_a_, the entrance to the lodge; _b_, the fireplace; _c_, a vertical

piece of wood upon which is placed a crosspiece, upon each end of

which is a lamp; _d_, the musicians upon the raised seats drumming and

producing music to the movements of the shaman during his incantations

in exorcising the “evil spirit” supposed to have possession of the

patient; _e_, visitors and friends of the afflicted seated around

the walls of the lodge; _f_, the shaman represented in making his

incantations; _g_, the patient seated upon the floor of the lodge; _h_

represents the shaman in another stage of the ceremonies, driving out of

the patient the “evil being”; _i_, another figure of the patient--from

his head is seen to issue a line connecting it with _j_; _j_, the “evil

spirit” causing the sickness; _k_, the shaman in the act of driving the

“evil being” out of the lodge--in his hands are sacred objects, his

personal fetich, in which the power lies; _l_, the flying “evil one”;

_m_, _n_, are assistants to the shaman stationed at the entrance to hit

and hasten the departure of the evil being.

The writer in examination at three reservations in Wisconsin obtained

information concerning the Midē' ceremonies additional to the details

described by Dr. Hoffman (_a_) and by others quoted in the present work.

The full ceremonies of the Midē' lodges, which the more southern Ojibwa,

who speak English, translate as “grand medicine,” were performed twice

a year--in the fall and in the spring. Those in the spring were of a

rejoicing character, to welcome the return of the good spirits; those in

the fall were in lamentation for the departure of the beneficent and the

arrival of the maleficent spirits. The drums were beaten four days and

nights before the dance, which lasted for a whole day. After the dance

twelve selected persons built a lodge, about the center of which they

placed stones which had been heated, and dancing went on around it until

the stones were moistened and cooled by the sweat of the performers.

Singing, or more properly chanting, regulated the rhythm of the dances,

although, perhaps, in the order of evolution the dance was prior to the

chant. These ceremonies were performed by the body of the people, and

were independent of the initiations in the secret order. With regard

to the candidates who passed the initiations, it was mentioned as an

undisputed fact that they always became stronger and better men, perhaps

because only those succeeded who had the requisite strength of mind

and body to endure the various ordeals and to pass examination in the

mysteries. In pictography the spring and the fall, the drums and the

steaming stones, the dancing forms and the open chanting mouth are shown.

[Illustration: FIG. 715.--Ah-tón-we-tuck.]

Catlin (_a_) gives an account of Kee-an-ne-kuk, the foremost man, who,

though a Kickapoo, was commonly called the Shawnee Prophet, and also the

following description relating to Fig. 715, painted by that author in

1831:

Ah-tón-we-tuck, The-Cock-Turkey, is another Kickapoo of some

distinction and a disciple of the [Shawnee] Prophet, in the attitude

of prayer, which he is reading off from characters cut upon a stick

that he holds in his hand. It was told to me in the tribe by the

traders (though I am afraid to vouch for the whole truth of it)

that while a Methodist preacher was soliciting him for permission

to preach in his village, the Prophet refused him the privilege,

but secretly took him aside and supported him until he learned

from him his creed and his system of teaching it to others, when he

discharged him and commenced preaching amongst his people himself,

pretending to have had an interview with some superhuman mission

or inspired personage, ingeniously resolving that if there was any

honor or emolument or influence to be gained by the promulgation

of it, he might as well have it as another person; and with this

view he commenced preaching and instituted a prayer, which he

ingeniously carved on a maple stick of an inch and a half in

breadth, in characters somewhat resembling Chinese letters. These

sticks, with the prayers on them, he has introduced into every

family of the tribe and into the hands of every individual; and as

he has necessarily the manufacturing of them all, he sells them at

his own price and has thus added lucre to fame, and in two essential

and effective ways augmented his influence in his tribe. Every man,

woman, and child in the tribe, so far as I saw them, were in the

habit of saying their prayer from this stick when going to bed at

night and also when rising in the morning, which was invariably

done by placing the forefinger of the right hand under the upper

character until they repeat a sentence or two, which it suggests

to them, and then slipping it under the next and the next, and so

on to the bottom of the stick, which altogether required about ten

minutes, as it was sung over in a sort of a chant to the end.

[Illustration: FIG. 716.--On-sáw-kie.]

Fig. 716, from the same volume, opposite page 100, is a portrait of

On-sáw-kie, The-Sac, a Pottawatomie, using one of these prayer sticks,

which had been procured from the Shawnee Prophet.

Figs. 715 and 716 with their descriptions exhibit an intermediate

condition between the aboriginal mnemonic method and the Christian

formula of prayer by the use of printed books. They should be considered

in comparison with the remarks on the “Micmac Hieroglyphs,” Chap. XIX,

Sec. 2.

[Illustration: FIG. 717.--Medicine lodge. Micmac.]

Fig. 717, incised on the Kejimkoojik rocks in Nova Scotia, suggests the

midē' lodge, sometimes called the medicine lodge, of the Ojibwa, which

is described above. The ground plan indicated in this figure seems to

be divided by partitions, which, together with the human figures and

designs, probably refer to the rites of initiation and celebration

performed in them. Some of the Micmacs examined had a vague recollection

of these ceremonies, which, at the time of the European discovery of the

northeastern part of North America, probably were as widely prevalent,

as they continued to be much later, among the regions farther in the

interior, also occupied by the Algonquian tribes.

[Illustration: FIG. 718.--Juggler lodge. Micmac.]

Fig. 718, from the same locality, is a drawing of the ground plan

of another description of ceremonial wigwam or lodge which is

remarkably similar to that now called by the Ojibwa “the jessăkân.”

Its distinguishing feature is the branch of a tree erected on the

outside, and it is the wigwam of a juggler or wizard, and not the lodge

belonging to the regular order of the Midē'. Such wigwams of jugglers,

who performed wonderful feats similar to those of modern spiritualistic

exhibitions, are frequently mentioned by the early French and English

writers, who gave accounts of the provinces of New France and New

England. The figure now presented is not suggestive without comparison,

and would not have been selected for the foregoing description without

the authority of living Micmac and Abnaki Indians, to whom it was

significant.

Figs. 717 and 718, however, when studied, recall the use of branches and

prayer plumes in the descriptions of the houses, and especially of the

kivas of the Pueblos and the forms of their consecration mentioned in

the study of the Pueblo Architecture, by Mr. Victor Mindeleff, in the

Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, as follows:

It is difficult to elicit intelligent explanation of the

theory of the baho and the prayer ceremonies in either kiva or

house construction. The baho is a prayer token; the petitioner is

not satisfied by merely speaking or singing his prayer; he must

have some tangible thing upon which to transmit it. He regards his

prayer as a mysterious, impalpable portion of his own substance,

and hence he seeks to embody it in some object which thus becomes

consecrated. The baho, which is inserted in the roof of the kiva, is

a piece of willow twig about 6 inches long, stripped of its bark and

painted. From it hang four small feathers suspended by short cotton

strings tied at equal distances along the twig. In order to obtain

recognition from the powers especially addressed, different colored

feathers and distinct methods of attaching them to bits of wood and

string are resorted to.

[Illustration: FIG. 719.--Moki ceremonial.]

The characters in Fig. 719 are copied from a drawing on the rocks in

the Canyon Segy. They have been submitted to the most intelligent of the

old Moki priests, and are said to represent the primitive sun priests.

They watched for the sunrise every morning and the chief sun priest

kept a reckoning of the equinoxes. The chief sun priest, _a_, made the

daily sacrifices to the sun by scattering consecrated meal and singing

a prayer to the sun just as it rose. His assistant, _b_, lit a pipe of

tobacco at the same time, and exhaled puffs of smoke, one toward each

of the cardinal points, one to the zenith, and one to the nadir. The

three other figures are flageolet priests, and the skins of different

kinds of foxes were attached to their reed flageolets. _c_ played to the

morning star, typified by the skin of the gray fox. _d_ played to the

dawn, typified by the skin of the red fox. _e_ played to the daylight,

typified by the skin of the yellow fox.

Dr. Franz Boas (_e_) reported as follows:

The Tsimshian have four secret societies, which have evidently

been borrowed from the Kwākiutl, the Olala or Wihalait, Nō'ntlem,

Mē'itla, and Semhalait.

The candidate is taken to the house of his parents and a bunch

of cedar bark is fastened over the door, to show that the place is

tabooed, and nobody is allowed to enter. The chief sings while it

is being fastened. In the afternoon the sacred house is prepared

for the dance. A section in the rear of the house is divided off by

means of curtains; it is to serve as a stage, on which the dancers

and the novice appear. When all is ready messengers carrying large

carved batons are sent around to invite the members of the society,

the chief first. The women sit down in one row, nicely dressed up

in button blankets and their faces painted red. The chief wears the

amhalait, a carving rising from the forehead, set with sea-lion

barbs and with a long drapery of ermine skins; the others, the cedar

bark rings of the society. * * *

The Mēitla have a red head ring and red eagle downs, the Nōntlem

a neck ring plaited of white and red cedar bark, the Olala a similar

but far larger one. The members of the societies receive a head ring

for each time they pass through these ceremonies. These are fastened

one on top of the other.

Mr. James W. Lynd (_d_) says:

In the worship of their deities paint (with the Dakotas),

forms an important feature. Scarlet or red is the religious color

for sacrifices, whilst blue is used by the women in many of the

ceremonies in which they participate. This, however, is not a

constant distinction of sex, for the women frequently use red and

scarlet. The use of paints, the Dakotas aver, was taught them by the

gods. Unktehi taught the first medicine men how to paint themselves

when they worshiped him and what colors to use. Takushkanshkan

(the moving god), whispers to his favorites what colors are most

acceptable to him. Heyoka hovers over them in dreams, and informs

them how many streaks to employ upon their bodies and the tinge they

must have. No ceremony of worship is complete without the wakan or

sacred application of paint. The down of the female swan is colored

scarlet and forms a necessary part of sacrifices.

Wiener (_d_) gives a description of Peruvian ceremonies, with an

illustration reproduced here as Fig. 720.

[Illustration: FIG. 720.--Peruvian ceremony.]

The paintings on this vase, found by Dr. Macedo in the

excavations at Pachacamac, show the principal practices of the

exoteric worship of the sun. In this painting there are three

entirely distinct groups. The central one is composed of the solar

image surrounded by nine rays, terminating in symbols of fecundity.

Two men placed at its right and left seem to play on pandean pipes.

The group on the left is formed of four individuals, two of whom

have head-dresses of royal feathers. This group is performing a

dance, while the third group represents the same solar disk and

the sacrifice accompanied by music performed in its honor. There

are also vases of different forms containing, probably, the sacred

drink, and the officiator approaching one hand to one of the great

urns, while with the other he holds the vase or the bowl from

which he is about to drink the _chica_ consecrated to the sun. The

princely personages who have the right to approach the sun wear

casques with royal plumes, chemisettes extending below the middle,

and ornaments at the lower part of the legs and on the feet. The

musicians, four in number (two of whom play upon the pandean pipes

and two upon the henna), are distinguished by bonnets without

feathers and by a kind of cloak tied around the neck by a band

which floats behind them. Finally, the priests, one of whom is an

officiator, and the other dancers in the suite of the princely

personages, wear bonnets like that of the musicians (who very

probably belong to the same class). They have their faces painted.

A. W. Howitt, in MS. Notes on Australian Pictographs, contributes the

following:

Among the most interesting of the pictorial markings used by

the aborigines are those which are made in connection with the

ceremonies of initiation. I now take as an instance the Murring

tribe of the southern coast of New South Wales, whose ceremonies I

have described elsewhere. The humming instrument, which is known

in England as a child’s toy called the bull roarer, has a sacred

character with all the Australian tribes. The Murring call it Mŭdji,

and the loud roaring sound made when it is swung around at the end

of a cord is considered to be the voice of Daramūlŭn, the great

supernatural being by whom, according to their tradition, these

ceremonies were first instituted.

On this instrument there are marked two notches, one at each

end, representing the gap left in the upper jaw of the novice after

his teeth have been knocked out during the rites; there is also

figured on it the rude representations of Daramūlŭn.

A similar rude outline of a man in the attitude of the magic

dance, being also Daramūlŭn, is cut by the old men (wizards) at

the ceremonies, upon the bark of a tree at the spot where one of

them knocks out the tooth of the novice. This pictograph is then

carefully cut out and obliterated after the ceremonies are over.

At a subsequent stage of the proceedings a similar figure is

molded on the ground in clay, and is surrounded by the native

weapons which Daramūlŭn is said to have invented. This figure, after

having been exhibited to the novice, is also destroyed, and they are

strictly forbidden under pain of death to make them known in any

manner to “women or children;” that is to say, to the uninitiated.

The Mŭdji is not destroyed, but is carefully and secretly

preserved by the principal headman who had caused the ceremonies to

be held.

The ceremonies of the Wirajuri tribe in New South Wales are

substantially the same as those of the Murring, although the tribes

are several hundred miles apart. The details, however, differ in

some respects.

For instance, at one part of the ceremonies certain carvings are

made upon the tree adjoining the place of the ceremonies and upon

the ground, as follows:

(1) A piece of bark is stripped off the tree from the branches

spirally down the bole to the ground. This represents the path along

which Daramūlŭn is supposed to descend from the sky to the place

where the initiation is held.

(2) The figure of Daramūlŭn is cut upon the ground, resembling

that which the Murring cut upon the tree at the place where in their

ceremonies the tooth is knocked out. The figure represents a naked

black fellow dancing, his arms being slightly extended and the legs

somewhat bent outwards (sideways) at the knee, as in the well known

“corroboree” attitude.

(3) The representation of his tomahawk cut on the ground, where

he let it fall on reaching the earth.

(4) The footsteps of an emu of which Daramūlŭn was in chase.

(5) The figure of the emu extended on the ground where it fell

when struck down by Daramūlŭn.

The same author (_f_) remarks as follows:

Speaking generally, it may be asserted with safety that

initiation ceremonies of some kind or other, and all having a

certain fundamental identity, are practiced by the aboriginal tribes

over the whole of the Australian continent. * * *

Here, then, the novices for the first time witness the actual

exhibition of those magical powers of the old men of which they have

heard since their earliest years. They have been told how these

men can produce from within themselves certain deadly things which

they are then able to project invisibly into those whom they desire

to injure or to kill; and now the boys see during the impressive

magical dances these very things, as they express it, “pulled out of

themselves” by the wizards.

