Even when this work is undertaken to supply the demand for p_Pictographs of the North American Indians. A preliminary paper Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1882-83, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1886, pages 3-256

Transcriber's Note

Italics are indicated by _underscores_, and superscript by caret signs,

e. g. Oheno^npa, 38^{mm}. Individual letters in square brackets were

inverted in the printed text.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

PICTOGRAPHS

OF THE

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

A PRELIMINARY PAPER.

GARRICK MALLERY.

CONTENTS.

Page.

List of illustrations 7

Introductory 13

Distribution of petroglyphs in North America 19

Northeastern rock-carvings 19

Rock-carvings in Pennsylvania 20

in Ohio 21

in West Virginia 22

in the Southern States 22

in Iowa 23

in Minnesota 23

in Wyoming and Idaho 24

in Nevada 24

in Oregon and Washington Territory 25

in Utah 26

in Colorado 27

in New Mexico 28

in Arizona 28

in California 30

in Colored pictographs on rocks 33

Foreign petroglyphs 38

Petroglyphs in South America 38

in British Guiana 40

in Brazil 44

Pictographs in Peru 45

Objects represented in pictographs 46

Instruments used in pictography 48

Instruments for carving 48

for drawing 48

for painting 48

for tattooing 49

Colors and methods of application 50

In the United States 50

In British Guiana 53

Significance of colors 53

Materials upon which pictographs are made 58

Natural objects 58

Bone 59

Living tree 59

Wood 59

Bark 59

Skins 60

Feathers 60

Gourds 60

Horse-hair 60

Shells, including wampum 60

Earth and sand 60

The human person 61

Paint on the human person 61

Tattooing 63

Tattoo marks of the Haida Indians 66

Tattooing in the Pacific Islands 73

Artificial objects 78

Mnemonic 79

The quipu of the Peruvians 79

Notched sticks 81

Order of songs 82

Traditions 84

Treaties 86

War 87

Time 88

The Dakota Winter Counts 89

The Corbusier Winter Counts 127

Notification 147

Notice of departure and direction 147

condition 152

Warning and guidance 155

Charts of geographic features 157

Claim or demand 159

Messages and communications 160

Record of expedition 164

Totemic 165

Tribal designations 165

Gentile or clan designations 167

Personal designations 168

Insignia or tokens of authority 168

Personal name 169

An Ogalala roster 174

Red-Cloud’s census 176

Property marks 182

Status of the individual 183

Signs of particular achievements 183

Religious 188

Mythic personages 188

Shamanism 190

Dances and ceremonies 194

Mortuary practices 197

Grave-posts 198

Charms and fetiches 201

Customs 203

Associations 203

Daily life and habits 205

Tribal history 207

Biographic 208

Continuous record of events in life 208

Particular exploits and events 214

Ideographs 219

Abstract ideas 219

Symbolism 221

Identification of the pictographers 224

General style or type 225

Presence of characteristic objects 230

Modes of interpretation 233

Homomorphs and symmorphs 239

Conventionalizing 244

Errors and frauds 247

Suggestions to collaborators 254

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATE Page.

I.--Colored pictographs in Santa Barbara County, California 34

II.--Colored pictographs in Santa Barbara County, California 35

III.--New Zealand tattooed heads 76

IV.--Ojibwa Meda song 82

V.--Penn wampum belt 87

VI.--Winter count on buffalo robe 89

VII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1786-’87 to 1792-’93 100

VIII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1793-’94 to 1799-1800 101

IX.--Dakota winter counts: for 1800-’01 to 1802-’03 103

X.--Dakota winter counts: for 1803-’04 to 1805-’06 104

XI.--Dakota winter counts: for 1806-’07 to 1808-’09 105

XII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1809-’10 to 1811-’12 106

XIII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1812-’13 to 1814-’15 108

XIV.--Dakota winter counts: for 1815-’16 to 1817-’18 109

XV.--Dakota winter counts: for 1818-’19 to 1820-’21 110

XVI.--Dakota winter counts: for 1821-’22 to 1823-’24 111

XVII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1824-’25 to 1826-’27 113

XVIII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1827-’28 to 1829-’30 114

XIX.--Dakota winter counts: for 1830-’31 to 1832-’33 115

XX.--Dakota winter counts: for 1833-’34 to 1835-’36 116

XXI.--Dakota winter counts: for 1836-’37 to 1838-’39 117

XXII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1839-’40 to 1841-’42 117

XXIII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1842-’43 to 1844-’45 118

XXIV.--Dakota winter counts: for 1845-’46 to 1847-’48 119

XXV.--Dakota winter counts: for 1848-’49 to 1850-’51 120

XXVI.--Dakota winter counts: for 1851-’52 to 1853-’54 120

XXVII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1854-’55 to 1856-’57 121

XXVIII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1857-’58 to 1859-’60 122

XXIX.--Dakota winter counts: for 1860-’61 to 1862-’63 123

XXX.--Dakota winter counts: for 1863-’64 to 1865-’66 124

XXXI.--Dakota winter counts: for 1866-’67 to 1868-’69 125

XXXII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1869-’70 to 1870-’71 126

