Chapter IV: Front Matter (4)

In order to illustrate this tattooing as correctly as possible, I inclose herewith a view (Figure 24) taken at Massett, Queen Charlotte Island, of the carved columns in front of the chief’s residence; and also sketches of the tattoo marks on two women and their husbands taken by me at Port Townsend.

It should be borne in mind that during their festivals and masquerade performances the men are entirely naked and the women have only a short skirt reaching from the waist to the knee; the rest of their persons are exposed, and it is at such times that the tattoo marks show with the best effect, and the rank and family connection known by the variety of designs.

Like all the other coast tribes, the Haidas are careful not to permit the intrusion of white persons or strangers to their Tomanawos ceremonies, and as a consequence but few white people, and certainly none of those who have ever written about those Indians, have been present at their opening ceremonies when the tattoo marks are shown.

My information was derived from the Haidas themselves, who explained to me while I was making the drawings, and illustrated some of the positions assumed in their dances by both sexes.

Fig. 25 represents a man. On his breast is the cod (kahatta) split from the head to the tail and laid open; on each thigh is the octopus (noo), and below each knee is the frog (flkamkostan).

FIG. 26.--Haida woman, tattooed.]

Figure 26 represents a woman. On her breast is the head with forepaws of the beaver (tsching); on each shoulder is the head of the eagle or thunder-bird (skamskwin); on each arm, extending to and covering the back of the hand, is the halibut (hargo); on the right leg is the sculpin (kull); on the left leg is the frog (flkamkostan).

Figure 27 is a woman with the bear’s head (hoorts) on her breast. On each shoulder is the eagle’s head, and on her arms and legs are figures of the bear.

FIG. 28.--Haida man, tattooed.]

Figure 28 shows the back of a man with the wolf (wasko) split in halves and tattooed between his shoulders, which is shown enlarged in Figure 33. Wasko is a mythological being of the wolf species similar to the chu-chu-hmexl of the Makah Indians, an antediluvian demon supposed to live in the mountains.

The skulpin on the right leg of the woman in Figure 26 is shown enlarged in Figure 29; the frog on the left leg in Figure 30.

The codfish on the man in Figure 25 is shown enlarged in Figure 31, the octopus or squid in Figure 32.

As the Haidas, both men and women, are very light colored, some of the latter, full blooded Indians too, having their skins as fair as Europeans, the tattoo marks show very distinct. These sketches are not intended as portraits of persons, but simply to illustrate the positions of the various tattoo marks. To enter into a detailed description would require more space and study than is convenient at this time. Enough is given, it is hoped, to convey to you an idea of this interesting subject, which will require much study to properly elaborate, or understand.

This tattooing is not all done at one time nor is it every one who can tattoo. Certain ones, almost always men, have a natural gift which enables them to excel in this kind of work. One of the young chiefs, named Geneskelos, was the best designer I knew, and ranked among his tribe as a tattooer. He belonged to Laskeek village on the east side of Moresby’s Island, one of the Queen Charlotte group. I employed him to decorate the great canoe which I sent to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, for the National Museum. I was with him a great deal of the time both at Victoria and Port Townsend. He had a little sketch book in which he had traced designs for tattooing, which he gave to me. He subsequently died in Victoria of small-pox, soon after he had finished decorating the canoe.

He told me the plan he adopted was first to draw the design carefully on the person with some dark pigment, then prick it in with needles and then rub over the wound with some more coloring matter till it acquired the proper hue. He had a variety of instruments composed of needles tied neatly to sticks. His favorite one was a flat strip of ivory or bone, to which he had firmly tied five or six needles, with their points projecting beyond the end just far enough to raise the skin without inflicting a dangerous wound, but these needle points stuck out quite sufficiently to make the operation very painful, and although he applied some substance to deaden the sensation of the skin, yet the effect was on some to make them quite sick for a few days; consequently the whole process of tattooing was not done at one time. As this tattooing is a mark of honor, it is generally done at or just prior to a Tomanawos performance and at the time of raising the heraldic columns in front of the chief’s houses. The tattooing is done in open lodge and is witnessed by the company assembled. Sometimes it takes several years before all the tattooing is done, but when completed and the person well ornamented, then they are happy and can take their seats among the elders.

It is an interesting question, and one worthy of careful and patient investigation, Why is it that the Haida Nation alone of all the coast tribes tattoo their persons to such an extent, and how they acquire the art of carving columns which bear such striking similarity to carving in wood and stone by the ancient inhabitants of Central America, as shown by drawings in Bancroft’s fourth volume of Native Races and in Habel’s investigation in Central and South America?

Some of these idols in design, particularly on pages 40 to 58, and notably on pages 49-50 (Bancroft, _op. cit._), are very like some small carvings I have in Port Townsend which I received from Alaska, showing a similarity of idea which could not be the result of an accident.

The tattoo marks, the carvings, and heraldic designs of the Haida are an exceedingly interesting study, and I hope what I have thus hastily and imperfectly written may be the means of awakening an interest to have those questions scientifically discussed, for they seem to me to point to a key which may unlock the mystery which for so many ages has kept us from the knowledge of the origin of the Pacific tribes.

* * * * *

TATTOOING IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS.

The following quotations and illustrations of tattooing in the islands of the Pacific Ocean are presented for comparison, and in hopes that the discussion of the subject may afford further information upon the significance of tattoo marks. It is by no means probable that they were originally altogether or chiefly for ornamentation.

