If two Indians [of the plains] are approaching one another on
horseback, and they may, for instance, be one mile apart, or as far as
they can see each other. At that safe distance one wants to indicate
to the other that he wishes to be friendly. He does this by turning
his horse around and traveling about fifty paces back and forth,
repeating this two or three times; this shows to the other Indian that
he is not for hostility, but for friendly relations. If the second
Indian accepts this proffered overture of friendship, he indicates
the same by locking the fingers of both hands as far as to the first
joints, and in that position raises his hands and lets them rest on
his forehead with the palms either in or out, indifferently, as if he
were trying to shield his eyes from the excessive light of the sun.
This implies, "I, too, am for peace," or "I accept your overture."
(_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I.) It is interesting in this connection
to note the reception of Father Marquette by an Illinois chief who
is reported to have raised his hands to his eyes as if to shield them
from overpowering splendor. That action was supposed to be made in a
combination of humility and admiration, and a pretended inability to
gaze on the face of the illustrious guest has been taken to be the
conception of the gesture, which in fact was probably only the holding
the interlocked hands in the most demonstrative posture. An oriental
gesture in which the flat hand is actually interposed as a shield
to the eyes before a superior is probably made with the poetical
conception erroneously attributed to the Indian.
The display of green branches to signalize friendly or pacific
intentions does not appear to have been noticed among the North
American Indians by trustworthy observers. Captain Cook makes frequent
mention of it as the ceremonial greeting among islands he visited. See
his _Voyage toward the South Pole. London_, 1784, Vol. II, pp. 30 and
35. Green branches were also waved, in signal of _friendship_ by the
natives of the island of New Britain to the members of the expedition
in charge of Mr. Wilfred Powell in 1878. _Proceedings of the Royal
Geological Society_, February, 1881, p. 89.