XXXIII.--Dakota winter counts: for 1871-’72 to 1876-’77 127

XXXIV.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1775-’76 to 1780-’81 130

XXXV.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1781-’82 to 1786-’87 131

XXXVI.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1787-’88 to 1792-’93 132

XXXVII.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1793-’94 to 1798-’99 133

XXXVIII.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1799-1800 to 1804-’05 134

XXXIX.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1805-’06 to 1810-’11 134

XL.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1811-’12 to 1816-’17 135

XLI.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1817-’18 to 1822-’23 136

XLII.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1823-’24 to 1828-’29 137

XLIII.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1829-’30 to 1834-’35 138

XLIV.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1835-’36 to 1840-’41 139

XLV.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1841-’42 to 1846-’47 140

XLVI.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1847-’48 to 1852-’53 142

XLVII.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1853-’54 to 1858-’59 143

XLVIII.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1859-’60 to 1864-’65 143

XLIX.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1865-’66 to 1870-’71 144

L.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1871-’72 to 1876-’77 145

LI.--Corbusier winter counts: for 1877-’78 to 1878-’79 146

LII.--An Ogalala roster: Big-Road and band 174

LIII.--An Ogalala roster: Low-Dog and band 174

LIV.--An Ogalala roster: The Bear Spares-him and band 174

LV.--An Ogalala roster: Has a War-club and band 174

LVI.--An Ogalala roster: Wall-Dog and band 174

LVII.--An Ogalala roster: Iron-Crow and band 174

LVIII.--An Ogalala roster: Little-Hawk and band 174

LIX.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Cloud’s band 176

LX.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Cloud’s band 176

LXI.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Cloud’s band 176

LXII.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Cloud’s band 176

LXIII.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Cloud’s band 176

LXIV.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Cloud’s band 176

LXV.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Cloud’s band 176

LXVI.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Cloud’s band 176

LXVII.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Shirt’s band 176

LXVIII.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Shirt’s band 176

LXIX.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Shirt’s band 176

LXX.--Red-Cloud’s census: Black-Deer’s band 176

LXXI.--Red-Cloud’s census: Black-Deer’s band 176

LXXII.--Red-Cloud’s census: Black-Deer’s band 176

LXXIII.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Hawk’s band 176

LXXIV.--Red-Cloud’s census: Red-Hawk’s hand 176

LXXV.--Red-Cloud’s census: High-Wolf’s band 176

LXXVI.--Red-Cloud’s census: High-Wolf’s band 176

LXXVII.--Red-Cloud’s census: Gun’s band 176

LXXVIII.--Red-Cloud’s census: Gun’s band 176

LXXIX.--Red-Cloud’s census: Second Black-Deer’s band 176

LXXX.--Rock Painting in Azuza Cañon, California 156

LXXXI.--Moki masks etched on rocks. Arizona 194

LXXXII.--Buffalo-head monument 195

LXXXIII.--Ojibwa grave-posts 199

FIGURE 1.--Petroglyphs at Oakley Springs, Arizona 30

2.--Deep carvings in Guiana 42

3.--Shallow carvings in Guiana 43

4.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Beaver 47

5.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Bear 47

6.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Mountain sheep 47

7.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Three Wolf heads 47

8.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Three Jackass rabbits 47

9.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Cotton-tail rabbit 47

10.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Bear tracks 47

11.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Eagle 47

12.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Eagle tails 47

13.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Turkey tail 47

14.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Horned toads 47

15.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Lizards 47

16.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Butterfly 47

17.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Snakes 47

18.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Rattlesnake 47

19.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Deer track 47

20.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Three Bird tracks 47

21.--Rock etchings at Oakley Springs, Arizona: Bitterns 47

22.--Bronze head from the necropolis of Marzabotto, Italy 62

23.--Fragment of bowl from Troja 63

24.--Haida totem post, Queen Charlotte’s Island 68

25.--Haida man, tattooed 69

26.--Haida woman, tattooed 69

27.--Haida woman, tattooed 70

28.--Haida man, tattooed 70

29.--Skulpin (right leg of Fig. 26) 71

30.--Frog (left leg of Fig. 26) 71

31.--Cod (breast of Fig. 25) 71

32.--Squid (Octopus), (thighs of Fig. 25) 71

33.--Wolf, enlarged (back of Fig. 28) 71

34.--Tattoo designs on bone, from New Zealand 74

