Chapter 14

"Instead of records and chronicles they take this course: Where any remarkable act is done, in memory of it, either in the place or by some pathway near adjoining, they make a round hole in the ground about a foot deep, and as much over, which, when others passing by behold, they inquire the cause and occasion of the same, which being once known, they are careful to acquaint all men as occasion serveth therewith. And lest such holes should be filled or grown over by any accident, as men pass by they will often renew the same; by which means many things of great antiquity are fresh in memory. So that as a man traveleth, if he can understand his guide, his journey will be the less tedious, by reason of the many historical discourses which will be related unto him."

Gregg, in _Commerce of the Prairies_, _New York_, 1844, II, 286, says of the Plains tribes: "When traveling, they will also pile heaps of stones upon mounds or conspicuous points, so arranged as to be understood by their passing comrades; and sometimes they set up the bleached buffalo heads, which are everywhere scattered over those plains, to indicate the direction of their march, and many other facts which may be communicated by those simple signs."

A more ingenious but still arbitrary mode of giving intelligence is practiced at this day by the Abnaki, as reported by H.L. Masta, chief of that tribe, now living at Pierreville, Quebec. When they are in the woods, to say "I am going to the east," a stick is stuck in the ground pointing to that direction, Fig. 151. "Am not gone far," another stick is stuck across the former, close to the ground, Fig. 152. "Gone far" is the reverse, Fig. 153. The number of days journey of proposed absence is shown by the same number of sticks across the first; thus Fig. 154 signifies five days' journey. Cutting the bark off from a tree on one, two, three or four sides near the butt means "Have had poor, poorer, poorest luck." Cutting it off all around the tree means "I am starving." Smoking a piece of birch bark and hanging it on a tree means "I am sick."

Where there has existed any form of artistic representation, however rude, and at the same time a system of ideographic gesture signs prevailed, it would be expected that the form of the latter would appear in the former. The sign of _river_ and _water_ mentioned on page 358 being established, when it became necessary or desirable to draw a character or design to convey the same idea, nothing would be more natural than to use the graphic form of delineation which is also above described. It was but one more and an easy step to fasten upon bark, skins, or rocks the evanescent air pictures that still in pigments or carvings preserve their skeleton outline, and in their ideography approach, as has been shown above, the rudiments of the phonetic alphabets that have been constructed by other peoples. A transition stage between gestures and pictographs, in which the left hand is used as a supposed drafting surface upon which the index draws lines, is exhibited in the DIALOGUE BETWEEN ALASKAN INDIANS, _infra_, page 498. This device is common among deaf-mutes, without equal archaeologic importance, as it may have been suggested by the art of writing, with which they are generally acquainted, even if not instructed in it.

The reproduction of apparent gesture lines in the pictographs made by our Indians has, for obvious reasons, been most frequent in the attempt to convey those subjective ideas which were beyond the range of an artistic skill limited to the direct representation of objects, so that the part of the pictographs which is still the most difficult of interpretation is precisely the one which the study of sign language is likely to elucidate. The following examples of pictographs of the Indians, in some cases compared with those from foreign sources, have been selected because their interpretation is definitely known and the gestures corresponding with or suggested by them are well determined.

The common Indian gesture sign for _sun_ is: "Right hand closed, the index and thumb curved, with tips touching, thus approximating a circle, and held toward the sky," the position of the fingers of the hand forming a circle being shown in Fig. 155. Two of the Egyptian characters for sun, Figs. 156 and 157, are plainly the universal conception of the disk. The latter, together with indications of rays, Fig. 158, and in its linear form, Fig. 159, (Champollion, _Dict._, 9), constitutes the Egyptian character for _light_. The rays emanating from the whole disk appear in Figs. 160 and 161, taken from a MS. contributed by Mr. G.K. GILBERT of the United States Geological Survey, from the rock etchings of the Moqui pueblos in Arizona. The same authority gives from the same locality Figs. 162 and 163 for _sun_, which may be distinguished from several other similar etchings for _star_ also given by him, Figs. 164, 165, 166, 167, by always showing some indication of a face, the latter being absent in the characters denoting _star_.

