1860-’61.--“Broke-out-with-rash-and-died-with-pains-in-the-stomach
winter.”
[Illustration: FIG. 418.]
Fig. 418, 1861-’62.--“Killed-Spotted-Horse winter.” Spotted Horse and
another Crow came and stole many horses from the Dakotas, who followed
them, killed them, and recovered their horses.
[Illustration: FIG. 419.]
Fig. 419, 1862-’63--“Cut-up-the-boy-in-the-camp winter.” The Crows came
to the lodges and cut up the boy while the people were away. The knife
above his head shows that he was cut to pieces.
[Illustration: FIG. 420.]
Fig. 420, 1863-’64.--“Crows-came-and-killed-eight winter.” Some of the
eight were Cheyennes. The marks below the arrow represent the killed.
[Illustration: FIG. 421.]
Fig. 421, 1864-’65.--“Roaster-made-a-commemoration-of-the-dead winter.”
A piece of roasted meat is shown on the stick in the man’s hand. The
Dakotas roast meat on a stick held in front of the fire.
[Illustration: FIG. 422.]
Fig. 422, 1865-’66.--“Deep-snow-used-up-the-horses winter.” The horse is
obviously in a deplorable condition.
[Illustration: FIG. 423.]
Fig. 423, 1866-’67.--“Beaver’s-Ears-killed winter.”
[Illustration: FIG. 424.]
Fig. 424,
1867-’68.--“Battiste-Good-made-peace-with-General-Harney-for-the-people
winter.” This refers to the great Dakota treaty of 1868 in which other
general officers besides Gen. Harney were active and other Indian chiefs
much more important than Battiste took part. The assumption of his
intercession is an exhibition of boasting.
[Illustration: FIG. 425.]
Fig. 425, 1868-’69.--“Killed-Long-Fish winter” and “Killed-fifteen
winter.” The Crows killed fifteen Sans Arcs and Long-Fish also, a Lower
Brulé. The long fish is shown attached by a line to the mouth of the man
figure in the manner that personal names are frequently portrayed in
this paper.
[Illustration: FIG. 426.]
Fig. 426, 1869-’70.--“Trees-killed-them winter.” A tree falling on a
lodge killed a woman.
[Illustration: FIG. 427.]
Fig. 427, 1870-’71.--“Came-and-killed-High-Back-Bone winter.” He was a
chief. The Crows and Shoshoni shot him at long range, and the pistol
with which he was armed was of no service to him.
[Illustration: FIG. 428.]
Fig. 428, 1871-’72.--“Gray-Bear-died winter.” He died of the bellyache.
[Illustration: FIG. 429.]
Fig. 429, 1872-’73.--“Issue-year winter.” A blanket is shown near the
tipi. A blanket is often used as the symbol for issue of goods by the
United States Government.
[Illustration: FIG. 430.]
Fig. 430, 1873-’74.--“Measles-and-sickness-used-up-the-people winter.”
[Illustration: FIG. 431.]
Fig. 431, 1874-’75.--“Utes-stole-horses winter.” They stole five hundred
horses. The Utes are called “black men,” hence the man in the figure is
represented as black. He is throwing his lariat in the direction of the
hoof prints.
[Illustration: FIG. 432.]
Fig. 432, 1875-’76.--“Bull-Head-made-a-commemoration-of-the-dead winter.”
[Illustration: FIG. 433.]
Fig. 433, 1876-’77.--“Female-Elk-Walks-Crying-died winter.” For some
explanation of this figure see Lone Dog’s Winter Count for 1860-’61.
[Illustration: FIG. 434.]
Fig. 434,
1877-’78.--“Crazy-Horse-came-to-make-peace-and-was-killed-with-his-
hands-stretched-out winter.” This refers to the well-known killing of
the chief Crazy-Horse while a prisoner.
[Illustration: FIG. 435.]
Fig. 435,
1878-’79.--“Brought-the-Cheyennes-back-and-killed-them-in-the-house
winter.” The Cheyennes are shown in prison surrounded by blood stains,
and with guns pointing toward them. The Cheyennes referred to are those
who left the Indian Territory in 1878 and made such a determined effort
to reach their people in the north, and who, after committing many
atrocities, were captured and taken to Fort Robinson, Nebraska. They
broke from the house in which they were confined and attempted to escape
January 9, 1879. Many of them were killed; it was reported at the time
among the Dakotas that they were massacred in their prison by the troops.
[Illustration: FIG. 436.]
Fig. 436, 1879-’80.--“Sent-the-boys-and-girls-to-school winter.” A boy
with a pen in his hand is represented in the picture.
CHAPTER XI.
NOTICES.
This is an important division of the purposes for which pictographs are
used. The pictographs and the objective devices antecedent to them under
this head may be grouped as follows: 1st. Notice of visit, departure,
and direction. 2d. Direction by drawing topographic features. 3d. Notice
of condition. 4th. Warning and guidance.
SECTION 1.
NOTICE OF VISIT, DEPARTURE, AND DIRECTION.
Mr. G. K. Gilbert, of the U. S. Geological Survey, discovered drawings
at Oakley spring, Yavapai County, Arizona, in 1878. He remarks that
an Oraibi chief explained them to him and said that the “Mokis make
excursions to a locality in the canyon of the Colorado Chiquito to get
salt. On their return they stop at Oakley spring and each Indian makes
a picture on the rock. Each Indian draws his crest or totem, the symbol
of his gens (?). He draws it once, and once only, at each visit.” Mr.
Gilbert adds, further, that--
There are probably some exceptions to this, but the drawings
show its general truth. There are a great many repetitions of
the same sign and from two to ten will often appear in a row.
In several instances I saw the end drawings of a row quite fresh
while the others were not so. Much of the work seems to have been
performed by pounding with a hard point, but a few pictures are
scratched on. Many drawings are weather-worn beyond recognition,
and others are so fresh that the dust left by the tool has not been
washed away by rain. Oakley spring is at the base of the Vermilion
cliff, and the etchings are on fallen blocks of sandstone, a
homogeneous, massive, soft sandstone. Tubi, the Oraibi chief above
referred to, says his totem is the rain cloud, but it will be made
no more, as he is the last survivor of the gens.
[Illustration: FIG. 437.--Petroglyphs at Oakley spring, Arizona.]
A group from Oakley spring, of which Fig. 437 is a copy, furnished
by Mr. Gilbert, measures 6 feet in length and 4 feet in height.
Interpretations of several of the separated characters are given in
Chapter XXI, infra.
Champlain (_b_) reports:
Quelque marque ou signal par où ayont passé leurs ennemis, ou
leurs amis, ce qu’ils cognoissent par de certaines marques que les
chefs se donnent d’une nation a l’autre, qui ne sont pas toujours
semblables, s’advertisans de temps en temps quand ils en changent;
et par ce moyen ils recognoissent si ce sont amis ou ennemis qui ont
passé.
A notice of departure, direction, and purpose made in 1810 by
Algonquins, of the St. Lawrence River, is described by John Merrick in
the Collections of the Maine Historical Society (_a_), of which the
following is an abstract;
It was drawn with charcoal on a chip cut from a spruce tree
and wedged firmly into the top of a stake. It represented two male
Indians paddling a canoe in an attitude of great exertion, and
in the canoe were bundles of baggage and a squaw with a papoose;
over all was a bird on the wing ascertained to be a loon. The
whole was interpreted by an Indian pilot on the St. Lawrence, to
be a Wickheegan or Awickheegan, and that it was left by a party
of Indians for the information of their friends. The attitude of
exertion showed that the party, consisting of two men, a woman, and
a child, were going upstream. They intended to remain during the
whole period allotted by Indians to the kind of hunting which was
then in season, because they had all their furniture and family in
the canoe. The loon expressed the intention to go without stopping
anywhere before they arrived at the hunting ground, as the loon,
from the shortness of its legs, walking with great difficulty, never
alighted on its way.
The following account is from Doc. Hist. N.Y. (_a_).
When they go to war and wish to inform those of the party who
may pass their path, they make a representation of the animal of
their tribe, with a hatchet in his dexter paw; sometimes a saber
or a club; and if there be a number of tribes together of the same
party, each draws the animal of his tribe, and their number, all
on a tree from which they remove the bark. The animal of the tribe
which heads the expedition is always the foremost.
The three following figures show the actual use of the wikhegan by
the Abnaki in the last generation. Wikhegan is a Passamaquoddy word
which corresponds in meaning nearly to our missive, or letter, being
intelligence conveyed to persons at a distance by marks on a piece of
birch bark, which may be either sent to the person or party with whom it
is desired to hold communication, or may be left in a conspicuous place
for such persons to notice on their expected arrival. In the cases now
figured the wikhegan was left as notice of departure and direction.
They were made at different times by the brother, now dead, of Big
Raven, baptized as Noel Joseph, who lived all alone on Long Lake, a
few miles from Princeton, Maine. He would not have anything to do with
civilization, and subsisted by hunting and fishing in the old fashion,
nor would he learn a word of French or English. When he would go on any
long expedition his custom was to tie to a stick conspicuously attached
to his wigwam a small roll of birch bark, with the wikhegan on it for
the information of his friends.
[Illustration: FIG. 438.--Hunting notices.]
The upper device of Fig. 438 means, I am going across the lake to hunt
deer.
The middle device means, I am going towards the lake and will turn off
at the point where there is a pointer, before reaching the lake.
The lower device means, I am going hunting--will be gone all winter, the
last information indicated by snowshoes and packed sledge.
The following description of a pictograph on the Pacific coast is
extracted from Dr. Gibbs’ (_a_) account, “Tribes of Western Washington,”
etc., Contrib. to N. A. Ethn. I, p. 222, of the Sound tribes.
A party of Snakes are going to hunt strayed horses. A figure
of a man, with a long queue or scalp lock, reaching to his heels,
denoted Shoshone; that tribe being in the habit of braiding horse or
other hair into their own in that manner. A number of marks follow,
signifying the strength of the party. A footprint, pointing in the
direction they take, shows their course, and a hoof mark turned
backward, that they expect to return with animals. If well armed,
and expecting a possible attack, a little powder mixed with sand
tells that they are ready, or a square dotted about the figures
indicates that they have fortified. These pictographs are often an
object of study to decipher the true meaning. The shrewder or more
experienced old men consult over them. It is not everyone that is
sufficiently versed in the subject to decide correctly.
Dr. W. J. Hoffman obtained the original of the accompanying drawing,
Fig. 439, from Naumoff, an Alaskan, in San Francisco in 1882; also the
interpretation.
The drawing was in imitation of similar ones made by the natives to
inform their visitors or friends of their departure for a purpose
designated. They are depicted upon strips of wood, which are placed in
conspicuous places near the doors of the habitations.
[Illustration: FIG. 439.--Alaskan notice of hunt.]
The following is the explanation of the characters: _a_, the speaker,
with the right hand indicating himself and with the left pointing in
the direction to be taken; _b_, holding a boat-paddle, going by boat;
_c_, the right hand to the side of the head, to denote sleep, and the
left elevated with one finger erect to signify one night; _d_, a circle
with two marks in the middle, signifying an island with huts upon it;
_e_, same as _a_; _f_, a circle to denote another island; _g_, same as
_c_, with an additional finger elevated, signifying two nights; _h_,
the speaker, with his harpoon, making the sign of a sea-lion with the
left hand. The flat hand is held edgewise with the thumb elevated, then
pushed outward from the body in a slightly downward curve. At _i_ is
represented a sea-lion; _j_, shooting with bow and arrow; _k_, the boat
with two persons in it, the paddles projecting downward; _l_, the winter
or permanent habitation of the speaker.
The following, Fig. 440, is of a similar nature to the preceding, and
was obtained under similar circumstances.
[Illustration: FIG. 440.--Alaskan notice of departure.]
The explanation of the above characters is as follows:
The letters _a_, _c_, _e_, _g_, represent the person spoken to.
_b._ Indicates the speaker with his right hand to the side or breast,
indicating _self_, the left hand pointing in the direction in which he
is going.
_d._ Both hands elevated, with fingers and thumbs signifies many,
according to the informant. When the hands are thus held up, in
sign-language, it signifies _ten_, but when they are brought toward and
backward from one another, _many_.
_f._ The right hand is placed to the head to denote sleep--_many
sleeps_, or, in other words, _many nights and days_; the left hand
points downward, _at that place_.
_h._ The right hand is directed toward the starting point, while the
left is brought upward toward the head--_to go home_, or _whence he
came_.
The drawing presented in Fig. 441 was made by a native Alaskan, and
represents information to the effect that the artist contemplates
making a journey to hunt deer. The drawing is made upon a narrow strip
of wood, and placed on or near the door of the house, where visitors
will readily perceive it.
[Illustration: FIG. 441.--Alaskan notice of hunt.]
In this figure the curves _a a_ represent the contour lines of the
country and mountain peaks; _b_, native going away from home; _c_,
stick placed on hilltop, with bunch of grass attached, pointing in the
direction he has taken; _d_, native of another settlement, with whom the
traveler remained over night; _e_, lodge; _f_, line representing the end
of the first day, i. e., the time between two days; rest; _g_, traveler
again on the way; _h_, making signal that on second day (right hand
raised with two extended fingers) he saw game (deer, _i_,) on a hilltop,
which he secured, so terminating his journey; _i_, deer.
Figs. 442, 443, and 444 were drawn by Naumoff and signify “Have gone
home.”
[Illustration: FIG. 442.--Alaskan notice of direction.]
His explanation of this figure is as follows:
When one of a hunting party is about to return home and wishes to inform
his companions that he has started, he ascends the hilltop nearest to
which they became separated, where he ties a bunch of grass or other
light-colored material to the top of a long stick or pole. The lower end
of the stick is placed firmly in the ground, leaning in the direction
taken. When another hill is ascended, another stick with similar
attachment is erected, again leaning in the direction to be taken. These
sticks are placed at proper intervals until the village is sighted. This
device is employed by Southern Alaskan Indians.
[Illustration: FIG. 443.--Alaskan notice of direction.]