The accompanying illustration, Figure 34, is taken from a bone obtained from a mound in New Zealand, by Mr. I. C. Russell, of the United States Geological Survey, several years ago. Mr. Russell says that the Maori formerly tattooed the bones of enemies, though the custom now seems to have been abandoned. The work consists of sharp, shallow lines, as if made with a sharp-pointed steel instrument, into which some blackish pigment has been rubbed, filling up some of the markings, while in others scarcely a trace remains.

In connection with the use of the tattoo marks as reproduced on artificial objects see also, Figure 37, page 76, and Figure 116, page 200.

The following is extracted from Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its inhabitants, by Rev. Richard Taylor, London, 1870, p. 320, etc.

Before they went to fight, the youth were accustomed to mark their
countenance with charcoal in different lines, and their traditions
state that this was the beginning of the tattoo, for their wars
became so continuous, that to save the trouble of thus constantly
painting the face, they made the lines permanent by the moko; it is
however a question whether it did not arise from a different cause;
formerly the grand mass of men who went to fight were the black
slaves, and when they fought side by side with their lighter colored
masters, the latter on those occasions used charcoal to make it
appear they were all one.

Whilst the males had every part of the face tattooed, and the
thighs as well, the females had chiefly the chin and the lips,
although occasionally they also had their thighs and breasts,
with a few smaller marks on different parts of the body as well.
There were regular rules for tattooing, and the artist always
went systematically to work, beginning at one spot and gradually
proceeding to another, each particular part having its distinguishing
name. Thus,

1. _Te kawe_, which are four lines on each side of the chin.
2. _Te pukawae_, six lines on the chin.
3. _Nga rere hupe_, the lines below the nostrils, six in number.
4. _Nga kohiri_, a curved line on the cheek-bone.
5. _Nga koroaha_, lines between the cheek-bone and ear.
6. _Nga wakarakau_, lines below the former.
7. _Nga pongiangia_, the lines on each side of the lower extremity
of the nose.
8. _Nga pae tarewa_, the lines on the cheek-bone.
9. _Nga rerepi_, and _Nga ngatarewa_, lines on the bridge of the nose.
10. _Nga tiwana_, four lines on the forehead.
11. _Nga rewha_, three lines below the eyebrows.
12. _Nga titi_, lines on the center of the forehead.
13. _Ipu rangi_, lines above the former.
14. _Te tonokai_, the general names for the lines on the forehead.
15. _He ngutu pu rua_, both lips tattooed.
16. _Te rape_, the higher part of the thighs.
17. _Te paki paki_, the tattooing on the seat.
18. _Te paki turi_, the lower thigh.
19. _Nga tata_, the adjoining part.

The following are female tattoos:--

1. _Taki taki_, lines from the breast to the navel.
2. _Hope hope_, the lines on the thighs.
3. _Waka te he_, the lines on the chin.

Figure 35 is a copy of a tattooed head carved by Hongi, and also of the tattooing on a woman’s chin, taken from the work last quoted.

Figure 36 is a copy of a photograph obtained in New Zealand by Mr. Russell. It shows tattooing upon the chin.

Two beautifully tattooed heads are in the collection of the Army Medical Museum at Washington, D. C., of which illustrations are presented in the accompanying Plate, III. No history of these heads can be obtained. The skin is almost perfect, and has become much brighter in tint than the original color. The tattooing is a blue black, and in certain lights becomes almost bright indigo. In many of the markings there appear slight grooves, which add greatly to the general ornamentation, breaking the monotony of usually plain surfaces. Whether any mechanical work was performed upon the heads after death is not positively known, though from the general appearance of the work it would be suggested that the sharp creases or grooves was done subsequent to the death of the individual. The tattooing shows sub-cutaneous coloring, which indicates that at least part of the ornamentation was done in life.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. III

NEW ZEALAND TATTOOED HEADS.]

Figure 37 is an illustration from Te Ika a Maui, etc., _op. cit._, facing page 378. It shows the “grave of an Australian native, with his name, rank, tribe, etc., cut in hieroglyphics on the trees,” which “hieroglyphics” are supposed to be connected with his tattoo marks.

Mr. I. C. Russell, in his sketch of New Zealand, published in the American Naturalist, Volume XIII, p. 72, February, 1879, remarks, that the desire of the Maori for ornament is so great that they covered their features with tattooing, transferring indelibly to their faces complicated patterns of curved and spiral lines, similar to the designs with which they decorated their canoes and their houses.

In Mangaia, of the Hervey Group, the tattoo is said to be in imitation of the stripes on the two kinds of fish, avini and paoro, the color of which is blue. The legend of this is kept in the song of Ina´. See Myths and songs from the South Pacific, London, 1876, p. 94.

Mr. Everard F. im Thurn, in his work previously cited, pages 195-’96 among the Indians of Guiana, says:

Painting the body is the simplest mode of adornment. Tattooing or any
other permanent interference with the surface of the skin by way of
ornament is practiced only to a very limited extent by the Indians;
is used, in fact, only to produce the small distinctive tribal mark
which many of them bear at the corners of their mouths or on their
arms. It is true that an adult Indian is hardly to be found on whose
thighs and arms, or on other parts of whose body, are not a greater
or less number of indelibly incised straight lines; but these are
scars originally made for surgical, not ornamental purposes.