35.--New Zealand tattooed head and chin mark 75

36.--New Zealand tattooed woman 75

37.--Australian grave and carved trees 76

38.--Osage chart 86

39.--Device denoting succession of time. Dakota 88

40.--Device denoting succession of time. Dakota 89

41.--Measles or Smallpox. Dakota 110

42.--Meteor. Dakota 111

43.--River freshet. Dakota 113

44.--Meteoric shower. Dakota 116

45.--The-Teal-broke-his-leg. Dakota 119

46.--Magic Arrow. Dakota 141

47.--Notice of hunt. Alaska 147

48.--Notice of departure. Alaska 148

49.--Notice of hunt. Alaska 149

50.--Notice of direction. Alaska 149

51.--Notice of direction. Alaska 150

52.--Notice of direction. Alaska 150

53.--Notice of distress. Alaska 152

54.--Notice of departure and refuge. Alaska 152

55.--Notice of departure to relieve distress. Alaska 153

56.--Ammunition wanted. Alaska 154

57.--Assistance wanted in hunt. Alaska 154

58.--Starving hunters. Alaska 154

59.--Starving hunters. Alaska 155

60.--Lean Wolf’s map. Hidatsa 158

61.--Letter to “Little-man” from his father. Cheyenne 160

62.--Drawing of smoke signal. Alaska 161

63.--Tesuque Diplomatic Packet 162

64.--Tesuque Diplomatic Packet 162

65.--Tesuque Diplomatic Packet 162

66.--Tesuque Diplomatic Packet 163

67.--Tesuque Diplomatic Packet 163

68.--Dakota pictograph: for Kaiowa 165

69.--Dakota pictograph: for Arikara 166

70.--Dakota pictograph: for Omaha 166

71.--Dakota pictograph: for Pawnee 166

72.--Dakota pictograph: for Assiniboine 166

73.--Dakota pictograph: for Gros Ventre 166

74.--Lean-Wolf as “Partisan” 168

75.--Two-Strike as “Partisan” 169

76.--Lean-Wolf (personal name) 172

77.--Pointer. Dakota 172

78.--Shadow. Dakota 173

79.--Loud-Talker. Dakota 173

80.--Boat Paddle. Arikara 182

81.--African property mark 182

82.--Hidatsa feather marks: First to strike enemy 184

83.--Hidatsa feather marks: Second to strike enemy 184

84.--Hidatsa feather marks: Third to strike enemy 184

85.--Hidatsa feather marks: Fourth to strike enemy 184

86.--Hidatsa feather marks: Wounded by an enemy 184

87.--Hidatsa feather marks: Killed a woman 184

88.--Dakota feather marks: Killed an enemy 185

89.--Dakota feather marks: Cut throat and scalped 185

90.--Dakota feather marks: Cut enemy’s throat 185

91.--Dakota feather marks: Third to strike 185

92.--Dakota feather marks: Fourth to strike 185

93.--Dakota feather marks: Fifth to strike 185

94.--Dakota feather marks: Many wounds 185

95.--Successful defense. Hidatsa, etc. 186

96.--Two successful defenses. Hidatsa, etc. 186

97.--Captured a horse. Hidatsa, etc. 186

98.--First to strike an enemy. Hidatsa 187

99.--Second to strike an enemy. Hidatsa 187

100.--Third to strike an enemy. Hidatsa 187

101.--Fourth to strike an enemy. Hidatsa 187

102.--Fifth to strike an enemy. Arikara 187

103.--Struck four enemies. Hidatsa 187

104.--Thunder bird. Dakota 188

105.--Thunder bird. Dakota 188

106.--Thunder bird (wingless). Dakota 189

107.--Thunder bird (in beads). Dakota 189

108.--Thunder bird. Haida 190

109.--Thunder bird. Twana 190

110.--Ivory record, Shaman exorcising demon. Alaska 191

111.--Ivory record, Supplication for success. Alaska 192

111_a_.--Shaman’s Lodge. Alaska 196

112.--Alaska votive offering 197

113.--Alaska grave-post 198

114.--Alaska grave-post 199

115.--Alaska village and burial grounds 199

116.--New Zealand grave effigy 200

117.--New Zealand grave-post 201

118.--New Zealand house posts 201

119.--Mdewakantawan fetich 202

120.--Ottawa pipe-stem 204

121.--Walrus hunter. Alaska 205

122.--Alaska carving with records 205

123.--Origin of Brulé. Dakota 207

124.--Running Antelope: Killed one Arikara 208

125.--Running Antelope: Shot and scalped an Arikara 209

126.--Running Antelope: Shot an Arikara 209

127.--Running Antelope: Killed two warriors 210

128.--Running Antelope: Killed ten men and three women 210

129.--Running Antelope: Killed two chiefs 211

130.--Running Antelope: Killed one Arikara 211

131.--Running Antelope: Killed one Arikara 212

132.--Running Antelope: Killed two Arikara hunters 212

133.--Running Antelope: Killed five Arikara 213

134.--Running Antelope: Killed an Arikara 213

135.--Record of hunt. Alaska 214

136.--Shoshoni horse raid 215

137.--Drawing on buffalo shoulder-blade. Camanche 216

138.--Cross-Bear’s death 217

139.--Bark record from Red Lake, Minnesota 218

140.--Sign for pipe. Dakota 219

141.--Plenty buffalo meat. Dakota 219

142.--Plenty buffalo meat. Dakota 220

143.--Pictograph for Trade. Dakota 220

144.--Starvation. Dakota 220

145.--Starvation. Ottawa and Pottawatomi 221

146.--Pain. Died of “Whistle.” Dakota 221

147.--Example of Algonkian petroglyphs, from Millsborough,

Pennsylvania 224

148.--Example of Algonkian petroglyphs, from Hamilton Farm,

West Virginia 225

149.--Example of Algonkian petroglyphs, from Safe Harbor,

Pennsylvania 226

150.--Example of Western Algonkian petroglyphs, from Wyoming 227

151.--Example of Shoshonian petroglyphs, from Idaho 228

152.--Example of Shoshonian petroglyphs, from Idaho 229

153.--Example of Shoshonian petroglyphs, from Utah 230

154.--Example of Shoshonian rock painting, from Utah 230

155.--Rock painting, from Tule River, California 235

156.--Sacred inclosure from Arizona. Moki 237

157.--Ceremonial head-dress. Moki 237

158.--Houses. Moki 237

