double to receive the cord which was wedged in between the two arms of the
needle.

[Illustration: Fig 27. Web of the Sioux Shoe.]

[Illustration: Fig. 28. Weaving Needle.]



The Iroquois Shoe.

[Illustration: Fig. 29. Bending the Hickory Strips.]

But the best snow shoe we made was the Iroquois shoe. The frame of this
shoe was made of hickory strips of the same width and thickness as used in
the Sioux shoe, but 8 feet long. The strips were bent in a loop and the
ends were bolted together. How to bend the wood without breaking it seemed
a very difficult problem. Wood, we knew, could be easily bent without
breaking if boiled or steamed for a while; but we had nothing large enough
in which to boil a strip of wood 8 feet long. Bill hit upon the plan of
wrapping the stick with burlap and then pouring boiling water on it until
it became sufficiently soft to bend easily. An old oats-sack was cut up
into strips and wound onto the hickory sticks for a distance of 18 inches
at each side of the center. We then repaired to the kitchen to do the
steaming. The hickory stick was held over a large dish-pan filled with
boiling water, and from this we dipped out the water and poured it slowly
over the burlap wrapping of the stick. After a little of this treatment
the stick was sufficiently steamed to permit of bending to the required
shape. The ends were then firmly secured by means of bolts passed through
bolt holes which had been previously drilled. The frame was completed by