The following extracts are taken from Samoa, by George Turner, LL.D., London, 1884:

Page 55. Taema and Tilafainga, or Tila the _sportive_, were the
goddesses of the tattooers. They swam from Fiji to introduce the
craft to Samoa, and on leaving Fiji were commissioned to sing all the
way, “Tattoo the women, but not the men.” They got muddled over it in
the long journey, and arrived at Samoa singing, “Tattoo the _men_ and
not the women.” And hence the universal exercise of the blackening
art on the men rather than the women.

Page 88. “Herodotus found among the Thracians that the barbarians
could be exceedingly foppish after their fashion. The man who was not
tattooed among them was not respected.” It was the same in Samoa.
Until a young man was tattooed, he was considered in his minority.
He could not think of marriage, and he was constantly exposed to
taunts and ridicule, as being poor and of low birth, and as having no
right to speak in the society of men. But as soon as he was tattooed
he passed into his majority, and considered himself entitled to the
respect and privileges of mature years. When a youth, therefore,
reached the age of sixteen, he and his friends were all anxiety that
he should be tattooed. He was then on the outlook for the tattooing
of some young chief with whom he might unite. On these occasions, six
or a dozen young men would be tattooed at one time; and for these
there might be four or five tattooers employed.

Tattooing is still kept up to some extent, and is a regular
profession, just as house-building, and well paid. The custom is
traced to Taēmā and Tilafainga; and they were worshipped by the
tattooers as the presiding deities of their craft.

The instrument used in the operation is an oblong piece of human bone
(_os ilium_), about an inch and a half broad and two inches long.
A time of war and slaughter was a harvest for the tattooers to get
a supply of instruments. The one end is cut like a small-toothed
comb, and the other is fastened to a piece of cane, and looks like
a little serrated adze. They dip it into a mixture of candle-nut
ashes and water, and, tapping it with a little mallet, it sinks
into the skin, and in this way they puncture the whole surface over
which the tattooing extends. The greater part of the body, from the
waist down to the knee is covered with it, variegated here and there
with neat regular stripes of the untattooed skin, which when they
are well oiled, make them appear in the distance as if they had on
black silk knee-breeches. Behrens, in describing these natives in his
narrative of Roggewein’s voyage of 1772, says: “They were clothed
from the waist downwards with fringes and a kind of silken stuff
artificially wrought.” A nearer inspection would have shown that
the fringes were a bunch of red _ti_ leaves (_Dracæna terminalis_)
glistening with cocoa-nut oil, and the “kind of silken stuff,” the
tattooing just described. As it extends over such a large surface
the operation is a tedious and painful affair. After smarting and
bleeding for awhile under the hands of the tattooers, the patience of
the youth is exhausted. They then let him rest and heal for a time,
and, before returning to him again, do a little piece on each of the
party. In two or three months the whole is completed. The friends of
the young men are all the while in attendance with food. They also
bring quantities of fine mats and native cloth, as the hire of the
tattooers; connected with them, too, are many waiting on for a share
in the food and property.

Among the fellahs, as well as among the laboring people of the cities, the women tattoo their chin, their forehead, the middle of the breast, a portion of their hands and arms, as well as feet, with indelible marks of blue and green. In Upper Egypt most females puncture their lips to give them a dark bluish hue. See Featherman, Social Hist. of the Races of Mankind, V, 1881, p. 545.

* * * * *

Professor Brauns, of Halle, reports (Science, III, No. 50, p. 69) that among the Ainos of Yazo the women tattoo their chins to imitate the beards of the men.

* * * * *

The antiquity of tattooing in the eastern hemisphere is well established. With reference to the Hebrews, and the tribes surrounding them, the following Biblical texts may be in point:

“Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you.” Lev., XIX, 28.

* * * “Though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair.” Jer., IV. 30.

ARTIFICIAL OBJECTS.

The objects of this character, on which pictographs are found, may be mentioned as follows:

1. Lances.
2. Arrows.
3. Shields.
4. Canoes.
5. Paddles.
6. Habitations.
7. Utensils.
8. Pottery.
9. Sinews or thread.
10. Artificial beads.

It is believed that examples showing the use of each of these objects are presented in various parts of the present paper, but the following do not appear under other headings:

Many of the California tribes are expert workers in grass and roots in the manufacture of baskets, upon which designs are frequently worked, other than mere ornamentation, in geometric forms. The Yokuts, at Tule River Agency, in the southeastern part of the State, frequently incorporate various forms of the human body, in which the arms are suspended at the sides of the body with the hands directed outward to either side. Above the head is a heavy horizontal line. In the manufacture of these vessels grass is taken, carefully cleaned, and soaked, so as to become smooth and uniform in size.

Among the Thlinkit, boats as well as paddles are ornamented with painted figures, and the family coat of arms. See Bancroft’s Native Races, etc., I, 106.

There is no need to give evidence concerning the designs upon pottery, after the numerous illustrations in the Second Annual Report of this Bureau, from Zuñi, etc.

MNEMONIC.

This has been the most apparent, and probably the most ancient, purpose for which pictographs have been made. It commenced by the use of material objects which afterwards were reproduced graphically in paintings, etchings, and carvings.

In the present paper many examples appear of objects known to have been so used, the graphic representations of which, made with the same purpose, are explained by knowledge of the fact. Other instances are mentioned as connected with the evolution of pictographs, and possibly to interpret some of the latter which are not yet understood.