He explained Fig. 443 as follows:
Seal hunters thus inform their comrades that they have returned to the
settlement. The first to return to the regular landing place sometimes
sticks a piece of wood into the ground, leaning toward the village, upon
which is drawn or scratched the outline of a baidarka, or skin canoe,
heading toward one or more outlines of lodges, signifying that the
occupants of the boat have gone toward their homes.
[Illustration: FIG. 444.--Alaskan notice of direction.]
This device is used by coast natives of Southern Alaska and Kadiak. He
explained Fig. 444 as follows:
When hunters become separated, the one first returning to the forks
of the trail puts a piece of wood in the ground, on the top of which
he makes an incision, into which a short piece of wood is secured
horizontally, so as to point in the direction taken.
Maj. Long--Keating’s Long (_a_)--says:
When we stopped to dine, White Thunder (the Winnebago chief
that accompanied me), suspecting that the rest of his party were
in the neighborhood, requested a piece of paper, pen, and ink, to
communicate to them the intelligence of his having come up with me.
He then seated himself and drew three rude figures, which, at my
request, he explained to me. The first represented my boat with a
mast and flag, with three benches of oars and a helmsman. To show
that we were Americans, our heads were represented by a rude cross,
indicating that we wore hats. The representation of himself was a
rude figure of a bear over a kind of cipher, representing a hunting
ground. The second figure was designed to show that his wife was
with him; the device was a boat with a squaw seated in it; over her
head lines were drawn in a zigzag direction, indicating that she
was the wife of White Thunder. The third was a boat with a bear
sitting at the helm, showing that an Indian of that name [or of
the bear gens] had been seen on his way up the river and had given
intelligence where the party were. This paper he set up at the mouth
of Kickapoo creek, up which the party had gone on a hunting trip.
An ingenious mode of giving intelligence is practiced at this day by
the Abnaki, as reported by H. L. Masta, chief of that tribe, lately
living at Pierreville, Quebec. When they are in the woods, to say “I
am going to the east,” a stick is stuck in the ground pointing in that
direction, Fig. 445, _a_. “I am not gone far,” another stick is stuck
across the former, close to the ground, same figure, _b_. “Gone far” is
the reverse, same figure, _c_. The number of days’ journey of proposed
absence is shown by the same number of sticks across the first; thus,
same figure, _d_, signifies five days’ journey.
[Illustration: FIG. 445.--Abnaki notice of direction.]
Fig. 446, scratched on birch bark, was given to the present writer
at Fredericton, New Brunswick, in August, 1888, by Gabriel Acquin,
an Amalecite, then 66 years old, who spoke English quite well. The
circumstances under which it was made and used are in the Amalecite’s
words, as follows:
[Illustration: FIG. 446.--Amalecite notice of trip.]
“When I was about 18 years old I lived at a village 11 miles above
Fredericton and went with canoe and gun. I canoed down to Washademoak
lake, about 40 miles below Fredericton; then took river until it became
too narrow for canoe; then ‘carried’ to Buctoos river; followed down to
bay of Chaleur; went up the northwest Mirimachi, and ‘carried’ into the
Nepisigiut. There spent the summer. On that river met a friend of my
time; we camped there.
“One time while I was away my friend had gone down the river by himself
and had not left any wikhe'gan for me. I had planned to go off and left
for him this wikhe'gan, to tell where I would be and how long gone. The
wigwam at the lower left-hand corner showed the one used by us, with the
river near it. The six notches over the door of the wigwam meant that I
would be gone six days. The canoe and man nearest to the wigwam referred
to my friend, who had gone in the opposite direction to that I intended
to travel. Next to it I was represented in my own canoe, with rain
falling, to show the day I started, which was very rainy. Then the canoe
carried by me by a trail through woods shows the ‘carry’ to Nictaux
lake, beside which is a very big mountain. I stayed at that lake for six
days, counting the outgoing and returning. As I had put the wikhe'gan
in the wigwam before I started, my friend on his return understood all
about me, and, counting six from and including the rainy day, knew just
when I was coming back, and was waiting for me.”
The chief point of interest in this notice is the ingenious mode of
fixing the date of departure. The marks for rain are nearly obliterated,
but it flows from the man’s hair. The topography is also delineated.
The following is extracted from James Long’s Expedition (_b_):
On the bank of the Platte river was a semicircular row of
sixteen bison skulls, with their noses pointing down the river.
Near the center of the circle which this row would describe, if
continued, was another skull marked with a number of red lines.
Our interpreter informed us that this arrangement of skulls
and other marks here discovered were designed to communicate the
following information, namely, that the camp had been occupied by
a war party of the Skeeree or Pawnee Loup Indians, who had lately
come from an excursion against the Cumancias, Ietans, or some of
the western tribes. The number of red lines traced on the painted
skull indicated the number of the party to have been thirty-six; the
position in which the skulls were placed, that they were on their
return to their own country. Two small rods stuck in the ground,
with a few hairs tied in two parcels to the end of each, signified
that four scalps had been taken.
When a hunting party of the Hidatsa arrived at any temporary camping
ground from which some of them had left on a short reconnoitering
expedition, the remainder, having occasion to move, erect a pole and
cause it to lean in the direction taken. At the foot of this pole a
buffalo shoulder blade or other flat bone is placed, upon which is
depicted the reason of departure; e. g. should buffalo or antelope be
seen, the animal is drawn with a piece of charred wood or red lead.
When a Hidatsa party has gone on the warpath, and a certain number is
detailed to take another direction, the point of separation is taken as
the rendezvous. After the return of the first party to the rendezvous,
should the second not come up in a reasonable length of time, they
will set sticks in the ground leaning in the direction to be taken,
and notches are cut into the upper ends of the sticks to represent the
number of nights spent there by the waiting party.
A party of Hidatsa who may be away from home for any purpose whatever
often appoint a rendezvous, from which point they return to their
respective lodges. Should one of the party return to the rendezvous
before any others and wish to make a special trip, he will, for the
information of the others, place a stick of about 3 or 4 feet in length
in the ground, upon the upper end of which a notch is cut, or perhaps a
split made for the reception of a thinner piece of twig or branch having
a length of about a foot. This horizontal top piece is inserted at one
end, so that the whole may point in the direction to be taken. Should
he wish to say that the trail would turn at a right angle, to either
side, at about half the distance of the whole journey in prospect, the
horizontal branch is either bent in that direction or a naturally curved
branch is selected having the turn at the middle of its entire length,
thus corresponding to the turn in the trail. Any direction can be
indicated by curves in the top branch.
No prescribed system of characters is used at the present time by the
Ojibwa, in the indication of direction or travel. When anyone leaves
camp or home for any particular hunting or berry ground, a concerted
arrangement is made by which only those interested can, with any
certainty, recognize “blaze” or trail marks.
[Illustration: FIG. 447.--Ojibwa notice of direction.]
Three characters cut upon the bark of large pine trees observed in the
forest near Red Lake, Minnesota, are shown in Fig. 447. The Ojibwa using
such a mark will continue on a trail leading from his home, until he
leaves the trail, when a conspicuous tree, or in its absence a piece of
wood or bark, is selected upon which a human figure is cut, with one
arm elevated and pointing in the direction to be taken. These figures
measure about 18 inches in height. Those represented on the two sides
of the copy were cut into the bark of a “jack pine” without coloration,
and the one in the middle had been rubbed with red chalk upon the wood
of the trunk after the bark had been removed and the incision made. The
middle figure indicates the direction by its bearings, although the
pointers are differently arranged.
Plain sticks are sometimes used by the Ojibwa to indicate direction.
These vary in length according to the fancy of the person and the
requirements of the case. They are stuck into the ground, and lean in
the direction to which notice is invited.
When a preconcerted arrangement is made, scrolls of birch bark are
used, upon which important geographic features are delineated, so that
the reader can, with little difficulty, learn the course taken by the
traveler. For instance, a hunter upon leaving his home, deposits there a
scroll bearing marks such as appear in Fig. 448:
[Illustration: FIG. 448.--Ojibwa notice of direction.]
_a_ is a stream to be followed to a lake _b_, where the hunter will
erect his lodge _c_, during his stay. The do-dém (totem) is added, used
between persons or parties communicating, to show who was the one that
drew it. It is in the nature of a signature.
Fig. 449 shows a still existing use of the wikhegan between a Penobscot
Indian and his nephew. It is copied from the original, incised on birch
bark, by Nicholas Francis, a Penobscot, of Oldtown, Maine, which was
obtained and kindly presented by Miss A. L. Alger of Boston.
[Illustration: FIG. 449.--Penobscot notice of direction.]
Pitalo (Roaring Lion), English name, Noel Lyon, and his old uncle, aged
over 70 years, went trapping for beaver in 1885 and camped at _d_, near
Moosehead Lake _h_, having their supply tent at _e_. They visited the
ponds _a_ and _b_ and knew there were beaver there, and set traps for
them, _f f_. The beaver dams are also shown extending across the outlets
of the streams. Noel came back from pond _b_ one day to the camping
tent and found this birch-bark wikhegan made by the old uncle, who still
used the pictographic method, as he does not know how to write, and by
this Noel knew his uncle had gone to pond _c_ to see if there were any
beaver there and would be gone one night, the latter expressed by one
line _g_ drawn between the two arrows pointing in opposite directions,
showing the going and returning on the same trail.
The notable part of the above description is that the wikhegan
consisted of the chart of the geographic features before traversed by
the two trappers, with the addition of new features of the country
undoubtedly known to both of the Indians, but not before visited in the
present expedition. This addition exhibited the departure, its intent,
direction, and duration.
[Illustration: FIG. 450.--Passamaquoddy notice of direction.]
Sapiel Selmo, a chief of the Passamaquoddy tribe, who gave to the writer
the wikhegan copied as Fig. 450, in 1887, was then a very aged man and
has since died. He lived at Pleasant point, 7 miles north of Eastport,
Maine. He was the son of a noted chief, Selmo Soctomah (a corruption of
St. Thomas), who, as shown by a certificate exhibited, commanded 600
Passamaquoddy Indians in the Revolutionary war. When a young man Sapiel,
with his father, had a temporary camp, _a_, at Machias Lake. He left
his father and went to their permanent home at Pleasant Point, _b_, to
get meat, and then returned to the first camp (route shown by double
track) and found that his father had gone, but that he had left in the
temporary wigwam the wikhegan on birch bark, showing that he had killed
one moose, the meat of which Sapiel found in the snow, and that the
father was going to hunt moose on the other lake (East Machias lake)
and would camp there three days, shown by the same number of strokes at
_c_; so he waited for him until he came back.
Josiah Gregg (_a_) says of the Plains tribes:
When traveling they will also pile heaps of stones upon mounds
or conspicuous points so arranged as to be understood by their
passing comrades; and sometimes they set up the bleached buffalo
heads, which are everywhere scattered over those plains, to indicate
the direction of their march, and many other facts which may be
communicated by those simple signs.
Putnam (_a_) gives one example of this character:
A family of five persons were killed--a tall man, a short, fat
woman, and three children--at some place to the north. Five sticks
were cut of various lengths. The longest being forked or split
indicated the man, the thick short one the woman, and three of
smaller sizes and lengths the children. They were all scalped, as
is shown by the peeling of the bark. There were thirteen Indians,
as we are informed by the stick with stripes and thirteen notches;
and they have fled south with two prisoners, as we judge from the
pointer and little strips of bark seemingly tied together. Sometimes
all the intimations would be on one stick or piece of bark. A spy
finding, at places well known, some of these mysterious articles,
would bring them to the station, where a consultation would be
held and conclusion drawn as to the meaning. A spy or hunter would
intimate to his friend his want of powder or lead or other want and
the place at which he would look for supplies.
Hind (_a_) speaks of a special form of notice by the natives of the
Labrador peninsula:
To indicate their speed and direction on a march, the Nasquapees
of the Labrador peninsula thrust a stick in the ground, with a tuft
of grass at the top, pointing toward their line of route, and they
show the rate at which they are traveling by the greater or less
inclination of the stick. This mode of communicating intelligence to
those who may follow is universal among Indians; but the excellent
and simple contrivance for describing the speed at which they travel
is not generally employed as far as I am aware, by other nations.
Mr. Charles G. Leland, in a letter, tells that the English gypsies, at
a crossroad, drew the ordinary Latin cross with the long arm pointing
in the direction taken. Others pulled up three bunches of grass by the
roots and laid the green points in the direction. Others again, at the
present time, take a small stick and set it up inclining at an angle of
45 degrees in the line of travel.
Dr. George M. Dawson (_a_) reports of the Shuswap people of British
Columbia--
A rag of clothing, particularly a small piece or pieces of
colored or other easily recognizable material from a woman’s dress,
left in a forked twig, indicates that a person or party of persons
has passed. If the stick stands upright, it means that the hour was
noon, if inclined it may either point to the direction of the sun at
the time or show the direction in which the person or party went. If
it is desired to show both, a larger stick points to the position
of the sun, a smaller to that of the route followed. If those for
whose information the signs are left are likely to arrive after an
interval of several days, a handful of fresh grass or a leafy branch
may be left, from the condition of which an estimate of the time
which has elapsed can be formed. Such signs are usually placed near
the site of the camp fire.
The device to indicate the time of depositing the notice may be compared
with that shown in Fig. 446.
SECTION 2.
DIRECTION BY DRAWING TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES.
[Illustration: FIG. 451.--Micmac notice of direction.]
Fig. 451 is a notice by Micmac scouts, which tribe was then at war with
the Passamaquoddy, erected on a tree, to warn the rest of the tribe
that ten Passamaquoddy Indians have been observed in canoes on the lake
going toward the outlet of the lake and probably down the river. The
Passamaquoddy tribal pictograph is shown and the whole topography is
correctly drawn.
Notes in literature relating to the skill of the North American Indians
in delineating geographic features are very frequent. The following are
selected for reference:
Champlain (_c_), in 1605, described how the natives on the coast drew
with charcoal its bays, capes, and the mouths of rivers with such
accuracy that Massachusetts bay and Merrimack river have been identified.
