_ADDRESS OF KIN CH[=E]-[)E]SS._
[Illustration: Fig. 320.]
The following is the farewell address of KIN CH[=E]-[)E]SS
(Spectacles), medicine-man of the Wichitas, to Rev. A.J. HOLT,
missionary, on his departure from the Wichita Agency, in the words of
the latter:
[Illustration: Fig. 321.]
He placed one hand on my breast, the other on his own, then clasped
his two hands together after the manner of our congratulations--_We
are friends_, Fig. 320. He placed one hand on me, the other on
himself, then placed the first two fingers of his right hand between
his lips--_We are brothers_. He placed his right hand over my heart,
his left hand over his own heart, then linked the first fingers of his
right and left hands--_Our hearts are linked together_. See Fig.
232, p. 386. He laid his right hand on me lightly, then put it to his
mouth, with the knuckles lightly against his lips, and made the motion
of flipping water from the right-hand forefinger, each flip casting
the hand and arm from the mouth a foot or so, then bringing it back
in the same position. (This repeated three or more times, signifying
_talk_ or _talking_.) Fig. 321. He then made a motion with his right
hand as if he were fanning his right ear; this repeated. He then
extended his right hand with his index finger pointing upward, his
eyes also being turned upward--_You told me of the Great Father_.
Pointing to himself, he hugged both hands to his bosom, as if he were
affectionately clasping something he loved, and then pointed upward in
the way before described--_I love him_ (the Great Father). Laying his
right hand on me, he clasped his hands to his bosom as before--_I love
you_. Placing his right hand on my shoulder, he threw it over his own
right shoulder as if he were casting behind him a little chip, only
when his hand was over his shoulder his index finger was pointing
behind him--_You go away_. Pointing to his breast, he clinched the
same hand as if it held a stick, and made a motion as if he were
trying to strike something on the ground with the bottom of the stick
held in an upright position--_I stay, or I stay right here_, Fig. 322.
[Illustration: Fig. 322.]
Placing his right hand on me, he placed both his hands on his breast
and breathed deeply two or three times, then using the index finger
and thumb of each hand as if he were holding a small pin, he placed
the two hands in this position as if he were holding a thread in each
hand and between the thumb and forefinger of each hand close together,
and then let his hands recede from each other, still holding his
fingers in the same position, as if he were letting a thread slip
between them until his hands were two feet apart--_You live long
time_, Fig. 323. Laying his right hand on his breast, then extending
his forefinger of the same hand, holding it from him at half-arm's
length, the finger pointing nearly upward, then moving his hand, with
the finger thus extended, from side to side about as rapidly as a man
steps in walking, each time letting his hand get farther from him
for three or four times, then suddenly placing his left hand in a
horizontal position with the fingers extended and together so that
the palm was sidewise, he used the right-hand palm, extended, fingers
together, as a hatchet, and brought it down smartly, just missing the
ends of the fingers of the left hand, Fig. 324. Then placing his left
hand, with the thumb and forefinger closed, to his heart, he brought
his right hand, fingers in the same position, to his left; then, as if
he were holding something between his thumb and forefinger, he moved
his right hand away as if he were slowly casting a hair from him,
his left hand remaining at his breast, and his eyes following his
right--_I go about a little while longer, but will be cut off shortly
and my spirit will go away_ (or will die). Placing the thumbs and
forefingers again in such a position as if he held a small thread
between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, and the hands touching
each other, he drew his hands slowly from each other, as if he were
stretching a piece of gum-elastic; then laying his right hand on me,
he extended the left hand in a horizontal position, fingers extended
and closed, and brought down his right hand with fingers extended and
together, so as to just miss the tips of the fingers of his left hand;
then placing his left forefinger and thumb against his heart, he acted
as if he took a hair from the forefinger and thumb of his left hand
with the forefinger and thumb of the right, and slowly cast it from
him, only letting his left hand remain at his breast, and let the
index finger of the right hand point outward toward the distant
horizon--_After a long time you die_. When placing his left hand upon
himself and his right hand upon me, he extended them upward over
his head and clasped them there--_We then meet in heaven_. Pointing
upward, then to himself, then to me, he closed the third and little
finger of his right hand, laying his thumb over them, then extending
his first and second fingers about as far apart as the eyes, he
brought his hand to his eyes, fingers pointing outward, and shot his
hand outward--_I see you up there_. Pointing to me, then giving the
last above-described sign of _look_, then pointing to himself, he
made the sign as if stretching out a piece of gum-elastic between
the fingers of his left and right hands, and then made the sign of
_cut-off_ before described, and then extended the palm of the right
hand horizontally a foot from his waist, inside downward, then
suddenly threw it half over and from him, as if you were to toss a
chip from the back of the hand (this is the negative sign everywhere
used among these Indians)--_I would see him a long time, which should
never be cut off_, i.e., _always._
[Illustration: Fig. 323.]
[Illustration: Fig. 324.]