Figs. 721, 722, and 723 are copies of the designs upon Tartar and Mongol

drums, taken from G. N. Potanin (_b_). They are used in religious

ceremonies with the belief that the sounds emanating from the surface

upon which the designs are made, or, to carry the concept a little

further, the sounds coming from the designs themselves, produce special

influences or powers. Some of these designs are notably similar to some

of those found in America and reproduced in the present paper.

[Illustration: FIG. 721.--Tartar and Mongol drums.]

The upper left-hand design (_a_) in Fig. 721, on the outside of the

drum, represents the sun and the moon in the form of circles with a

central dot. Below the crossbar were two other such figures with central

dot. Besides, were represented below, on the left side, two shamans, and

under them a wild goat and serpent in the form of wavy lines; on the

right side three shamans and a deer.

The upper right-hand design (_b_) on the same figure is a group

representing the bringing of a horse to sacrifice. Under a rainbow, dots

represent stars, and two heavenly maidens who the shamans said were the

daughters of Ulgen and who were playing. They come down to the mountains

and rise up to the skies.

A bow with a knob at each end is made to represent a rainbow in the

lower part of a shaman’s drum.

The lower left-hand design (_c_) on the same figure on a drum of the

telengit shaman is the external delineation of a head without eyes

and nose. The lower end of the line coming from the head represents a

bifurcation. Under the head is a short horizontal line like an extended

arm. Above a line extending from side to side of the drum are two

circles, and below six circles, all empty. According to the owner of the

drum these circles are representations of drums, and the three human

figures are masters or spirits of localities.

The lower right-hand design (_d_) in the same figure has in the upper

section five zigzag lines represented similar to those with which

lightning is often represented. According to the shaman these are

serpents.

[Illustration: FIG. 722.--Tartar and Mongol drums.]

The upper left-hand design (_a_) in Fig. 722 inside the drum has painted

two trees. On each of them sits the bird karagush, with bill turned to

the left. On the left of the trees are two circles, one dark (the moon),

the other light (the sun). Below a horizontal line are depicted a frog,

a lizard, and a serpent.

The upper right-hand design (_b_) in the same figure has on the upper

half two circles, the sun and moon; on the left side four horsemen;

under them a bowman, also on horseback. The center is occupied by a

picture of a net and a sieve for winnowing the nuts and seeds of the

cedar tree. On the right side are two trees, baigazuin (literally the

rich birch), over which two birds, the karagush, are floating. Under

a division on the right and on the left side are oval objects with

latticed-figured or scaly skin. These are two whales. In the middle,

between them, are a frog and a deer, and below a serpent. Above, toward

the hoop of the drum, is fastened an owl’s feather.

The lower left hand design (_c_) in the same figure has represented

in the upper half seven figures reminding one of horses. These are

the horses, bura, going to heaven, i. e., their sacrifice. Above them

are two circles emitting light, the sun and the moon; on the right of

the horses are three trees; under a horizontal line on the left is a

serpent; on the right a fish, the kerbuleik, the whale according to

Verbitski, literally the bay-fish.

The lower right-hand design (_d_) in the same figure has a drawing on

the outside, a circle divided by horizontal bars into halves. The field

of the upper half is divided into three strata, the first stratum of

which is heaven, the second the rainbow, and in the lower stratum the

stars. On the left side the sun, and the crescent moon on the right

side; the goat, trees, and an undefined figure, which is not given in

the drawing, underneath. The kam, a kind of shaman, called it the bura.

Some said that it meant a cloud; others that it meant heavenly horses.

[Illustration: FIG. 723.--Tartar and Mongol drums.]

The left-hand design (_a_) in Fig. 723 shows four vertical and four

horizontal lines. The latter represent the rainbow; the vertical lines

borsui. Circles with dots in the center are represented in three

sections, and in the fourth one circle.

The right-hand design in the same figure: On the upper sections are

represented a number of human figures. These, according to the shaman’s

own explanation, are heavenly maidens (in the original Turkish,

tengriduing kuiz). Below, under a rainbow, which is represented by three

arched lines, are portrayed two serpents, each having a cross inside.

These are kurmos nuing tyungurey, i. e., the drums are kurmos’s. Kurmos

is the Alti word for spirits, which the shamans summon.

Bastian (_a_) makes remarks as follows concerning the magic drum of the

Shamans in the Altai, which should be considered in this connection:

The Shamans admit three worlds (among the Yakuts), the world of

the heavens (hallan jurda), the middle one of the earth (outo-doidu)

and the lower world or hell (jedän tügara), the former the realm

of light, the latter the realm of darkness, while the earth has

for a time been given over by the Creator (Jüt-tas-olbohtah

Jürdän-Ai-Tojan) to the will of the devil or tempter, and the souls

of men at their death, according to the measure of their merit, are

sent into one or the other realm. When, however, the earth world has

come to an end, the souls of the two realms will wage a war against

each other, and victory must remain on the side of the good souls.

SECTION 6.

MORTUARY PRACTICES.

Champlain (_f_) in his voyage of 1603, says of the Northeastern

Algonquins that their graves were covered with large pieces of wood, and

one post was erected upon them, the upper part of which was painted red.

The same author, in 1613, writing of the Algonquins of the Ottawa

river, at the Isle des Alumettes, gives more details of the pictures on

their grave posts:

On it the likeness of the man or woman who is buried there is

roughly engraved. If a man, they put on a buckler, a spear, war

club, and bows and arrows. If he is a chief he will have a plume on

his head and some other designs or ornaments. If a boy, they give

him one bow and a single arrow. If a woman or girl, they put on a

kettle, an earthen pot, a wooden spoon, and a paddle. The wooden

tomb is 6 or 7 feet long and 4 wide, painted yellow and red.

Some northern tribes--probably Cree--according to the Jesuit Relations

(_a_), gave a notice of death to absent relations or dear friends of the

deceased by hanging the object signifying his name on the path by which

the traveler must return, e. g., if the name of the deceased was Piré

(Partridge) the skin of a partridge was suspended. The main object of

the notice was that the traveler, thereby knowing of the death, should

not on his return to the lodge or village ask after or mention the

deceased. Perhaps this explains the custom of placing pictographs of

personal names and totemic marks on some prominent point or on trails

without any apparent incident.

The same Relation describes a custom of the same Indians of shaping out

of wood a portraiture of the more distinguished dead and inserting it

over their graves, afterwards painting and greasing it as if it were the

live man.

In Keating’s Long (_g_) it is told that the Sac Indians are particular

in their demonstrations of grief for departed friends. These consist in

darkening their faces with charcoal, fasting, abstaining from the use of

vermillion and other ornaments in dress, etc. They also make incisions

in their arms, legs, and other parts of the body; these are not made

for the purposes of mortification, or to create a pain which shall by

dividing their attention efface the recollection of their loss, but

entirely from a belief that their grief is internal and that the only

way of dispelling it is to give it a vent through which to escape.

This is an explanation of the practice which has been verified in the

field work of the Bureau of Ethnology and corresponds with the concept

of finding relief from disease and pain by similar incisions, to let out

the supposed invading entity that causes distress.

The same authority, p. 332, gives the following account of Dakota burial

scaffolds:

On these scaffolds, which are from 8 to 10 feet high, corpses

were deposited in a box made from part of a broken canoe. Some hair

was suspended which we at first mistook for a scalp; but our guide

informed us that these were locks of hair torn from their heads by

the relations to testify their grief. In the center, between the

four posts which supported the scaffold, a stake was planted in the

ground; it was about 6 feet high, and bore an imitation of human

figures; five of which had a design of a petticoat, indicating

them to be females; the rest, amounting to seven, were naked, and

were intended for male figures. Of the latter, four were headless,

showing that they had been slain; the three other male figures were

unmutilated but held a staff in their hands which, as our guide

informed us, designated that they were slaves. The post, which is

an usual accompaniment to the scaffold that supports a warrior’s

remains, does not represent the achievements of the deceased, but

those of the warriors that assembled near his remains, danced the

dance of the post, and related their martial exploits.

Maximilian, Prince of Wied (_d_), tells that as a sign of mourning the

Sioux daub themselves with white clay.

According to Powers, (_d_) “A Yokaia widow’s style of mourning is

peculiar. In addition to the usual evidence of grief she mingles the

ashes of the dead husband with pitch, making a white tar or ungent with

which she smears a band about two inches wide all around the edge of

her hair (which is previously cut off close to the head), so that at a

little distance she appears to be wearing a white chaplet.”

Mr. Dorsey reports that mud is used by a mourner in the sacred-bag war

party among the Osages. Several modes of showing mourning by styles

of paint and markings are presented in this paper under the headings

of Color and of Tattooing. Other practices connected with the present

topic, and which may explain some pictographs, are described in the

work of Dr. H. C. Yarrow, acting assistant surgeon, U. S. Army, on The

Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians, in the First Annual

Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.

[Illustration: FIG. 724.--Votive offering. Alaska.]

Fig. 724 is copied from a piece of ivory in the museum of the Alaska

Commercial Company, San Francisco, California, and was interpreted by an

Alaskan native in San Francisco in 1882.

First is a votive offering or “shaman stick,” erected to the memory

of one departed. The “bird” carvings are considered typical of “good

spirits,” and the above was erected by the remorse-stricken individual,

who had killed the person shown.

The headless body represents the man who was killed. In this respect the

Ojibwa manner of drawing a person “killed” is similar.

The right hand Indian represents the homicide who erected the

“grave-post” or “sacred stick.” The arm is thrown earthward, resembling

the Blackfeet and Dakota gesture for “kill.”

That portion of the Kauvuya tribe of Indians in Southern California

known as the Playsanos, or _lowlanders_, formerly inscribed characters

upon the gravestones of their dead, relating to the pursuits or good

qualities of the deceased. Dr. W. J. Hoffman obtained several pieces or

slabs of finely-grained sandstone near Los Angeles, California, during

the summer of 1884, which had been used for this purpose. Upon these

were the drawings, in incised lines, of the fin back whale, with figures

of men pursuing them with harpoons. Around the drawings were close

parallel lines with cross lines similar to those made on ivory by the

southern Innuit of Alaska.

Figs. 725 to 727 were procured from a native Alaskan by Dr. Hoffman in

1882, and explained to him to be drawings made upon grave posts.

[Illustration: FIG. 725.--Grave post. Alaska.]

Fig. 725 commemorates a hunter, as land animals are shown to be his

chief pursuit. The following is the explanation of the characters:

_a._ The baidarka, or boat, holding two persons; the occupants are

shown, as are also the paddles, which project below the horizontal body

of the vessel.

_b._ A rack for drying skins and fish. A pole is added above it, from

which are seen floating streamers of calico or cloth.

_c._ A fox.

_d._ A land otter.

_e._ The hunter’s summer habitation. These are temporary dwellings and

usually constructed at a distance from home. This also indicates the

profession of a skin-hunter, as the permanent lodges, indicated as

winter houses, i. e., with round or dome-like roof, are located near the

seashore, and summer houses are only needed when at some distance from

home, where a considerable length of time is spent in hunting.

[Illustration: FIG. 726.--Grave post. Alaska.]

The following is the explanation of Fig. 726. It is another design for a

grave post, but is erected in memory of a fisherman:

_a._ The double-seated baidarka, or skin canoe.

_b._ The bow used in shooting seal and other marine animals.

_c._ A seal.

_d._ A whale.

The summer lodge is absent in this, as the fisherman did not leave the

seashore in the pursuit of game on land.

[Illustration: FIG. 727.--Village and burial grounds. Alaska.]

Fig. 727 is a drawing of a village and neighboring burial-ground,

prepared by an Alaskan native in imitation of originals seen by him

among the natives of the mainland of Alaska, especially the Aigalúqamut.

Carvings are generally on walrus ivory; sometimes on wooden slats. In

the figure, _g_ is a representation of a grave post in position, bearing

an inscription similar in general character to those in the last two

preceding figures.

The details are explained as follows:

_a_, _b_, _c_, _d_. Various styles of habitations, denoting a settlement.

_e._ An elevated structure used for the storage of food.

_f._ A box with wrappings, containing the corpse of a child. The small

lines, with ball attached, are ornamental appendages consisting of

strips of cloth or skin, with charms, or, sometimes, tassels.

_g._ Grave post, bearing rude illustrations of the weapons or implements

used by the deceased during his life.

_h._ A grave scaffold, containing adult. Besides the ornamental

appendages, as in _f_ preceding, there is a “Shaman stick” erected over

the box containing the corpse as a mark of good wishes of a sorrowing

survivor. See object _a_, in Fig. 724.

Schoolcraft (_m_) gives a good account, with illustration, of the burial

posts used by the Sioux and Chippewas. It has been quoted so frequently

that it is not reproduced here. The most notable feature connected with

the posts is that the totems depicted on them are reversed, to signify

the death of the persons buried.

[Illustration: FIG. 728.--Menomoni grave post.]

Fig. 728 represents the grave post of a Menomoni Indian of the bear

totem. The stick is a piece of pine board 2-1/2 inches wide at the top,

gradually narrowing down to a point; three-fourths of an inch thick, and

about 2 feet long. On one side are two sets of characters, the oldest

being incised with a sharp-pointed nail, while over these are a later

set of drawings made with red ocher, represented in the illustration by

shading. The figure of the bear, drawn with head to the ground, denotes

the totem of which the deceased was a member, the remaining incised

figures relating to some exploits the signification of which was not

known. The red marks were put upon the stick at the time of the holding

of a memorial service, when the father of the deceased furnished a

feast to the medicine priests just previous to his being received into

the society of shamans to fill the vacancy caused by the death. The

number of red crosses denote the number of speeches made at the grave

upon that occasion, while the band at the top refers to the person

acting as master of ceremonies, who had been requested to make all the

arrangements for the medicine ceremonies and initiation. So said some

Menomoni in the neighborhood, but later the Indian who actually painted

the red crosses came to Washington and explained that they signified the

number of war parties in which the deceased had taken part.

[Illustration: FIG. 729.--Incised lines on Menomoni grave post.]

Fig. 729 shows the incised lines on the front of the post before color

was applied. The manner of placing the grave posts at the head of the

grave box is shown in Fig. 730, the left-hand grave being that of

Oshkosh, the late head chief of the Menomoni in Wisconsin, after whom

the city of Oshkosh was named.