Lafitau (_d_) says of the northeastern tribes of Indians--
Ils tracent grossierement sur des écorces, on sur le sable, des
Cartes exactes, et ausquelles il ne manque que la distinction des
degrés. Ils conservent même de ces sortes de Cartes Geographiques
dans leur Trésor public, pour les consulter dans le besoin.
Sir Alexander Mackenzie, (_a_) in 1793, spoke of the skilled manner of
chart-making by an Athabascan tribe, in which the Columbia river was
drawn.
An interesting facsimile of a map with which the treaty of Hopewell, in
1875, made by the Cherokees, is connected, appears in American State
Papers, Indian Affairs, I, 40.
Hind (_b_) writes:
On lake Tash-ner-nus-kow, Labrador, was found a “letter” stuck
in a cleft pole overhanging the bank. It was written on birchbark,
and consisted of a small map of the country, with arrows showing the
direction the writer had taken, some crosses indicating where he
had camped, and a large cross to show where he intended to make his
first winter quarters. It was probably written by some Nasquapees as
a guide to others who might be passing up the river or hunting in
the country.
The Tegua Pueblos, of New Mexico, “traced upon the ground a sketch of
their country, with the names and locations of the pueblos occupied in
New Mexico,” a copy of which, “somewhat improved,” is given by Lieut.
Whipple (_c_).
A Yuma map of the Colorado river, with the names and locations of tribes
within its valley, is also figured in the last mentioned volume, page
19. The map was originally traced upon the ground.
A Piute map of the Colorado river, which was obtained by Lieut. Whipple,
is also figured in the same connection.
[Illustration: FIG. 452.--Lean-Wolf’s map. Hidatsa.]
Lean-Wolf, of the Hidatsa, who drew the picture of which Fig. 452 is a
copy, made a trip on foot from Fort Berthold to Fort Buford, Dakota,
to steal a horse from the Dakotas encamped there. The returning horse
tracks show that he was successful and that he rode home. The following
is his explanation of the characters:
Lean-Wolf is represented at _a_ by the head only of a man to
which is attached the outline of a wolf; _b_, Hidatsa earth lodges,
circular in form, the spots representing the pillars supporting
the roof--Indian village at Fort Berthold, Dakota; _c_, human
footprints, the course taken by the recorder; _d_, the Government
buildings at Fort Buford (square); _e_, several Hidatsa lodges
(round), the occupants of which had intermarried with the Dakotas;
_f_, Dakota lodges; _g_, a small square--a white man’s house--with
a cross marked upon it to represent a Dakota lodge, which denotes
that the owner, a white man, had married a Dakota woman, who dwelt
there; _h_, horse tracks returning to Fort Berthold; _i_, the
Missouri river; _j_, Tule creek; _k_, Little Knife river; _l_, White
Earth river; _m_, Muddy creek; _n_, Yellowstone river; _o_, Little
Missouri river; _p_, Dancing Beard creek.
The following illustration, Fig. 453, is the chart of the field of a
battle between Ojibwas and Sioux with its description. The illustration,
made by Ojibwa, the old Indian elsewhere mentioned, was drawn on birch
bark, while the details of the description were oral. The locality
referred to is above the mouth of Crow river, near Sauk rapids,
Minnesota.
[Illustration: FIG. 453.--Chart of battle field.]
In the description _a_ is the Mississippi river; _b_, Crow river;
_c_, branch of Crow river; _d_, _e_, _f_, Crow lakes; _g_, Rice
lake; _h_, Clear Water lake; _i_, Clear Water river; _j_, Sauk
river; _k_, Big Sauk lake; _l_, Big prairie lake; _m_, Osakis lake;
_n_, Sauk rapids; _o_ and _p_, canoe and deer-hunting and fishing
grounds; _q_, 1 man and 2 women killed (Ojibwas); _r_, Sauk Center;
_s_, copses of timber--known as timber islands--on the prairie.
The chart refers to an episode of war in 1854, when 3 Ojibwa were
pursued by 50 Dakota. Many of the lakes appear to be duplicated in name,
simply because no special name for them was known.
Dr. Hoffman tells how at Grapevine springs, Nevada, in 1871, the Paiute
living at that locality informed the party of the relative position
of Las Vegas, the objective point. The Indian sat upon the sand and
with his hands formed an oblong ridge to represent Spring mountain,
and southeast of this ridge another gradual slope, terminating on the
eastern side more abruptly; over the latter he passed his fingers to
represent the side valleys running eastward. He then took a stick and
showed the direction of the old Spanish trail running east and west over
the lower portion of the last-named ridge. When this was completed,
with a mixture of English, Spanish, Paiute, and gesture signs, he told
that from where they were now they would have to go southward east of
Spring mountain to the camp of Paiute Charlie, where they would have to
sleep; then indicated a line southeastward to another spring (Stump’s)
to complete the second day; then he followed the line representing the
Spanish trail to the east of the divide of the second ridge above named,
where he left it, and passing northward to the first valley he thrust
the short stick into the ground and said, “Las Vegas.”
Mr. W. von Streeruwitz, of the Geological Survey of Texas, contributes
the copy of a map, evidently the work of Indians, which is received
too late for reproduction. The map is roughly scratched into the flat
surface of a large granite block, and is an approximately correct sketch
of a pass and the nearest surrounding. The rock is situated in the pass
above the so-called rattlesnake or mica tank, in a spur on the west side
of the Van Horn mountains, El Paso county, Texas. An Indian trail passes
near the very rough and weathered rear part of the rock, which on this
side shows weak traces of some scratched-in drawings, which are nearly
weathered off, made no doubt with the purpose to lead the attention of
passing parties to the other side of the rock upon which the map is
drawn. An old trail leads from the Rio Grande across the Eagle mountains
to this pass and in the shortest line from the Green river valley to the
northern main range of the Van Horn and from there east to the Davis
mountains, formerly Apache mountains, and thence through the southern
extension of the Guadeloupe mountains to this range and into New Mexico;
also through the Sierra Carrizo to the Sierra Diablo; so that this trail
must be regarded as one of the best warpaths for raids across the Rio
Grande. An arrowhead at the upper end of the trail points out water
(small or doubtful supply), as far as could be ascertained from drawings
made by Apaches.
Following are modes of exhibiting pictographically topographic features,
Fig. 454:
[Illustration: FIG. 454.--Topographic features.]
_a_, from Copway’s Ojibway Nation, p. 136, represents “mountains.”
_b_ is the Chinese character for “mountain,” from Edkins, p. 14. “A
picture of the object. More anciently, two upright cones or triangles
connected at their bases.”
_c_ is the representation by the Dakotas of a gap in the mountains,
taken from Red-Cloud’s census.
_d_, from Copway, p. 135, represents “islands.”
_e_, from the same, p. 134, is a representation of the character for
“sea” or “water,” probably a large body of water, e. g., lake, such as
the Ojibwa were familiar with.
_f_ is from the same authority, p. 134. It shows the character for
“river” or “stream.”
_g_ gives two Chinese characters for “river,” “stream,” from Edkins, p.
14. Three parallel lines drawn downward express “flowing” in all cases.
_h_ is the Chinese character for “flowing water,” from Edkins, p. 23.
“In the Chwen wen three strokes descending indicate the appearance of
flowing water as seen in a river. The two outside strokes are broken in
the middle.”
The same authority, p. 155, gives another character, _i_, with the same
meaning as the last. The author says: “It is supposed to be turned on
end. It is better to regard the old form with its three descending lines
as a picture of water flowing downward.”
_k_, from Copway (_a_), represents the character for “land.” It is a
turtle, and refers to a common cosmologic myth concerning the recovery
of land after the deluge.
G. Holm (_a_) gives the following account, translated and condensed,
descriptive of Fig. 455, a wooden map made by the natives of the east
coast of Greenland:
[Illustration: FIG. 455.--Greenland map.]
In reference to map making I will only remark that many are
inclined to enlarge the scale as they approach the better known
places, which in fact is quite natural, as they would not otherwise
find room for all details. As a natural result, map drawing in the
form of ground plat is something quite new to them. Their mode of
representing their land is by carving it on wood. This has the
advantage that not only the contour of the land, but also its
appearance and rock forms, can in a certain degree be represented.
The block of wood brought back represents the tract between
Kangerdluarsikajik, east of Sermiligak, and Sieralik, north of
Kangerdlugsuatsiak. The mainland continues from one side of the
wooden block to the other, while the islands are located on the
accompanying block without regard to the distance between them in
reference to the mainland. All places where there are old ruins of
houses, and therefore good storage places, are marked on the wood
map, which also shows the points where a kayak can be carried over
the ground between two fiords when the sea ice blocks the headland
outside. This kind of models serves to represent the route the
person in question has followed, inasmuch as during his recital he
moves the stick, so that the islands are shown in their relative
positions. The other wooden map, which was prepared by request,
represents the peninsula between Sermiligak and Kangerdluarsikajik.
A and B represent the tract between Kangerdluarsikajik
(immediately east of Sermiligak) and Sieralik (slightly north of
Kangerdlugsuatsiak). B represents the coast of the mainland, and
is continuous from one side of the block to the other, while the
outlying islands are represented by the wooden block of A, on which
the connecting pieces between the various islands must be imagined
as being left out. While the narrator explains the map he moves the
stick to and fro, so as to get the islands into the right position
in reference to the mainland.
Kunit explained the map to me. The names of the islands on A
are: _a_, Sardlermiut, on the west side of which is the site of an
old settlement; _b_, Nepinerkit (from napavok), having the shape of
a pyramid; _c_, Ananak, having the site of an old settlement on the
southwest point. (NOTE.--Others give the name Ananak to the cape on
the mainland directly opposite, calling the island Kajartalik.) _d_,
Aputitek; _e_, Itivdlersuak; _f_, Kujutilik; _g_, Sikivitik.
For B I obtained the following names, beginning at the north,
as in the case of the islands: _h_, Itivdlek, where there are
remains of a house; _i_, Sierak, a small fiord, in which salmon are
found; _k_, Sarkarmiut, where there are remains of a house; _l_,
Kangerdlugsuatsiak, a fiord of such length that a kayak can not
even in a whole day row from the mouth to the head of the fiord and
back again; _m_, Erserisek, a little fiord; _n_, Nutugat, a little
fiord with a creek at the bottom; _o_, Merkeriak, kayak portage from
Nutugkat to Erserisek along the bank of the creek, when the heavy
ice blocks the headland between the two fiords; _p_, Ikerasakitek,
a bay in which the land ice goes straight out to the sea; _q_,
Kangerajikajik, a cape; _r_, Kavdlunak, a bay into which runs a
creek; _s_, Apusinek, a long stretch where the land ice passes
out into the sea; _t_, Tatorisik; _u_, Iliartalik, a fiord with
a smaller creek; _v_, Nuerniakat; _x_, Kugpat; _y_, Igdluarsik;
_z_, Sangmilek, a little fiord with a creek; _aa_, Nutugkat;
_bb_, Amagat; _cc_, Kangerdluarsikajik, a smaller fiord; _dd_,
Kernertuarsik.
C represents the peninsula between the fiords Sermiligak and
Kangerdluarsikajik.
SECTION 3.
NOTICE OF CONDITION.
In the curious manuscript of Gideon Lincecum, written with Roman
characters in the Choctaw language about 1818, and referring to the
ancient customs of that tribe, appears the following passage (p. 276):
They had a significant and very ingenious method of marking the
stakes so that each iksa could know its place as soon as they saw
the stake that had been set up for them. Every clan had a name,
which was known to all the rest. It was a species of heraldry, each
iksa having its coat of arms. The iksas all took the name of some
animal--buffalo, panther, dog, terrapin, any race of animals--and a
little picture of whatever it might be, sketched on a blazed tree
or stake, indicated the clan to which it belonged. They could mark
a tree when they were about to leave a camp, in their traveling or
hunting excursions, with a set of hieroglyphs, that any other set
of hunters or travelers who might pass that way could read, telling
what iksa they belonged to, how long they had remained at that camp,
how many there were in the company, if any were sick or dead, and if
they had been successful or otherwise in the hunt. Thus, drawn very
neatly on a peeled tree near the camp, a terrapin; five men marching
in a row, with bows ready strung in their hands, large packs on
their backs, and one man behind, no pack, bow unstrung; one circle,
half circle, and six short marks in front of the half circle; below,
a bear’s head, a buffalo head, and the head of an antelope. The
reading is, “Terrapin iksa, 6 men in company, one sick; successful
hunt in killing bear, buffalo, and antelope; that they remained at
the camp a moon and a half and six days, and that they have gone
home.”
Among the Abnaki of the Province of Quebec, as reported by Masta, their
chief, cutting the bark off from a tree on one, two, three, or four
sides near the butt means “Have had poor, poorer, poorest luck.” Cutting
it off all around the tree means “I am starving.” Smoking a piece of
birch bark and hanging it on a tree means “I am sick.”
Tanner’s Narrative (_c_) mentions regarding the Ojibwa that, in cases
where the information to be communicated is that the party mentioned
is starving, the figure of a man is sometimes drawn, and his mouth is
painted white, or white paint may be smeared about the mouth of the
animal, if it happens to be one, which is his totem.
[Illustration: FIG. 456.--Passamaquoddy wikhegan.]
Fig. 456 is a copy of a drawing incised on birch bark by the old
Passamaquoddy chief, Sapiel Selmo, who made comments upon it as follows:
Two hunters followed the river _a_ until it branches off _b_, _c_.
Indian _d_ takes one river and its lakes and small branches, and the
other hunter (not figured in the chart) follows the other branch and
also claims its small streams and lakes. Sometimes during the winter
they visit one another. If it happen that the other hunter was away from
his wigwam _e_ and if the visiting hunter wishes to leave word with
his friend and wishes to inform him of his luck, he makes a picture on
a piece of birch bark and describes such animals he has killed with
the number of animals as seen in _f_ and _g_ (figure of moose’s head)
which, with two crosses to each, means 20 moose. He killed in each
hunt altogether 40. _h_ is a whole moose, also with two crosses, and
means 20, and also the figure of a caribou _i_ with one cross means 10
caribou, and also a figure of a bear with four crosses _j_ means 40
bears, and _k_ shows a figure of bear with one cross which means 10
bears, and also a sable _l_ with five crosses means 50 sables. If he
wish to inform him he is in poor luck and hungry, he marked a figure
of an Indian with a pot on one hand, the pot upside down; this means
hunger. A figure of an Indian in lying position means sickness.