159.--Burden-sticks. Moki 238

160.--Arrows. Moki 238

161.--Blossoms. Moki 238

162.--Lightning. Moki 238

163.--Clouds. Moki 238

164.--Clouds with rain. Moki 238

165.--Stars, Moki 238

166.--Sun. Moki 239

167.--Sunrise. Moki, 239

168.--Drawing of Dakota lodges, by Hidatsa 240

169.--Drawing of earth lodges, by Hidatsa 240

170.--Drawing of white man’s house, by Hidatsa 240

171.--Hidatsati, the home of the Hidatsa 240

172.--Horses and man. Arikara 240

173.--Dead man. Arikara 240

174.--Second to strike enemy. Hidatsa 240

175.--Third to strike enemy. Hidatsa 240

176.--Scalp taken. Hidatsa 240

177.--Enemy struck and gun captured. Hidatsa 240

178.--Mendota drawing. Dakota 241

179.--Symbol of war. Dakota 241

180.--Captives. Dakota 242

181.--Circle of men. Dakota 242

182.--Shooting from river banks. Dakota 242

183.--Panther. Haida 242

184.--Wolf head. Haida 243

185.--Drawings on an African knife 243

186.--Conventional characters: Men. Arikara 244

187.--Conventional characters: Man. Innuit 244

188.--Conventional characters: Dead man. Satsika 244

189.--Conventional characters: Man addressed. Innuit 244

190.--Conventional characters: Man. Innuit 244

191.--Conventional characters: Man. From Tule River, California 244

192.--Conventional characters: Man. From Tule River, California 244

193.--Conventional characters: Disabled man. Ojibwa 244

194.--Conventional characters: Shaman. Innuit 245

195.--Conventional characters: Supplication. Innuit 245

196.--Conventional characters: Man. Ojibwa 245

197.--Conventional characters: Spiritually enlightened man. Ojibwa 245

198.--Conventional characters: A wabeno. Ojibwa 245

199.--Conventional characters: An evil Meda. Ojibwa 245

200.--Conventional characters: A Meda. Ojibwa 245

201.--Conventional characters: Man. Hidatsa 245

202.--Conventional characters: Headless body. Ojibwa 245

203.--Conventional characters: Headless body. Ojibwa 245

204.--Conventional characters: Man. Moki 245

205.--Conventional characters: Man. From Siberia 245

206.--Conventional characters: Superior knowledge. Ojibwa 246

207.--Conventional characters: An American. Ojibwa 246

208.--Specimen of imitated pictograph 249

209.--Symbols of cross 252

ON THE PICTOGRAPHS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

BY GARRICK MALLERY.

INTRODUCTORY.

A pictograph is a writing by picture. It conveys and records an idea or

occurrence by graphic means without the use of words or letters. The

execution of the pictures of which it is composed often exhibits the

first crude efforts of graphic art, and their study in that relation

is of value. When pictures are employed as writing the conception

intended to be presented is generally analyzed, and only its most

essential points are indicated, with the result that the characters

when frequently repeated become conventional, and in their later forms

cease to be recognizable as objective portraitures. This exhibition of

conventionalizing also has its own import in the history of art.

Pictographs are considered in the present paper chiefly in reference to

their significance as one form of thought-writing directly addressed

to the sight, gesture-language being the other and probably earlier

form. So far as they are true ideographs they are the permanent,

direct, visible expression of ideas of which gesture-language gives the

transient expression. When adopted for syllabaries or alphabets, which

is known to be the historical course of evolution in that regard, they

have ceased to be the direct and have become the indirect expression

of the ideas framed in oral speech. The writing common in civilization

records sounds directly, not primarily thoughts, the latter having

first been translated into sounds. The trace of pictographs in the

latter use shows the earlier and predominant conceptions.

The importance of the study of pictographs depends upon their

examination as a phase in the evolution of human culture, or as

containing valuable information to be ascertained by interpretation.

The invention of alphabetic writing being by general admission the

great step marking the change from barbarism into civilization, the

history of its earlier development must be valuable. It is inferred

from internal evidence that picture-writing preceded and originated

the graphic systems of Egypt, Nineveh, and China, but in North America

its use is still modern and current. It can be studied there, without

any requirement of inference or hypothesis, in actual existence as

applied to records and communications. Furthermore, its transition

into signs of sound is apparent in the Aztec and the Maya characters,

in which stage it was only arrested by foreign conquest. The earliest

lessons of the birth and growth of culture in this most important

branch of investigation can therefore be best learned from the Western

Hemisphere. In this connection it may be noticed that picture-writing

is found in sustained vigor on the same continent where sign-language

has prevailed or continued in active operation to an extent unknown in

other parts of the world. These modes of expression, _i. e._, transient

and permanent idea-writing, are so correlated in their origin and

development that neither can be studied with advantage to the exclusion

of the other.