[Illustration: FIG. 730.--Grave boxes and posts.]

Before the grave is a small board, upon which tobacco is placed to

gratify the taste of the dead, and during the season of sugar making

pieces of that delicacy are pushed through the small openings in the

head board, that the spirit of the deceased may be gratified and give

success to the donors at future seasons.

The right-hand grave box is that of another member of the family of

Oshkosh, at which the board, with tobacco, is also placed, as well

as the grave post. This, however, does not bear any indications of

characters, which probably had been washed off by the rain.

Pieces of bark, stones, and sticks are also placed upon the grave boxes,

but the signification of this practice could not be ascertained.

The next two figures come from the Dakotas.

[Illustration: FIG. 731.--Commemoration of dead. Dakota.]

Fig. 731.--Held a commemoration of the dead. Cloud-Shield’s Winter

Count, 1826-’27. The ceremonial pipe-stem and the skull indicate the

mortuary practice, which is further explained by the next figure.

[Illustration: FIG. 732.--Ossuary ceremonial. Dakota.]

Fig. 732.--A white man made medicine over the skull of Crazy-Horse’s

brother. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1852-’53. He holds a pipe-stem in

his hand. This figure refers to the custom of gathering periodically the

bones of the dead that have been placed on scaffolds and burying them.

It appears that a white man made himself conspicuous by conducting the

ceremonies on the occasion noted.

Lewis and Clarke (_c_) mention the Chilluckittequaws, a division of the

Chinooks of the Columbia river, as having for burial purposes vaults

made of pine or cedar boards, closely connected, about 8 feet square and

6 in height. The walls as well as the door were decorated with strange

figures cut and painted on them; besides these there were several wooden

images of men, some of them so old and decayed as to have almost lost

their shape, which were all placed against the sides of the vaults.

These images do not appear to be at all the objects of adoration, but

were probably intended as resemblances of those whose decease they

indicate.

[Illustration: FIG. 733.--Kalosh graves.]

Whymper (_a_) reports that the Kalosh Indians of Alaska construct grave

boxes or tombs which contain only the ashes of the dead. These people

invariably burn the deceased. On one of the boxes he saw a number of

faces painted, long tresses of human hair depending therefrom. Each head

represented a victim of the deceased man’s ferocity. Thus the pictures

are not likenesses or totemic marks of the cremated Kalosh, but of

enemies whom he had killed, being in the nature of trophies or proofs of

valor. Fig. 733 is a reproduction of the illustration.

Dall (_c_) says of the Yukon Indians:

Some wore hoops of birch wood around the neck and wrists, with

various patterns and figures cut on them. These were said to be

emblems of mourning for the dead.

Dr. Franz Boas (_f_) gives the following account of the funeral customs

practiced by the Snanaimuq, a Salish tribe:

The face of the deceased is painted with red and black paint.

* * * A chief’s body is put in a carved box and the front posts

supporting his coffin are carved. His mask is placed between

these posts. The graves of great warriors are marked by a statue

representing a warrior with a war club. * * * After the death of

husband or wife, the survivor must paint his legs and his blanket

red. * * * At the end of the mourning period the red blanket is

given to an old man, who deposits it in the woods.

Didron (_a_) speaks of emblems on tombstones:

Even today, at Constantinople, in the cemetery of the Armenians,

every tombstone is marked with the insignia of the profession

followed by the defunct which the stone covers. For an Armenian

tailor there is a pair of shears, thread, and needles; for a mason,

hammer and trowel; for a shoemaker, a last, leather, and a leather

cutter; for a grocer, a pair of scales; for a banker, pieces of

money. It is the same with others. Among us [Frenchmen], in the

middle ages, a compass, a rule, and square are engraved on the tomb

of Hugues Libergier. In the cemetery of L’Est, at Paris, a palette

indicates the grave of a painter, a chisel and hammer mark that of

a sculptor. Animals are represented as talking and acting, masks

grimace and smile, to announce in the same inclosure the tombs of La

Fontaine and of Molière. Among the Romans it was the same: a fisher

had a boat on his tomb; a shepard, a sheep; a digger, a pickaxe;

a navigator, an anchor or a trident; a vine-dresser, a cask; an

architect, a capital or the instruments of his art.

Hewitt (_g_) says of the Dieri, a tribe of Central Australia:

A messenger who is sent to convey the intelligence of a death

is smeared all over with white clay. On his approach to the camp

the women all commence screaming and crying most passionately.

After a time the particulars of the death are made known to the

camp. The near relations and friends then only weep. Old men even

cry bitterly, and their friends comfort them as if they were

children. On the following day the near relations dress in mourning

by smearing themselves over with white clay. Widows and widowers

are prohibited by custom from uttering a word until the clay has

worn off, however long it may remain on them. They do not, however,

rub it off, as doing so would be considered a bad omen. It must

absolutely wear off of itself. During this period they communicate

by means of gesture language.

Dr. Ferdinand von Hochstetter (_a_) says:

The carved Maori figures which are met with on the road are the

memorials of chiefs who, while journeying to the restorative baths

of Rotorua, succumbed to their ills on the road. Some of the figures

are decked out with pieces of clothing or kerchiefs; and the most

remarkable feature in them is the close imitation of the tattooing

of the deceased, by which the Maoris are able to recognize for whom

the monument has been erected. Certain lines are peculiar to the

tribe, others to the family, and again others to the individual. A

close imitation of the tattooing of the face, therefore, is to the

Maori the same as to us a photographic likeness; it does not require

any description of name.

[Illustration: FIG. 734.--New Zealand grave effigy.]

A representation of one of these carved posts is given in Fig. 734.

[Illustration: FIG. 735.--New Zealand grave-post.]

Another carved post of like character is represented in Fig. 735,

concerning which the same author says, p. 338: “Beside my tent,

at Tahuahu, on the right bank of the Mangapu, there stood an odd,

half-decomposed figure carved of wood; it was designated to me by the

natives as a Tiki, marking the tomb of a chief.”

[Illustration: FIG. 736.--Nicobarese mortuary tablet.]

Ball, on Nicobarese Ideographs, in Jour. Anthrop. Inst. of Gr. Br. & I.

(_d_), says, describing Fig. 736, which appears to be connected with

mortuary observances:

The example of Nicobarese picture writing in Fig. 736 was

obtained in the year 1873 on the island of Kondul, where I found it

hanging in the house of a man who was said to have died a short time

previously. * * *

The material of which it is made is either the glume of a bamboo

or the spathe of a palm which has been flattened out and framed with

split bamboos.

It is about 3 feet long by 18 inches broad. The objects are

painted with vermilion, their outlines being surrounded with

punctures, which allow the light to pass through. * * *

As in all such Nicobarese paintings, figures of the sun, moon,

and stars occupy prominent positions. Now, the sun and moon are

stated, by those who have known the Nicobarese best, to be especial

objects of adoration, and therefore these paintings may have some

religious significance.

At first it occurred to me that this was merely an inventory

of the property of the deceased, but as some of the objects are

certainly not such as we should expect to find in an enumeration

of property, e. g., the lizard, while the figures of men appear to

portray particular emotions, it seems probable that the objects

represented have a more or less conventional meaning, and that we

have here a document of as bona fide and translatable a character as

an Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription.

My own efforts to discover an interpretation from the natives on

the spot were not crowned with success. * * *

Mr. De Röepstorff, extra assistant superintendent of the

Andamans and Nicobars, to whom I applied for such information as he

might be able to collect upon the subject, assured me by letter, in

1873, that the screens had a religious significance and were used to

exorcise spirits, but he did not seem to regard them as capable of

being interpreted. * * *

The following is a list of the objects depicted, besides

animals; many of the common utensils in use in a Nicobarese

household are included:

(1) The sun and stars; (2) the moon and stars; (3) swallows or

(?) flying fish; (4) impression of the forepart of a human foot; (5)

a lizard (Hydrosaurus?); (6) four men in various attitudes; (7) two

dás for cutting jungle; (8) two earthen cooking vessels; (9) two

birds; (10) an ax; (11) two spears; (12) a ladder (?); (13) dish for

food; (14) cocoanut water-vessels; (15) palm tree; (16) a canoe;

(17) three pigs; (18) shed; (19) domestic fowl; (20) seaman’s chest;

(21) dog; (22) fish of different kinds; (23) turtle.

CHAPTER XV.

CUSTOMS.

The notes given under this heading are divided into (1) cult societies;

(2) daily life and habits; (3) games.

SECTION 1.

CULT SOCIETIES.

Voluntary associations, to be distinguished from those of an exclusively

religious character, have flourished among most Indian tribes and are

still found among those least affected by contact with civilization.

Maj. Powell, the Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, has named them

cult societies. Their members are designated by special paintings and

marks entirely distinct from those relating to their clans or gentes and

their personal names. Travelers have frequently been confused by the

diversity of such designations.

The translated names of some of these societies found among the Sioux

are “Brave Night Hearts,” “Owl Feathers,” and “Wolves and Foxes.” They

control tribes in internal affairs and strongly influence their policy

in external relations, and may be regarded as the substitute both for

regular soldiery and for police. It is necessary that a young man

proposing to be a warrior should be initiated into some one of these

societies. But in distinguishing them from the purely shamanistic orders

it must not be understood that their ceremonies and ties are independent

of the cult of religion, or that they disregard it, for this among

Indians would be impossible.

The following account of these societies among the Blackfeet or Satsika

and their pictorial or objective devices is condensed from Maximilian of

Wied’s Travels (_e_):

The bands, unions, or associations are found among the Blackfeet

as well as all the other American tribes. They have a certain name,

fixed rules and laws, as well as their peculiar songs and dances,

and serve in part to preserve order in the camp, on the march, in

the hunting parties, etc. Seven such bands or unions among the

Blackfeet were mentioned to me. They are the following: (1) The

band of the mosquitos. This union has no police business to do, but

consists of young people, many of whom are only 8 or 10 years of

age. There are also some young men among them and sometimes even a

couple of old men, in order to see to the observance of the laws and

regulations. This union performs wild, youthful pranks; they run

about the camp whenever they please; pinch, nip, and scratch men,

women, and children in order to give annoyance like the mosquitos.

The young people begin with this union and then gradually rise

higher through the others. As the badge of their band they wear an

eagle’s claw fastened around the wrist with a leather strap. They

have also a particular mode of painting themselves, like every other

band, and their peculiar songs and dance. (2) The dogs. Its badge is

not known to me; it consists of young married men, and the number

is not limited. (3) The prairie dogs. This is a police union, which

receives married men; its badge is a long hooked stick wound round

with otter skin, with knots of white skin at intervals, and a couple

of eagle’s feathers hanging from each of them. (4) Those who carry

the raven. Its badge is a long staff covered with red cloth, to

which black ravens’ feathers in a long thick row are fastened from

one end to the other. They contribute to the preservation of order

and the police. (5) The buffalo, with thin horns. When they dance

they wear horns on their caps. If disorders take place they must

help the soldiers, who mark out the camp and then take the first

place. (6) The soldiers. They are the most distinguished warriors,

who exercise the police, especially in the camp and on the march;

in public deliberations they have the casting vote whether, for

instance, they shall hunt, change their abode, make war or conclude

peace, etc. They carry as their badge a wooden club the breadth of a

hand, with hoofs of the buffalo cow hanging to the handle. They are

sometimes 40 or 50 men in number. (7) The buffalo bulls. They form

the first, that is, the most distinguished, of all the unions, and

are the highest in rank. They carry in their hand a medicine badge,

hung with buffalo hoofs, which they rattle when they dance to their

peculiar song. They are too old to attend to the police, having

passed through all the unions, and are considered as having retired

from office. In their medicine dance they wear on their head a cap

made of the long forelock and mane of the buffalo bull, which hangs

down to a considerable length.

[Illustration: FIG. 737.--The policeman.]

Fig. 737.--“The policeman” was killed by the enemy. Cloud-Shield’s

Winter Count, 1780-’81.

The man here figured was probably one of the active members of the

associations whose functions are above described to keep order and carry

out the commands of the chiefs.

These voluntary associations are not of necessity ancient or

permanent. An instance is given in Fig. 738 which is instructive in

the interpretation of pictographs. It is a copy of drawings on a pipe

stem which had been made and used by Ottawa Indians. On each side are

four spaces, upon each of which are various incised characters, three

spaces on one side being reserved for the delineation of human figures,

each having diverging lines from the head upward, denoting their social

status as chiefs or warriors and medicine men.

[Illustration: FIG. 738.--Ottawa pipe stem.]

Upon the space nearest the mouth is the drawing of a fire, the flames

passing upward from the horizontal surface beneath them. The cross bands

are raised portions of the wood (ash) of which the pipestem is made;

these show peculiarly shaped openings which pass entirely through the

stem, though not interfering with the tube necessary for the passage of

the smoke. This indicates considerable mechanical skill.

Upon each side of the stem are spaces corresponding in length and

position to those upon the opposite side. In the lower space of the

stem is a drawing of a bear, indicating that the two persons in the

corresponding space on the opposite side belong to the bear gens. The

next upper figure is that of a beaver, showing the three human figures

to belong to the beaver gens, while the next to this, the eagle, means

that the opposite persons are members of the eagle gens. The upper

figure is that of a lodge which contains a council fire, shown on the

opposite side.

The signification of the whole is that two members of the bear gens,

three members of the beaver gens, and three members of the eagle gens

have united and constitute a society living in one lodge, around one

fire, and smoke through the same pipe.

Reference may also be made to remarks by Prof. Dall (_d_) upon the use

of masks by associations or special classes.

SECTION 2.

DAILY LIFE AND HABITS.

[Illustration: FIG. 739.--Shooting fish. Micmac.]

Fig. 739, printed from the Kejimkoojik rocks, in Nova Scotia, represents

two Indians in a canoe following a fish to shoot it. This is not a pure

example of the class of totemic designs. Both Indians in the canoe

have paddles in which the device resembles the Micmac tribal device,

but in that the hunters pursue a deer and not a fish and the canoe is

“humpback.” The Passamaquoddy tribal pictographic sign in which a fish

is followed, requires both Indians to have paddles, and, it may be

understood that the two Indians in the canoe are Passamaquoddy, but in

the figure one of them has laid aside his paddle and is shooting at the

fish with a gun, which departs from the totemic device, and also shows

that the drawing was made since the Indians of the region had obtained

firearms from Europeans, but these were obtained three centuries ago,

quite long enough for hunting scenes on some of the petroglyphs to

exhibit the use of a gun instead of a bow.