Fig. 457 was also incised on birch bark by Sapiel Selmo and described by
him.
[Illustration: FIG. 457.--Passamaquoddy wikhegan.]
Two Indian hunters follow the river to hunt. They go together as far
as the river’s forks and then separate. One went to the river _c_. The
other follows river _e_ and kills a moose. They both build their winter
wigwams.
Indian _b_ went to hunt and found a bear’s den under the foot of a big
tree. He attempted to stab the bear, but missed the vital part. The bear
got hold of him, bit him severely, and mortally wounded him. He went to
his wigwam _h_ and thinks he is going to die, so he makes his mark or
wikhegan on a birch-bark. He makes notches _j_ on the bark to mean his
tracks and also marks a tree as in _f_ and also a bear as in _g_. His
friend _d_ came to visit him and found him lying dead in his wigwam, and
also found the marks on the piece of birch-bark, which he read and knew
at once his partner was killed by the bear, and he followed his bear
tracks, and he also found the bear dead.
_a_. Main river. _b_. One of the Indians who goes up _c_, branch of
river. _d_. The other Indian who goes on _e_, another branch of river.
_f_. Tree above the bear’s den. _g_. Bear. _h_. Wigwam of Indian _b_.
_i_. Moose which Indian _d_ killed. _j_. Tracks of Indian _b_. _k_.
Bear’s den under the tree. _l_. Indian _d_’s wigwam.
[Illustration: FIG. 458.--Passamaquoddy wikhegan.]
Fig. 458 originally scraped on birch bark tells its own story, but was
described by Sapiel Selmo, who drew it, thus:
Two Indian hunters, _b_ and _c_, went to hunt and follow river, _a_.
They continued together as far as _d_, where the river branches off.
Indian _c_ follows the east branch _e_. He went as far as lake _f_,
where he built his wigwam _g_. Indian _c_ is very unlucky; he doesn’t
kill any bears or moose, so he became very hungry. Indian _b_, who had
followed the north branch and built his wigwam, _l_, near lake _k_, went
to visit Indian _c_, who was away at the time, but _b_ found mark on the
birch bark, a pot upside down, _h_; this means hunger. He also makes his
own mark, _i_, a moose’s head, showing success. He appoints lake _j_,
where he killed moose, and wants him, _c_, to come to his, _b_’s, wigwam
_l_.
_o_, lower lake, not connected with the story, but doubtless drawn to
complete the topography. The two trails, _m_ and _n_, are designated by
notches showing foot-path or snow-shoe tracks. The Abnaki have footpaths
or snow-shoe tracks where the line of kelhign sisel, or sable dead
falls, extends from one hunting camp to another, between two lakes or
rivers.
The Ottawa and the Pottawatomi Indians indicate hunger and starvation
by drawing a black line across the breast or stomach of the figure of
a man. (See Fig. 1046.) This drawing is either incised upon a piece of
wood, or drawn on it with a mixture of powdered charcoal and glue water,
or red ocher. The piece of wood is then attached to a tree or fastened
to a pole, and erected near the lodge on a trail, where it will be
observed by passers by, who are thus besought to come to the rescue of
the sufferer who erected the notice.
Fig. 459 illustrates information with regard to distress in another
village, which occasioned the departure of the party giving the
notification. The drawing was made in 1882 by the Alaskan, Naumoff, in
imitation of drawings used at his home. The designs are traced upon a
strip of wood, which is then stuck upon the roof of the house belonging
to the draftsman.
[Illustration: FIG. 459.--Alaskan notice of distress.]
_a_, the summer habitation, showing a stick leaning in the direction to
be taken; _b_, the baidarka, containing the residents of the house; the
first person is observed pointing forward, indicating that they “go by
boat to the other settlement”; _c_, a grave stick, indicating a death
in the settlement; _d_, _e_, summer and winter habitations, denoting a
village.
The drawing, Fig. 460, also made in 1882, by a native Alaskan, in
imitation of originals familiar to him in Alaska, is intended to be
placed in a conspicuous portion of a settlement which has been attacked
by a hostile force and finally deserted. The last one to leave prepares
the drawing upon a strip of wood to inform friends of the resort of the
survivors.
[Illustration: FIG. 460. Alaskan notice of departure and refuge.]
_a_ represents three hills or ranges, signifying that the course taken
would carry them beyond that number of hills or mountains; _b_, the
draftsman, indicating the direction, with the left hand pointing to the
ground, _one_ hill, and the right hand indicating the number _two_, the
number still to be crossed; _c_, a circular piece of wood or leather,
with the representation of a face, placed upon a pole and facing the
direction to be taken from the settlement; in this instance the drawing
of the character denotes a hostile attack upon the town, for which
misfortune such devices are sometimes erected; _d_, _e_, winter and
summer habitations; _f_, storehouse, erected upon upright poles. The
latter device is used by Alaskan coast natives generally.
The design shown in Fig. 461 is in imitation of drawings made by natives
of Southern Alaska to convey to the observer the information that the
draftsman had gone away to another settlement, the inhabitants of which
were in distress. The drawings were made on a strip of wood which was
placed at the door of the house, where it might be seen by visitors or
inquirers.
[Illustration: FIG. 461.--Notice of departure to relieve distress.
Alaska.]
Naumoff gave the following explanation: _a_, a native making the gesture
of indicating _self_ with the right hand and with the left indicating
direction of _going_; _b_, the native’s habitation; _c_, scaffold used
for drying fish; upon the top of a pole is placed a piece of wood tied
so that the longest end points in the direction to be taken by the
relief party; _d_, the baidarka conveying it; _e_, a native of the
settlement to be visited; _f_, summer habitation; _g_, “shaman stick,”
or grave stick, erected to the memory of a recently deceased person, the
cause which has necessitated the journey; _h_, winter habitation. This,
together with _f_, indicates a settlement.
Fig. 462, also drawn by Naumoff, means “ammunition wanted.”
[Illustration: FIG. 462.--Ammunition wanted. Alaska.]
When a hunter is tracking game and exhausts his ammunition, he returns
to the nearest and most conspicuous part of the trail and sticks his
ihú^nŭk in the ground, the top leaning in the direction taken. The
ihú^nŭk is the pair of sticks arranged like the letter A, used as a
gun-rest. This method of transmitting the request to the first passer is
resorted to by the coast people of Southern Alaska.
Fig. 463, also drawn by Naumoff, means “discovery of bear; assistance
wanted.”
[Illustration: FIG. 463.--Assistance wanted in hunt. Alaska.]
When a hunter discovers a bear and requires assistance, he ties together
a bunch of grass, or other fibrous matter, in the form of the animal and
places it upon a long stick or pole which is erected at a conspicuous
point. The head of the effigy is directed toward the locality where the
animal was last seen.
This device is used by most of the Alaskan Indians.
Fig. 464 was also drawn by Naumoff, and signifies “starving hunters.”
Hunters who have been unfortunate, and are suffering from hunger,
scratch or draw on a piece of wood characters similar to those figured,
and place the lower end of the stick in the ground on the trail where
there is the greatest chance of its discovery. The stick is inclined
toward their shelter. The following are the details of the information
contained in the drawing:
[Illustration: FIG. 464.--Starving hunters. Alaska.]
_a_, A horizontal line denoting a canoe, showing the persons to be
fishermen; _b_, a man with both arms extended signifying _nothing_,
corresponding with the gesture for negation; _c_, a person with the
right hand to the mouth, signifying _to eat_, the left hand pointing to
the house occupied by the hunters; _d_, the shelter.
The whole signifies that there is _nothing to eat_ in the _house_. This
is used by natives of Southern Alaska.
[Illustration: FIG. 465.--Starving hunters. Alaska.]
Fig. 465, with the same signification and from the same hand, is similar
to the preceding in general design. This is placed in the ground near
the landing place of the canoemen, so that the top points toward the
lodge. The following is the explanation of the characters:
_a_, Baidarka, showing double projections at bow, as well as the two
men, owners, in the boat; _b_, a man making the gesture for _nothing_
(see in this connection Fig. 983); _c_, gesture drawn, denoting _to
eat_, with the right hand, while the left points to the lodge; _d_, a
winter habitation.
This is used by the Alaskan coast natives.
SECTION 4.
WARNING AND GUIDANCE.
The following description of an Ojibwa notice of a murderer’s being at
large is extracted from Tanner’s Narrative: (_d_).
As I was one morning passing one of our usual encamping places
I saw on shore a little stick standing in the bank and attached
to the top of it a piece of birchbark. On examination I found the
mark of a rattlesnake with a knife, the handle touching the snake
and the point sticking into a bear, the head of the latter being
down. Near the rattlesnake was the mark of a beaver, one of its
dugs, it being a female, touching the snake. This was left for my
information, and I learned from it that Wa-me-gon-a-biew, whose
totem was She-she-gwah, the rattlesnake, had killed a man whose
totem was Muk-kwah, the bear. The murderer could be no other than
Wa-me-gon-a-biew, as it was specified that he was the son of a woman
whose totem was the beaver, and this I knew could be no other than
Net-no-kwa.
An amusing instance of the notice or warning, “No thoroughfare,” is
presented in Fig. 466. It was taken in 1880 from a rock drawing in
Canyon de Chelly, New Mexico, by Mr. J. K. Hillers, photographer of the
U. S. Geological Survey.
[Illustration: FIG. 466.--No thoroughfare.]
The design on the left is undoubtedly a notice in the nature of warning,
that, although a goat can climb up the rocky trail, a horse would tumble
down.
During his connection with the geographic surveys west of the one
hundredth meridian, Dr. Hoffman observed a practice among the Tivátikai
Shoshoni, of Nevada, of erecting heaps of stones along or near trails
to indicate the direction to be taken and followed to reach springs
of water. Upon slight elevations of ground, or at points where a trail
branched into two or more directions, or at the intersection of two
trails, a heap of stones would be placed varying in height according to
the elevation requisite to attract attention. Upon the top of this would
be fixed an elongated piece of rock so placed that the most conspicuous
point projected and pointed in the course to be followed. This was
continued sometimes at intervals of several miles unless indistinct
portions of a trail or intersections demanded a repetition at shorter
distances. A knowledge of this custom proved very beneficial to the
early prospectors and pioneers.
Fig. 467 is a copy, one-sixteenth actual size, of colored petroglyphs
found by Dr. Hoffman in 1884 on the North fork of the San Gabriel river,
also known as the Azuza canyon, Los Angeles county, California.
[Illustration: FIG. 467.--Rock painting, Azuza canyon, California.]
The bowlder upon which the paintings occur measures 8 feet long, about 4
feet high, and the same in width. The figures are on the eastern side of
the rock, so that the left arm of the human figure on the right points
toward the north.
Fig. 468 is a map drawn on a scale of 1,000 yards to the inch, showing
the topography of the immediate vicinity and the relative positions of
the rocks bearing the paintings.
[Illustration: FIG. 468.--Site of paintings in Azuza canyon, California.]
The stream is hemmed in by precipitous mountains, with the exception of
two points marked _c c_, over which the old Indian trail passed in going
from the Mojave desert on the north to the San Gabriel valley below,
this course being the nearest for reaching the mission settlements at
San Gabriel and Los Angeles. In attempting to follow the water course
the distance would be greatly increased and a rougher trail encountered.
Fig. 467, painted on the rock marked _b_ on the map, shows characters in
pale yellow upon a bowlder of almost white granite partly obliterated
by weathering and annual floods, though still enough remains to
indicate that the right-hand figure is directing the observer to the
northeast, although upon taking that course it would be necessary to
round the point a short distance to the west. It may have been placed
as a notification of direction to those Indians who might have come up
the canyon instead of on the regular trail. Farther west, at the spot
marked _a_ on the map, is a granite bowlder bearing a large number of
paintings, part of which have become almost obliterated. These were
drawn with red ocher (ferric oxide). A selection of these is shown in
Fig. 469.
[Illustration: FIG. 469.--Sketches from Azuza canyon, California.]
This is on the almost vertical western face of the rock. These
characters also appear to refer to the course of the trail, which might
readily be lost on account of the numerous mountain ridges and spurs.
The left-hand human figure appears to place its hand upon a series of
ridges, as if showing pantomimically the rough and ridged country over
the mountains.
The middle figure is making a gesture which in its present connection
may indicate direction of the trail, i. e., toward the left, or
northward in an uphill course, as indicated by the arm and leg, and
southward, or downward, as suggested by the lower inclination of the leg
and lower forearm and hand on the right of the painting.
These illustrations, as well as other pictographs on the same rock, not
now represented, exhibit remarkable resemblance to the general type
of Shoshonean drawing, and from such evidence as is now attainable it
is probable that they are of Chemehuevi origin, as that tribe at one
time ranged far to the west, though north of the mountains, and also
visited the valley and settlements at Los Angeles to trade. It is also
known that the Mojaves came at stated periods to Los Angeles as late as
1845, and the trail indicated at point _a_ of the map would appear to
have been their most practicable and convenient route. There is strong
evidence that the Moki sometimes visited the Pacific coast and might
readily have taken this same course, marking the important portions of
the route by drawings in the nature of guideboards.
The following curious account is taken from The Redman, Carlisle,
October, 1888:
A ranchman visiting a deserted camp of Piegans found the following
notice:
We called at this ranch at dinner time. They treated us badly,
giving us no dinner and sending us away. There is a head man who has
two dogs, one of which has no tail. There are two larger men who are
laborers. They have two pairs of large horses and two large colts,
also another smaller pair of horses and two ponies which have two
colts.
The notice was composed thus: A circle of round stones
represented the horses and ponies, the latter being smaller stones;
the stones outside of the circle meant there were so many colts.