The limits assigned to this paper allow only of its comprehending the

Indians north of Mexico, except as the pictographs of other peoples

are introduced for comparison. Among these no discovery has yet

been made of any of the several devices, such as the rebus, or the

initial, adopted elsewhere, by which the element of sound apart from

significance has been introduced.

The first stage of picture-writing as recognized among the Egyptians

was the representation of a material object in such style or connection

as determined it not to be a mere portraiture of that object, but

figurative of some other object or person. This stage is abundantly

exhibited among the Indians. Indeed, their personal and tribal names

thus objectively represented constitute the largest part of their

picture-writing so far thoroughly understood.

The second step gained by the Egyptians was when the picture became

used as a symbol of some quality or characteristic. It can be readily

seen how a hawk with bright eye and lofty flight might be selected as

a symbol of divinity and royalty, and that the crocodile should denote

darkness, while a slightly further step in metaphysical symbolism made

the ostrich feather, from the equality of its filaments, typical of

truth. It is evident from examples given in the present paper that

the North American tribes at the time of the Columbian discovery had

entered upon this second step of picture-writing, though with marked

inequality between tribes and regions in advance therein. None of them

appear to have reached such proficiency in the expression of connected

ideas by picture as is shown in the sign-language existing among some

of them, in which even conjunctions and prepositions are indicated.

Still many truly ideographic pictures are known.

A consideration relative to the antiquity of mystic symbolism, and its

position in the several culture-periods, arises in this connection.

It appears to have been an outgrowth of human thought, perhaps in the

nature of an excrescence, useful for a time, but abandoned after a

certain stage of advancement.

A criticism has been made on the whole subject of pictography by Dr.

Richard Andree, who, in his work, Ethnographische Parallelen und

Vergleiche, Stuttgart, 1878, has described and figured a large number

of examples of petroglyphs, a name given by him to rock-drawings

and adopted by the present writer. His view appears to be that these

figures are frequently the idle marks which, among civilized people,

boys or ignorant persons cut with their pen-knives on the desks and

walls of school-rooms, or scrawl on the walls of lanes and retired

places. From this criticism, however, Dr. Andree carefully excludes the

pictographs of the North American Indians, his conclusion being that

those found in other parts of the world generally occupy a transition

stage lower than that conceded for the Indians. It is possible that

significance may yet be ascertained in many of the characters found in

other regions, and perhaps this may be aided by the study of those in

North America; but no doubt should exist that the latter have purpose

and meaning. Any attempt at the relegation of such pictographs as are

described in the present paper, and have been the subject of the study

of the present writer, to any trivial origin can be met by a thorough

knowledge of the labor and pains which were necessary in the production

of some of the petroglyphs described.

All criticism in question with regard to the actual significance of

North American pictographs is still better met by their practical use

by historic Indians for important purposes, as important to them as

the art of writing, of which the present paper presents a large number

of conclusive examples. It is also known that when they now make

pictographs it is generally done with intention and significance.

Even when this work is undertaken to supply the demand for painted

robes as articles of trade it is a serious manufacture, though

sometimes imitative in character and not intrinsically significant.

All other instances known in which pictures are made without original

design, as indicated under the several classifications of this paper,

are when they are purely ornamental; but in such cases they are often

elaborate and artistic, never the idle scrawls above mentioned. A main

object of this paper is to call attention to the subject in other parts

of the world, and to ascertain whether the practice of pictography

does not still exist in some corresponding manner beyond what is now

published.

A general deduction made after several years of study of pictographs of

all kinds found among the North American Indians is that they exhibit

very little trace of mysticism or of esotericism in any form. They

are objective representations, and cannot be treated as ciphers or

cryptographs in any attempt at their interpretation. A knowledge of

the customs, costumes, including arrangement of hair, paint, and all

tribal designations, and of their histories and traditions is essential

to the understanding of their drawings, for which reason some of those

particulars known to have influenced pictography are set forth in this

paper, and others are suggested which possibly had a similar influence.

Comparatively few of their picture signs have become merely

conventional. A still smaller proportion are either symbolical or

emblematic, but some of these are noted. By far the larger part of them

are merely mnemonic records and are treated of in connection with

material objects formerly and, perhaps, still used mnemonically.

It is believed that the interpretation of the ancient forms is to be

obtained, if at all, not by the discovery of any hermeneutic key, but

by an understanding of the modern forms, some of which fortunately

can be interpreted by living men; and when this is not the case

the more recent forms can be made intelligible at least in part by

thorough knowledge of the historic tribes, including their sociology,

philosophy, and arts, such as is now becoming acquired, and of their

sign-language.

