DRESS AND PERSONAL HABITS. 95

Whenever travelling, the first thing the northern Déné will do after
starting his bivouac fire will be to divest himself of his mocassins which, if
wet, he will wring thoroughly and set to dry, along with his kAé-thel, a
square piece of some woollen stuff wherewith he wraps his feet previous to
putting on his footgear.

Mittens are for the hands what mocassins are for the feet. In a cold
country, such as the hyperborean steppes over which the Déné roams, the
usefulness, nay, the necessity, of such adjuncts to the costume cannot be
questioned. In fact, our people have become so accustomed to wear them
that, even during the fair season, they wiil hardly do any kind of manual
labour without having them on. They are suspended to a cord of plaited

Fig. 11. Khweeen-zeees (Fire-bag).

yarn passing behind the neck and over the shoulders, so that when not in
actual use there is little risk of losing them. With the same end in view,
a few tribes have them sewed to their upper garment. The wrist-band is
invariably ornamented with stripes of blue and red cloth, together with co-
loured ribbons, according to the means of the wearer.

Gloves are occasionally used, but they were not known in prehistoric
times. The Carriers call them /a-pat, or mittens for the fingers. With others
they are nefo-pat, that is, mittens of the whites.

As the Déné costume was not provided with any pockets, any small
article of which the Indian might at any moment have stood in need had to
be carried about the person hanging from the neck, except the large knife
which was often suspended from the belt. In addition to an awl and, in the
case of adult men, of a pair of hair-tweezers, a fire-bag or khwaen-zes, was
formerly thus carried about when travelling. Its raison d’étre ceased with the
introduction of matches, and its name is now given to a small pouch of
different pattern, though somewhat similar in intent. The former served to
keep in the tinders and parched hay originally required to start a fire with
the drill or more recently with the fire-steel. Its elliptical form (fig. 11) was
probably designed to help guarding its contents against rain or moisture. As