With the above characters for sun compare Fig. 168, found at Cuzco, Peru, and taken from Wiener's _Perou et Bolivie, Paris_, 1880, p. 706.

The Ojibwa pictograph for sun is seen in Fig. 169, taken from Schoolcraft, _loc. cit._, v. 1, pl. 56, Fig. 67.

A gesture sign for _sunrise, morning_, is: Forefinger of right hand crooked to represent half of the sun's disk and pointed or extended to the left, then slightly elevated. (_Cheyenne_ II.) In this connection it may be noted that when the gesture is carefully made in open country the pointing would generally be to the east, and the body turned so that its left would be in that direction. In a room in a city, or under circumstances where the points of the compass are not specially attended to, the left side supposes the east, and the gestures relating to sun, day, &c., are made with such reference. The half only of the disk represented in the above gesture appears in the following Moqui pueblo etchings for _morning_ and _sunrise_, Figs. 170, 171, and 172. (Gilbert, _MS._)

A common gesture for _day_ is when the index and thumb form a circle (remaining fingers closed) and are passed from east to west.

Fig. 173 shows a pictograph found in Owen's Valley, California, a similar one being reported in the _Ann. Rep. Geog. Survey west of the 100th Meridian for 1876, Washington_, 1876, pl. opp. p. 326, in which the circle may indicate either _day_ or _month_ (both these gestures having the same execution), the course of the sun or moon being represented perhaps in mere contradistinction to the vertical line, or perhaps the latter signifies _one_.

Fig. 174 is a pictograph of the Coyotero Apaches, found at Camp Apache, in Arizona, reported in the _Tenth Ann. Rep. U.S. Geolog. and Geograph. Survey of the Territories for 1876_, _Washington_, 1878, pl. lxxvii. The sun and the ten spots of approximately the same shape represent the days, eleven, which the party with five pack mules passed in traveling through the country. The separating lines are the nights, and may include the conception of covering over and consequent obscurity above referred to (page 354).

A common sign for _moon, month_, is the right hand closed, leaving the thumb and index extended, but curved to form a half circle and the hand held toward the sky, in a position which is illustrated in Fig. 175, to which curve the Moqui etching, Fig. 176, and the identical form in the ancient Chinese has an obvious resemblance.

The crescent, as we commonly figure the satellite, appears also in the Ojibwa pictograph, Fig. 177 (Schoolcraft, I, pl. 58), which is the same, with a slight addition, as the Egyptian figurative character.

The sign for _sky_, also _heaven_, is generally made by passing the index from east to west across the zenith. This curve is apparent in the Ojibwa pictograph Fig. 178, reported in Schoolcraft, I, pl. 18, Fig. 21, and is abbreviated in the Egyptian character with the same meaning, Fig. 179 (Champollion, _Dict._, p. 1).

A sign for _cloud_ is as follows: (1) Both hands partially closed, palms facing and near each other, brought up to level with or slightly above, but in front of the head; (2) suddenly separated sidewise, describing a curve like a scallop; this scallop motion is repeated for "many clouds." (_Cheyenne_ II.) The same conception is in the Moqui etchings, Figs. 180, 181, and 182 (Gilbert _MS._)

The Ojibwa pictograph for _cloud_ is more elaborate, Fig. 183, reported in Schoolcraft, I, pl. 58. It is composed of the sign for _sky_, to which that for _clouds_ is added, the latter being reversed as compared with the Moqui etchings, and picturesquely hanging from the sky.

