[Illustration: Fig. 296.]
Close the right hand, leaving the index straight but flexed at right
angles with the palm; pass it horizontally to the left by and under
the nose. (_Comanche_ II.) "Pierced nose." Fig. 296. This sign is
made by the Nez Perces for themselves, according to Major Haworth.
Information was received from Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians, who
visited Washington in 1880, that this sign is also used to designate
the _Caddos_, who practiced the same custom of perforating the
nasal septum. The same informants also state that the _Shawnees_ are
sometimes indicated by the same sign.
Pass the extended index, pointing toward the left, remaining fingers
and thumb closed, in front of and across the upper lip, just below
the nose. The second finger is also sometimes extended. (_Shoshoni and
Banak_ I.) "From the custom of piercing the noses for the reception of
ornaments."
See p. 345 for remarks upon the signs for _Sahaptin_.