In the carving of wooden utensils, such as bowls, spoons, mortars, and miscellaneous articles, the Mohegans have shown considerable skill, as appears from what few articles have survived among them. Some of their bowls made from maple burls are exquisite. Several of these have been described and illustrated by Mr. Willoughby in a recent paper, the originals being in the Slater Memorial Museum, of Norwich. Wolf or dog faces facing inward from projections upon the rim are very well executed. Oftentimes such bowls were decorated by inserting wampum beads into the wood, giving the outline and eateries of the face. These bowls were used until a few generations ago for mixing native bread known as johnny-cake.
Hardly inferior in workmanship to the bowls are the very distinctive Mohegan mortars (_də´kwaŋg_, “pounder”) made of a pepperidge log, and provided with long stone pestles (_gwu´nsnag_, “long stone”). Three of these specimens, now in the Heye collection, are shown in Plate XII. Practically all of the large mortars for grinding corn in the household, among the Mohegans, were of this type. Their sides were tapered toward the pedestal, and there were from two to three handles on the sides near the bottom. Hollowed scallop work ornamented the edge of the pedestal. The mortars average about 17 inches in height; and their cavity, narrowing towards the bottom, is very deep. The stone pestle is 18 inches long. Until lately a few of these heirlooms were cherished in several Mohegan families.
The use of wooden spoons and ladles (_giya´mən_) has not been entirely abandoned by these Indians. The designs of most of the forms are considered as aboriginal. They have rather broad oval--or sometimes even circular--bowls, sometimes flat-bottomed bowls; and the handles are of varying lengths, with rounded projections in the under side to prevent the ladle from sliding down into the pot. This favourite semi-decorative and functional feature also occurs in the handles of gauges (Figure 1). The spoons are usually made of birch or maple. One or two ornamentally carved specimens were found. One with a dog’s head at the end of the handle, and the bowl set at an angle to the handle, is in the Slater Museum. Another, recently obtained from the Indians (Plate XIII), has two human faces, back to back, at the end of the handle. The spoons range from 6 to 12 inches in length. Various types are shown in Plate XIII.