Near the center was a long narrow stone, upon the end of which was a
small one. This denoted the head man or owner, whose two dogs were
shown by two pieces of bark, one with a square end while the other
had a twig stuck in for a tail. Two other long narrow stones, larger
than the first, stood for the laborers; these had no small stones on
them. Some sticks of wood, upon which was a small pile of buffalo
chips, meant that dinner was ready; and empty shells turned upside
down told they got nothing to eat, but were sent away.
Mr. Charles W. Cunningham, formerly of Phœnix, Arizona, reports the
finding of petroglyphs in Rowe canyon, one-half mile from the base of
Bradshaw mountain, Arizona. The characters are pecked upon its vertical
wall of hard porphyry, covering a space between 12 or 15 feet in length
and about 30 feet above the surface of the earth. They consist of human
figures with outstretched arms, apparently driving animals resembling
sheep or goats, while at the head of the procession appears the figure
of a bear. The explanation given seems to be a notification to Indian
herders that in going through the canyon they should be careful to guard
against bears or possibly other dangerous animals, as the trail or
canyon leads down to some water tanks where the herders may habitually
have driven the stock.
D’Albertis (_b_) mentions of the Papuans that a warning not to enter a
dwelling is made by erecting outside of it a stick, on the top of which
is a piece of bark or a cocoanut, and in Yule island these warnings or
taboo sticks are furnished with stone heads.
When a Tartar shaman wished to be undisturbed he placed a dried
goat’s-head, with its prominent horns, over a wooden peg outside of his
tent and then dropped the curtain. No one would dare to venture in.
The following is quoted from Franz Keller (_b_):
In the immense primeval forests, extending between the Ivahy
and the Paranapanama, the Paraná and the Tibagy, the rich hunting
grounds of numerous Coroado hordes, one frequently encounters,
chiefly near forsaken palm sheds, a strange collection of objects
hung up between the trees on thin cords or cipós, such as little
pieces of wood, feathers, bones, and the claws and jaws of different
animals.
In the opinion of those well versed in Indian lore these
hieroglyphs are designed as epistles to other members of the tribe
regarding the produce of the chase, the number and stay of the
huntsmen, domestic intelligence, and the like; but this strange
kind of composition, reminding one of the quippus (knotted cords),
of the old Peruvians, has not yet been quite unraveled, though it
is desirable that it should be, for the naïve son of the woods also
uses it sometimes in his intercourse with the white man.
Settlers in this country, on going in the morning to look after
their very primitive mills near their cottages, have frequently
discovered them going bravely, but bruising pebbles instead of the
maize grains, while on the floor of the open shed names and purposes
of the unwelcome nocturnal visitors have been legibly written in
the sand. Among the well-drawn zigzag lines were inserted the
magnificent long tail feathers of the red and blue macaw, which are
generally used by the Coroados for their arrows; and, as these are
the symbols of war and night attacks, the whole was probably meant
for a warning and admonition ad hominem: “Take up your bundle and go
or beware of our arrows.”
CHAPTER XII.
COMMUNICATIONS.
Under this heading notes and illustrations are grouped of transmitted
drawings, which were employed as letters and missives now are by
people who possess the art of writing. To the drawings are added
some descriptions of objects sent for the same purposes. These are
sometimes obviously ideographic, but often appear to be conventional
or arbitrary. It is probable that the transmittal or exchange of such
objects anteceded the pictorial attempt at correspondence, so that the
former should be considered in connection with the latter. The topic
is conveniently divided by the purposes of the communications, viz,
(1) declaration of war, (2) profession of peace and friendship, (3)
challenge, (4) social and religious missives, (5) claim or demand.
SECTION 1.
DECLARATION OF WAR.
Le Page du Pratz (_a_), in 1718, reported the following:
The Natchez make a declaration of war by leaving a hieroglyphic
picture against a tree in the enemy’s country, and in front of
the picture they place, saltierwise, two red arrows. At the upper
part of the picture at the right is the hieroglyphic sign which
designates the nation that declares war; next, a naked man, easy
to recognize, who has a casse-tête in his hand. Following is an
arrow, drawn so as in its flight to pierce a woman, who flees with
her hair spread out and flowing in the air. Immediately in front of
this woman is a sign belonging to the nation against which war is
declared; all this is on the same line. That which is below is not
so clear or so much relied upon in the interpretation. This line
begins with the sign of a moon (_i. e._, month) which will follow in
a short time. The days that come afterward are indicated by straight
strokes and the moon by a face without rays. There is also a man
who has in front of him many arrows which seem directed to hit a
woman who is in flight. All that announces that when the moon will
be so many days old they will come in great numbers to attack the
designated nation.
Lahontan (_a_) writes:
The way of declaring war by the Canadian Algonquian Indians is
this: They send back to the nation that they have a mind to quarrel
with a slave of the same country, with orders to carry to the
village of his own nation an axe, the handle of which is painted red
and black.
The Huron-Iroquois of Canada sent a belt of black wampum as a
declaration of war.
Material objects were often employed in declaration of war, some of
which may assist in the interpretation of pictographs. A few instances
are mentioned:
Capt. Laudonnière (_a_) says: “Arrows, to which long hairs are attached,
were stuck up along the trail or road by the Florida Indians, in 1565,
to signify a declaration of war.”
Dr. Georg. Schweinfurth (_a_) gives the following:
I may here allude to the remarkable symbolism by which war
was declared against us on the frontiers of Wando’s territory. *
* * Close on the path, and in full view of every passenger, three
objects were suspended from the branch of a tree, viz, an ear of
maize, the feather of a fowl, and an arrow. * * * Our guides readily
comprehended and as readily explained the meaning of the emblems,
which were designed to signify that whoever touched an ear of maize
or laid his grasp upon a single fowl would assuredly be the victim
of the arrow.
In the Notes on Eastern Equatorial Africa, by MM. V. Jacques (_a_) and
É. Storms, it is stated that when a chief wishes to declare war he sends
to the chief against whom he has a complaint an ambassador bearing a
leaden bullet and a hoe. If the latter chooses the bullet, war ensues;
if the hoe, it means that he consents to enter into negotiations to
maintain peace.
Terrien de Lacouperie, op. cit., pp. 420, 421, reports:
The following instance in Tibeto-China is of a mixed character.
The use of material objects is combined with that of notched
sticks. When the Li-su are minded to rebel they send to the Moso
chief (who rules them on behalf of the Chinese Government) what
the Chinese call a muhki and the Tibetans a shing-tchram. It is
a stick with knife-cut notches. Some symbols are fastened to it,
such, for instance, as a feather, calcined wood, a little fish, etc.
The bearer must explain the meaning of the notches and symbols.
The notches may indicate the number of hundreds or thousands of
soldiers who are coming; the feather shows that they arrive with
the swiftness of a bird; the burnt wood, that they will set fire to
everything on their way; the fish, that they will throw everybody
into the water, etc. This custom is largely used among all the
savage tribes of the region. It is also the usual manner in which
chiefs transmit their orders.
SECTION 2.
PROFESSION OF PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP.
The following account of pictorial correspondence leading to peace was
written by Governor Lewis Cass, while on one of his numerous missions to
the Western tribes, before 1820:
Some years before, mutually weary of hostilities, the chiefs of
the Ojibwas and the Dakotas met and agreed upon a truce. But the
Sioux, disregarding the solemn contract which they had formed, and
actuated by some sudden impulse, attacked the Ojibwas and murdered a
number of them.
On our arrival at Sandy lake I proposed to the Ojibwa chiefs
that a deputation should accompany us to the mouth of the St.
Peters, with a view to establish a permanent peace between them
and the Sioux. The Ojibwas readily acceded to this, and ten of
their principal men descended the Mississippi with us. The computed
distance from Sandy lake to the St. Peters is 600 miles. As we
neared this part of the country we found our Ojibway friends
cautious and observing.
The Ojibwa landed occasionally to examine whether any of the
Sioux had recently visited that quarter. In one of these excursions
an Ojibwa found in a conspicuous place a piece of birch bark, made
flat by fastening between two sticks at each end, and about 18
inches long by 2 broad.
This bark contained the answer of the Sioux nation. So
sanguinary had been the contest between these two tribes that no
personal communication could take place. Neither the sanctity
of office nor the importance of the message could protect the
ambassador of either party from the vengeance of the other.
Some time preceding, the Ojibwas, anxious for peace, had sent a
number of their young men into these plains with a similar piece of
bark, upon which they represented their desire. This bark had been
left hanging to a tree, in an exposed situation, and had been found
and taken away by a party of Sioux.
The proposition had been examined and discussed in the Sioux
villages, and the bark contained their answer. The Ojibwa explained
to us with great facility the intention of the Sioux.
The junction of the St. Peters with the Mississippi, where the
principal part of the Sioux reside, was represented, and also the
American fort, with a sentinel on duty, and a flag flying.
The principal Sioux chief was named The-Six, alluding, I
believe, to the band of villages under his influence. To show that
he was not present at the deliberation upon the subject of peace,
he was represented on a smaller piece of bark, which was attached
to the other. To identify him, he was drawn with six heads and a
large medal. Another Sioux chief stood in the foreground, holding a
pipe in his right hand and his weapons in his left. Even we could
not misunderstand that; like our own eagle with the olive branch and
arrows, he was desirous for peace, but prepared for war.
The Sioux party contained fifty-nine warriors, indicated by
fifty-nine guns, drawn upon one corner of the bark.
The encampment of our troops had been removed from the low
grounds upon the St. Peters to a high hill upon the Mississippi. Two
forts were therefore drawn upon the bark, and the solution was not
discovered until our arrival at St. Peters.
The effect of the discovery of the bark upon the minds of the
Ojibwas was visible and immediate.
The Ojibwa bark was drawn in the same general manner, and Sandy
lake, the principal place of their residence, was represented with
much accuracy. To remove any doubts respecting it, a view was given
of the old northwestern establishment, situated upon the shore, and
now in the possession of the American Fur Company.
No proportion was preserved in their attempt at delineation.
One mile of the Mississippi, including the mouth of the St. Peters,
occupied as much space as the whole distance to Sandy Lake, nor was
there anything to show that one part was nearer to the spectator
than another.
The above pictorially professed attitude of being ready for either peace
or war may be compared with the account in Champlain--Voyages (_d_)--of
the chief whose name was Mariston, but he assumed that of Mahigan
Atticq, translated as Wolf Deer. He thereby proclaimed that when at
peace he was mild as a deer, but when at war was savage as a wolf.
In Davis’ Conquest of New Mexico (_a_) it is stated that Vargas’
Expedition in 1694 was met by the Utes, who hoisted a deerskin in token
of peace.
The following “speech of an Ojibwa chief in negotiating a peace with
the Sioux, 1806,” from Maj. Pike’s (_a_) Expeditions, etc., shows the
pictographic use of the pipe as a profession of peace:
My father, tell the Sioux on the upper part of the river St.
Peters that they mark trees with the figure of a calumet; that we of
Red lake who may go that way should we see them, that we may make
peace with them, being assured of their pacific disposition when we
shall see the calumet marked on the trees.
D’Iberville, in 1699, as printed in Margry, IV, 153, said that the
Indians met by him near the mouth of the Mississippi river indicated
their peaceful and friendly purposes by holding up in the air a small
stick of whitened wood. The same authority, in the same volume, p. 175,
tells that the Oumas bore a white cross as a similar declaration; and
another journal, in the same volume, p. 239, describes a stick also so
borne as being fashioned like a pipe. The actual use of the pipe in
profession of peace and friendship is mentioned in several parts of the
present paper. See, also, the passport mentioned on p. 214 and wampum,
p. 225.
Lieut. Col. Woodthorpe, in Jour. Anthr. Inst. Gr. Br. and I., XI, p.
211, says of the wild tribes of the Naga Hills, on the northeastern
frontier of India:
On the road to Niao we saw on the ground a curious mud figure of
a man in slight relief presenting a gong in the direction of Senua.
This was supposed to show that the Niao men were willing to come to
terms with Senua, then at war with Niao. Another mode of evincing
a desire to turn away the wrath of an approaching enemy and induce
him to open negotiations is to tie up in his path a couple of goats,
sometimes also a gong, with the universal symbol of peace, a palm
leaf planted in the ground hard by.
[Illustration: FIG. 470.--West African message.]
G. W. Bloxam (_a_) gives the following description of Fig. 470:
It represents a message of peace and good news from the King
of Jebu to the King of Lagos, after his restoration to the throne
on the 28th of December, 1851. It appears complicated, but the
interpretation is simple enough. First we find eight cowries
arranged in pairs, and signifying the people in the four corners of
the world, and it will be observed that, while three of the pairs
are arranged with their faces upwards, the fourth and uppermost, i.
e., the pair in the most important position, are facing one another,
thus signifying that the correspondents, or the people of Jebu and
Lagos, are animated by friendly feeling towards each other; so,
too, there are two each of all the other objects, meaning, “you and
I,” “we two.” The two large seeds or warres, _a_, _a_, express a
wish that “you and I” should play together as intimate friends do,
at the game of “warre,” in which these seeds are used and which is
the common game of the country, holding very much the same position
as chess or draughts with us; the two flat seeds, _b_, _b_, are
seeds of a sweet fruit called “osan,” the name of which is derived
from the verb, “san,” to please [Mem. Notice the rebus] they,
therefore, indicate a desire on the part of a sender of the message
to please and to be pleased; lastly, the two pieces of spice, _c_,
_c_, signify mutual trust. The following is the full meaning of the
hieroglyphic:
Of all the people by which the four corners of the world are
inhabited, the Lagos and Jebu people are the nearest.
As “warre” is the common play of the country, so the Jebus and
Lagos should always play and be friendly with each other.
Mutual pleasantness is my desire; as it is pleasant with me so
may it be pleasant with you.
Deceive me not, because the spice would yield nothing else but a
sweet and genuine odor unto god. I shall never deal doubly with you.
SECTION 3.
CHALLENGE.