Pointing upward, then rubbing the back of his left hand lightly with
the forefinger of his right, he again gave the negative sign.--_No
Indian there_ (in heaven). Pointing upward, then rubbing his
forefinger over the back of my hand, he again made the negative
sign--_No white man there_. He made the same sign again, only he felt
his hair with the forefinger and thumb of his right hand, rolling the
hair several times between the fingers--_No black man in heaven_. Then
rubbing the back of his hand and making the negative sign, rubbing the
back of my hand and making the negative sign, feeling of one of his
hairs with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, and making the
negative sign, then using both hands as if he were reaching around a
hogshead, he brought the forefinger of his right hand to the front
in an upright position after their manner of counting, and said
thereby--_No Indian, no white man, no black man, all one_. Making the
"hogshead" sign, and that for _look_, he placed the forefinger of
each hand side by side pointing upward--_All look the same_, or alike.
Running his hands over his wild Indian costume and over my clothes, he
made the "hogshead" sign, and that for _same_, and said thereby--_All
dress alike there_. Then making the "hogshead" sign, and that for
_love_, (hugging his hands), he extended both hands outward, palms
turned downward, and made a sign exactly similar to the way ladies
smooth a bed in making it; this is the sign for _happy--All will be
happy alike there_. He then made the sign for _talk_ and for _Father_,
pointing to himself and to me--_You pray for me_. He then made the
sign for _go away_, pointing to me, he threw right hand over his
right shoulder so his index finger pointed behind him--_You go
away_. Calling his name he made the sign for _look_ and the sign of
_negation_ after pointing to me--_Kin Ch[=e]-[)e]ss see you no more_.
[Illustration: Fig. 325.]
Fig. 322, an illustration in the preceding address, also represents a
common gesture for _sit down_, if made to the right of the hip, toward
the locality to be occupied by the individual invited. The latter
closely corresponds to an Australian gesture described by Smyth (_The
Aborigines of Victoria, London_, 1878, Vol. II, p. 308, Fig. 260),
as follows: "_Minnie-minnie_ (wait a little). It is shaken downwards
rapidly two or three times. Done more slowly towards the ground, it
means 'Sitdown.'" This is reproduced in Fig. 325.
_TSO-DI-A'-KO'S REPORT._
The following statement was made to Dr. W.J. HOFFMAN by TSO-DI-A'-KO
(Shaved-head Boy), chief of the Wichitas in Indian Territory, while on
a visit to Washington, D.C., in June 1880.
The Indian being asked whether there was any timber in his part of the
Territory, replied in signs as follows:
[Illustration: Fig. 326.]
(1) Move the right hand, fingers loosely extended, separated and
pointing upward, back to the front, upward from the height of the
waist to the front of the face--_tree_ (for illustration see Fig. 112,
p. 343); repeat this two or three times--_trees_; (2) then hold the
hand, fingers extended and joined, pointing upward, with the back to
the front, and push it forward toward different points on a level with
the face-_standing at various places_; (3) both hands, with spread
and slightly curved fingers, are held about two feet apart, before the
thighs, palms facing, then draw them toward one another horizontally
and gradually upward until the wrists cross, as if grasping a bunch of
grass and pulling it up--_many_; (4) point to the southwest with the
index, elevating it a little above the horizon--_country_; (5) then
throw the fist edgewise toward the surface, in that direction--_my,
mine_; (6) place both hands, extended, flat, edgewise before the body,
the left below the right, and both edges pointing toward the ground a
short distance to the left of the body, then make repeated cuts toward
that direction from different points, the termination of each cut
ending at nearly the same point--_cut down_, Fig. 326; (7) hold the
left hand with the fingers and thumb collected to a point, directed
horizontally forward, and make several cutting motions with the edge
of the flat right hand transversely by the tips of the left, and upon
the wrist--_cut off the ends_; (8) then cut upon the left hand, still
held in the same position, with the right, the cuts being parallel to
the longitudinal axis of the palm--_split_; (9) both hands closed
in front of the body, about four inches apart, with forefingers and
thumbs approximating half circles, palms toward the ground, move
them forward so that the back of the hand comes forward and the half
circles imitate the movement of wheels--_wagon_, Fig. 327; (10) hold
the left flat hand before the body, pointing horizontally forward,
with the palm down, then bring the right flat hand from the right side
and slap the palm upon the back of the left several times--_load_,
upon, Fig. 328; (11) partly close the right hand as if grasping a
thick rod, palm toward the ground, and push it straight forward nearly
to arm's length--_take_; (12) hold both hands with fingers naturally
extended and slightly separated nearly at arm's length before the
body, palms down, the right lying upon the left, then pass the upper
forward and downward from the left quickly, so that the wrist of the
right is raised and the fingers point earthward--_throw off_; (13)
cut the left palm repeatedly with the outer edge of the extended right
hand--_build_; (14) hold both hands edgewise before the body, palms
facing, spread the fingers and place those of one hand into the spaces
between those of the left, so that the tips of one protrude beyond the
backs of the fingers of the other--_log house_, see Fig. 253, p. 428;
(15) then place the flat right hand, palm down and fingers pointing to
the left, against the breast and move it forward, and slightly upward
and to the right--_good_.
[Illustration: Fig. 327.]
[Illustration: Fig. 328.]