The gesture sign for _rain_ is described and illustrated on page 344. The pictograph, Fig. 184, reported as found in New Mexico by Lieutenant Simpson (_Ex. Doc. No. 64, Thirty-first Congress, first session_, 1850, pl. 9) is said to represent Montezuma's adjutants sounding a blast to him for rain. The small character inside the curve which represents the sky, corresponds with the gesturing hand. The Moqui etching (Gilbert _MS._) for _rain_, i.e., a cloud from which the drops are falling, is given in Fig. 185.

The same authority gives two signs for _lightning_, Figs. 186 and 187. In the latter the sky is shown, the changing direction of the streak, and clouds with rain falling. The part relating specially to the streak is portrayed in a sign as follows: Right hand elevated before and above the head, forefinger pointing upward, brought down with great rapidity with a sinuous, undulating motion; finger still extended diagonally downward toward the right. (_Cheyenne_ II.)

Figs. 188 and 189 also represent _lightning_, taken by Mr. W.H. Jackson, photographer of the late U.S. Geolog. and Geog. Survey, from the decorated walls of an estufa in the Pueblo de Jemez, New Mexico. The former is blunt, for harmless, and the latter terminating in an arrow or spear point, for destructive or fatal, lightning.

A common sign for _speech, speak_, among the Indians is the repeated motion of the index in a straight line forward from the mouth. This line, indicating the voice, is shown in Fig. 190, taken from the _Dakota Calendar_, being the expression for the fact that "the-Elk-that-hollows-walking," a Minneconjou chief, "made medicine." The ceremony is indicated by the head of an albino buffalo. A more graphic portraiture of the conception of _voice_ is in Fig. 191, representing an antelope and the whistling sound produced by the animal on being surprised or alarmed. This is taken from MS. drawing book of an Indian prisoner at Saint Augustine, Fla., now in the Smithsonian Institution, No. 30664.

Fig. 192 is the exhibition of wrestling for a turkey, the point of interest in the present connection being the lines from the mouth to the objects of conversation. It is taken from the above-mentioned MS. drawing book.

The wrestlers, according to the foot prints, had evidently come together, when, meeting the returning hunter, who is wrapped in his blanket with only one foot protruding, they separated and threw off their blankets, leggings, and moccasins, both endeavoring to win the turkey, which lies between them and the donor.

In Fig. 193, taken from the same MS. drawing book, the conversation is about the lassoing, shooting, and final killing of a buffalo which has wandered to a camp. The dotted lines indicate footprints. The Indian drawn under the buffalo having secured the animal by the fore feet, so informs his companions, as indicated by the line drawn from his mouth to the object mentioned; the left-hand figure, having also secured the buffalo by the horns, gives his nearest comrade an opportunity to strike it with an ax, which he no doubt announces that he will do, as the line from his mouth to the head of the animal suggests. The Indian in the upper left-hand corner is told by a squaw to take an arrow and join his companions, when he turns his head to inform her that he has one already, which fact he demonstrates by holding up the weapon.

The Mexican pictograph, Fig. 194, taken from Kingsborough, II, pt. 1, p. 100, is illustrative of the sign made by the Arikara and Hidatsa for _tell_ and _conversation_. _Tell me_ is: Place the flat right hand, palm upward, about fifteen inches in front of the right side of the face, fingers pointing to the left and front; then draw the hand inward toward and against the bottom of the chin. For _conversation_, talking between two persons, both hands are held before the breast, pointing forward, palms up, the edges being moved several times toward one another. Perhaps, however, the picture in fact only means the common poetical image of "flying words."

Fig. 195 is one of Landa's characters, found in _Rel. des choses de Yucatan_ p. 316, and suggests one of the gestures for _talk_ and more especially that for _sing_, in which the extended and separated fingers are passed forward and slightly downward from the mouth--"many voices." Although the last opinion about the bishop is unfavorable to the authenticity of his work, yet even if it were prepared by a Maya, under his supervision, the latter would probably have given him some genuine native conceptions, and among them gestures would be likely to occur.