H. H. Bancroft (_a_), in Native Races, says that the Shumeias challenged
the Pomos (in central California) by placing three little sticks notched
in the middle and at both ends, on a mound which marked the boundary
between the two tribes. If the Pomos accept they tie a string round
the middle notch. Heralds then meet and arrange time and place and the
battle comes off as appointed.
The sending of material objects was the earliest and most natural mode
for low cultured tribes to communicate when out of sight and hearing.
Such was the system in use among the Scythians at the time of the
invasion of their land by Darius. The version of the story in Herodotus
is that commonly cited, but there is another by Pherecydes of Heros,
who relates that Idanthuras, the Scythian king, when Darius had crossed
the Ister, threatened him with war, sending him not a letter, but a
composite symbol, which consisted of a mouse, a frog, a bird, an arrow,
and a plow. When there was much discussion concerning the meaning of
this message, Orontopagas, the chiliarch, maintained that it was a
surrender; for he conjectured the mouse to mean their dwelling, the frog
their waters, the bird their air, the arrow their arms, and the plow
their country. But Xiphodres offered a contrary interpretation, thus:
“Unless like birds we fly aloft, or like mice burrow under the ground,
or like frogs take ourselves to the water, we shall never escape their
weapons, for we are not masters of their country.”
SECTION 4.
SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS MISSIVES.
Fig. 471 is a letter, one-half actual size, written by an Ojibwa girl,
the daughter of a Midē', to a favored lover, requesting him to call at
her lodge. This girl had taken no Midē' degrees, but had simply acquired
her pictographic skill from observation in her home.
[Illustration: FIG. 471.--Ojibwa love letter.]
The explanation of the figure is as follows:
_a._ The writer of the letter, a girl of the Bear totem, as indicated by
that animal, _b_.
_e_ and _f_. The companions of _a_, the crosses signifying that the
three girls are Christians.
_c_ and _g_. The lodges occupied by the girls. The lodges are near
a large lake, _j_, a trail leading from _g_ to _h_, which is a
well-traveled road.
The letter was written to a man of the Mud Puppy totem, as indicated in
_d_.
_i._ The road leading to the lodge occupied by the recipient of the
letter.
_k_ and _l_. Lakes near which the lodges are built.
In examining _c_, the writer’s hand is seen protruding from an opening
to denote beckoning and to indicate which lodge to visit. The clear
indications of the locality serve as well as if in a city a young woman
had sent an invitation to her young man to call at a certain street and
number.
[Illustration: FIG. 472.--Cheyenne letter.]
Fig. 472 is a letter sent by mail from a Southern Cheyenne, named
Turtle-following-his-Wife, at the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, Indian
Territory, to his son Little-Man, at the Pine Ridge Agency, Dakota.
It was drawn on a half-sheet of ordinary writing paper, without a
word written, and was inclosed in an envelope, which was addressed to
“Little-Man, Cheyenne, Pine Ridge Agency,” in the ordinary manner,
written by some one at the first named agency. The letter was evidently
understood by Little-Man, as he immediately called upon Dr. V. T.
McGillycuddy, Indian agent at Pine Ridge Agency, and was aware that the
sum of $53 had been placed to his credit for the purpose of enabling
him to pay his expenses in going the long journey to his father’s home
in Indian Territory. Dr. McGillycuddy had, by the same mail, received
a letter from Agent Dyer, inclosing $53, and explaining the reason for
its being sent, which enabled him also to understand the pictographic
letter. With the above explanation it very clearly shows, over the
head of the figure to the left, the turtle following the turtle’s wife
united with the head of the figure by a line, and over the head of the
other figure, also united by a line to it, is a little man. Also over
the right arm of the last-mentioned figure is another little man in
the act of springing or advancing toward Turtle-following-his-Wife,
from whose mouth proceed two lines, curved or hooked at the end, as
if drawing the little figure toward him. It is suggested that the last
mentioned part of the pictograph is the substance of the communication,
i. e., “come to me,” the larger figures with their name totems being
the persons addressed and addressing. Between and above the two large
figures are fifty-three round objects intended for dollars. Both the
Indian figures have on breechcloths, corresponding with the information
given concerning them, which is that they are Cheyennes who are not all
civilized or educated.
Sagard (_a_) tells of the Algonkins of the Ottawa river, that when a
feast was to be given, the host sent to each person whose presence was
desired a little stick of wood, peculiar to them (i. e., probably marked
or colored) of the length and thickness of the little finger, which he
was obliged to show on entering the lodge, as might be done with a card
of invitation and admission. The precaution was seemingly necessary
both for the host’s larder and the satisfaction of the guests, as on an
occasion mentioned by the good brother, each of the guests was provided
with a big piece of sturgeon and plenty of “sagamite huylée.” There was
probably some principle of selection connected with totems or religious
societies on such occasions, not told by the narrator, as the ordinary
custom among Indians is to keep open house to all comers, who generally
were the aboriginal “tramps,” with the result of waste and subsequent
famine.
The Rev. Peter Jones (_b_), an educated Ojibwa missionary, in speaking
of the eastern bands of the Ojibwa says:
Their method of imploring the favor or appeasing the anger of
their deities is by offering sacrifices to them in the following
order: When an Indian meets with ill-luck in hunting, or when
afflictions come across his path, he fancies that by the neglect
of some duty he has incurred the displeasure of his munedoo, for
which he is angry with him; and in order to appease his wrath, he
devotes the first game he takes to making a religious feast, to
which he invites a number of the principal men and women from the
other wigwams. A young man is generally sent as a messenger to
invite the guests, who carries with him a bunch of colored quills
or sticks, about 4 inches long. On entering the wigwam he shouts
out “Keweekomegoo;” that is, “You are bidden to a feast.” He then
distributes the quills to such as are invited; these answer to the
white people’s invitation cards. When the guests arrive at the
feast-maker’s wigwam the quills are returned to him; they are of
three colors, red, green, and white; the red for the aged, or those
versed in the wahbuhnoo order; the green for the media order, and
the white for the common people.
Mr. David Boyle (_b_) refers to the above custom, and quotes Rev. Peter
Jones, also giving as illustrations copies of the quills and sticks
presented by Dr. P. E. Jones which had been brought by his father, the
author above mentioned, from the Northwest fifty years ago. These are
reproduced in Fig. 473.
[Illustration: FIG. 473.--Ojibwa invitations.]
When the ceremony of the Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibwa is to be
performed, the chief midē' priest sends out a courier to deliver to each
member an invitation to attend. These invitations consist of sticks of
cedar, or other wood when that can not be found, measuring from 4 to 6
inches in length and of the thickness of an ordinary lead pencil. They
may be plain, though the former custom of having one end painted red or
green is sometimes continued. The colored band is about the width of
one-fifth of the length of the stick. It is stated that in old times
these invitation sticks were ornamented with colored porcupine quills,
or strands of beads, instead of with paint.
The courier detailed to deliver invitations is also obliged to state
the day, and locality of the place of meeting. It is necessary for the
invited member to present himself and to deposit the invitation stick
upon the floor of the inclosure in which the meeting is held; should he
be deprived of the privilege of attending, he must return the stick
with an explanation accounting for his absence.
[Illustration: FIG. 474.--Ojibwa invitation sticks.]
Fig. 474 exhibits the sticks without coloration.
Another mode of giving invitations for the same ceremony is by sending
around a piece of birch bark bearing characters similar to those in Fig.
475, taken from Copway, p. 136.
[Illustration: FIG. 475.--Summons to Midē' ceremony.]
The characters, beginning at the left hand, signify as follows: Medicine
house; great lodge; wigwam; woods; lake; river; canoe; come; Great
Spirit.
Copway remarks as follows:
“In the above, the wigwam and the medicine pale, or worship, represent
the depositories of medicine, record, and work. The lodge is represented
with men in it; the dots above indicate the number of days.
“The whole story would thus read:
‘Hark to the words of the Sa-ge-mah'. The Great Medicine Lodge
will be ready in eight days. Ye who live in the woods and near the
lakes and by streams of water come with your canoes or by land to
the worship of the Great Spirit.’”
The above interpretation is too much adapted to the ideas and language
of Christianity. The more simple and accurate expression would change
the rendition from “worship” and “Great Spirit” to the simple notice
about holding a session of the Grand Medicine Society.
[Illustration: FIG. 476.--Passamaquoddy wikhegan.]
Fig. 476, drawn by a Passamaquoddy, shows how the Indians of the tribe
would now address the President of the United States, or the governor of
Maine for help, and formerly would have made wikhegan for transmittal
to a great chief having power over them. They say by this: “You are at
the top of the pole, so no one can be higher than you. From this pole
you can see the farthest of your country and can see all your children,
and when any of your children come to see you they must work hard to get
where you are, on top of the high pole. They must climb up this pole to
reach you. You must pity them because they come long ways to see you,
the man of power on the high pole.” This kind of wikhegan the old men
called _kinjemeswi waligoh_, homage or salutation to the great chief. It
was always in the old time accompanied by a belt of wampum.
A highly interesting illustration and account of a diplomatic packet
from the pueblo of Tesuque appears in Schoolcraft (_g_), and in the same
series (_h_) is a pictograph from the Caroline islands still more in
point.
A. W. Howitt (_c_) reports:
Messengers in central Australia were sent to gather people
together for dances from distances even up to 100 miles. Such
messengers were painted with red ocher and wore a headdress of
feathers.
In calling people together for the ceremonies of Wilyaru or
Mindari the messengers were painted with diagonal stripes of yellow
ocher, and had their beards tied tightly into a point. They carried
a token shaped like a Prince of Wales feather, and made of emu
feathers tied tightly with string.
The sending of a handful of red ocher tied up in a small bundle
signifies the great Mindari or peace festival. In giving notice of
the intention to “make some young men” the messenger takes a handful
of charcoal and places a piece in the mouth of each person present
without saying a word. This is fully understood to mean the “making
of young men” at the Wilyaru ceremony.
The following is a description of a Turkish love letter, which was
obtained by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (_a_) in 1717:
I have got for you a Turkish love letter. * * * The translation
of it is literally as follows. The first piece you should pull out
of the purse is a little pearl, which must be understood in this
manner:
Pearl Fairest of the young.
Clove You are as slender as the clove.
You are an unblown rose.
I have long loved you and you have not known it.
Jonquil Have pity on my passion.
Paper I faint every hour.
Pear Give me some hope.
Soap I am sick with love.
Coal May I die and all my years be yours.
A rose May you be pleased and your sorrows mine.
A straw Suffer me to be your slave.
Cloth Your price is not to be found.
Cinnamon But my fortune is yours.
A match I burn, I burn! My flame consumes me.
Gold thread Don’t turn away your face from me.
Hair Crown of my head.
Grape My two eyes.
Gold wire I die; come quickly.
And, by way of postscript:
Pepper Send me an answer.
You see this letter is all in verse, and I can assure you there
is as much fancy shown in the choice of them as in the most studied
expressions of our letters, there being, I believe, a million of
verses designed for this use. There is no color, no flower, no weed,
no fruit, herb, pebble, or feather that has not a verse belonging
to it; and you may quarrel, reproach, or send letters of passion,
friendship, or civility, or even of news without ever inking your
fingers.
The use by Turks and Persians of flower letters or communications, the
significance of which is formed by the selection and arrangement of
flowers, is well known. A missive thus composed of flowers is called
sélam, but the details are too contradictory and confused to furnish
materials for an accurate dictionary of the flower language, though
dictionaries and treatises on it have been published. (See Magnat.)
Individual fancy and local convention, it seems, fix the meanings.
A Japanese girl who decides to discourage the further attentions of a
lover sends to him, instead of the proverbial “mitten” of New England,
a sprig of maple, because the leaf changes its color more markedly than
any other. In this connection it is told that the Japanese word for love
also means color, which would accentuate the lesson of the changing
leaf.
MESSAGE STICKS.
The following extracts are made from Curr’s (_a_) Australian Race:
I believe every tribe in Australia has its messenger, whose
life, whilst he is in the performance of his duties, is held sacred
in peace and war by the neighboring tribes. His duties are to convey
the messages which the tribe desires to send to its neighbors,
and to make arrangements about places of meeting on occasions of
fights or corroborees. In many tribes it is the custom to supply
the messenger when he sets out with a little carved stick, which he
delivers with his message to the most influential man of the tribe
to which he is sent. This carved stick he often carries whilst
traveling stuck in the netted band which the blacks wear round the
head. I have seen many of them, and been present when they were
received and sent, and have some from Queensland in my possession
at present. They are often flat, from 4 to 6 inches long, an inch
wide, and a third of an inch thick; others are round, of the same
length, and as thick as one’s middle finger. When flat their edges
are often notched, and their surface always more or less carved
with indentations, transverse lines, and squares; in fact, with
the same sort of figures with which the blacks ornament their
weapons throughout the continent; when round, fantastic lines are
cut around them or lengthwise. I have one before me at this moment
which is a miniature boomerang, carved on both sides, notched at
the edges, and colored with red ocher. Any black could fashion
sticks of this sort in an hour or two. Some of my correspondents
have spoken of them as a sort of writing, but when pressed on the
subject have admitted that their surmise, all the circumstances
weighed, was not tenable. The flat sticks especially have that sort
of regularity and repetition of pattern which wall papers exhibit.
That they do not serve the purpose of writing or hieroglyphics I
have no hesitation in asserting; and I may remark that in all cases
which have come under my notice the messenger delivered his message
before he presented the carved stick. That done the recipient would
attempt to explain to those about him how the stick portrayed the
message. Still this eminently childish proceeding leads one to
consider whether the most savage mind does not contain the germ of
writing. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, in his Discovery and Conquest of
New Spain, relates that, when his country sent verbal messages by
Mexican bearers to distant tribes, the messengers who had seen the
Spaniards write always asked to be supplied with a letter, which,
of course, neither they nor the people to whom they were sent could
read.
[Illustration: FIG. 477.--Australian message sticks.]
Fig. 477 reproduces the illustration of the message sticks published in
the work above mentioned.