It is not believed that any considerable information of value in

an historical point of view will be obtained directly from the

interpretation of the pictographs in North America. The only pictures

which can be of great antiquity are rock-carvings and those in shell or

similar substances resisting the action of time, which have been or may

be found in mounds. The greater part of those already known are simply

peckings, etchings, or paintings delineating natural objects, very

often animals, and illustrate the beginning of pictorial art. It is,

however, probable that others were intended to commemorate events or to

represent ideas entertained by their authors, but the events which to

them were of moment are of little importance as history. They referred

generally to some insignificant fight or some season of plenty or of

famine, or to other circumstances the evident consequence of which has

long ceased.

While, however, it is not supposed that old inscriptions exist directly

recording substantively important events, it is hoped that some

materials for history can be gathered from the characters in a manner

similar to the triumph of comparative philology in resurrecting the

life-history and culture of the ancient Aryans. The significance of the

characters being granted, they exhibit what chiefly interested their

authors, and those particulars may be of anthropologic consequence.

The study has so far advanced that, independent of the significance

of individual characters, several distinct types of execution are

noted which may be expected to disclose data regarding priscan habitat

and migration. In this connection it may be mentioned that recent

discoveries render it probable that some of the pictographs were

intended as guide-marks to point out trails, springs, and fords, and

some others are supposed to indicate at least the locality of mounds

and graves, and possibly to record specific statements concerning

them. A comparison of typical forms may also usefully be made with the

objects of art now exhumed in large numbers from the mounds.

Ample evidence exists that many of the pictographs, both ancient and

modern, are connected with the mythology and religious practices of

their makers. The interpretations obtained during the present year of

some of those among the Moki, Zuñi, and Navajo, throw new and strong

light on this subject. It is regretted that the most valuable and novel

part of this information cannot be included in the present paper, as

it is in the possession of the Bureau of Ethnology in a shape not yet

arranged for publication, or forms part of the forthcoming volume of

the Transactions of the Anthropological Society of Washington, which

may not be anticipated.

The following general remarks of Schoolcraft, Vol. I, p. 351, are of

some value, though they apply with any accuracy only to the Ojibwa and

are tinctured with a fondness for the mysterious:

For their pictographic devices the North American Indians have two

terms, namely, _Kekeewin_, or such things as are generally understood

by the tribe; and _Kekeenowin_, or teachings of the _medas_ or

priests, _jossakeeds_ or prophets. The knowledge of the latter is

chiefly confined to persons who are versed in their system of magic

medicine, or their religion, and may be deemed hieratic. The former

consists of the common figurative signs, such as are employed at

places of sepulture, or by hunting or traveling parties. It is also

employed in the _muzzinábiks_, or rock-writings. Many of the figures

are common to both, and are seen in the drawings generally; but it

is to be understood that this results from the figure-alphabet being

precisely the same in both, while the devices of the nugamoons, or

medicine, wabino, hunting, and war songs, are known solely to the

initiates who have learned them, and who always pay high to the

native professors for this knowledge.

It must, however, be admitted, as above suggested, that many of the

pictographs found are not of the historic or mythologic significance

once supposed. For instance, the examination of the rock carvings in

several parts of the country has shown that some of them were mere

records of the visits of individuals to important springs or to fords

on regularly established trails. In this respect there seems to have

been, in the intention of the Indians, very much the same spirit as

induces the civilized man to record his initials upon objects in the

neighborhood of places of general resort. At Oakley Springs, Arizona

Territory, totemic marks have been found, evidently made by the

same individual at successive visits, showing that on the number of

occasions indicated he had passed by those springs, probably camping

there, and such record was the habit of the neighboring Indians at that

time. The same repetition of totemic names has been found in great

numbers in the pipestone quarries of Dakota, and also at some old

fords in West Virginia. But these totemic marks are so designed and

executed as to have intrinsic significance and value, wholly different

in this respect from vulgar names in alphabetic form. It should also

be remembered that mere _graffiti_ are recognized as of value by the

historian, the anthropologist, and the artist.

One very marked peculiarity of the drawings of the Indians is that

within each particular system, such as may be called a tribal system,

of pictography, every Indian draws in precisely the same manner. The

figures of a man, of a horse, and of every other object delineated, are

made by every one who attempts to make any such figure with all the

identity of which their mechanical skill is capable, thus showing their

conception and motive to be the same.

The intention of the present work is not to present at this time a

view of the whole subject of pictography, though the writer has been

preparing materials with a reference to that more ambitious project.

The paper is limited to the presentation of the most important known

pictographs of the North American Indians, with such classification

as has been found convenient to the writer, and, for that reason, may

be so to collaborators. The scheme of the paper has been to give very

simply one or more examples, with illustrations, in connection with

each one of the headings or titles of the classifications designated.

This plan has involved a considerable amount of cross reference,

because, in many cases, a character, or a group of characters, could be

considered with reference to a number of noticeable characteristics,

and it was a question of choice under which one of the headings

it should be presented, involving reference to it from the other

divisions of the paper. An amount of space disproportionate to the

mere subdivision of Time under the class of Mnemonics, is occupied by

the Dakota Winter Counts, but it is not believed that any apology is

necessary for their full presentation, as they not only exhibit the

device mentioned in reference to their use as calendars, but furnish a

repertory for all points connected with the graphic portrayal of ideas.