The quipu of the Peruvians is one of the most instructive devices for the general aid of memory, and as applicable to a variety of subjects, also having value for comparison with and reference to all other objects of this character. A good account of the quipu, quoted from Travels in Peru, during the years 1838-1842, * * by Dr. J. J. von Tschudi [Wiley and Putnam’s Library, Vols. XCIII-XCIV.], New York, 1847, Pt. II, pp. 344, 345, is as follows:

THE QUIPU OF THE PERUVIANS.

The ancient Peruvians had no manuscript characters for single sounds;
but they had a method by which they composed words and incorporated
ideas. This method consisted in the dexterous intertwining of knots
on strings, so as to render them auxiliaries to the memory. The
instrument consisting of these strings and knots was called the
QUIPU. It was composed of one thick head or top string, to which,
at certain distances, thinner ones were fastened. The top string
was much thicker than these pendent strings, and consisted of two
doubly twisted threads, over which two single threads were wound.
The branches, if I may apply the term to these pendent strings, were
fastened to the top ones by a single loop; the knots were made in the
pendent strings, and were either single or manifold. The length of
the strings used in making the quipu were various. The transverse or
top string often measures several yards, and sometimes only a foot
long; the branches are seldom more than two feet long, and in general
they are much shorter.

The strings were often of different colors; each having its own
particular signification. The color for soldiers was red; for gold,
yellow; for silver, white; for corn, green, &c. This writing by knots
was especially employed for numerical and statistical tables; each
single knot representing ten; each double knot stood for one hundred;
each triple knot for one thousand, &c.; two single knots standing
together made twenty; and two double knots, two hundred.

This method of calculation is still practiced by the shepherds of the
Puna. They explained it to me, and I could, with very little trouble,
construe their quipus. On the first branch or string they usually
place the numbers of the bulls; on the second, that of the cows;
the latter being classed into those which were milked, and those
which were not milked; on the next string were numbered the calves,
according to their ages and sizes. Then came the sheep, in several
subdivisions. Next followed the number of foxes killed, the quantity
of salt consumed, and, finally, the cattle that had been slaughtered.
Other quipus showed the produce of the herds in milk, cheese, wool,
&c. Each list was distinguished by a particular color, or by some
peculiarity in the twisting of the string.

In this manner the ancient Peruvians kept the accounts of their
army. On one string were numbered the soldiers armed with slings; on
another, the spearmen; on a third, those who carried clubs, &c. In
the same manner the military reports were prepared. In every town
some expert men were appointed to tie the knots of the quipu, and to
explain them. These men were called _quipucamayocuna_ (literally,
officers of the knots). Imperfect as was this method, yet in the
flourishing period of the Inca government the appointed officers had
acquired great dexterity in unriddling the meaning of the knots. It,
however, seldom happened that they had to read a quipu without some
verbal commentary. Something was always required to be added if the
quipu came from a distant province, to explain whether it related to
the numbering of the population, to tributes, or to war, &c. Through
long-continued practice, the officers who had charge of the quipus
became so perfect in their duties that they could with facility
communicate the laws and ordinances, and all the most important
events of the kingdom, by their knots.

All attempts made in modern times to decipher Peruvian quipus have
proved unsatisfactory in their results. The principal obstacle to
deciphering those found in graves consists in the want of the oral
communication requisite for pointing out the subjects to which they
refer. Such communication was necessary, even in former times, to
the most learned quipucamayocuna. Most of the quipus here alluded
to seems to be accounts of the population of particular towns or
provinces, tax-lists, and information relating to the property of
the deceased. Some Indians in the southern provinces of Peru are
understood to possess a perfect knowledge of some of the ancient
quipus, from information transmitted to them from their ancestors.
But they keep that knowledge profoundly secret, particularly from the
whites.

That the general idea or invention for mnemonic purposes appearing in the quipus, was used pictorially is indicated in the illustrations given by Dr. S. Habel in The Sculptures of Santa Lucia Cosumalwhuapa in Guatemala, etc., Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, [No. 269], 1878, Vol. XXII, page 85. Upon these he remarks:

It has been frequently affirmed that the aborigines of America had
nowhere arisen high enough in civilization to have characters for
writing and numeral signs; but the sculptures of Santa Lucia exhibit
signs which indicate a kind of cipher writing, higher in form than
mere hieroglyphics. From the mouth of most of the human beings,
living or dead, emanates a staff variously bent, to the sides of
which nodes are attached. These nodes are of different sizes and
shapes, and variously distributed on the sides of the staff, either
singly or in twos and threes,--the last named either separated or
in shape of a trefoil. This manner of writing not only indicates
that the person is speaking, or praying, but also indicates the very
words, the contents of the speech or prayer. It is quite certain that
each staff, as bent and ornamented, stood for a well-known petition
which the priest could read as easily as those acquainted with a
cipher dispatch can know its purport. Further, one may be allowed to
conjecture that the various curves of the staves served the purpose
of strength and rhythm, just as the poet chooses his various meters
for the same purpose.

In connection with the quipu, Dr. Hoffman reports a corresponding device among the Indians formerly inhabiting the mountain valleys north of Los Angeles, California, who frequently came to the settlements to dispose of native blankets, skins, and robes. The man delegated by the tribe to carry away and sell these articles was provided with a number of strings, made of some flexible vegetable fiber, one string for each class of goods, which were attached to his belt. Every one contributing articles mentioned the prices to be asked therefor, and when the salesman disposed of a blanket the proper cord was taken, and a single knot was tied for each _real_ received, or a double knot for each _peso_. Thus any particular string indicated the kind of goods disposed of, as well as the whole sum realized, which was finally distributed among the original contributors.