Vol. I, p. 306.--In the Majanna tribe messengers are sent with a
notched or carved stick, and the bearer has to explain its meaning.
If it be a challenge to fight, and the challenge is accepted,
another stick is returned.
Vol. II, p. 183.--The bearer of an important communication
from one party to another often carries a message stick with him,
the notches and lines on which he refers to whilst delivering his
message. This custom, which prevails from the north coast to the
south, is a very curious one. No black fellow ever pretends to be
able to understand a message from a notched stick, but always looks
upon it as confirmatory of the message it accompanies.
Vol. II, p. 427.--Message sticks are in use, the marks carved on
them being a guaranty of the messenger, the same as a ring with us
in former times.
Vol. III, p. 263.--Message sticks are used by the Maranoa river
tribe. An informant has in his possession a reed necklace attached
to a piece of flat wood about 5 inches long; on the wood are carved
straight and curved lines, and this piece of wood was sent by one
portion of the tribe to another by a messenger, the two parties
being about 60 miles apart. The interpretation of the carving was:
“My wife has been stolen; we shall have to fight; bring your spears
and boomerangs.” The straight lines, it was explained, meant spears
and the curved ones boomerangs; but the stealing of the wife seems
to have been left to the messenger to tell.
A. W. Howitt (_a_) gives a further account on this topic:
The messenger carries with him as the emblems of his missions
a complete set of male attire, together with the sacred humming
instrument, which is wrapped in a skin and carefully concealed from
women and children. It is, therefore, in such cases, the totem which
assembles the whole community.
In the Adjadura tribe of South Australia the ceremonies are
ordered to be held by the headman of the whole tribe by his
messenger, who carries a message stick marked in such a manner that
it serves to illustrate his message; together with this there is
also sent a sacred humming instrument.
Drs. Houzé and Jacques (_a_) give a different view of the significance
of the marks on message sticks:
It proves very difficult to discover the signification of
the notched message sticks. The Europeans have not succeeded
in deciphering them. Some marks may represent a whole history.
The following anecdote on this subject is reported by M. Cauvin
(according to J. M. Davis, Aborigines of Victoria, v. I, p. 356,
note): A European, having formed the project of establishing a
new station, started from Edward river with a herd of cattle and
some Indians. When, all being arranged, the colonist was on the
point of returning home, one of the young blacks requested him to
take a letter to his father, and, on the consent of his patron, he
gave him a stick about a foot long covered with notches and signs.
On arriving home the colonist went to the camp of the blacks and
delivered the letter to the father of his young follower, who,
calling around him the whole encampment, to the great surprise of
the European, read from this stick a daily account of the doings of
the company from the departure from Edward river until the arrival
at the new station, describing the country which they had traversed
and the places where they had camped each night.
The Queenslanders did not give Drs. Houzé and Jacques such a long
translation of their message sticks, but they informed them that one of
the sticks related to the crossing from Australia into America, which is
recounted by Tambo, the author of the message. An illustration of it is
presented on p. 93 of the above cited work of Houzé and Jacques, but is
not sufficiently distinct for reproduction.
WEST AFRICAN AROKO.
[Illustration: FIG. 478.--West African aroko.]
G. W. Bloxam (_b_) says of the aroko, or symbolic letters, used by the
tribe of Jebu, in West Africa, describing Fig. 478:
This is a message from a native general of the Jebu force to
a native prince abroad. It consists of six cowries. Six in the
Jebu language is E-fà, which is derived from the verb fà, to draw.
They are arranged two and two, face to face, on a long string; the
pairs of cowries set face to face indicate friendly feeling and
good fellowship; the number expresses a desire to draw close to the
person to whom the message is sent [note the rebus]; while the long
string indicates considerable distance or a long road. This is the
message: “Although the road between us be very long, yet I draw you
to myself and set my face towards you. So I desire you to set your
face towards me and draw to me.”
On p. 298 he adds:
Among the Jebu in West Africa odd numbers in their message are
of evil import, while even numbers express good will. Thus a single
cowrie may be sent as an unfavorable answer to a request or message.
[Illustration: FIG. 479.--West African aroko.]
The same author writes, on p. 297, describing Fig. 479:
It is a message from His Majesty Awnjale, the King of Jebu,
to his nephew abroad; and here we find other substances besides
cowries included in the aroko. Taking the various articles in order,
commencing from the knot, we observe four cowries facing in the same
direction, with their backs to the knot; this signifies agreement.
Next a piece of spice, _a_, which produces when burnt a sweet odor
and is never unpleasant; then come three cowries facing in the same
direction; then a piece of mat, _b_; then a piece of feather, _c_;
and, lastly, a single cowrie turned in the same direction as all the
others. The interpretation is:
“Your ways agree with mine very much. Your ways are pleasing to
me and I like them.
“Deceive me not, because the spice would yield nothing else but
a sweet and genuine odor unto God.
“I shall never deal doubly with you all my life long.
“The weight of your words to me is beyond all description.
“As it is on the same family mat we have been sitting and lying
down together, I send to you.
“I am, therefore, anxiously awaiting and hoping to hear from
you.”
The following account of “African Symbolic Messages,” condensed from
the paper of the Rev. C. A. Gollmer, which appeared in Jour. Anthrop.
Inst. of Gr. Bn. and I., XIV, p. 169, et. seq., is highly interesting
as showing the ideography attached to the material objects transmitted.
The step in evolution by which the graphic delineation of those objects
was substituted for their actual presence was probably delayed only by
the absence of convenient material, such as birch bark, parchment, or
other portable rudimentary form of paper on which to draw or paint, or
at least by the want of a simple invention for the application of such
material:
The natives in the Yoruba country, West Africa, in the absence
of writing, and as a substitute for it, send to one another messages
by means of a variety of tangible objects, such as shells, feathers,
pepper, corn, stone, coal, sticks, powder, shot, razors, etc.,
through which they convey their ideas, feelings, and wishes, good
and bad, and that in an unmistakable manner. The object transmitted
is seen, the import of it known and the message verbally delivered
by the messenger sent, and repeated by one or more other persons
accompanying the messenger for the purpose as the importance of the
message is considered to require.
Cowry shells in the symbolic language are used to convey, by
their number and the way in which they are strung, a variety of
ideas. One cowry may indicate “defiance and failure;” thus: A cowry
(having a small hole made at the back part, so as to be able to pass
a string through it and the front opening) strung on a short bit of
grass fiber or cord, and sent to a person known as a rival, or one
aiming at injuring the other, the message is: “As one finger can not
take up a cowry (more than one are required), so you one I defy;
you will not be able to hurt me, your evil intentions will come to
nothing.”
Two cowries may indicate “relationship and meeting;” thus: Two
cowries strung together, face to face, and sent to an absent brother
or sister, the message is: “We are children of one mother, were
nursed by the same breasts.”
Two cowries may indicate “separation and enmity;” thus: Two
cowries strung back to back and sent to a person gone away, the
message is: “You and I are now separated.”
Two cowries and a feather may indicate “speedy meeting;” thus:
Two cowries strung face to face, with a small feather (of a chicken
or other bird) tied between the two cowries, and sent to a friend
at a distance, the message is: “I want to see you, as the bird
(represented by the feather) flies straight and quickly, so come as
quickly as you can.”
The following fivefold painful symbolic message was sent by D.,
whilst in captivity at Dahomey, to his wife, who happened to be
staying with Mr. Gollmer, at Badagry, at the time. The symbols were
a stone, a coal, a pepper, corn, and a rag. During the attack of the
King of Dahomey, with his great army of Amazons and other soldiers,
upon Abeokuta in March, 1852, D., one of the native Christians and
defenders of his town, home, and family, was taken captive and
carried to Dahomey, where he suffered much for a long time. Whilst
waiting for weeks to know the result his wife received the symbolic
letter which conveyed the following message:
The stone indicated “health” (the stone was a small, common one
from the street); thus the message was: “As the stone is hard, so my
body is hardy, strong--i. e., well.”
The coal indicated “gloom” (the coal was a small piece of
charcoal); thus the message was: “As the coal is black, so are my
prospects dark and gloomy.”
The pepper indicated “heat” (the pepper was of the hot cayenne
sort); thus the message was: “As the pepper is hot so is my mind
heated, burning on account of the gloomy prospect--i. e., not
knowing what day I may be sold or killed.”
The corn indicated “leanness” (the corn was a few parched grains
of maize or Indian corn); thus the message was: “As the corn is
dried up by parching; so my body is dried up or become lean through
the heat of my affliction and suffering.”
The rag indicated “worn out;” thus (the rag was a small piece
of worn and torn native cloth, in which the articles were wrapped)
the message was: “As the rag is, so is my cloth cover--i. e., native
dress, worn and torn to a rag.”
A tooth brush may indicate “remembrance;” thus: It is a
well-known fact that the Africans in general can boast of a finer
and whiter set of teeth than most other nations. And those Europeans
who lived long among them know from constant observation how much
attention they pay to their teeth, not only every morning, but often
during the day. The tooth brush made use of is simply a piece of
wood about 6 to 9 inches long, and of the thickness of a finger.
One end of the stick, wetted with the saliva, is rubbed to and fro
against the teeth, which end after awhile becomes soft. This sort of
tooth brush is frequently given to friends as an acceptable present,
and now and then it is made use of as a symbolic letter, and in such
a case the message is: “As I remember my teeth the first thing in
the morning, and often during the day, so I remember and think of
you as soon as I get up, and often afterwards.”
Sugar may indicate “peace and love;” in the midst of a war
this good disposition was made known from one party to another by
the following symbol: A loaf of white sugar was sent by messengers
from the native church at A. to the native church at I., and the
message was: “As the sugar is white, so there is no blackness (i.
e., enmity) in our hearts towards you; our hearts are white (i. e.,
pure and free from it). And as the sugar is sweet, so there is no
bitterness among us against you; we are sweet (i. e., at peace with
you) and love you.”
A fagot may indicate “fire and destruction;” when a fagot (i.
e., a small bundle of bamboo poles, burnt on one end) is found
fastened to the bamboo fence inclosing a compound, or premises,
it conveys the message: “Your house will be burnt down”--i. e.,
destroyed.
Powder and shot are often made use of and sent as a symbolic
letter; the message is to either an individual or a people, viz: “As
we can not settle the quarrel, we must fight it out” (i. e., “we
shall shoot you, or make war upon you”).
A razor may indicate “murder.” A person suspected and accused of
having by some means or other been the cause of death of a member of
a family, the representative of that family will demand satisfaction
by sending the symbolic objects, viz, a razor or knife, which is
laid outside the door of the house of the accused offender and
guilty party, and the message is well understood to be: “You have
killed or caused the death of N., you must kill yourself to avenge
his death.”
The following examples indicate a still further step in evolution by
which the names of the objects or of the numbers are of the same sound
as words in the language the significance of which constitutes the real
message. This objective rebus corresponds with the pictorial rebus so
common in Mexican pictographs, and which is well known to have borne
a chief part in the development of Egyptian and other ancient forms of
writing.
Three cowries with some pepper may indicate “deceit;” thus:
Three cowries strung with their faces all looking one way (as
mentioned before) with an alligator pepper tied to the cowries. Eru
is the name of the pepper in the native language, which in English
means “deceit.” The message may be either a “caution not to betray
one another,” or, more frequently, an accusation of having deceived
and defrauded the company.
Six cowries may indicate “attachment and affection;” thus:
Efa in the native language means “six” (cowries implied); it also
means “drawn,” from the verb fa, to draw. Mora is always implied as
connected with Efa; this means “stick to you,” from the verb mo, to
stick to, and the noun ara, body--i. e. you. Six cowries strung (as
before mentioned) and sent to a person or persons, the message is:
“I am drawn (i. e. attached) to you, I love you,” which may be the
message a young man sends to a young woman with a desire to form an
engagement.
Rev. Richard Taylor (_b_) says:
The Maori used a kind of hieroglyphical or symbolical way of
communication; a chief, inviting another to join in a war party,
sent a tattooed potato and a fig of tobacco bound up together, which
was interpreted to mean that the enemy was a Maori and not European
by the tattoo, and by the tobacco that it represented smoke; he
therefore roasted the one and eat it, and smoked the other, to show
he accepted the invitation, and would join him with his guns and
powder. Another sent a waterproof coat with the sleeves made of
patchwork, red, blue, yellow, and green, intimating that they must
wait until all the tribes were united before their force would be
waterproof, i. e., able to encounter the European. Another chief
sent a large pipe, which would hold a pound of tobacco, which was
lighted in a large assembly, the emissary taking the first whiff,
and then passing it around; whoever smoked it showed that he joined
in the war.
SECTION 5.
CLAIM OR DEMAND.
Stephen Powers (_b_) states that the Nishinam of California have the
following mode of collecting debts:
When an Indian owes another, it is held to be in bad taste, if
not positively insulting, for the creditor to dun the debtor, as the
brutal Saxon does, so he devises a more subtle method. He prepares
a certain number of little sticks, according to the amount of the
debt, and paints a ring around the end of each. These he carries and
tosses into the delinquent’s wigwam without a word and goes his way;
whereupon the other generally takes the hint, pays the debt, and
destroys the sticks.
The San Francisco (California) Western Lancet, XI, 1882, p. 443, thus
reports:
When a patient has neglected to remunerate the shaman [of the
Wikehumni tribe of the Mariposan linguistic stock] for his services,
the latter prepares short sticks of wood, with bands of colored
porcupine quills wrapped around them at one end only, and every time
he passes the delinquent’s lodge a certain number of them are thrown
in as a reminder of the indebtedness.
[Illustration: FIG. 480.--Jebu complaint.]
G. W. Bloxam (_c_) describes Fig. 480 thus:
Among the Jehu of West Africa two cowries facing one another
signify two blood relations; two cowries, however, back to back may
be sent as a message of reproof for nonpayment of debt, meaning:
“You have given me the back altogether; after we have come to an
arrangement about the debt you have owed me, I will also turn my
back against you.”
[Illustration: FIG. 481.--Jebu complaint.]