Attention is invited to the employment of the heraldic scheme of

designating colors by lines, dots, etc., in those instances in the

illustrations where color appeared to have significance, while it was

not practicable to produce the coloration of the originals. In many

cases, however, the figures are too minute to permit the successful use

of that scheme, and the text must be referred to for explanation.

Thanks are due and rendered for valuable assistance to correspondents

and especially to officers of the Bureau of Ethnology and the United

States Geological Survey, whose names are generally mentioned in

connection with their several contributions. Acknowledgment is

also made now and throughout the paper to Dr. W. J. Hoffman who

has officially assisted the present writer during several years by

researches in the field, and by drawing nearly all the illustrations

presented.

DISTRIBUTION OF PETROGLYPHS IN NORTH AMERICA.

Etchings or paintings on rocks in North America are distributed

generally.

They are found throughout the extent of the continent, on bowlders

formed by the sea waves or polished by ice of the glacial epoch; on the

faces of rock ledges adjoining streams; on the high walls of cañons

and cliffs; on the sides and roofs of caves; in short, wherever smooth

surfaces of rock appear. Drawings have also been discovered on stones

deposited in mounds and caves. Yet while these records are so frequent,

there are localities to be distinguished in which they are especially

abundant and noticeable. Also they differ markedly in character of

execution and apparent subject-matter.

An obvious division can be made between characters etched or pecked and

those painted without incision. This division in execution coincides to

a certain extent with geographic areas. So far as ascertained, painted

characters prevail perhaps exclusively throughout Southern California,

west and southwest of the Sierra Nevada. Pictures, either painted or

incised, are found in perhaps equal frequency in the area extending

eastward from the Colorado River to Georgia, northward into West

Virginia, and in general along the course of the Mississippi River. In

some cases the glyphs are both incised and painted. The remaining parts

of the United States show rock-etchings almost exclusive of paintings.

It is proposed with the accumulation of information to portray the

localities of these records upon a chart accompanied by a full

descriptive text. In such chart will be designated their relative

frequency, size, height, position, color, age, and other particulars

regarded as important. With such chart and list the classification and

determination now merely indicated may become thorough.

In the present paper a few only of the more important localities will

be mentioned; generally those which are referred to under several

appropriate heads in various parts of the paper. Notices of some of

these have been published; but many of them are publicly mentioned for

the first time in this paper, knowledge respecting them having been

obtained by the personal researches of the officers of the Bureau of

Ethnology, or by their correspondents.

NORTHEASTERN ROCK CARVINGS.

A large number of known and described pictographs on rocks occur

in that portion of the United States and Canada at one time in the

possession of the several tribes constituting the Algonkian linguistic

stock. This is particularly noticeable throughout the country of the

great lakes, and the Northern, Middle, and New England States.

The voluminous discussion upon the Dighton Rock, Massachusetts,

inscription, renders it impossible wholly to neglect it.

The following description, taken from Schoolcraft’s History, Condition,

and Prospect of the Indian Tribes of the United States, Vol. IV, p.

119, which is accompanied with a plate, is, however, sufficient. It

is merely a type of Algonkin rock-carving, not so interesting as many

others:

The ancient inscription on a bowlder of greenstone rock lying in

the margin of the Assonet, or Taunton River, in the area of ancient

Vinland, was noticed by the New England colonists so early as 1680,

when Dr. Danforth made a drawing of it. This outline, together with

several subsequent copies of it, at different eras, reaching to 1830,

all differing considerably in their details, but preserving a certain

general resemblance, is presented in the Antiquatés Americanes

[_sic_] (Tab. XI, XII) and referred to the same era of Scandinavian

discovery. The imperfections of the drawings (including that executed

under the auspices of the Rhode Island Historical Society, in 1830,

Tab. XII) and the recognition of some characters bearing more or less

resemblance to antique Roman letters and figures, may be considered

to have misled Mr. Magnusen in his interpretation of it. From

whatever cause, nothing could, it would seem, have been wider from

the purport and true interpretation of it. It is of purely Indian

origin, and is executed in the peculiar symbolic character of the

Kekeewin.

ROCK CARVINGS IN PENNSYLVANIA.

Many of the rocks along the river courses in Northern and Western

Pennsylvania bear traces of carvings, though, on account of the

character of the geological formations, some of these records are

almost, if not entirely, obliterated.

Mr. P. W. Shafer published in a historical map of Pennsylvania, in

1875, several groups of pictographs. (They had before appeared in

a rude and crowded form in the Transactions of the Anthropological

Institute of New York, N. Y., 1871-’72, p. 66, Figs. 25, 26, where

the localities are mentioned as “Big” and “Little” Indian Rocks,

respectively.) One of these is situated on the Susquehanna River,

below the dam at Safe Harbor, and clearly shows its Algonkin origin.

The characters are nearly all either animals or various forms of the

human body. Birds, bird-tracks, and serpents also occur. A part of this

pictograph is presented below, Figure 149, page 226.