NOTCHED STICKS.

The use of these mnemonically was very frequent. A few instances only of this obvious expedient need be given.

The Dakotas formerly residing at Grand River Agency, the Hidatsa, and the Shoshoni from Idaho were observed to note the number of days during which they journeyed from one place to another, by cutting lines or notches upon a stick of wood.

The coup sticks carried by Dakota warriors are often found bearing a number of small notches, which refer to the number of individuals the owners may have hit after they had been shot or wounded.

The young men and boys of the several tribes at Fort Berthold, Dakota, frequently carry a stick, upon which they cut a notch for every bird killed during a single expedition.

Dr. Hoffman states that he found in the collection of the Hon. A. F. Coronel, of Los Angeles, California, a number of notched sticks, which had been invented and used by the Indians at the Mission of San Gabriel. The history of them is as follows: Immediately after the establishment of the mission the Franciscan father appointed major domos, who had under their charge corporals or overseers of the several classes of laborers, herders, etc. The chief herder was supplied with a stick of hard wood, measuring about one inch in thickness each way, and from twenty to twenty-four inches long. The corners were beveled at the handle. Upon each of these facets were marks to indicate the kinds of cattle herded, thus: one cut or notch, a bull; two cuts, a cow; one cross, a heifer; and a >-shaped character, an ox. Similar characters were also used for horses, respectively, for stallion, mare, colt, and gelding. Where only cattle were owned no difference was made in the upper end of the stick; but when both kinds of animals were owned near the same localities, or by the same settler, the stick referring to cattle was notched v-shaped at the head end, and reversed or pointed to denote horses. Sticks were also marked to denote the several kinds of stock, and to record those which had been branded. In all of these sticks numbers were indicated by cutting notches into the corners, each tenth cut extending across the face of the stick. For instance, if the herder had thirteen oxen in charge, he selected that edge of the stick which bore upon the handle the >-shape, and cut nine short notches, one long one, and three short ones.

Labor sticks were also used by the Indians. On one side was a circle intersected with cross lines to denote _money_, and on the opposite side, which was reserved for time, either nothing or some character, according to the fancy of the owner. Short notches on the money side indicated _reals_, long cuts _pesos_. On the opposite side short cuts indicated days, and long cuts weeks.

For further reference to this subject, see Reliquiæ Aquitanicæ; etc., by Edouard Lartet and Henry Christy, * * London, 1875, p. 183 _et seq._

ORDER OF SONGS.

Many instances have been published in regard to the use of mnemonic characters to preserve the remembrance of songs. The words of these are invariable as well as the notes to which they are chanted. Both words and notes must have been previously memorized by the singers. Ideographic characters might give the general interpretation, but would not suggest the exact words.

Schoolcraft, I, 361, remarks: Sounds are no further preserved by these mnemonic signs, than is incident, more or less, to all pure figurative or representative pictures. The simple figure of a quadruped, a man, or a bird, recalls the _name_ of a quadruped, a man or a bird. * * We may thus recall something of the living language from the oblivion of the past, by the pictorial method. Mnemonic symbols are thus at the threshold of the hieroglyphic.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. IV

OJIBWA MEDA SONG.]

One of the best examples of this mnemonic device is one of the Ojibwas, found in Schoolcraft, _op. cit._, I, page 362 _et seq._, and called by him Songs of the Meda. His illustration is reproduced as Plate IV, and his explanation, much condensed, is as follows:

No. 1. A medicine lodge filled with the presence of the Great Spirit, who, it is affirmed, came down with wings to instruct the Indians in these ceremonies. The meda, or priest, sings, “The Great Spirit’s lodge--you have heard of it. I will enter it.” While this is sung, and repeated, the priest shakes his shi-shi-gwun, and each member of the society holds up one hand in a beseeching manner. All stand, without dancing. The drum is not struck during this introductory chant.

No. 2. A candidate for admission crowned with feathers, and holding, suspended to his arm, an otter-skin pouch, with the wind represented as gushing out of one end. He sings, repeating after the priest, all dancing, with the accompaniment of the drum and rattle: * * “I have always loved that that I seek. I go into the new green leaf lodge.”

No. 3 marks a pause, during which the victuals prepared for the feast are introduced.

No. 4. A man holding a dish in his hand, and decorated with magic feathers on his wrists, indicating his character as master of the feast. All sing, “I shall give you a share, my friend.”

No. 5. A lodge apart from that in which the meda-men are assembled, having a vapor-bath within it. The elder men go into this lodge, and during the time of their taking the bath, or immediately preceding it, tell each other certain secrets relative to the arts they employ in the Medá-win. The six heavy marks at the top of the lodge indicate the steam escaping from the bath. There are three orders of men in this society, called 1. meda; 2. sangemau; and 3. ogemau. And it is in these secret exchanges of arts, or rather the communication of unknown secrets from the higher to the lower orders, that they are exalted from one to another degree. The priest sings, “I go into the bath--I blow my brother strong.”

No. 6. The arm of the priest, or master of ceremonies, who conducts the candidate, represented in connection with the next figure.

No. 7. The goods, or presents given, as a fee of admission, by the novitiate. “I wish to wear this, my father, my friend.”

No. 8. A meda-tree. The recurved projection from the trunk denotes the root that supplies the medicine. “What! my life, my single tree!--we dance around you.”