The same authority, p. 299, describes Fig. 481:
It consists of two cowries face to face, followed by one above
facing upwards, and is a message from a creditor to a bad debtor,
meaning: “After you have owed me a debt you kicked against me; I
also will throw you off, because I did not know that you could have
treated me thus.”
[Illustration: FIG. 482.--Samoyed requisition.]
Prof. Anton Schrifner (_a_) describing Fig. 482, says:
On this plank the cuts marked _b_ signify the number of reindeer
required. Opposite these cuts are placed the hand marks, _a_, of
various Samoyeds of whom the reindeer are demanded. At the bottom
is found the official mark, _c_, of the Samoyed chief who forwarded
this board to the various Samoyed settlements in place of a written
communication.
CHAPTER XIII.
TOTEMS, TITLES, AND NAMES.
The employment of pictographs to designate tribes, groups within tribes,
and individual persons has been the most frequent of all the uses to
which they have been applied. Indeed, the constant need that devices to
represent the terms styled by grammarians proper names should be readily
understood for identification has, more than any other cause, maintained
and advanced pictography as an art, and in some parts of the world has
evolved from it syllabaries and afterwards alphabets. From the same
origin came heraldry, which in time designated with absolute accuracy
persons and families for the benefit of letterless people. Trade-marks
have the same history.
From the earliest times men have used emblems to indicate their tribes
or clans. Homer makes no clear allusion to their manifestation at the
poetic siege of Troy; but even if his Greeks did not bear them, other
nations of the period did. The earlier Egyptians carried images of bulls
and crocodiles into battle, probably at first with religious sentiments.
Each of the twelve tribes of Israel had a special ensign of its own,
which is now generally considered to have been totemic. The subjects of
Semiramis adopted doves and pigeons as their token in deference to their
queen, whose name meant “dove.”
At later dates Athens chose an owl for her sign, as a compliment to
Minerva; Corinth, a winged horse, in memory of Pegasus and his fountain;
Carthage, a horse’s head, in homage to Neptune; Persia, the sun, because
its people worshiped fire; Rome, an eagle, in deference to Jupiter.
These objects appear to have been carved in wood or metal. There is no
evidence of anything resembling modern flags, except, perhaps, in parts
of Asia, until the Romans began to use something like them about the
time of Cæsar. But these small signs had no national or public character
so as to be comparable with the eagles on the Roman standard; nor was
any floating banner associated with ruling power until Constantine gave
a religious meaning to the labarum.
Emblems also were often adopted by political and religious parties, e.
g., the cornstalks and slings of the Mazarinists and anti-Mazarinists
during the Fronde, the caps and hats in the Swedish diet in 1788, the
scarf of the Armagnacs, and the cross of the Burgundians. The topic of
emblems is further discussed in Chapter XVIII.
As with increased culture clans and tribes have become nations, so there
has been an evolution by which the ensigns of bands and orders have
been discontinued and replaced by the emblems of nationalities. Frederic
Marshall (_a_) well says: “Images of animals, badges, war cries,
cockades, liveries, coats of arms, tokens, tattooing, are all replaced
practically by national ensigns.” This change is toward the higher and
nobler significance and employment, all members of the community being
protected and designated by the simple exhibition of a single emblem.
This chapter is naturally divided into (1) Pictorial tribal
designations, (2) Gentile and clan designations, (3) Significance of
tattoo, (4) Designations of individuals.
SECTION 1.
PICTORIAL TRIBAL DESIGNATIONS.
Capt. de Lamothe Cadillac (_a_) writing in the year 1696 of the
Algonquians of the Great Lake region near Mackinac, etc., describes the
emblems on their canoes as follows: “On y voit la natte de guerre le
corbeau, l’ours on quelque autre animal * * * estant l’esprit qui doit
conduire cette enterprise.”
This, however, was a mistake as applicable to the time when it was
written. The animals used as emblems may originally have been regarded
as supernatural totemic beings, but had probably become tribal
designations.
IROQUOIAN TRIBAL DESIGNATIONS.
Bacqueville de la Potherie (_c_) says that a treaty with the French in
Canada, about 1700, was “sealed” with the “proper arms,” pictorially
drawn, of the Indian tribes which were parties to it. The following is a
copy of the original statement in its archaic form:
Monsieur de Callieres, de Champigni, & de Vaudreüil, en
signerent le Traité, que chaque Nation scella de ses propres armes.
Les Tsonnontouans & les Onnontaguez designerent une araignée, le
Goyogouin un calumet, les Onneyouts un morceau de bois en fourche,
une pierre au milieu, un Onnontagué mit un Ours pour les Aniez,
quoi qu’ils ne vinrent pas. Le Rat mit un Castor, les Abenaguis un
Chevreüil, les Outaouaks un Liévre, ainsi des autres.
From this it appears that--
The Seneca and Onondaga tribes were represented by a “spider.” [This
was doubtless a branching tree, so badly drawn as to be mistaken for a
spider.]
The Cayuga tribe, by a calumet.
The Oneida tribe, by a forked stick with a stone in the fork. [The
forked stick was really designed for the fork of a tree.]
The Mohawk tribe, by a bear.
Le Rat, who was a representative Huron of Mackinaw, by a beaver.
The Abnaki, by a deer.
The Ottawa, by a hare.
Several other accounts of the tribal signs of the Iroquois are
published, often with illustrations, e. g., in Documents relating to
the Colonial History of New York (_a_), with the following remarks:
When they go to war, and wish to inform those of the party who
may pass their path, they make a representation of the animal of
their tribe, with a hatchet in his dexter paw; sometimes a saber
or a club; and if there be a number of tribes together of the same
party, each draws the animal of his tribe, and their number, all on
a tree, from which they remove the bark. The animal of the tribe
which heads the expedition is always the foremost.
Another account of interest, which does not appear to have been
published, was traced and contributed by Mr. William Young, of
Philadelphia. It is a deed from the representatives of the Six Nations
(the Tuscaroras then being admitted) to the King of Great Britain, dated
November 4, 1768, and recorded at the recorder’s office, Philadelphia,
in Deed Book I, vol. 5, p. 241. Nearly all of these accounts and
illustrations are confused and imperfect. An instructive blunder occurs
in the translated signature representing the Mohawk tribe in the above
mentioned deed. It is called “The Steel,” which could hardly have been
an ancient tribal name, but after study it was remembered that the
Mohawks have sometimes been called by a name properly translated the
“Flint people.” By some confusion about flint and steel, which were
still used in the middle of the last century to produce sparks of fire,
perhaps assisted by the pantomime of striking those objects together,
the one intended to be indicated, viz, the flint, was understood to be
the other, the steel, and so these words were written under the figure,
which was so roughly drawn that it might have been taken for a piece of
flint or of steel or, indeed, anything else.
EASTERN ALGONQUIAN TRIBAL DESIGNATIONS.
The illustrations in Fig. 483 were drawn in 1888 by a Passamaquoddy
Indian, in Maine, near the Canada border. The Passamaquoddy, Penobscot,
and Amalecite are tribal divisions of the Abnaki, who formerly were
also called Tarrateens by the more southern New England tribes and
Owenunga by the Iroquois. The Micmacs are congeners of the Abnaki, but
not classed in their tribal divisions. All the four tribes belong to the
Algonquian linguistic stock.
[Illustration: FIG. 483.--Eastern Algonquian tribal designations.]
Fig. 483 _a_ is the tribal emblem of the Passamaquoddy. It shows two
Indians in a canoe, both using paddles and not poles, following a
fish, the pollock. The variation which will appear in the represented
use of poles and paddles in the marks of the Algonquian tribes in
Maine, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, etc., is said to have originated
in the differing character of the waters, shoal or deep, sluggish or
rapid, of the regions of the four bodies of Indians whose totems are
indicated as next follows, thus requiring the use of pole and paddle,
respectively, in a greater or less degree. The animals figured are in
all cases repeated consistently by each one of the several delineators,
and in all cases there is some device to show a difference between the
four canoes, either in their structure or in their mode of propulsion,
but these devices are not always consistent. It is therefore probable
that the several animals designated constitute the true and ancient
totemic emblems, and that the accompaniment of the canoes is a modern
differentiation.
_b_ The Maresquite or Amalecite emblem. Two Indians in a canoe, both
with poles, following a muskrat.
_c_ The Micmac emblem. Two Indians, both with paddles, in a canoe built
with high middle parts familiarly called “humpback,” following a deer.
_d_ The Penobscot emblem. Two Indians in a canoe, one with a paddle and
the other with a pole, following an otter.
In Margry (_a_) is an account, written about 1722, of the “Principal
divisions of the Sioux and their distinctive marks,” thus translated:
There are from twenty to twenty-six villages of Scioux and they
comprise the nations of the prairies:
(1) The Ouatabatonha, or Scioux des Rivières, living on the
St. Croix river or Lake de la Folle-Avoine which is below, and 15
leagues from the Serpent river. Their distinctive sign is a bear
wounded in the neck.
(2) The Menesouhatoba, or Scioux des Lacs, having for their mark
a bear wounded in the neck.
(3) The Matatoba, or Scioux des Prairies, having for their mark
a fox with an arrow in its mouth.
(4) The Hictoba, or Scioux de la Chasse, having for their symbol
the elk.
(5) The Titoba, or Scioux des Prairies, whose emblem is the
deer. It bears a bow on its horns.
We have as yet had no commerce save with five nations. The
Titoba live 80 leagues west of Sault Saint-Antoine.
The above early, though meager, notice will serve as an introduction
to the following series of pictorial tribal signs, all drawn by
Sioux Indians, and many of them representing tribal divisions of the
Siouan linguistic stock. The history and authority of the several
“Winter Counts” mentioned are referred to supra, chapter X, section
2. Red-Cloud’s census and the Oglala roster are also described below.
Explanations of some figures are added which have no reference to the
present topic, but which seemed necessary and could not be separated and
transferred to more appropriate division without undue multiplication of
figures and text.
ABSAROKA OR CROW.
[Illustration: FIG. 484.--Absaroka.]
Fig. 484.--Dakota and Crow, Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1819-’20. In an
engagement between the Dakotas and the Crows both sides expended all of
their arrows, and then threw dirt at each other. A Crow is represented
on the right, and is distinguished by the manner in which the hair is
worn. Hidatsa and Absaroka are represented with striped or spotted hair,
which denotes the red clay they apply to it.
The custom which prevails among these tribes, and is said to have
originated with the Crows, is to wear a wig of horse hair attached to
the occiput, thus resembling the natural growth, but much increased in
length. These wigs are made in strands having the thickness of a finger,
varying from eight to fifteen in number, and held apart and in place by
means of thin cross strands, thus resembling coarse network. At every
intersection of strands of hair and crossties, lumps of pine gum are
attached to prevent disarrangement and as in itself ornamental, and to
these lumps dry vermilion clay is applied by the richer classes and red
ocher or powdered clay by the poorer people.
Pictures drawn by some of the northern tribes of the Dakota show the
characteristic and distinctive features for a Crow Indian to be the
distribution of the red war paint which covers the forehead.
[Illustration: FIG. 485.--Absaroka.]
Fig. 485.--Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1830-’31. The Crows were
approaching a village at a time when there was a great deal of snow on
the ground and intended to surprise it, but, some herders discovering
them, the Dakotas went out, laid in wait for the Crows, surprised them,
and killed many. A Crow’s head is represented in the figure.
The Crow is designated not only by the arrangement of back hair, before
mentioned, but by a topknot of hair extending upward from the forehead,
brushed upward and slightly backward. See also the seated figure in the
record of Running Antelope, in Fig. 820, infra.
[Illustration: FIG. 486.--Absaroka.]
Fig. 486.--The Dakotas surrounded and killed ten Crows. Cloud-Shield’s
Winter Count, 1857-’58.
The hair is somewhat shortened and not intentionally foreshortened,
which was beyond the artist’s skill.
[Illustration: FIG. 487.--Absaroka.]
Fig. 487.--The Dakotas killed a Crow and his squaw who were found on a
trail. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1839-’40.
This is a front view. The union line signifies husband and wife.
ARAPAHO.
[Illustration: FIG. 488.--Arapaho.]
Fig. 488.--Arapaho, in the Dakota language, magpi-yato, blue cloud, is
here shown by a circular cloud, drawn in blue in the original, inclosing
the head of a man. Red-Cloud’s census.
ARIKARA OR REE.
[Illustration: FIG. 489.--Arikara.]
Fig. 489 is the tribal sign of the Arikara, made by the Dakota, taken from
the Winter Count of Battiste Good for the year 1823-’24, which he calls
“General-——-first-appeared-and-the-Dakotas-aided-in-an-attack-on-the-Rees
winter,” also “Much corn winter.”
The gun and the arrow in contact with the ear of corn show that both
whites and Indians fought the Rees. The ear of corn signifies “Ree”
or Arikara Indians, who are designated in gesture language as “corn
shellers.”
[Illustration: FIG. 490.--Arikara.]
Fig. 490.--A Dakota kills one Ree. The-Flame’s Winter Count, 1874-’75.
Here the ear of corn, the conventional sign for Arikara, has become
abbreviated.
ASSINIBOIN.
[Illustration: FIG. 491.--Assiniboin.]
Fig. 491 is the tribal designation for Assiniboin or Hohe made by the
Dakota, as taken from the Winter Count of Battiste Good for the year
1709-’10.
The Hohe means the voice, or, as some say, the voice of the musk ox, and
the device is the outline of the vocal organs, according to the Dakota
concept, and represents the upper lip and roof of the mouth, the tongue,
the lower lip, and chin and neck. The view is lateral, and resembles the
sectional aspect of the mouth and tongue.
BRULÉ.
[Illustration: FIG. 492.--Brulé.]
Fig. 492.--A Brulé, who had left the village the night before, was found
dead in the morning outside the village, and the dogs were eating his
body. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1822-’23.
The black spot on the upper part of the thigh shows he was a Brulé.
[Illustration: FIG. 493.--Brulé.]
Fig. 493.--A Brulé was found dead under a tree, which had fallen on him.
Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1808-’10.
Again the burnt thigh is suggested by the black spot.