumpeter swans. Drs. Lorus and Margery Milne who tell this tale
      will be here in person under the auspices of Audubon Screen Tours.

November 21—American Pioneer Highlights. This is the presentation of
      three films on exciting pioneer episodes of American history—The
      Kentucky Pioneers; Daniel Boone; and Pocahontas, the Indian girl
      who saved Captain John Smith and Jamestown. The trio forms an
      interesting story of some of America’s spectacular historic
      pioneer events.




                _THREE RIVERS SOUTH_ BY EIFERT: A REVIEW


In the new novel, _Three Rivers South, a Tale of Young Abe Lincoln_,
Virginia S. Eifert, editor of _The Living Museum_, has written a story
based on Abraham Lincoln’s famous flatboat trip in the spring of the
year, 1831. Into the fabric of fiction, Mrs. Eifert has woven the few
known facts of this obscure period in Lincoln’s life, and has created a
narrative of adventure down three rivers of Mid-America.

These three streams are the Sangamon, the Illinois, and the Mississippi.
The tale begins with young Abe and his kinsmen building a flatboat at
Sangamo Town because their employer had neglected to procure a boat at
the specified time in order to haul a load of corn and pork down to New
Orleans. The story covers the month occupied in building the boat, the
month enroute down the flooding rivers to the rowdy, elegant city of New
Orleans, where the three spent a month exploring the city before
returning to the Illinois country where Abe had a job at New Salem.

_Three Rivers South_ has been capably and dramatically illustrated by
one of America’s foremost artists, Thomas Hart Benton. It was published
in September by Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, and is priced at
$2.95. It may be obtained from your local book shop and from the Book
Department of the Illinois State Museum.




                               FOOTNOTES


[1]Deuel, Thorne: “Hopewellian Dress in Illinois”, in _Archaeology of
    Eastern United States_ (J. B. Griffin, Editor). University of
    Chicago Press, 1952. Available as Report of Investigations, No. 3,
    Illinois State Museum, 1952. See _Living Museum_, April 1953.

[2]Swanton, John R. “The Indians of the Southeastern United States”,
    _Bureau of American Ethnology 147_; U. S. Government Printing
    Office, Washington, D. C., 1946, pp. 503-504.




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                          Transcriber’s Notes


—Silently corrected a few typos, including listed errata.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
  is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
  _underscores_.