Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 183, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 July 1920 — GAY WITH PLUMAGE OF BIRDS [ARTICLE]

GAY WITH PLUMAGE OF BIRDS

Member* of Warlike Tribe of the Upper Amazon Remarkably Expert In Feather Working. The most numerous and most warlike of the many native tribes of the upper Amagon and its tributaries are the Mundurucus, each of whose settlements has its own military organization, with barracks in which, the fighting men sleep, their arms at hand, always ready for battle The Mundurucus are the most expert .feather-workers in tropical America, the warriors wearing beautiful garments of bird’s plumage, with rosettes of brilliant feathers on the forehead, or sometimes diadems of alligator scales. The which the chiefs carry tn their, ceremonial dances are admirable worts of art, being made by fastening dipon a long wooden rod the white and yellow feathers from the breast of the tsuits tsp such a “scepter" expands into a wide plume composed of the long tail-feathers of mataws and logons. To preserve it from injury, ths wand of authority is kept in a cylindrical case when not required for use on feast days. As a part of the costume, a crescent-shaped breastplate of turtle shell, so thin az to give out a dear note when strack. Is worn.— Pittsburgh Dispatch. “ -k