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VARIOUS FORMS OF CROSSES IN USE AMONG NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, FROM GREEK
CROSS TO SWASTIKA.
Fig. 1. GREEK CROSS.
2. GREEK CROSS.
3. CROSS ON COPPER.
4. CROSS ON SHELL.
5. GREEK CROSS.
6. GREEK CROSS.
7. LATIN CROSS (Copper).
8. GREEK CROSS.
9. LATIN CROSS (Copper).
10. SWASTIKA ON SHELL.
11. SWASTIKA ON SHELL.
12. SWASTIKA ON POTTERY.
13. SWASTIKA ON POTTERY.
[Illustration: Fig. 304. ENGRAVED SHELL DISK GORGET. Rude cross with many
dots. Lick Creek, Tenn. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
pl. 52, fig. 2.]
[Illustration: Fig. 305. ENGRAVED SHELL WITH FIGURE OF GREEK CROSS.
Caldwell County, N. C. Cat. No. 33169, U. S. N. M.]
The U. S. National Museum possesses a small shell ornament (fig. 305) in
the form of a cross, from Lenoir's burial place, Fort Defiance, Caldwell
County, N. C., collected by Dr. Spainhour and Mr. Rogan, the latter being
an employé of the Bureau of Ethnology. It is in the form of a Greek cross,
the four arms crossing at right angles and being of equal length. The arms
are of the plain shell, while they are brought to view by the field being
cross-hatched. The specimen has, unfortunately, been broken, and being
fragile has been secured in a bed of plaster.
[Illustration: Fig. 306. ENGRAVED SHELL WITH THREE-ARMED CROSS
(TRISKELION). Lick Creek, Tenn. Cat. No. 83170, U. S. N. M.]
This and the foregoing specimens have been introduced into this paper that
the facts of their existence may be presented for consideration, and to
aid in the determination whether the cross had any peculiar or particular
meaning. The questions involuntarily arise, Was it a symbol with a hidden
meaning, religious or otherwise; was it the totem of a clan, the insignia
of a ruler, the charm of a priesthood, or did it, with all the associated
shell engravings, belong to the category of trinkets? Those questions may
be partially answered in the section on the meanings given to the cross by
the North American Indians (p. 933).
[Illustration: Fig. 307. DRILLED AND ENGRAVED SHELL OR "RUNTEE." Dotted
Greek cross and circle. Arizona.]
[Illustration: Fig. 308. DRILLED AND ENGRAVED SHELL OR "RUNTEE." Dots and
rings forming circle and Greek cross. Ohio.]
There is also introduced, as bearing on the question, another shell
ornament (fig. 306), the style, design, and workmanship of which has such
resemblance to the foregoing that if they had not been (as they were)
found together we would be compelled to admit their identity of origin,
yet the latter specimen has but three arms instead of four. This might
take it out of the category of crosses as a symbol of any religion of
which we have knowledge. Many of the art objects in shell heretofore cited
were more or less closely associated; they came from the same neighborhood
and were the results of the same excavations, conducted by the same
excavators. In determining the culture status of their makers, they must
be taken together.
[Illustration: Fig. 309. DRILLED AND ENGRAVED SHELL OR "RUNTEE." Dots and
rings forming circle and Greek cross. New York.]
When we consider the variety of the designs which were apparently without
meaning except for ornamentation, like the circles, meanders, zigzags,
chevrons, herringbones, ogees, frets, etc., and the representations of
animals such as were used to decorate the pipes of the aborigines, not
alone the bear, wolf, eagle, and others which might be a totem and
represent a given clan, but others which, according to our knowledge and
imagination, have never served for such a purpose, as the manatee, beaver,
wildcat, heron, finch, sparrow, crow, raven, cormorant, duck, toucan,
goose, turkey, buzzard, cardinal, parroquet, conies, lizard; when we
further consider that the cross, whether Greek, Latin, or Swastika form,
is utterly unlike any known or possible totem of clan, insignia of ruler,
or potent charm of priesthood; when we consider these things, why should
we feel ourselves compelled to accept those signs as symbols of a hidden
meaning, simply because religious sects in different parts of the world
and at different epochs of history have chosen them or some of them to
represent their peculiar religious ideas? This question covers much space
in geography and in time, as well as on paper. It is not answered here,
because no answer can be given which would be accepted as satisfactory,
but it may serve as a track or indication along which students and
thinkers might pursue their investigations.
The U. S. National Museum possesses a necklace consisting of three shell
ornaments, interspersed at regular intervals with about fifty small
porcelain beads (fig. 307).[284] It was obtained by Capt. George M.
Whipple from the Indians of New Mexico. These shell ornaments are similar
to objects described by Beverly in his work on the "History of Virginia,"
page 145, as "runtees" and "made of the conch shell; only the shape is
flat as a cheese and drilled edgewise." It is to be remarked that on its
face as well as on figs. 308 and 309[284] appears a cross of the Greek
form indicated by these peculiar indentations or drillings inclosed in a
small circle. The specimen shown in fig. 308 is from an ancient grave in
Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and that shown in fig. 309 from an Indian cemetery
at Onondaga, N. Y. Similar specimens have been found in the same
localities.