This kind of fish hunting by gunshot is one of daily occurrence in the

region during the proper season.

[Illustration: FIG. 740.--Shooting fish. Micmac.]

Fig. 740, from the same locality, is more ideographic. The line of the

gun barrel is exaggerated and prolonged so as nearly to touch the fish,

and signifies that the shot was a sure hit. The hunters are very roughly

delineated. Possibly this hunting was at night with fire on a brazier

and screens, a common practice which seems to be indicated.

[Illustration: FIG. 741.--Lancing fish. Micmac.]

Fig. 741, also from Kejimkoojik, is more ancient, but less distinct. The

fish is larger, and the weapon may be a lance, not a gun.

[Illustration: FIG. 742.--Whale hunting. Innuit.]

Fig. 742, copied from a walrus ivory drill-bow, from Cape Darley,

Alaska (Nat. Mus. No. 44211), illustrates the mode of whale-hunting by

the Innuit. The crosses over the whale and beneath the harpoon line

represent aquatic birds; the three, oval objects attached to the line

are floaters to support the line and to indicate its course after the

downward plunge of the harpooned cetacean.

[Illustration: FIG. 743.--Hunting in canoe. Ojibwa.]

A similar hunting scene by canoe, in which, however, the game was deer,

is given in Fig. 743. The drawing is on birch bark, and was made by

an old Indian named Ojibwa, now living at White Earth, Minnesota, an

intimate friend and associate of the late chief Hole-in-the-Day. Ojibwa

is supposed to be actor as well as depictor. He shows his lodges in

_a_, where he resided many years ago; _b_ is a lake; _c_, _c_, _c_, _c_

represent four deer, one of which is shown only by the horns protruding

above a clump of brush near the lake; _e_ represents Ojibwa in his

canoe, _d_, floating on the river, _h_, _h_; _g_ is a pine torch, giving

light and smoke, erected on the bow of the canoe, the light being thrown

forward from a curve slice of birch bark at _f_, its bright inner

surface acting as a reflector. The whole means that during one hunt, by

night, the narrator shot four deer at the places indicated.

[Illustration: FIG. 744.--Record of hunting. Ojibwa.]

The accompanying Fig. 744 is reproduced from a drawing also incised on

birch bark by Ojibwa, and relates to a hunting expedition made by his

father and two companions, all of whom are represented by three human

forms near the left-hand upper line. The circle at the left is Red Cedar

lake, Minnesota; a river is shown flowing northward, and another toward

the east, having several indications of lakes which this river passes

through or drains. The circle within the lake denotes an island upon

which the party camped, as is shown by the trail leading from the human

forms to the island. Around the lake are a number of short lines which

signify trees, indicating a wooded shore. The first animal form to the

right of the human figures is a porcupine; the next a bittern. The two

shelters in the right-hand upper corner indicate another camp made by

the hunters, to which one of them dragged a deer, as shown by the man in

that act, just to the left of the shelter.

Another camp of the same party of three is shown in the lower left-hand

corner; the bow and arrow directed to the right indicates that there

they shot a raccoon, a fisher, a duck (a man lying down decoyed this

bird by calling), a mink, and an otter. The line above the lower row

consists of the following animals, reading from the left to right, viz,

bear, owl, wolf, elk, and deer.

[Illustration: FIG. 745.--Fruit gatherers. Hidatsa.]

Fig. 745 is a copy of a sketch made by Lean-Wolf, second chief of the

Hidatsa, and shows the manner in which the women carry baskets used in

gathering wild plums, bull-berries, and other small fruits. The baskets

are usually made of thin splints of wood, and very similar in manner of

construction to the well known bushel-basket of our eastern farmers.

[Illustration: FIG. 746.--Hunting antelope. Hidatsa.]

Fig. 746 was also made by Lean-Wolf, and illustrates the old manner of

hunting antelope and deer. The hunter would disguise himself by covering

his head with the head and skin of an antelope, and so be enabled to

approach the game near enough to use his bow and arrow.

[Illustration: FIG. 747.--Hunting buffalo. Hidatsa.]

In a similar manner the Hidatsa would mask themselves with a wolf skin

to enable them to approach buffalo. This is illustrated in Fig. 747,

which is a reproduction of a drawing made by the above-mentioned chief.

The next group of figures illustrates the custom of gaining and

afterwards counting coups or hits, the French expression, sometimes

spelled by travelers “coo,” being generally adopted. This is an honor

gained by hitting an enemy, whether dead or alive, with an ornamented

lance, or sometimes a stick, carried for the purpose as part of a

warrior’s equipment. These sticks or wands are about 12 feet long,

often of willow, stripped of leaves and bark, and each having some

distinguishing objects, such as feathers, bells, brightly-colored cloth,

or else painted in a special manner. Further remarks on this custom

appear in Chapter XIII, Section 4.

[Illustration: FIG. 748.--Counting coups. Dakota.]

_a_, in Fig. 748, Kills-the-Enemy, from Red-Cloud’s Census, exhibits

the coup stick in contact with the dead enemy’s head. _b_ is taken from

Bloody-Knife’s robe and shows an Indian about to strike his prostrate

enemy.

[Illustration: FIG. 749.--Counting coups. Dakota.]

Fig. 749.--Killed-First. Red Cloud’s Census. This is the case where a

warrior struck the enemy with his coup stick first in order, which is

the most honorable achievement, greater than the actual killing. The

word translated kill or killed does not always imply immediate death,

but the infliction of a fatal wound.

The apparent reason why the striking of the body of a dead or disabled

enemy, whether or not killed or disabled by the striker, is more

honorable than the actual infliction of the wound, is because the

attempt to strike is vigorously resisted by the enemy, the survivors of

which assemble to prevent the successful achievement; mere killing might

be at a distance in comparative safety.

[Illustration: FIG. 750.--Counting coups. Dakota.]

Fig. 750.--Enemies-hit-him. Red-Cloud’s Census. In this case the Dakota

has been hit by the enemy’s lance or coup stick.

This group refers to the custom, east of the Rocky mountains, of

exhibiting scalps.

[Illustration: FIG. 751.--Scalp displayed. Dakota.]

Fig. 751.--A war party of Oglalas killed one Pawnee; his scalp is on the

pole. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1855-’56. This and the next figure

show the custom of a successful war party on returning to the home

village to display the scalps taken. This display is the occasion of

special ceremonies. The marks on the foot signify that on their way home

the men of the war party froze their feet.

[Illustration: FIG. 752.--Scalp displayed. Dakota.]

Fig. 752.--Owns-the-Pole, the leader of an Oglala war party, brought

home many Cheyenne scalps. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1798-’99. The

cross stands for Cheyenne, as explained above.

[Illustration: FIG. 753.--Scalped head. Dakota.]

Fig. 753.--Black-Rock, a Dakota, was killed by the Crows.

American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1806-’07. A rock or, more correctly

translated, a large stone is represented above his head. He was killed

with an arrow and was scalped. The figure is introduced here to show

the designation of a scalped head, which is colored red--that is,

bloody--when coloration is possible. It frequently appears in the Winter

Counts of the Dakotas.

[Illustration: FIG. 754.--Scalp taken.]

Fig. 754 was drawn by a Dakota Indian at Mendota, Minnesota, and

represents a man holding a scalp in one hand, while in the other is the

gun, the weapon used in killing the enemy. The short vertical lines

below the periphery of the scalp indicate hair. The line crossing the

leg of the Indian is only a suggestion of the ground upon which he is

supposed to stand.

The following group pictographically expresses the hunting of antelopes.

[Illustration: FIG. 755.--Antelope hunting. Dakota.]

Fig. 755.--They drove many antelope into a corral and then killed them.

Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1828-’29. This and the following two

figures show the old mode of procuring antelope and other animals by

driving them into an inclosure.

[Illustration: FIG. 756.--Antelope hunting. Dakota.]

Fig. 756.--They provided themselves with a large supply of antelope meat

by driving antelope into a corral, in which they were easily killed.

American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1828-’29.

[Illustration: FIG. 757.--Antelope hunting. Dakota.]

Fig. 757.--They capture a great many antelope by driving them into a

pen. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1860-’61.

[Illustration: FIG. 758.--Wife’s punishment.]

Fig. 758.--A woman who had been given to a white man by the Dakotas

was killed because she ran away from him. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count,

1799-1800. The gift of the woman was in fact a sale, and, in addition

to the crime of marital infidelity, the tribe was implicated in a

breach of contract. The union line below the figures, mentioned before,

means husband and wife. This picture illustrates, as far as may be

done pictorially, a Dakotan custom as regards marriage and the penalty

connected with it.

The following figures relate to several different forms:

[Illustration: FIG. 759.--Decorated horse.]

Fig. 759.--They brought in a fine horse with feathers tied to his

tail. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1810-’11. White-Cow-Killer calls

it “Came-with-medicine-on-horse’s-tail winter.” This illustrates the

ornamentation of specially valuable or favorite horses, which, however,

is not mere ornamentation, but often connected with sentiments or

symbols of a religious character, and as often with the totemic, which

from another point of view may also be regarded as religious.

[Illustration: FIG. 760.--Suicide. Dakota.]

Fig. 760.--A young man who was afflicted with smallpox and was in his

tipi by himself sang his death song and shot himself. American-Horse’s

Winter Count, 1784-’85. Suicide is more common among Indians than is

generally suspected, and even boys sometimes take their own lives. A

Dakota boy at one of the agencies shot himself rather than face his

companions after his mother had whipped him; and a Paiute boy at Camp

McDermit, Nevada, tried to poison himself with the wild parsnip because

he was not well and strong like other boys. The Paiutes usually eat the

wild parsnip when bent on suicide.

[Illustration: FIG. 761.--Eagle hunting. Arikara.]

Fig. 761.--A Ree Indian hunting eagles from a hole in the ground was

killed by the Two-Kettle Dakotas. The Swan’s Winter Count, 1806-’07. The

drawing represents an Indian in the act of catching an eagle by the legs

in the manner that the Arikaras were accustomed to catch eagles in their

earth-traps. They rarely or never shot war eagles. The Dakotas probably

shot the Arikara in his trap just as he put his hand up to grasp the

bird.

In this connection Fig. 762 is properly inserted. It is a sketch made

by an Ojibwa hunter to illustrate the manner of catching eagles, the

feathers of which are highly prized by nearly all Indians for personal

decoration and for war bonnets.

[Illustration: FIG. 762.--Eagle hunting. Ojibwa.]

The upper character represents an eagle; the curved line at the right

denotes the covering of branches and leaves of a temporary structure

placed over a hole in the ground in which the Indian is secreted. He is

depicted beneath covering, while a line, extending toward the eagle,

terminates in a small oblong object, which is intended to represent the

bait placed upon the covering to attract the eagle. The bait may consist

of a young deer, a hare, or some other live animal of sufficient size to

attract the eagle. When the latter swoops down and seizes the prey he is

caught by the leg and held until assistants arrive, after which he is

carried back to camp and plucked and is then liberated.

[Illustration: FIG. 763.--Gathering pomme-blanche.]

Fig. 763.--A Ree woman is killed by a Dakota while gathering

pomme-blanche. The-Flame’s Winter Count, 1797-’98. Pomme-blanche, or

navet de prairie, is a white root, somewhat similar in appearance to

a white turnip, botanically Psoralea esculenta (Nuttal) sometimes P.

argophylla. It is a favorite food of the Indians, eaten boiled down to a

sort of mush or hominy. A forked stick is used in gathering these roots.

[Illustration: FIG. 764.--Moving tipi.]

Fig. 764.--Lodge-Roll. Red-Cloud’s Census, No. 101. This figure shows

the mode of rolling up the skins forming the tipi for transportation. It

is attached to four lodge poles, the ends of which trail on the ground

and constitute the “travail” which was dragged by dogs. Horses are now

used for this purpose, and canvas takes the place of skins.

[Illustration: FIG. 765.--Claiming sanctuary.]

Fig. 765.--An enemy came into Lone-Horn’s lodge during the medicine

feast and was not killed. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1852-’53. The pipe is

not in the man’s hand, and the head only is drawn with the pipe between

it and the tipi.

An interesting custom of the Indians connected with the rite of

sanctuary is that called by English writers “running the gauntlet.”

When captives had successfully run through a line of tormentors to a

post near the council-house they were for the time free from further

molestation. In the northeastern tribes this was in the nature of an

ordeal to test whether or not the captive was vigorous and brave enough

to be adopted into the tribe, but among other tribes it appears in a

different shape. Any enemy, whether a captive or not, could secure

immunity from present danger if he could reach a central post, or if

there were no post, the lodge or tipi of the chief. A similar custom

existed among the Arikaras, who kept a special pipe in a “bird-box.” If

a criminal or enemy succeeded in smoking the pipe contained in the box

he could not be hurt. This corresponds with the safety found in laying

hold of the horns of the Israelite altar.

The position of the pipe is significant. Its mouthpiece points to the

entrance of the tipi. The visitor does not bring or offer peace, but

hopes that the tribe visited may grant it to him.

