Arm bands.

—Because of his love of ornament the Indian wears above his elbow decorative bands in which he can place pieces of evergreen or tie soft, bright feathers or tassels of yarn. These ornaments represent the sacred butterfly, a love charm which is supposed to have the power to make people crazy.^[52] They may be merely strips of leather, striped or painted a solid color, and some are cut with dentate edges. They are tied together with thongs or tassels of yarn. Arm bands are also made of the

hair of buffalo or goat to conform in color and spirit with the other details of the costume (pls. 21, 22). The goat's hair is often dyed.

Strands of colored yarns are used to decorate the wrists. Wrist guards are worn on the left arm during the Hunt Dances, because originally this guard was a leather band worn to protect the wrist from the sharp impact of the bowstring when an arrow was released from the bow. Since the introduction of silver, a curved plate, often set with turquoise, has been applied to the upper side of this decoration.^[53]