The Indians in Wisconsin's History

We look about the inside of the lodge and see the sleeping mats and furs. The family’s spare clothing, breechclouts, shirts, leggings, and moccasins of tanned deerskin for the men, and skirts, blouses, and moccasins for the women, are in one corner. The garments are beautifully decorated with designs grandma embroidered on them with dyed porcupine quills. The work is quite fine and it takes many hours to do a small portion of the embroidery. Father is especially fond of his headdress, a roach made of deer and porcupine hair, and an eagle feather which indicates that he has killed an enemy in battle.

One of the men obtains some edible roots; another cuts the stomachs from several of the deer. Each one of the stomachs is cleaned and tied to form a pouch. The venison, roots, and some wild rice which some of the men brought along, are placed in the prepared deer stomachs, water added, and the ingenious “kettles” suspended over a slow fire. In a relatively short time a delicious stew is set before each of us, served in birch-bark dishes prepared in a few minutes by another of the hunters.