The four figures next following refer to ceremonies by which a war party

was organized among some of the tribes of the Plains. A brief account of

the ceremonies specially relating to the pipe is as follows:

When a warrior desires to make up a war party he visits his friends and

offers them a filled pipe as an invitation to follow him, and those

who are willing to go accept the invitation by lighting and smoking

it. Among the Dakotas this was succeeded by a muster feast and war

dance. Any man whose courage has been proved may become the leader of

a war party. The word leader has been generally translated “partisan,”

an expression originally adopted by the French voyageurs. Among the

Arapahos the would-be leader does not invite anyone to accompany him,

but publicly announces his intention of going to war. He fixes the day

for his departure, and states where he will camp the first night, naming

some place not far off. The morning on which he starts, and before

leaving the village, he invokes the aid of his guardian totem. He rides

off alone, carrying his bare pipe in his hand with the bowl carefully

tied to the stem to prevent it from slipping off. If the bowl should at

any time accidentally fall to the ground he considers it an evil omen

and immediately returns to the village, and nothing could induce him

to proceed, as he thinks that only misfortune would attend him if he

did. Sometimes he ties eagle or hawk plumes to the stem of his pipe,

and after quitting the village, repairs to the top of some hill and

makes an offering of them to the sun, taking them from his pipe and

tying them to a pole which he erects in a pile of stones. Those who

intend to follow him usually join him at the first camp, equipped for

the expedition; but often there are some who do not join him until he

has gone further on. He eats nothing before leaving the village, nor as

long as the sun is up; but breaks his fast at his first camp after the

sun sets. The next morning he begins another fast, to be continued until

sunset. He counts his party, saddles his horse, names some place 6 or 7

miles ahead, where he says he will halt for awhile, and again rides off

alone with his pipe in his hand. After awhile the party follow him in

single file. When they have reached his halting place he tells them to

dismount and let their horses graze. They all then seat themselves on

the ground on the left of the leader, forming a semicircle facing the

sun. The leader fills his pipe, all bow their heads, and, pointing the

stem of the pipe upward, he prays toward the sun, asking that they may

find an abundance of game, that dead shots may be made, so that their

ammunition will not be wasted, but reserved for their enemies; that they

may easily find their enemies and kill them; that they may be preserved

from wounds and death. He makes his petition four times, then lights his

pipe, and after sending a few whiffs of smoke skyward as incense to the

sun, hands the pipe to his neighbor who smokes and passes it on to the

next. It is passed from one to another toward the left, until all have

smoked, the leader refilling it as often as necessary. They then proceed

to their next camp, where probably others join them. The same programme

is carried out for three or four days before the party is prepared for

action.

[Illustration: FIG. 766.--Raising war party. Dakota.]

Fig. 766.--Big Crow and Conquering-Bear had a great feast and gave many

presents. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1846-’47. The two chieftains

are easily recognized by the name characteristic over their heads. They

have between them the war eagle pipe--specifically, but erroneously,

called calumet by some writers.

[Illustration: FIG. 767.--Raising war party. Dakota.]

Fig. 767.--Feather-in-the-Ear made a feast to which he invited all the

young Dakota braves, wanting them to go with him. The-Swan’s Winter

Count, 1842-’43. A memorandum is added that he failed to persuade them.

[Illustration: FIG. 768.--Raising war party. Dakota.]

Fig. 768.--The Cheyennes carry the pipe around to invite all the tribes

to unite with them in a war against the Pawnees. American-Horse’s Winter

Count, 1852-’53.

[Illustration: FIG. 769.--Raising war party. Dakota.]

Fig. 769.--Danced calumet dance before going to war. The-Swan’s Winter

Count, 1804-’05. The specially ornamented pipe becomes the conventional

symbol for the ceremonial organization of a war party.

[Illustration: FIG. 770.--Walrus hunting. Alaska.]

Fig. 770 represents an Alaskan in the water killing a walrus. The

illustration was obtained from a slab of walrus ivory in the museum of

the Alaska Commercial Company of San Francisco.

[Illustration: FIG. 771.--Records carved on ivory. Alaska.]

The carving, Fig. 771, made of a piece of walrus tusk, was copied

from the original in the same museum during the summer of 1882.

Interpretations were verified by Naumoff, a Kadiak half-breed.

_a_ is a native whose left hand is resting against the house, while the

right hangs toward the ground. The character to his right represents a

“Shaman stick” surmounted by the emblem of a bird, a “good spirit,” in

memory of some departed friend. It was suggested that the grave stick

had been erected to the memory of his wife.

_b_ represents a reindeer, but the special import in this drawing is

unknown.

_c_ signifies that one man, the designer, shot and killed another with

an arrow.

_d_ denotes that the narrator has made trading expeditions with a dog

sledge.

_e_ is a sailboat, although the elevated paddle signifies that that was

the manner in which the voyage was best made.

_f_, a dog sled, with the animal hitched up for a journey. The radiating

lines in the upper left hand corner, over the head of the man, are the

rays of the sun.

_g_, a sacred lodge. The four figures at the outer corners of the square

represent the young men placed on guard, armed with bows and arrows, to

keep away those not members of the band, who are depicted as holding

a dance. The small square in the center of the lodge represents the

fireplace. The angular lines extending from the right side of the lodge

to the vertical partition line show in outline the subterranean entrance

to the lodge.

_h_, a pine tree upon which a porcupine is crawling upward.

_i_, a pine tree, from which a bird (woodpecker) is extracting larvæ for

food.

_j_, a bear.

_k_, the designer in his boat holding aloft his double-bladed paddle to

drive fish into a net.

_l_, an assistant fisherman driving fish into the net.

_m_, the net.

The figure over the man (_l_) represents a whale, with harpoon and line

attached, caught by the narrator.

Many customs, such, for instance, as the peculiar arrangement of hair in

any tribe, are embodied in their pictorial designation by other tribes

and often by themselves. Numerous examples are presented in this paper.

In Lord Kingsborough, Vol. VI, p. 45 et seq., is the text relating to

the collection of Mendoza, in Vol. I, Pls. LVIII, to LXII, inclusive,

here presented as Pls. XXXIV to XXXVIII. The textual language is

preserved with some condensation.

Pl. XXXIV exhibits the customs of the Mexicans at the birth of a male

or female infant; the right and ceremony of naming the children and

of afterwards dedicating and offering them at their temples or to the

military profession.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIV

MEXICAN TREATMENT OF NEW-BORN CHILDREN.]

As soon as the mother was delivered of the infant they put it

into a cradle and when it was 4 days old the midwife took the infant

in her arms, naked, and carried it into the court of the mother’s

house, in which court was strewed reeds, or rushes, which they

call tule, upon which was placed a small vessel of water in which

the midwife bathed the infant; and after she had bathed it 3 boys

being seated near the said rushes, eating roasted maize mixed with

boiled beans, which kind of food they named yxcue, which provision

or paste they set before the said boys in order that they might eat

it. After the bathing, or washing, the midwife desired the boys to

pronounce the name aloud, bestowing a new name on the infant which

had been thus bathed; and the name that they gave it was that which

the midwife wished. They first carried out the infant to bathe it.

If it was a boy they carried him, holding his symbol in his hand,

which symbol was the instrument which the father of the infant

employed either in the military profession or in his trade, whether

it was that of a goldsmith, jeweller, or any other; and the said

ceremony having been gone through, the midwife delivered the infant

to his mother. But if the infant was a girl the symbol with which

they carried her to be bathed was a spinning wheel and distaff, with

a small basket and a handful of brooms which were the things which

would afford her occupation when she arrived at a proper age.

They offered the umbilical cord of the male infant together with

the shield and arrows, the symbols with which they carried him to be

bathed, in that spot and place where war was likely to happen with

their enemies, where they buried them in the earth; and they did

the same with that of the female infant, which they in the same way

buried beneath the metate or stone on which they ground meal.

After these ceremonies, when twenty days had expired, the

parents of the infant went with it to the temple, or mesquita,

which they called calmecac, and in the presence of their alfaquis

presented the infant with its offering of mantles and maxtles,

together with some provision; and after the infant had been brought

up by its parents, as soon as it arrived at the proper age, they

delivered him to the superior of the said mezquita, that he might

be there instructed in order that he might afterwards become an

alfaqui; but if the parents resolved that when the infant attained

a fit age he should go and serve in the military profession, they

immediately offered him to the master, making a promise of him,

which master of the young men and boys was named Teachcauh or

Telpuchtlato; which offering they accompanied with a present of

provisions and other things for its celebration; and when the infant

attained a fit age they delivered him up to the said master.

In the plate _a_ is a woman lately delivered; the four roses, _b_,

signify four days, at the completion of which period the midwife carried

forth the new born infant to be bathed; _c_, is the cradle with the

infant; _d_, the midwife; _e_, the symbols; _f_, _g_, _h_, the three

boys who named the new-born infant; _i_, the rushes, with the small

vessel of water; _j_, the brooms, distaff, spinning wheel, and basket;

_k_, the father of the infant; _l_, the superior alfaqui; _m_, the

infant in the cradle, whose parents are offering it at the mezquita;

_n_, the mother of the girl; _o_, the master of the boys and young men.

Kingsborough’s Pl. LIX--here Pl. XXXV, treats of the time and manner in

which the Mexicans instructed their children how they ought to live.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXV

EDUCATION OF MEXICAN CHILDREN, THREE TO SIX YEARS.]

The first section shows how parents corrected their children of 3 years

old by giving them good advice, and the quantity of food which they

allowed them at each meal was half a roll.

The three circles, _a_, indicate 3 years of age; _b_, denotes the father

of the boy; _c_, the boy; _d_, the half of a roll; _e_, the mother of

the girl; _f_, the half of a roll; _g_, the girl of 3 years of age.

The second section represents the parents employed in the same way, in

instructing their children when they attained 4 years of age, when they

began to exercise them by bidding them to do a few slight things. The

quantity of food which they gave them at each meal was a roll.

The father of the boy is shown at _h_; the boy, 4 years of age, at _i_;

_j_, a roll; _k_, the mother of the girl; _l_, a roll; _m_, the girl of

4 years.

The third section shows how the parents employed and exercised their

sons of 5 years of age in tasks of bodily strength; for example, in

carrying loads of wood of slight weight, and in sending them with light

bundles to the tianquez or market place; and the girls of this age

received lessons how they ought to hold the distaff and the spinning

wheel. Their allowance of food was a roll.

In this section, _n_ shows the father of the boy; _o_, two boys of 5

years of age; _p_, a roll; _q_, a roll; _r_, the mother of the girl;

_s_, a roll; _t_, the girl of 5 years of age.

The fourth section shows how parents exercised and employed their sons

of 6 years in personal services, that they might be of some assistance

to their parents; as also in the tianquez, or market places, in picking

up from the ground the grains of maize which lay scattered about, and

the beans and other trifling things which those who resorted to the

market had dropped. The girls were set to spin, and employed in other

useful tasks that they might hereafter, through the said tasks and

works, sedulously shun idleness in order to avoid the bad habits which

idleness is accustomed to cause. The allowance of food which was given

to the boys at each meal was a roll and a half.

The father of the two boys appears at _u_; two boys of 6 years old at

_v_; _w_, a roll and a half; _x_, the mother of the girl: _y_, a roll

and a half; _z_, the girl of 6 years old.

Pl. LX, here Pl. XXXVI, treats of the time and manner in which the

native Mexicans instructed and corrected their sons, that they might

learn to avoid all kinds of sloth and to keep themselves constantly

exercised in profitable things. It is divided into four sections.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVI

EDUCATION OF MEXICAN CHILDREN, SEVEN TO TEN YEARS.]

The first section shows how fathers employed their sons of 7 years old

in giving them nets to fish with; and mothers occupied their daughters

in spinning and in giving them good advice. The allowance of food which

they gave to their sons at each meal was a roll and a half.

The seven points, _a_, signify seven years; _b_, is the father of the

boys; _c_, a roll and a half; _d_, the boy of 7 years old whose father

is instructing him how to fish with the net which he holds in his hands;

_e_, the mother of the girls; _f_, a roll and a half; _g_, the girl of 7

years whom her mother is teaching how to spin.

The second section declares how fathers chastised their sons of 8 years

of age, threatening them with thorns of the aloe, that in case of

negligence and disobedience to their parents they should be punished

with the said thorns. The boys accordingly weep for fear. The quantity

of food which they allowed them consisted of a roll and a half.

The eight points, _h_, signify eight years; _i_, the father of the boys;

_j_, a roll and a half; _k_, the boy of 8 years, whose father threatens

him in case of ill behavior to inflict public punishment upon him with

thorns; _l_, thorns of the aloe; _m_, the mother of the girls; _n_, a

roll and a half; _o_, the girl of 8 years of age, whose mother threatens

her with thorns of the aloe in case of ill behavior; _p_, thorns of the

aloe.

The third section declares how fathers punished with the thorn of the

aloe their sons of 9 years of age, when they were incorrigible and

rebellious toward their parents, by running the said thorns into their

shoulders and bodies. They also corrected their daughters by pricking

their hands with thorns. The allowance of food which they gave them was

a roll and a half.

The nine points, _q_, signify nine years; _r_, a roll and a half; _s_,

the father of the boys; _t_, a boy of 9 years old being found to be

incorrigible, his father runs thorns of the aloe into his body; _u_, the

mother of the girls; _v_, a roll and a half; _w_, the girl of 9 years

old and her mother, who corrects her for her negligence by pricking her

hands with thorns.

The fourth section shows how fathers chastised their sons of 10 years

of age, when they were refractory, by inflicting blows upon them with a

stick and threatening them with other punishments. The quantity and

allowance of food which they gave them was a roll and a half.

The ten points, _x_, signify ten years; _y_, a roll and a half; _z_,

the father of the boys; _aa_, the boy of 10 years old, whose father is

correcting him with a stick; _bb_, the mother of the girl; _cc_, a roll

and a half; _dd_, the girl of 10 years old, whose mother is correcting

her with a stick.

Pl. LXI, here Pl. XXXVII, is in three sections.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVII

EDUCATION OF MEXICAN CHILDREN, ELEVEN TO FOURTEEN YEARS.]

The first section explains that when a boy of 11 years of age

disregarded verbal reproof, his parents obliged him to inhale smoke

of axi through the nostrils, which was a cruel and severe punishment,

that he might be sorry for such conduct and not turn out worthless and

abandoned, but on the contrary employ his time in profitable things.

They gave boys of such an age bread, which consisted of rolls, only by

allowance, that they might learn not to be gormandizers or gluttons.

Girls received similar discipline.

The eleven points, _a_, signify eleven years; _b_, a roll and a half;

_c_, the father of the boys; _d_, the boy of 11 years of age, whose

father is punishing him by obliging him to inhale through the nostrils

the smoke of dried axi; _e_, the smoke or vapor of axi; _f_, the mother

of the girls; _g_, the girl of 11 years, whose mother is punishing her

by making her breathe smoke of axi; _h_, a roll and a half; _i_, the

smoke of axi.

The second section represents that when boys or girls of 12 years of age

would not submit to the reproof or advice of their parents, the father

took the boy and tied his hands and feet and laid him naked on the

ground in some damp and wet place, in which situation he kept him for a

whole day, in order that by this punishment he might amend and fear his

displeasure. And the mother obliged the girl of the said age to work by

night before break of day, employing her in sweeping the house and the

street and continually occupying her in personal tasks. They gave them

food likewise by allowance.

