The hand held up before the face, with the palm outward and vibrated
to and fro. (_Dunbar_.)
The right hand waved outward to the right with the thumb upward.
(_Long_; _Creel_.)
Wave the right hand quickly by and in front of the face toward the
right. (_Wied_.) Refusing to accept the idea or statement presented.
Move the hand from right to left, as if motioning away. This sign also
means "I'll have nothing to do with you." (_Burton_.)
A deprecatory wave of the right hand from front to right, fingers
extended and joined. (_Arapaho_ I; _Cheyenne_ V.)
Right-hand fingers extended together, side of hand in front of and
facing the face, in front of the mouth and waved suddenly to the
right. (_Cheyenne_ II.)
Place the right hand extended before the body, fingers pointing
upward, palm to the front, then throw the hand outward to the right,
and slightly downward. (_Absaroka_ I; _Hidatsa_ I; _Arikara_ I.) See
Fig. 65, page 290.
The right hand, horizontal, palm toward the left, is pushed sidewise
outward and toward the right from in front of the left breast. _No,
none, I have none_, etc., are all expressed by this sign. Often these
Indians for _no_ will simply shake the head to the right and left.
This sign, although it may have originally been introduced from the
white people's habit of shaking the head to express "no," has been in
use among them for as long as the oldest people can remember, yet they
do not use the variant to express "yes." (_Dakota_ I.) "Dismissing the
idea, etc."
Place the opened relaxed right hand, pointing toward the left, back
forward, in front of the nose or as low as the breast, and throw it
forward and outward about eighteen inches. Some at the same time turn
the palm upward. Or make the sign at the height of the breast with
both hands. Represents the shaking of the head. (_Dakota_ IV.) The
shaking of the head in negation is not so universal or "natural" as
is popularly supposed, for the ancient Greeks, followed by the modern
Turks and rustic Italians, threw the head back, instead of shaking it,
for "no." Rabelais makes Pantagruel (Book 3) show by many quotations
from the ancients how the shaking of the head was a frequent if
not universal concomitant of oracular utterance--not connected with
negation.
Hold the flat hand edgewise, pointing upward before the right side of
the chest, then throw it outward and downward to the right. (_Dakota_
VI, VII.) Fig. 270.
[Illustration: Fig. 270.]
The hand, extended or slightly curved, is held in front of the body
a little to the right of the median line; it is then carried with a
rapid sweep a foot or more farther to the right. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_
I.)
Place the hand as in _yes_, as follows: The hand open, palm downward,
at the level of the breast, is moved forward with a quick downward
motion from the wrist, imitating a bow of the head; then move it from
side to side. (_Iroquois_ I.) "A shake of the head."
Throw the flat right hand forward and outward to the right, palm to
the front. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II.)
Quick motion of open hand from the mouth forward, palm toward the
mouth. (_Sahaptin_ I.)
Place hand in front of body, fingers relaxed, palm toward body (Y 1),
then with easy motion move to a point, say, a foot from the body, a
little to right, fingers same, but palm upward. (_Sahaptin_ I.) "We
don't agree." To express _All gone_, use a similar motion with both
hands. "Empty."
The hand waved outward with the thumb upward in a semi-curve.
(_Comanche_ I; _Wichita_ I.)
Elevate the extended index and wave it quickly from side to side
before the face. This is sometimes accompanied by shaking the head.
(_Pai-Ute_ I.) Fig. 271.
[Illustration: Fig. 271.]
Extend the index, holding it vertically before the face, remaining
fingers and thumb closed; pass the finger quickly from side to side a
foot or so before the face. (_Apache_ I.) This sign, as also that
of (_Pai-Ute_ I), is substantially the same as that with the same
significance reported from Naples by De Jorio.
Another: The right hand, naturally relaxed, is thrown outward and
forward toward the right. (_Apache_ I.)