No. 9. A stuffed crane-skin, employed as a medicine-bag. By shaking this in the dance, plovers and other small birds are made, by a sleight-of-hand trickery, to jump out of it. These, the novitiates are taught, spring from the bag by the strong power of the operator. This is one of the prime acts of the dance. “I wish them to appear--that that has grown--I wish them to appear.”

No. 10. An arrow in the supposed circle of the sky. Represents a charmed arrow, which, by the power of the meda of the person owning it, is capable of penetrating the entire circle of the sky, and accomplishing the object for which it is shot out of the bow. “What are you saying, you mee dá man? This--this is the meda bone.”

No. 11. The Ka Kaik, a species of small hawk, swift of wing, and capable of flying high into the sky. The skin of this bird is worn round the necks of warriors going into battle. “My kite’s skin is fluttering.”

No. 12. The sky, or celestial hemisphere, with the symbol of the Great Spirit looking over it. A Manito’s arm is raised up from the earth in a supplicating posture. Birds of good omen are believed to be in the sky. “All round the circle of the sky I hear the Spirit’s voice.”

No. 13. The next figure denotes a pause in the ceremonies.

No. 14. A meda-tree. The idea represented is a tree animated by magic or spiritual power. “The Wabeno tree--it dances.”

No. 15. A stick used to beat the Ta-wa-e-gun or drum. “How rings aloud the drum-stick’s sound.”

No. 16. Half of the celestial hemisphere--an Indian walking upon it. The idea symbolized is the sun pursuing his diurnal course till noon. “I walk upon half the sky.”

No. 17. The Great Spirit filling all space with his beams, and enlightening the world by the halo of his head. He is here depicted as the god of thunder and lightning. “I sound all around the sky, that they can hear me.”

No. 18. The Ta-wa-e-gun, or single-headed drum. “You shall hear the sound of my Ta-wa-e-gun.”

No. 19. The Ta-wa-e-gonse, or tambourine, ornamented with feathers, and a wing, indicative of its being prepared for a sacred use. “Do you understand my drum?”

No. 20. A raven. The skin and feathers of this bird are worn as head ornaments. “I sing the raven that has brave feathers.”

No. 21. A crow, the wings and head of which are worn as a head-dress. “I am the crow--I am the crow--his skin is my body.”

No. 22. A medicine lodge. A leader or master of the Meda society, standing with his drum stick raised, and holding in his hands the clouds and the celestial hemisphere. “I wish to go into your lodge--I go into your lodge.”

In connection with this topic reference may be made to the Lenâpé and their Legends: with the complete text and symbols of The Walam Olum, by Daniel G. Brinton, A. M., M. D., Phila., 1885. 8vo. pp. 262, with numerous illustrations.

TRADITIONS.

As an example of a chart used to assist in the exact repetition of traditions, Figure 38 is presented with the following explanation by Rev. J. Owen Dorsey:

“The chart accompanies a tradition chanted by members of a secret society of the Osage tribe. It was drawn by an Osage, Ha[p]a [c]ü[t][s]e, Red Corn, who was adopted in childhood by a white man named Matthews; hence he is also known as Wm. P. Matthews, or “Bill Nix.” He is one of the tribal lawyers. He obtained his version of the tradition from a member of his gens, Sa[p]eki¢ĕ. Another version of the same tradition was obtained by him from Pahü-skă, White Hair, the chief of the Bald Eagle sub-gens of the Tsi[c]u gens. [K]ahi[k]e wa[t]ayiñ[k]e, Saucy Chief, gave me other parts of the tradition, which Ha[p]a [c]ü[t][s]e had forgotten.

He also chanted a few lines of the tradition of the Wa[c]a[c]e gens. Wayüts`a[k]a[c]ĭ, of the Black Bear gens, told me a little of his tradition; and I obtained part of the Wa[c]a[c]e tradition from Hu¢ak¢i^n, Good Voice, of the Mi^nk’i^n gens.

The tree at the top represents the tree of life. By this flows a river. The tree and the river are described later in the degrees. When a woman is initiated she is required by the head of her gens to take four sips of water (symbolizing the river), then he rubs cedar on the palms of his hands, with which he rubs her from head to foot. If she belongs to a gens on the left side of the tribal circle, her chief begins on the left side of her head, making three passes, and pronouncing the sacred name of Deity three times. Then he repeats the process from her forehead down; then on the right side of her head; then at the back of her head; four times three times, or twelve passes in all.

Beneath the river are the following objects: The Watse [t]u[k]a, male slaying animal(?), or morning star, which is a red star. 2. Six stars called the “Elm rod” by the white people in the Indian Territory. 3. The evening star. 4. The little star. Beneath these are the moon, seven stars, and sun. Under the seven stars are the peace pipe and war hatchet, the latter is close to the sun, and the former and the moon are on the same side of the chart. Four parallel lines extending across the chart, represent four heavens or upper worlds through which the ancestors of the Tsi[c]u people passed before they came to this earth. The lowest heaven rests on an oak tree: the ends of the others appear to be supported by pillars or ladders. The tradition, according to Sa[p]eki¢ĕ, begins below the lowest heaven, on the left side of the chart, under the peace pipe. Each space on the pillar corresponds with a line of the chant; and each stanza (at the opening of the tradition) contains four lines. The first stanza precedes the arrival of the first heaven, pointing to a time when the children of the “former end” of the race were without human bodies as well as human souls. The bird hovering over the arch denotes an advance in the condition of the people; then they had human souls in the bodies of birds. Then followed the progress from the fourth to the first heaven, followed by the descent to earth. The ascent to four heavens and the descent to three, makes up the number seven.