The natural sign for _hear_, made both by Indians and deaf-mutes, consisting in the motion of the index, or the index and thumb joined, in a straight line to the ear, is illustrated in the Ojibwa pictograph Fig. 196, "hearing ears," and those of the same people, Figs. 197 and 198, the latter of which is a hearing serpent, and the former means "I hear, but your words are from a bad heart," the hands being thrown out as in the final part of a gesture for _bad heart_, which is made by the hand being closed and held near the breast, with the back toward the breast, then as the arm is suddenly extended the hand is opened and the fingers separated from each other. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I.)

The final part of the gesture, representing the idea of _bad_, not connected with heart, is illustrated in Fig. 236 on page 411.

The above Ojibwa pictographs are taken from Schoolcraft, _loc. cit._ I, plates 58, 53, 59.

Fig. 199, a bas-relief taken from Dupaix's Monuments of New Spain, in Kingsborough, _loc. cit._ IV, pt. 3, p. 31, has been considered to be a royal edict or command. The gesture _to hear_ is plainly depicted, and the right hand is directed to the persons addressed, so the command appears to be uttered with the preface of _Hear Ye! Oyez!_

The typical sign for _kill_ or _killed_ is: Right hand clinched, thumb lying along finger tips, elevated to near the shoulder, strike downward and outward vaguely in the direction of the object to be killed. The abbreviated sign is simply to clinch the right hand in the manner described and strike it down and out from the right side. (_Cheyenne_ II.) This gesture, also appears among the Dakotas and is illustrated in Fig. 200.

Fig. 201, taken from the _Dakota Calendar_, illustrates this gesture. It represents the year in which a Minneconjou chief was stabbed in the shoulder by a Gros Ventre, and afterwards named "Dead Arm" or "Killed Arm." At first the figure was supposed to show the permanent drawing up of the arm by anchylosis, but that would not be likely to be the result of the wound described, and with knowledge of the gesture the meaning is more clear.

Fig. 202, taken from _Report upon the Reconnaissance of Northwestern Wyoming, &c., Washington_, 1875, p. 207, Fig. 53, found in the Wind River Valley, Wyoming Territory, was interpreted by members of a Shoshoni and Banak delegation to Washington in 1880 as "an Indian killed another." The latter is very roughly delineated in the horizontal figure, but is also represented by the line under the hand of the upright figure, meaning the same individual. At the right is the scalp taken and the two feathers showing the dead warrior's rank. The arm nearest the prostrate foe shows the gesture for _killed_.

The same gesture appears in Fig. 203, from the same authority and locality. The scalp is here held forth, and the numeral _one_ is designated by the stroke at the bottom.

Fig. 204, from the same locality and authority, was also interpreted by the Shoshoni and Banak. It appears from their description that a Blackfoot had attacked the habitation of some of his own people. The right-hand upper figure represents his horse with the lance suspended from the side. The lower figure illustrates the log house built against a stream. The dots are the prints of the horse's hoofs, while the two lines running outward from the upper inclosure show that two thrusts of the lance were made over the wall of the house, thus killing the occupant and securing two bows and five arrows, as represented in the left-hand group. The right-hand figure of that group shows the hand raised in the attitude of making the gesture for _kill_.

As the Blackfeet, according to the interpreters, were the only Indians in the locality mentioned who constructed log houses, the drawing becomes additionally interesting, as an attempt appears to have been made to illustrate the crossing of the logs at the corners, the gesture for which (_log-house_) will be found on page 428.

Fig. 205 is the Egyptian character for _veneration, to glorify_ (Champollion, _Dict._, 29), the author's understanding being that the hands are raised in surprise, astonishment.

The Menomoni Indians now begin their prayers by raising their hands in the same manner. They may have been influenced in this respect by the attitudes of their missionaries in prayer and benediction. The Apaches, who have received less civilized tuition, in a religious gesture corresponding with prayer spread their hands opposite the face, palms up and backward, apparently expressing the desire to _receive_.