The points, _j_, indicate twelve years; _k_, a roll and a half; _l_, the

father of the boys; _m_, the boy of 12 years of age, stretched upon the

wet ground, with his hands and feet tied, for a whole day; the painting

at _n_ signifies the night; _o_, the mother of the girls; _p_, a roll

and a half; _q_, the girl of 12 years of age, who is employed by night

in sweeping.

The third section of this plate represents that boys and girls of 13

years of age were occupied by their parents, the boys in fetching wood

from the mountains and in bringing reed grass and other litter in canoes

for the use of the house; and the girls in grinding meal and making

bread, and preparing other articles of food for their parents. They gave

the boys for their allowance of food two rolls each at each meal.

The father of the boys is represented at _r_; the points, _s_, indicate

thirteen years; _t_, two rolls; _u_, the boy of 13 years old, who brings

a load of reed grass; _v_, the boy in a canoe, with bundles of canes;

_w_, the mother of the girls; _x_, the girl of 13 years of age, who

makes cakes and prepares articles of food; _y_, two cakes; _z_, a bowl;

_aa_, the comali; _bb_, a pot for boiling provisions in and two cakes.

The fourth section of this plate represents how their parents employed

and occupied a boy or girl of 14 years of age, the boy in going in a

canoe to fish in the lakes, and the girl in the task of weaving a piece

of cloth. Their allowance of food was two rolls.

The fourteen points, _cc_, represent fourteen years; _dd_, two rolls;

_ee_, the father of the boys; _ff_, the boy of 14 years of age, who goes

out fishing with his canoe; _gg_, the mother of the girls; _hh_, two

rolls; _ii_, the girl of 14 years, who is occupied in weaving; _jj_, the

web and occupation of weaving.

The figures of Pl. LXII, here Pl. XXXVIII, are in two sections.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVIII

ADOPTION OF PROFESSION AND MARRIAGE, MEXICAN.]

Those contained in the first section signify that the father, who had

sons nearly grown up, carried them to the two houses represented in the

plate; either to the house of the master, who taught and instructed

the young men, or to the mezquita, accordingly as the lad was himself

inclined, and committed him to the care of the superior Alfaqui or to

the master of the boys, to be educated, which lads it was fit should

have attained the age of 15.

In this section _a_ is a youth of 15 years of age, whose father delivers

him up to the superior Alfaqui, that he might receive him as an Alfaqui;

_b_ is the Tlamazqui, who is the superior Alfaqui; _c_, the mezquita,

named Calmecac; _d_, the father of these two youths; _e_, a young man of

15, whose father delivers him up to the master that he might teach and

instruct him; _f_, the teachcauh or master; _g_, the seminary where they

educated and taught the young men, which was called cuincacali; _h_,

fifteen years.

The second section of the plate signifies the laws and usages which they

followed and observed in marriages. The ceremony consisted in the female

negotiator, who arranged the nuptials, carrying on her back on the first

night of the wedding the betrothed woman, accompanied by four women with

blazing torches of resinous fir, who attended to light her on the way;

and having arrived at the house of the man to whom she was engaged, the

parents of the betrothed man went out to receive her in the court of the

house and conducted her to an apartment where the man expected her; and

seating the betrothed couple on a mat on which were placed seats, near

a hearth of fire, they took them and tied them to each other by their

clothes and offered incense of copal to their gods. Two old men and two

women afterward delivered a separate discourse to the newly married

couple and set food before them, which they presently ate; and after

their repast was over, the two old men and women gave good advice to the

married pair, telling them how they ought to conduct themselves and to

live, and by what means they might pass their lives in tranquillity.

The square inclosure, _i_, is the apartment; _j_, the old man; _k_,

the hearth, of fire; _l_, the wife; _m_, copal (the latter is not

shown in the drawing, but the copal is between the marrying couple);

_n_, the husband; _o_, the old woman; _p_, the old man; _q_, food; _r_,

a mat; _s_, food; _t_, an old woman; _u_, a pitcher of pulque; _v_, a

cup; _w_, _x_, the women lighting the bride on her way with torches,

when on the first night of the wedding they accompany her to the house

of the bridegroom; _y_, the female negotiator; _z_, the bride; _aa_,

_bb_, women lighting the bride and bridegroom on the first night of

their wedding.

SECTION 3.

GAMES.

Many accounts of the games of the Indians have been published, but they

are not often connected with pictography. Those now presented refer to

the picturing connected with only three games.

[Illustration: FIG. 772.--Haka game. Dakota.]

Fig. 772.--A dead man was used in the ring-and-pole game.

American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1779-’80.

The figure represents the stick and ring used in the game of haka, with

a human head in front to suggest that the corpse took the place of the

usual stick. This and the next figure illustrate the game.

[Illustration: FIG. 773.--Haka game. Dakota.]

Fig. 773.--It was an intensely cold winter and a Dakota froze to death.

American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1777-’78.

The sign for snow or winter, i. e., a cloud with snow falling from it,

is above the man’s head. A haka-stick, which is used in playing that

game, is represented in front of him.

Battiste Good’s record further explains the illustration by the account

that the Dakota was killed in a fight with the Pawnees, and his

companions left his body where they supposed it would not be found, but

the Pawnees found it, and, as it was frozen stiff, they dragged it into

their camp and played haka with it.

[Illustration: FIG. 774.--Haida gambling stick.]

The characters _a_ and _b_, Fig. 774, represent one point of view of two

of a set of Haida gambling sticks, real size. They are made of juniper

or some other similar wood, and neatly carved with diverse figures. The

game is played by any number of persons, and it would seem with any

number of marked sticks. A dealer sits on the ground with a pile of

shredded cedar bark in front of him, and with much ceremony draws out

the sticks one by one without looking at them and passes them to the

players, in turn, who sit in front of him.

Each device counts a certain number, in a manner similar to the devices

on ordinary playing cards, and the winning is by the high and low

or the definite and specific values of the sticks decided upon in

variations of the games. These sticks are cylindrical, and to illustrate

the characters on them, _c_ is presented, which shows the whole round of

the character _b_. This exhibits the typical Haida style. An excellent

collection of these pictured sticks is in the U. S. National Museum, No.

73552.

Dr. Fewkes (_c_) reports as follows:

Among the very interesting games played by the Hopi Indians is

one of ethnological interest, which is allied to a game described

by the early Spanish historians of the Mexicans. This game,

to-to-lós-pi, resembles somewhat the game of checkers and can be

played by two persons or by two parties. In playing the game a

rectangular figure, divided into a large number of squares, is drawn

upon the rock, either by scratching or by using a different colored

stone as a crayon. (Figures of this game formerly existed on the

rocks near the village of Wál-pi.) A diagonal line, tūh-ki-o-ta,

is drawn across the rectangle from northwest to southeast, and the

players station themselves at each end of this line.

When two parties play, a single person acts as player and the

other members of the party act as advisers. The first play is won

by tossing up a leaf or corn husk with one side blackened. The

pieces which are used are bean or corn kernels, stones, and wood,

or small fragments of any substance of marked color. The players

were stationed at each end of the diagonal line, tūh-ki-o-ta.

They move their pieces upon this line, but never across it. The

moves which are made are intricate and the player may move one or

more pieces successively. Certain positions entitle him to this

privilege. He may capture or, as he terms it, kill one or more of

his opponent’s pieces at one play. In this respect the game is

not unlike checkers, and to capture the pieces of the opponent seems

to be the main object of the game. The checkers, however, must be

concentrated and always moved towards the southeast corner.

This game is now rarely played on the East Mesa, but is still

used at O-rai-be. It is said to have been played in ancient times by

the sun and moon or by other mythical personages.

Turning now to old Mexico, we find that the Spanish chronicles

give an account of a Mexican game called patolli, which was played

with colored stones. The squares were made of a cross-shaped figure,

and the stones were moved according to the throws of beans which

were marked upon one side.

A discussion of the “ghost gamble,” with many illustrations, some

of which show marks which, in a broad sense, may be classed as

pictographic, is published in the paper “Study of the mortuary customs

of the North American Indians,” by Dr. H. C. Yarrow (_a_), U. S. Army.

Colored pebbles found in the grotto of Mas d’Azil, in the department of

the Ariège, France, have lately awakened some discussion. These pebbles

were selected as being narrow and flat, and, with rare exceptions, are

no more than 9 centimeters in length. They were colored with red oxide

of iron. Many of the designs could have been made by the end of a finger

anointed with the coloring matter, but others would have required a

small pencil. The coloring matter was thick and probably fixed by grease

or glue, which time has destroyed. The color now disappears on the

least rubbing. Its preservation until now has been owing to the fact

that the pebbles were left undisturbed in the cindery layer where they

were deposited. Only one of the faces of the pebbles bears a design,

and generally their border is ornamented by a narrow band of red,

resembling a frame to the design, the color being applied in the same

manner as to the latter. Fig. 775 gives examples though without color

of these pebbles. They are selected from a plate in L’Anthropologie

(_d_) illustrating the text by Émile Cartailbac, who declines to offer

any hypothesis concerning the use of these objects. But to an observer

familiar with the gambling games of the North American Indians in which

marked plum stones, and similar objects are employed, these stained flat

pebbles at once suggest their use to decide the values in a game by the

several designs and by the pebbles falling on the figured or on the

unmarked side.

[Illustration: FIG. 775.--Pebbles from Mas d’Azil.]

CHAPTER XVI.

HISTORY.

It is seldom possible to distinguish by pictographs, or indeed to decide

from oral accounts obtained from Indians, whether those purporting to be

historical have a genuine basis or are merely traditions connected with

myths. This chapter may therefore be correlated with Chapter IX, section

5, which has special relation to traditions as mnemonically pictured.

The notes now following are considered to refer to actual events or to

explain the devices used in the record of such events.

The account by Dr. Brinton (_c_) of the Walum-Olum or bark record of the

Lenni-Lenapé, as also some of Schoolcraft’s pictographic illustrations,

may with some propriety be regarded as historic, but are so well known

that their specific citation is needless.

The American Indians have not produced detailed historic pictures, such

as appear on the Column of Trajan, and the Bayeux tapestry, with such

excellence in art as to be self-interpreting. Neither do they equal in

this respect the Egyptian and Assyrian sculptures, which portray the

ordering of battle, the engineering work of sieges, the plan of camps,

and the tactical moves of chieftains. Those sculptures also depict the

whole civil and domestic lives of the peoples of the several nations. In

some of these particulars the Mexicans approached these graphic details,

as is shown below, but, as a rule, in the three divisions of America,

history was noted and preserved by ideographic methods supplementing the

incompleteness of artistic skill.

With regard to the advance gained by the Mexicans reference is made,

with regret that copious quotation is impossible, to the essay of Henry

Phillips, jr. (_a_), and to the monumental work of Eugène Boban, before

cited. It will be noticed by students that ideography and its attendant

conventionalism continually appear in the pictographic histories

mentioned. The original authors had not advanced very far in art, but

they had not lost the thought-language, which preceded art.

The subject is here divided into: (1) Record of expedition; (2) Record

of battle; (3) Record of migration; (4) Record of sociologic events.

SECTION 1.

RECORD OF EXPEDITION.

The following account from Lafitau (_a_) explains the device for

prisoner, under the heading of marked sticks, in Chapter IX, section 2,

supra:

The most grievous time for them is at night; for every evening

they are extended on their backs almost naked, with no other bed

than the earth, in which four stakes are driven for each prisoner;

to these their arms and legs are attached, spread apart in the form

of a St. Andrew’s cross. To a fifth stake a halter is tied, which

holds the prisoner by the neck and is wound around it three or four

times. Finally, he is bound around the middle of the body by another

halter or girdle, the two ends of which are taken by the person in

charge of the captive and placed under his head while he sleeps,

so that he will be awakened if the prisoner makes any movement to

escape.

With the same object of explaining pictographic devices, the following

is extracted from James’s Long (_h_):

Returning war parties of the Omaha peel off a portion of the

bark from a tree, and on the trunk thus denuded and rendered

conspicuous, they delineate hieroglyphics with vermilion or

charcoal, indicative of the success or misfortune of the party, in

their proceedings against the enemy. These hieroglyphics are rudely

drawn, but are sufficiently significant to convey the requisite

intelligence to another division of the party, that may succeed

them. On this rude chart the combatants are generally represented by

small straight lines, each surmounted by a head-like termination,

and are readily distinguishable from each other; the arms and legs

are also represented when necessary to record the performance of

some particular act or to exhibit a wound. Wounds are indicated by

the representation of the dropping of blood from the part; an arrow

wound, by adding a line for the arrow, from which the Indian is

able to estimate with some accuracy its direction, and the depth to

which it entered. The killed are represented by prostrate lines;

equestrians are also particularized, and if wounded or killed they

are seen to spout blood or to be in the act of falling from their

horses. Prisoners are denoted by their being led, and the number of

captured horses is made known by the number of lunules representing

their track. The number of guns taken may be ascertained by bent

lines, on the angle of which is something like the prominences of

the lock. Women are portrayed with short petticoats and prominent

breasts, and unmarried females by the short queues at the ears.

In Margry (_e_) there is an account of La Salle’s finding in 1683 on

the bark of a tree a record of the party of Tonty’s pilot. The picture

was that of a man with the costumes and general appearance of the pilot

who had deserted, another man tied as a captive, and four scalps. This

corresponded with the facts afterwards learned. The pilot had been left

free, another man kept alive, and four killed, thus accounting for the

lost party of six. The record had been made by the captors.

The figures in the following group, taken from several of the Winter

Counts of the Dakotas, picture a number of important expeditions, all of

which are independently known. Some of them are narrated in the official

documents of the United States.

[Illustration: FIG. 776.]

Fig. 776. The Oglalas, Brulés, Minneconjous, San Arcs, and Cheyennes

united in an expedition against the Crows. They surprised and captured

a village of thirty lodges, killed all the men and took the women and

children prisoners. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1801-’02.

The three tipis stand for thirty; the spots in the original are red for

blood.

[Illustration: FIG. 777.]

Fig. 777. The Oglalas and Minneconjous took the war-path against the

Crows and stole three hundred horses. The Crows followed them and killed

eight of the party. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1863-’64. Eight

scalped heads are portrayed.

[Illustration: FIG. 778.]