The tree on which the Tsi[c]u was called pü-sü-hü, jack oak, or a sort of a red oak. When they alighted, it was on a beautiful day when the earth was covered with luxuriant vegetation. From that time the paths of the Osages separated; some marched on the right, being the war gentes, while those on the left were peace gentes, including the Tsi[c]u, whose chart this is.

Then the Tsi[c]u met the black bear, called Káxe-wáhü-sa^n´ in the tradition. Káxe-wáhü-sa^n´, Crow-bone-white in the distance. He offered to become their messenger, so they sent him to the different stars for aid. According to the chart he went to them in the following order: Morning star, sun, moon, seven stars, evening star, little star; but, according to the chant related, they were as follows: Watse [t]u[k]a (morning star); Watse mi^n[k]a (female animal that slays another star); Ha^n-pa[t]a^n-Wakan[t]a (Wakanda or Deity during the day, the sun); Wakan[t]aha^n ¢iñkce (Deity of the night, moon); Mikak’e pe¢ŭ^n[p]a, Seven Stars; Ta a[p]¢i^n, Three Deer; Mikak’e tañ[k]a, Big Star; Mikak’e [c]iñ[k]a, Little Star. Then the Black bear went to the Wa[c]iñ[k]a-[c]ü[t][s]e, a female red bird sitting on her nest. This grandmother granted his request. She gave them human bodies, making them out of her own body.

The earth lodge at the end of the chart denotes the village of the Hañ[k]a uta¢a^n[t][s]i, who were a very warlike people. Buffalo skulls were on the tops of the lodges, and the bones of the animals on which they subsisted, whitened on the ground. The very air was rendered offensive by the decaying bodies and offal. The Hañ[k]a uta¢a^n[t][s]i made a treaty of peace with the Wa[c]ace and Tsi[c]u gentes, and from the union of the three resulted the present nation of the Osages.

The Bald Eagle account of the tradition begins very abruptly. The stars were approached thus: Ha^n[p]a[t]a^n-Wakan[t]a (sun), Watse [t]u[k]a (morning star), Wa[p]aha (Great Dipper), Tapa (Pleiades), Mikak’e-ha^n-[p]a[t]a^n (Day Star). This version gives what is wanting in the other, the meeting of other gentes, Hañkā [c]iñ[k]a, Wa[c]a[c]e, Hañ[k]a-uta¢a^n[t][s]i, etc., and the decisions of the chief of the Hañ[k]a-uta¢a^n[t][s]i.

The people on the war side had similar adventures, but the accurate account has not yet been obtained.

The whole of the chart was used mnemonically. Parts of it, such as the four heavens and ladders, were tattooed on the throat and chest of the old men belonging to the order.”

TREATIES.

The most familiar example of the recording of treaties is the employment of wampum belts for that purpose. An authority on the subject says: “The wampum belts given to Sir William Johnson, of immortal Indian memory, were in several rows, black on each side, and white in the middle; the white being placed in the center was to express peace, and that the path between them was fair and open. In the center of the belt was a figure of a diamond made of white wampum, which the Indians call the council fire.” See Voyages and Travels of an Indian interpreter and trader, etc., by J. Long, London, 1791, p. 47.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. V

PENN WAMPUM BELT.]

More minute statements regarding wampum is made superfluous after its full discussion by Mr. W. H. Holmes in his work, “Art in Shell of the ancient Americans,” in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pages 253 _et seq._ One of his illustrations specially in point for the present purpose is here reproduced in Plate V. His remarks upon it are as follows:

The remarkable belt shown has an extremely interesting, although a
somewhat incomplete, history attached to it. It is believed to be
the original belt delivered by the Leni-Lenape sachems to William
Penn at the celebrated treaty under the elm tree at Shackamaxon in
1682. Although there is no documentary evidence to show that this
identical belt was delivered on that occasion, it is conceded on
all hands that it came into the possession of the great founder
of Pennsylvania at some one of his treaties with the tribes that
occupied the province ceded to him. Up to the year 1857 this belt
remained in the keeping of the Penn family. In March, 1857, it was
presented to the Pennsylvania Historical Society by Granville John
Penn, a great-grandson of William Penn. Mr. Penn, in his speech on
this occasion, states that there can be no doubt that this is the
identical belt used at the treaty, and presents his views in the
following language:

“In the first place, its dimensions are greater than of those used
on more ordinary occasions, of which we have one still in our
possession--this belt being composed of eighteen strings of wampum,
which is a proof that it was the record of some very important
negotiation. In the next place, in the center of the belt, which is
of white wampum, are delineated in dark-colored beads, in a rude but
graphic style, two figures--that of an Indian grasping with the hand
of friendship the hand of a man evidently intended to be represented
in the European costume, wearing a hat; which can only be interpreted
as having reference to the treaty of peace and friendship which was
then concluded between William Penn and the Indians, and recorded by
them in their own simple but descriptive mode of expressing their
meaning, by the employment of hieroglyphics. Then the fact of its
having been preserved in the family of the founder from that period
to the present time, having descended through three generations,
gives an authenticity to the document which leaves no doubt of its
genuineness; and as the chain and medal which were presented by the
parliament to his father the admiral, for his naval services, have
descended among the family archives unaccompanied by any written
document, but is recorded on the journals of the House of Commons,
equal authenticity may be claimed for the wampum belt confirmatory of
the treaty made by his son with the Indians; which event is recorded
on the page of history, though, like the older relic, it has been
unaccompanied in its descent by any document in writing.”