Fig. 206 is a copy of an Egyptian tablet reproduced from Cooper's _Serpent Myths_, page 28. A priest kneels before the great goddess Ranno, while supplicating her favor. The conception of the author is that the hands are raised by the supplicant to shield his face from the glory of the divinity. It may be compared with signs for asking for _mercy_ and for giving mercy to another, the former being: Extend both forefingers, pointing upward, palms toward the breast, and hold the hands before the chest; then draw them inward toward their respective sides, and pass them up ward as high as the sides of the head by either cheek. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II.) The latter, _to have mercy on another_, as made by the same tribes, is: Hold both hands nearly side by side before the chest, palms forward, forefinger only extended and pointing upward; then move them forward and upward, as if passing them by the cheeks of another person from the breast to the sides of the head.

A similar gesture for _supplication_ appears in Fig. 207, taken from Kingsborough, _loc. cit._, III, pt. I, p. 24.

An Indian gesture sign for _smoke_, and also one for _fire_, has been described above, page 344. With the former is connected the Aztec design (Fig. 208) taken from Pipart, _loc. cit._, II, 352, and the latter appears in Fig. 209, taken from Kingsborough, III, pt. I, p. 21.

A sign for _medicine-man, shaman_, is thus described: "With its index-finger extended and pointing upward, or all the fingers extended, back of hand outward, move the right hand from just in front of the forehead, spirally upward, nearly to arm's length, from left to right." (_Dakota_ IV.)

Fig. 210, from the _Dakota Calendar_, represents the making of medicine or conjuration. In that case the head and horns of a white buffalo cow were used.

Fig. 211 is an Ojibwa pictograph taken from Schoolcraft, _loc. cit._, representing _medicine-man, meda_. With these horns and spiral may be collated Fig. 212 which portrays the ram-headed Egyptian god Knuphis, or Chnum, the spirit, in a shrine on the boat of the sun, canopied by the serpent-goddess Ranno, who is also seen facing him inside the shrine. This is reproduced from Cooper's _Serpent Myths_, p. 24. The same deity is represented in Champollion, _Gram._, p. 113, as reproduced in Fig. 213.

Fig. 214 is an Ojibwa pictograph found in Schoolcraft, I, pl. 58, and given as _power_. It corresponds with the sign for _doctor_, or _medicine-man_, made by the Absarokas by passing the extended and separated index and second finger of the right hand upward from the forehead, spirally, and is considered to indicate "superior knowledge." Among the Otos, as part of the sign with the same meaning, both hands are raised to the side of the head, and the extended indices pressing the temples.

Fig. 215 is also an Ojibwa pictograph from Schoolcraft I, pl. 59, and is said to signify _Meda's power_. It corresponds with another sign made for _medicine-man_ by the Absarokas and Comanches, viz, The hand passed upward before the forehead, with index loosely extended. Combined with the sign for _sky_, before given, page 372, it means knowledge of superior matters; spiritual power.

The common sign for _trade_ is made by extending the forefingers, holding them obliquely upward, and crossing them at right angles to one another, usually in front of the chest. This is often abbreviated by merely crossing the forefingers, see Fig. 278, page 452. It is illustrated in Fig. 216, taken from the Prince of Wied's _Travels in the Interior of North America; London_, 1843, p. 352.

To this the following explanation is given: "The cross signifies, 'I will barter or trade.' Three animals are drawn on the right hand of the cross; one is a buffalo; the two others, a weasel (_Mustela Canadensis_) and an otter. The writer offers in exchange for the skins of these animals (probably meaning that of a white buffalo) the articles which he has drawn on the left side of the cross. He has, in the first place, depicted a beaver very plainly, behind which there is a gun; to the left of the beaver are thirty strokes, each ten separated by a longer line; this means, I will give thirty beaver skins and a gun for the skins of the three animals on the right hand of the cross."