Fig. 778. The Dakotas assaulted and took a Crow village of a hundred

lodges. They killed many and took many prisoners. American-Horse’s

Winter Count, 1820-’21.

[Illustration: FIG. 779.]

Fig. 779. The Oglalas helped Gen. Mackenzie to whip the Cheyennes.

American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1876-’77. The head of the Indian on which

is the ornamented war bonnet represents the man who was the first to

enter the Cheyenne village, which is figured by the tipis in a circle.

The hatted, i. e., white man holding up three fingers is Gen. Mackenzie,

who, as was explained by the interpreter, is placed upon the head of the

Dakota to indicate that the Dakotas backed or assisted him, but it may

mean that he commanded or was at the head of the party. The other white

man is Gen. Crook, or Three Stars, as indicated by the three stars above

him, and as he is called in another record. This designation might be

suggested from the uniform, but it is not accurate. Gen. Crook’s rank

as major-general of volunteers, or as brevet major-general in the Army,

did not entitle him to more than two stars on his shoulder straps. It is

possible that one of the stars in this figure belongs to Gen. Mackenzie.

[Illustration: FIG. 780.]

Fig. 780. The Dakotas joined the whites in an expedition up the Missouri

river against the Rees. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1823-’24.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Old-corn-plenty-winter.”

The union line between the Indian and the white soldier shows that on

this occasion they were allies.

[Illustration: FIG. 781.]

Fig. 781. United States troops fought Ree Indians. The-Swan’s Winter

Count, 1823-’24.

This and the preceding figure are signs of a specially interesting

expedition, a condensed account of which follows taken from the annual

report of J. C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, November 29, 1823:

Gen. William H. Ashley, a licensed trader, was treacherously

attacked by the Arickaras at their village on the west bank of the

Missouri river, about midway between the present Fort Sully and Fort

Rice. Twenty-three of the trading party were killed and wounded,

and the remainder retreated in boats and sent appeals for succor

to the commanding officer at Fort Atkinson, the present site of

Council Bluffs. This officer was Col. H. Leavenworth, Sixth United

States Infantry, who marched June 22, with 220 men of that regiment,

80 men of trading companies, and two 6-pound cannon, a 5-1/2-inch

brass howitzer, and some small swivels, nearly 700 miles through

a country filled with hostile or unreliable Indians, to the Ree

villages, which he reached on the 9th of August. The Dakotas were

at war with the Arickara or Rees, and 700 to 800 of their warriors

had joined the United States forces on the way; of these Dakotas 500

are mentioned as Yanktons, but the tribes of the remainder are not

designated. The Rees were in two villages, the lower one containing

seventy-one dirt lodges and the upper seventy, both being inclosed

with palisades and a ditch and the greater part of the lodges having

a ditch around the bottom on the inside. The enemy, having knowledge

of the expedition, had fortified and made every preparation for

resistance. Their force consisted of over 700 warriors, most of

whom were armed with rifles procured from British traders. On the

9th of August the Dakotas commenced the attack and were driven back

until the regular troops advanced, but nothing decisive resulted

until the artillery was employed on the 10th, when a large number of

the Rees, including their chief, Gray Eyes, were killed, and early

in the afternoon the survivors begged for peace. They were much

terrified and humbled by the effect of the cannon, which, though

small, answered the purpose. During the main engagement the Dakotas

occupied themselves in gathering and carrying off all the corn to be

found.

See also the record of Lean-Wolf’s expedition in Fig. 452.

SECTION 2.

RECORD OF BATTLE.

Lafitau (_b_) gives the following account, translated with condensation,

of the records of expedition, battle, etc., made by the Iroquois and

northeastern Algonquins:

The designs which the Indians have tattooed on their faces and

bodies are employed as hieroglyphics, writing, and records. When

an Indian returns from war and wishes to make his victory known

to the neighboring nations through whose country he passes, when

he has chosen a hunting ground and wishes it to be known that he

has selected it for himself and that it would be an affront to him

for others to establish themselves there, he supplies the lack

of an alphabet by those characteristic symbols which distinguish

him personally; he paints on a piece of bark, which is raised on

a pole by a place of passage [trail], or he cuts away some pieces

from a tree trunk with his hatchet, and, after having made a smooth

surface, traces his portrait and adds other characters, which give

all the information that he desires to convey.

When I say that he draws his portrait, it will be understood

that he is not skillful enough to delineate all the features of

his face in such a manner that it would be recognized. They have,

indeed, no other way of painting than that monogrammatic or linear

painting, which consists of little more than the mere outlines of

the shadow of the body rather than of the body itself--a picture

so imperfect that it was often necessary to add below the name of

the object which was intended to be represented in order to make it

known.

The Indian then, to represent his portrait, draws a simple

outline in the form of a head, adding scarcely any marks to indicate

the eyes, nose, ears, or other features of the face. In place of

these he draws the designs which are tattoed upon his own face, as

well as those upon his breast, and which are peculiar to him and

render him recognizable not only to those who have seen him, but

even to all who, knowing him only by reputation, are acquainted

with his hieroglyphic symbol, as formerly in Europe an individual

was distinguished by his device and as we to-day know a family by

its armorial bearings. About his head he paints the object which

expresses his name; the Indian, for example, called the Sun paints

a sun; at the right he traces the animals which are the symbols of

the nation and family to which he belongs. That of the nation is

above the one representing the family, and the beak or muzzle of

the former is so placed that it corresponds to the place of his

right ear, as if this symbolic figure of his nation represented its

spirit, which inspires him. If this Indian is returning from war,

he represents beneath his portrait the number of warriors composing

the party which he leads, and beneath the warriors the number of

prisoners made and those whom he has killed by his own hand. At the

left side are indicated his expeditions and the prisoners or scalps

taken by those of his party. The warriors are represented with their

weapons or simply by lines; the prisoners by the stick decorated

with feathers and by the chichikoue or tortoise-shell rattle, which

are the marks of their slavery; the scalps or the dead by the

figures of men, women, or children without heads. The number of

expeditions is designated by mats. He distinguishes those which he

has accompanied from those which he has commanded by adding strings

[of wampum] to the latter. If the Indian goes as an ambassador of

peace all the symbols are of a pacific nature. He is represented

below his portrait with the calumet in his hand; at the left is seen

an enlarged figure of the calumet, the symbolic figure of the nation

with which he goes to treat, and the number of those who accompany

him on the embassy.

The same author, on page 194 of the same volume, explains how the mat or

mattress came to mean war:

The Iroquois and the Hurons call war n’ondoutagette and

gaskenrhagette. The final verb gagetton, which is found in the

composition of these two words, and which signifies to bear or to

carry, shows, verily, that heretofore something was borne to it [i.

e., to war], which was a symbol of it [i. e., of war] to such a

degree that it [war] had assumed its [the symbol’s] designation. The

term ondouta signifies the down [the wool-like substance] which is

taken from the ear [cat-tails] of marsh reeds, and it also denotes

the entire plant, which they use in making the mattresses [nattes]

upon which they lie; so that it appears that they applied this term

to war because every warrior in this kind of expeditions carried

with him his own mattress; in fact, the mattress is still to-day the

symbol employed in their hieroglyphic picture-writing to denote the

number of their campaigns.

Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, in Science, April 1, 1892, has gone deeper into

the etymology of the words quoted, but coincides generally with Father

Lafitau in the explanation that they were denotive of the custom of the

Iroquoian warrior to carry his mattress when on the warpath.

Figs. 782 and 783 are reproductions of Lafitau’s (_c_) illustrations,

which were explained as follows by him:

[Illustration: FIG. 782.--Record of battle.]

Fig. 782 shows that the Indian called Two-Feathers, _a_ _b_, of the

Crane nation _c_, and the Buffalo family _d_, accompanied by fifteen

warriors _h_, has made one prisoner _f_, and taken three scalps _g_, on

his sixth expedition _k_, and on the fourth, when he commanded it, _i_.

[Illustration: FIG. 783.--Record of battle.]

Fig. 783 relates that the Indian named Two-Arrows _a_, of the nation of

the Deer _c_, and the Wolf family _d_, has gone as an ambassador bearing

the calumet of peace to the Bear nation _e_, accompanied by thirty

persons _h_. In both figures the Indian is not only represented by his

“hieroglyph,” but he is also pictured at full length in the first with

his arms, and in the second holding the calumet and the rattle.

[Illustration: FIG. 784.--Battle of 1797. Ojibwa.]

A historical record relating to a fight between the Ojibwa and the

Dakota ninety-one years ago is given in Fig. 784. The following

narrative was given by the draftsman of the record, an Ojibwa:

Ninety-one winters ago (A. D. 1797) twenty-five Ojibwa were encamped

on a small lake, _o_, called Zi'zabe'gamik, just west of Mille Lacs,

Minnesota. The chief’s lodge, _a_, was erected a short distance from the

lake, _m_, where the Indians had been hunting, and as he felt unsafe

on account of the hostile Sioux he directed some of his warriors to

reconnoiter south of the lower lake, where they soon discovered a body

of three hundred of their enemies. The chief of the reconnoitering

party, _b_, sent back word for the women and children to be removed to a

place of safety, but three of the old women refused to go. Their lodges

are represented in _c_, _d_, and _e_. Five Ojibwa escaped through the

brush, in a northwest direction (indicated in _f_).

The Sioux surrounded the lake and the fight took place on the ice.

Twenty of the Ojibwa were killed, the last to die being the chief of

the party, who, from appearances, was beaten to death with a tomahawk;

_g_ represents three bearskins; _h_, _i_, and _j_, respectively, deer,

grouse, and turtle, the kinds of game hunted there during the several

seasons. The canoe _k_ indicates the manner of hunting along the shore

and the stream connecting the lakes, _l_, _m_, and _o_.

The Ojibwa frequently spent part of a season at the middle lake, _m_,

and at another time had been engaged in a skirmish with the Sioux

farther north, on the small lake indicated at _o_. The Ojibwa had been

scattered about, but when the attack was made by the Sioux the former

rapidly came to the rescue both by boat, _p_, and on foot, _q_, so that

the enemy was gradually driven off. In the first mentioned battle 70

Sioux were killed, their bodies being subsequently buried in the lake by

cutting holes through the ice. The openings are shown at _r_, the lines

representing bodies ready to be cast down into the water.

Baron Lahontan (_b_) says:

When a Party of (Algonkin) Savages have routed their enemies in

any Place whatsoever, the Conquerors take care to pull the Bark off

the Trees for the height of five or six Foot in all Places where

they stop in returning to their own Country; and in honour of their

Victory paint certain images with Coal pounded and beat up with Fat

and Oyl. These Pictures continue upon the peel’d Tree for ten or

twelve Years, as if they were Grav’d, without being defac’d by the

Rain.

The same author, on page 86, _et seq._, of the same volume, gives an

illustration, with descriptive explanation, of a pictographic record

supposed to be made by the Canadian Algonquins. The explanation is

useful as indicating the principles of pictography adopted by the North

American Indians for a record of that character, but it is not deemed

proper to reproduce the illustration here. It has often been copied, but

it is misleading in its artistic details. It is obviously drawn by a

European artist as his own interpretation of a verbal description of the

record.

The more valuable parts of the explanation are condensed as follows, the

quaint literation of the early translation being retained:

The Arms of France, with an Ax above. Now the Ax is a Symbol of

War among the Savages as the Calumet is the Bond of Peace: So that

this imports that the French have taken up the Ax, or have made a

Warlike Expedition with as many tens of Men as there are Marks or

Points Round the Figure. These marks are eighteen in number and so

they signifie an Hundred and eighty Warriors.

A Mountain that represents the City of Monreal and the Fowl upon

the Wing at the top signifies Departure. The Moon upon the Back

of the Stag signifies the first Quarter of the July Moon which is

call’d the Stag-Moon.

A Canow, importing that they have travel’d by Water as many Days

as you see Huts in the Figure, i. e., 21 Days [the huts undoubtedly

mean stopping places for night shelters].

A foot, importing that after their Voyage by Water they march’d

on Foot as many Days as there are Huts design’d; that is, seven

Days Journeys for Warriors, each Days Journey being as much as five

common French Leagues, or five of those which are reckon’d to be

twenty in a Degree.

A Hand and three Huts, which signifie that they are got within

three Days Journey of the Iroquese Tsonnontouans [Senecas], whose

Arms are a Hut with two trees leaning downwards, as you see them

drawn. The Sun imports that they were just to the Eastward of the

Village.

Twelve marks, signifying so many times ten Men like those

last mentioned. The Hut with two Trees being the Arms of the

Tsonnontouans, shows that they were of that Nation; and the Man in a

lying posture speaks that they were surpris’d.

In this row there appears a Club and eleven Heads, importing

that they had kill’d eleven Tsonnontouans, and the five men standing

upright upon the five Marks signifie that they took as many times

ten prisoners of War.

Nine Heads in an Arch [i. e., Bow] the meaning of which is, that

nine of the Aggressors or of the Victorious side were kill’d; and

the twelve Marks underneath signifie that as many were Wounded.

Arrows flying in the air, some to one side and some to the

other, importing a vigorous Defence on both sides.

The arrows all point one way, which speaks the worsted Party

either flying or fighting upon a Retreat in disorder.

The meaning of the whole is: A hundred and eighty French soldiers set

out from Montreal in the first quarter of the month of July and sailed

twenty-one days; after which they marched 35 leagues over land and

surprised 120 Senecas on the east side of their village, 11 of whom

were killed and 50 taken prisoners; the French sustaining the loss of 9

killed and 12 wounded, after a very obstinate engagement.

Fig. 785 is a reproduction of a drawing by a Winnebago Indian of the

battle of Hard river, fought against a large force of Sioux by Gen.

Sully’s command, with which was a company of Winnebagos.

[Illustration: FIG. 785.--Battle of Hard river, Winnebago.]

_a._ Gen. Sully’s camp, on the left bank of Hard river, from

which camp the company of Winnebagos were sent across the river.

_b._ The Winnebagos skirmishing with a party of hostile Sioux.

Two Winnebagos, having gone ahead of the main party, came first upon

about thirty Sioux, who immediately gave chase. The two Winnebagos

are represented endeavoring to escape arrows from pursuing Sioux

flying about them, and the blood from the horse of one of them

flowing over the ground. The rest of the Winnebagos are coming to

rescue their companions.