WAR.

Material objects were often employed in challenge to and declaration of war, some of which may assist in the interpretation of pictographs. A few instances are mentioned:

Arrows, to which long hairs are attached, were stuck up along the trail or road, by the Florida Indians, to signify a declaration of war. See Captain Laudonnière in Hakluyt, III, 415.

Challenging by heralds obtained. Thus the Shumeias challenged the Ponios [in central California] by placing three little sticks, notched in the middle and at both ends, on a mound, which marked the boundary between the two tribes. If the Ponios accept, they tie a string round the middle notch. Heralds then meet and arrange time and place, and the battle comes off as appointed. See Bancroft, Native Races, I, p. 379.

* * * * *

A few notices of the foreign use of material objects in connection with this branch of the subject may be given.

It appears in the Bible: Ezek., XXXVII, 16-20, and Numbers, XVII, 2.

Lieutenant-Colonel Woodthorp says (Jour. Anth. Inst. Gr. Brit., Vol. XLI, 1882, p. 211): “On the road to Niao we saw on the ground a curious mud figure of a man in slight relief presenting a gong in the direction of Senna; this was supposed to show that the Fiao men were willing to come to terms with Senna, then at war with Niao. Another mode of evincing a desire to turn away the wrath of an approaching enemy, and induce him to open negotiations, is to tie up in his path a couple of goats, sometimes also a gong, with the universal symbol of peace, a palm leaf planted in the ground hard by.”

The Maori had neither the quipus nor wampum, but only a board shaped like a saw, which was called _he rakau wakapa-paranga_, or genealogical board; it was in fact a tally, having a notch for each name, and a blank space to denote where the male line failed and was succeeded by that of the female; youths were taught their genealogies by repeating the names of each to which the notches referred. See Te Ika a Maui.--Rev. Richard Taylor, London, 1870, p. 379.

TIME.

Dr. William H. Corbusier, assistant surgeon, U. S. Army, gives the following information:

The Dakotas make use of the circle as the symbol of a cycle of time; a small one for a year and a large one for a longer period of time, as a life-time, one old man. Also a round of lodges, or a cycle of 70 years, as in Battiste Good’s Winter Count. The continuance of time is sometimes indicated by a line extending in a direction from right to left across the page, when on paper, and the annual circles are suspended from the line at regular intervals by short lines, as in Figure 39, and the ideograph for the year is placed beneath each one. At other times the line is not continuous, but is interrupted at regular intervals by the yearly circle, as in Figure 40.

The large amount of space taken up by the Dakota Winter Counts, now following, renders it impracticable to devote more to the graphic devices regarding time. While these Winter Counts are properly under the present head, their value is not limited to it, as they suggest, if they do not explain, points relating to many other divisions of the present paper.

THE DAKOTA WINTER COUNTS.

The existence among the Dakota Indians of continuous designations of years, in the form of charts corresponding in part with the orderly arrangement of divisions of time termed calendars, was first made public by the present writer in a paper entitled “A Calendar of the Dakota Nation,” which was issued in April, 1877, in Bulletin III, No. 1, of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey. Later consideration of the actual use of such charts by the Indians has induced the change of their title to that adopted by themselves, viz., Winter Counts, in the original, waníyetu wówapi.

The lithographed chart published with that paper, substantially the same as Plate VI, now presented, was ascertained to be the Winter Count used by or at least known to a large portion of the Dakota people, extending over the seventy-one years commencing with the winter of A. D. 1800-’01.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VI

WINTER COUNT ON BUFFALO ROBE.]

The copy from which the lithograph was taken, is traced on a strip of cotton cloth, in size one yard square, which the characters almost entirely fill, and was made by Lieut. H. T. Reed, First United States Infantry, an accomplished officer of the present writer’s former company and regiment, in two colors, black and red, used in the original, of which it is a _fac simile_.

The general design of the chart and the meaning of most of its characters were ascertained by Lieutenant Reed, at Fort Sully, Dakota, and afterwards at Fort Rice, Dakota, in November, 1876, by the present writer; while further investigation of records and authorities at Washington elicited additional details used in the publication mentioned and many more since its issue.

After exhibition of the copy to a number of military and civil officers connected with the Departments of War and of the Interior, it appeared that those who, from service on expeditions and surveys or from special study of American ethnology, were most familiar with the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi, had never heard of this or any other similar attempt among them to establish a chronological system. Bragging biographies of chiefs and partisan histories of particular wars delineated in picture writing on hides or bark are very common. Nearly every traveler on the plains has obtained a painted robe, on which some aboriginal artist has stained rude signs purporting to represent tribal or personal occurrences, or often the family connections of the first owner. Some of these in the possession of the present writer have special significance and are mentioned under appropriate heads in the present work.

It is believed that, in the pictographs of all of these peoples discovered before the chart mentioned, the obvious intention was either historical or biographical, or more generally was to chronicle occurrences as such, and that there was not an apparent design to portray events selected without exclusive reference to their intrinsic interest or importance, but because they severally occurred within regular successive intervals of time, and to arrange them in an orderly form, specially convenient for use as a calendar and valuable for no other purpose.