Hold the elbow of the right arm near the right side, but not touching
it; extend the forearm and hand, palm inward, fingers joined on a
level with the elbow, then with a shoulder movement draw the forearm
and hand back until the points of the fingers are behind the body; at
the same time that the hand is thus being moved back, turn it right
and left several times. (_Creel_; _Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I.) "Snake
in the grass. A snake drawing itself back in the grass instead of
crossing the road in front of you."
Another: The sign by and for the Comanches themselves is made by
holding both hands and arms upward from the elbow, both palms inward,
and passing both hands with their backs upward along the lower end of
the hair to indicate _long hair_, as they never cut it. (_Sac, Fox,
and Kickapoo_ I.)
Right hand horizontal, flat, palm downward (W), advanced to the front
by a motion to represent the crawling of a snake. (_Dakota_ III.)
Extend the closed right hand to the front and left; extend the index,
palm down, and rotate from side to side while drawing it back to
the right hip. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII;
_Ponka_ II; _Kaiowa_ I; _Pani_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;
_Wichita_ II.) This motion is just the reverse of the sign for
_Shoshoni_, see Fig. 297 _infra_.
Make the reverse gesture for _Shoshoni_, i.e., begin away from
the body, drawing the hand back to the side of the right hip while
rotating it. (_Comanche_ II.)