_c._ Gen. Sully’s entire force, after crossing Hard river, were

assailed by a number of Sioux. Gen. Sully’s forces formed in hollow

square to repulse the Sioux, who with loud yells went galloping

about them, trying to stampede horses or throw his men into

confusion.

_d._ The camp of the Sioux, the women and children escaping over

the hills. One squaw was left in the camp and with her papoose is

seen. One of the Sioux previously wounded was found dead and was

scalped, a representation of which operation the artist has given.

[Illustration: FIG. 786.--Battle between Ojibwa and Sioux.]

Fig. 786 is a copy of a birch-bark record made and also explained by the

leader of the expedition referred to.

In 1858 a war party of Mille Lacs Ojibwa Indians, _a_, under the

leadership of Shahâsh'king, _b_, went to attack Shákopi’s camp, _c_,

of Sioux at St. Peter’s river, _d_. Shákopi is represented at _e_. The

Ojibwa lost one man, _f_, at the St. Peter’s river, while the Ojibwa

killed five Sioux, but succeeded in securing only one arm of an Indian,

_g_.

The line _h_ is the trail followed between Mille Lacs, _a_, and

Shákopi’s camp, _c_. The spots at _c_ designate the location of lodges,

while the vertical line with short ones extending from it, _i_,

signifies the prairie with trees growing near camp.

[Illustration: FIG. 787.--Megaque’s last battle.]

Fig. 787 is the pictorial story of Megaque’s last battle, drawn on birch

bark by the Passamaquoddy chief, Sapiel Selmo, with his interpreted

description.

In the old times there was a certain Indian chief and hunter. He

was so cruel and brave in time of war and his success in conquering

his enemies and taking so many scalps was so great that he was

called Megaque, or the Scalping Man. In hunting seasons he always

went to his hunting grounds with his warriors to defend and guard

their hunting grounds from the trespassing of other hunters. He was

well known by other Indians for his bravery and his cruelty to his

prisoners. He conquered so many other warriors and tortured them

that he was hated, and they tried to capture him alive. Some of

the warriors from other tribes gathered an army and marched to his

hunting grounds when they knew that he could not escape from their

hands. When they come near where he is they send messengers to him

and notify him of the approaching army; he is out hunting when they

reach his camp, but they make marks on a piece of birch bark, a

figure of an Indian warrior with tomahawk in one hand and spear in

the other, similar to that seen in _g_, which is put up in a village

of wigwams, _i_. When Megaque returned from his hunt and found

someone had visited him during his absence, he also found the pieces

of bark which read to mean a band of warriors. He has no time. He

was so brave and proud he did not try to escape. In a day or two the

band of warriors had reached him. After fighting, when he killed

many as usual, he was finally captured and taken to the enemy’s

country to be tortured. He can stand all the usual tortures bravely

and sing his usual war songs while he is tormented. Finally he was

killed.

The following is the explanation of the details: _a_, Megaque;

_b_, his braves; _c_, the course by which the enemy comes; _d_,

_e_, _f_, Megaque’s rivers and lakes; _g_, the enemy; _h_, their

warriors; _i_, their village; _j_, river boundary line.

The figures now following are those notices of battle pictured in the

several Winter Counts which have been selected as being of more than

ordinary interest either from the importance and notoriety of the events

or from their mode of delineation:

[Illustration: FIG. 788.]

Fig. 788.--The Oglalas killed three lodges of Omahas. Cloud-Shield’s

Winter Count, 1785-’86. The Omaha is prostrate and scalped.

[Illustration: FIG. 789.]

Fig. 789.--The Omahas made an assault on a Dakota village.

Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1802-’03. Bullets are flying back and

forth. The single rider represents the whole of the troop. He is

partially covered by the shield and the horse’s neck, behind which he

hangs in a manner common among the Indian horsemen. The ornamented

shield with its device of a displayed eagle, and the lance with eagle

feather for a pennon, recalls the equipments of chivalry.

[Illustration: FIG. 790.]

Fig. 790.--The Dakotas and Pawnees fought on the ice on the North Platte

river. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1836-’37. The Dakotas were on the

north side (the right-hand side in the figure), the Pawnees on the south

side (the left in the figure). Horsemen and footmen on the left are

opposed to footmen on the right. Both sides have guns and bows, as shown

by the bullet-marks and the arrows. Blood-stains are on the ice.

[Illustration: FIG. 791.]

Fig. 791.--The Dakotas fought the Pawnees across the ice on the North

Platte. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1836-’37. The man on the left is a

Pawnee. This is a variant of the preceding figure, far less graphically

expressed.

[Illustration: FIG. 792.]

Fig. 792.--The Dakotas fought with the Cheyennes. Cloud-Shield’s Winter

Count, 1834-’35. The stripes on the arm are for Cheyenne, as before

explained.

[Illustration: FIG. 793.]

Fig. 793.--White-Bull and thirty other Oglalas were killed by the Crows

and Shoshoni. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1845-’46.

[Illustration: FIG. 794.]

Fig. 794.--Mato-wayuhi, Conquering-Bear, was killed by white soldiers,

and thirty white soldiers were killed by the Dakotas, 9 miles below

Fort Laramie. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1854-’55. The thirty

black dots in three lines stand for the soldiers, and a red stain at

the end of the line, starting from the pictured discharge of a gun,

means killed. The head covered with a fatigue cap further shows the

soldiers were white. Indian soldiers are usually represented in a circle

or semicircle. The gesture-sign for white soldier means “all in line,”

and is made by placing the nearly closed hands, with palms forward and

thumbs near together, in front of the body and then separating them

laterally about 2 feet.

[Illustration: FIG. 795.]

Fig. 795.--The Dakotas killed one hundred white men at Fort Phil.

Kearny. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1866-’67. The hats and the

cap-covered head represent the whites; the red spots, the killed; the

circle of characters around them, rifle or arrow shots; the black

strokes, Dakota footmen; and the hoof-prints, Dakota horsemen. The Phil.

Kearny massacre occurred December 21, 1866, and eighty-two whites were

killed, including officers, citizens, and enlisted men. Capt. W. J.

Fetterman was in command of the party.

THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN.

Dr. Charles E. McChesney, acting assistant surgeon, U. S. Army, has

communicated a most valuable and unique account, both in carefully noted

gesture-signs and in pictographs, of the battle, now much discussed,

which was fought in Montana on June 25, 1876, and is popularly but

foolishly styled “Custer’s massacre.” If the intended surprise, with

the object of killing as many Indians as possible, had been successful

instead of being a disastrous defeat, any surviving Indians might with

some propriety have spoken of “Custer’s massacre.” The account now

presented in one of its forms, was given by Red-Horse, a Sioux chief

and a prominent actor in the battle. The form which gives the relation

in gesture-signs and shows the syntax of the sign-language perhaps

better than any published narrative, will be inserted in a work now

in preparation by the present writer to be issued by the Bureau of

Ethnology. The narrative, closely translated into simple English, is

given below. Accompanying the record of signs are forty-one sheets

of manila paper, besides one map of the battle ground, all drawn by

Red-Horse, which average 24 by 26 inches, most of them being colored.

These may either be considered as illustrations of the signs or the

signs may be considered as descriptive of the pictographs. It is

impossible to reproduce now this mass of drawing on any scale which

would not be too minute for appreciation. It has been decided to

present, with necessary reduction from the above-mentioned dimensions,

the map and nine of the typical sheets in Pls. XXXIX to XLVIII. Indeed,

without considering the space required, there would be small advantage

in reproducing all of the sheets, as they are made objectionable by

monotonous repetitions.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIX

MAP OF LITTLE BIG HORN BATTLE FIELD.]

Here follows the story of Red-Horse. Pl. XXXIX is the map of the

Little-Bighorn battlefield and adjacent territory, embracing part of

Montana and the Dakotas, drawn at Cheyenne River agency, South Dakota,

in 1881. The map as now presented is reduced to one-sixteenth from the

original, which is drawn in colors on a sheet of manila paper. The

letters were not on the original and are inserted only for reference

from the descriptive text, as follows:

_a_, Wind River mountains, called by the Sioux “the Enemies’

mountains.”

_b_, Bighorn mountains.

_c_, Missouri river.

_d_, Yellowstone river.

_e_, Bighorn river.

_f_, Little Bighorn river, called by the Sioux Greasy Grass

creek and Grass Greasy creek.

_g_, Indian camp.

_h_, battlefield.

_i_, Dry creek.

_j_, Rosebud river.

_k_, Tongue river.

_l_, Powder river.

_m_, Little Missouri river.

_n_, Cheyenne river, called by the Sioux Good river. The North

and South Forks are drawn but not lettered.

_o_, Bear butte.

_p_, Black hills.

_q_, Cheyenne agency.

_r_, Moreau or Owl creek.

_s_, Thin butte.

_t_, Rainy butte.

_u_, White butte.

_v_, Grand or Ree river.

_w_, Ree village.

_x_, White Earth river.

_y_, Fort Buford.

Five springs ago I, with many Sioux Indians, took down and

packed up our tipis and moved from Cheyenne river to the Rosebud

river, where we camped a few days; then took down and packed up our

lodges and moved to the Little Bighorn river and pitched our lodges

with the large camp of Sioux.

The Sioux were camped on the Little Bighorn river as follows:

The lodges of the Uncpapas were pitched highest up the river under a

bluff. The Santee lodges were pitched next. The Oglala’s lodges were

pitched next. The Brulé lodges were pitched next. The Minneconjou

lodges were pitched next. The Sans Arcs’ lodges were pitched next.

The Blackfeet lodges were pitched next. The Cheyenne lodges were

pitched next. A few Arikara Indians were among the Sioux (being

without lodges of their own). Two-Kettles, among the other Sioux

(without lodges). [Pl. XL shows the Indian camp.]

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XL

BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN. INDIAN CAMP.]

I was a Sioux chief in the council lodge. My lodge was pitched

in the center of the camp. The day of the attack I and four women

were a short distance from the camp digging wild turnips. Suddenly

one of the women attracted my attention to a cloud of dust rising a

short distance from camp. I soon saw that the soldiers were charging

the camp. [Pl. XLI shows the soldiers charging the Indian camp.] To

the camp I and the women ran. When I arrived a person told me to

hurry to the council lodge. The soldiers charged so quickly we could

not talk (council). We came out of the council lodge and talked in

all directions. The Sioux mount horses, take guns, and go fight the

soldiers. Women and children mount horses and go, meaning to get out

of the way.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XLI

BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN. SOLDIERS CHARGING INDIAN CAMP.]

Among the soldiers was an officer who rode a horse with four

white feet. [From Dr. McChesney’s memoranda this officer was Capt.

French, Seventh Cavalry.] The Sioux have for a long time fought many

brave men of different people, but the Sioux say this officer was

the bravest man they had ever fought. I don’t know whether this was

Gen. Custer or not. Many of the Sioux men that I hear talking tell

me it was. I saw this officer in the fight many times, but did not

see his body. It has been told me that he was killed by a Santee

Indian, who took his horse. This officer wore a large-brimmed hat

and a deerskin coat. This officer saved the lives of many soldiers

by turning his horse and covering the retreat. Sioux say this

officer was the bravest man they ever fought. I saw two officers

looking alike, both having long yellowish hair.

Before the attack the Sioux were camped on the Rosebud river.

Sioux moved down a river running into the Little Bighorn river,

crossed the Little Bighorn river, and camped on its west bank.

This day [day of attack] a Sioux man started to go to Red Cloud

agency, but when he had gone a short distance from camp he saw a

cloud of dust rising and turned back and said he thought a herd of

buffalo was coming near the village.

The day was hot. In a short time the soldiers charged the

camp. [This was Maj. Reno’s battalion of the Seventh Cavalry.] The

soldiers came on the trail made by the Sioux camp in moving, and

crossed the Little Bighorn river above where the Sioux crossed,

and attacked the lodges of the Uncpapas, farthest up the river.

The women and children ran down the Little Bighorn river a short

distance into a ravine. The soldiers set fire to the lodges. All

the Sioux now charged the soldiers [Pl. XLII] and drove them in

confusion across the Little Bighorn river, which was very rapid,

and several soldiers were drowned in it. On a hill the soldiers

stopped and the Sioux surrounded them. A Sioux man came and said

that a different party of soldiers had all the women and children

prisoners. Like a whirlwind the word went around, and the Sioux all

heard it and left the soldiers on the hill and went quickly to save

the women and children.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XLII

BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN. SIOUX CHARGING SOLDIERS.]

From the hill that the soldiers were on to the place where

the different soldiers [by this term Red-Horse always means the

battalion immediately commanded by General Custer, his mode of

distinction being that they were a different body from that first

encountered] were seen was level ground with the exception of

a creek. Sioux thought the soldiers on the hill [i. e., Reno’s

battalion] would charge them in rear, but when they did not the

Sioux thought the soldiers on the hill were out of cartridges. As

soon as we had killed all the different soldiers [Pl. XLIII shows

the fighting with Custer’s battalion] the Sioux all went back to

kill the soldiers on the hill. All the Sioux watched around the

hill on which were the soldiers until a Sioux man came and said

many walking soldiers were coming near. The coming of the walking

soldiers was the saving of the soldiers on the hill. Sioux can not

fight the walking soldiers [infantry], being afraid of them, so the

Sioux hurriedly left.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XLIII

BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN. SIOUX FIGHTING CUSTER’S BATTALION.]

The soldiers charged the Sioux camp about noon. The soldiers

were divided, one party charging right into the camp. After driving

these soldiers across the river, the Sioux charged the different

soldiers [i. e., Custer’s] below, and drove them in confusion; these

soldiers became foolish, many throwing away their guns and raising

their hands, saying, “Sioux, pity us; take us prisoners.” The Sioux

did not take a single soldier prisoner, but killed all of them; none

were left alive for even a few minutes. These different soldiers

discharged their guns but little. I took a gun and two belts off two

dead soldiers; out of one belt two cartridges were gone, out of the

other five.

The Sioux took the guns and cartridges off the dead soldiers and

went to the hill on which the soldiers were, surrounded and fought

them with the guns and cartridges of the dead soldiers. Had the

soldiers not divided I think they would have killed many Sioux. The

different soldiers [i. e., Custer’s battalion] that the Sioux killed

made five brave stands. Once the Sioux charged right in the midst of

the different soldiers and scattered them all, fighting among the

soldiers hand to hand.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XLIV

BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN. THE DEAD SIOUX.]