On the same chart a group of pictures is also given, copied from the

originals on the Allegheny River, in Venango County, 5 miles south of

Franklin. There are but six characters furnished in this instance,

three of which are variations of the human form, while the others are

undetermined.

Mr. J. Sutton Wall, of Monongahela City, describes in correspondence a

rock bearing pictographs opposite the town of Millsborough, in Fayette

County, Pennsylvania. This rock is about 390 feet above the level of

Monongahela River, and belongs to the Waynesburg stratum of sandstone.

It is detached, and rests somewhat below its true horizon. It is about

6 feet in thickness, and has vertical sides; only two figures are

carved on the sides, the inscriptions being on the top, and are now

considerably worn. Mr. Wall mentions the outlines of animals and some

other figures, formed by grooves or channels cut from an inch to a mere

trace in depth. No indications of tool marks were discovered. It is

presented below as Figure 147, page 224.

The resemblance between this record and the drawings on Dighton Rock is

to be noted, as well as that between both of them and some in Ohio.

Mr. J. Sutton Wall also contributes a group of etchings on what is

known as the “Geneva Picture Rock,” in the Monongahela Valley, near

Geneva. These are foot-prints and other characters similar to those

mentioned from Hamilton Farm, West Virginia, which are shown in Figure

148, page 225.

Schoolcraft (Vol. IV, pp. 172, 173, Pll. 17, 18), describes also,

presenting plates, a pictograph on the Allegheny River as follows:

One of the most often noticed of these inscriptions exists on the

left bank of this river [the Allegheny], about six miles below

Franklin (the ancient Venango), Pennsylvania. It is a prominent

point of rocks, around which the river deflects, rendering this

point a very conspicuous object. * The rock, which has been lodged

here in some geological convulsion, is a species of hard sandstone,

about twenty-two feet in length by fourteen in breadth. It has an

inclination to the horizon of about fifty degrees. During freshets

it is nearly overflown. The inscription is made upon the inclined

face of the rock. The present inhabitants in the country call it

the ‘Indian God.’ It is only in low stages of water that it can be

examined. Captain Eastman has succeeded, by wading into the water,

in making a perfect copy of this ancient record, rejecting from its

borders the interpolations of modern names put there by boatmen,

to whom it is known as a point of landing. The inscription itself

appears distinctly to record, in symbols, the triumphs in hunting and

war.

ROCK CARVINGS IN OHIO.

In the Final Report of the Ohio State Board of Centennial Managers,

Columbus, 1877, many localities showing rock carvings are noted. The

most important (besides those mentioned below) are as follows: Newark,

Licking County, where human hands, many varieties of bird tracks, and a

cross are noticed. Independence, Cuyahoga County, showing human hands

and feet and serpents. Amherst, Lorain County, presenting similar

objects. Wellsville, Columbiana County, where the characters are more

elaborate and varied.

Mr. James W. Ward describes in the Journal of the Anthropological

Institute of New York, Vol. I, 1871-’72, pp. 57-64, Figs. 14-22, some

sculptured rocks. They are reported as occurring near Barnesville,

Belmont County, and consist chiefly of the tracks of birds and animals.

Serpentine forms also occur, together with concentric rings. The

author also quotes Mr. William A. Adams as describing, in a letter to

Professor Silliman in 1842, some figures on the surface of a sandstone

rock, lying on the bank of the Muskingum River. These figures are

mentioned as being engraved in the rock and consist of tracks of the

turkey, and of man.

ROCK CARVINGS IN WEST VIRGINIA.

Mr. P. W. Norris, of the Bureau of Ethnology, reports that he found

numerous localities along the Kanawha River, West Virginia, bearing

pictographs. Rock etchings are numerous upon smooth rocks, covered

during high water, at the prominent fords of the river, as well as

in the niches or long shallow caves high in the rocky cliffs of this

region. Although rude representations of men, animals, and some deemed

symbolic characters were found, none were observed superior to, or

essentially differing from, those of modern Indians.

Mr. John Haywood mentions (The Natural and Aboriginal History of

Tennessee, Nashville, 1823, pp. 332, 333) rock etchings four miles

below the Burning Spring, near the mouth of Campbell’s Creek, Kanawha

County, West Virginia. These consist of forms of various animals,

as the deer, buffalo, fox, hare; of fish of various kinds; “infants

scalped and scalps alone,” and men of natural size. The rock is said to

be in the Kanawha River, near its northern shore, accessible only at

low water, and then only by boat.

On the rocky walls of Little Coal River, near the mouth of Big Horse

Creek, are cliffs upon which are many carvings. One of these measures

8 feet in length and 5 feet in height, and consists of a dense mass of

characters.

About 2 miles above Mount Pleasant, Mason County, West Virginia, on the

north side of the Kanawha River, are numbers of characters, apparently

totemic. These are at the foot of the hills flanking the river.

On the cliffs near the mouth of the Kanawha River, opposite Mount

Carbon, Nicholas County, West Virginia, are numerous pictographs. These

appear to be cut into the sandstone rock.