Skip to content
Picture-Writing of the American IndiansGarrick Mallery

Picture-Writing of the American Indians

by OpenStories

Original author: Garrick Mallery

CompletedPublished Updated

"Picture-Writing of the American Indians" by Garrick Mallery is a scholarly publication written in the late 19th century. The work likely serves as an extensive study of the pictorial communication systems used by various Native American tribes, focusing on their significance and methodologies. The author aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of pictographs, exploring their cultural context, the materials used, and how they relate to Indigenous languages and practices. The opening of the text consists primarily of prefatory materials, including a letter of transmittal and an introduction that situates the work within the broader context of the investigations conducted by the Bureau of Ethnology during the fiscal year of 1888-89. It outlines the organizational structure of the report and acknowledges contributions from various individuals involved in anthropological fieldwork and studies related to pictography. Mallery’s work follows earlier publications and aims to deepen the understanding of pictographs and signs, laying a foundation for further exploration of this unique form of communication among Native American cultures.

Picture-Writing of the American Indians, by Garrick Mallery. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #54653.

  • 293,300words
  • 109chapters
  • 0stars
  • 0bookmarks
  • 1hits
Start reading

109 Chapters

  1. 1.Front Matter498 words
  2. 2.Introduction7,270 words
  3. 3.Section 2: Petroglyphs in the United States 45355 words
  4. 4.Section 1: Pictorial tribal designations 377406 words
  5. 5.Chapter XXIII: General conclusions 7683,021 words
  6. 6.Introduction2,800 words
  7. 7.Chapter I: Petroglyphs2,757 words
  8. 8.Section 1: Canada3,417 words
  9. 9.Section 2: United States (1)8,576 words
  10. 10.Section 2: United States (2)8,443 words
  11. 11.Section 2: United States (3)8,376 words
  12. 12.Section 2: United States (4)2,153 words
  13. 13.Section 3: Mexico477 words
  14. 14.Chapter XX: on Special Comparisons. The following copies of petroglyphs1,934 words
  15. 15.Section 4: West Indies1,963 words
  16. 16.Chapter III149 words
  17. 17.Section I: Petroglyphs in Central America467 words
  18. 18.Section 2: South America5,908 words
  19. 19.Chapter IV: Extra-Limital Petroglyphs53 words
  20. 20.Section 1: Australia1,313 words
  21. 21.Section 2: Oceanica2,163 words
  22. 22.Section 3: Europe3,580 words
  23. 23.Section 4: Africa2,542 words
  24. 24.Section 5: Asia1,158 words
  25. 25.Chapter V: Cup Sculptures3,643 words
  26. 26.Chapter VI: Pictographs Generally1,716 words
  27. 27.Chapter VII139 words
  28. 28.Section 24,373 words
  29. 29.Section 3: Artificial Objects942 words
  30. 30.Chapter VIII63 words
  31. 31.Section 1: Instruments for Carving233 words
  32. 32.Section 2: Instruments for Drawing209 words
  33. 33.Section 3: Coloring Matter and Its Application1,838 words
  34. 34.Chapter IX: Mnemonic230 words
  35. 35.Section 1: Knotted Cords and Objects Tied2,074 words
  36. 36.Section 2: Notched or Marked Sticks447 words
  37. 37.Section 3: Wampum1,463 words
  38. 38.Section 4: Order of Songs5,418 words
  39. 39.Section 5: Traditions2,796 words
  40. 40.Section 7: Appointment750 words
  41. 41.Section 8: Numeration366 words
  42. 42.Section 9: Accounting2,207 words
  43. 43.Chapter X: Chronology185 words
  44. 44.Section 1: Time166 words
  45. 45.Section 2: Winter Counts (1)8,804 words
  46. 46.Section 2: Winter Counts (2)7,114 words
  47. 47.Chapter XIV: , section 62,658 words
  48. 48.Chapter XI: Notices51 words
  49. 49.Section 1277 words
  50. 50.Chapter XXI: , infra4,171 words
  51. 51.Section 22,035 words
  52. 52.Section 3: Notice of Condition2,139 words
  53. 53.Section 4: Warning and Guidance1,637 words
  54. 54.Chapter XII: Communications117 words
  55. 55.Section 1: Declaration of War655 words
  1. 56.Section 2: Profession of Peace and Friendship1,336 words
  2. 57.Section 3: Challenge258 words
  3. 58.Section 4: Social and Religious Missives5,006 words
  4. 59.Section 5: Claim or Demand347 words
  5. 60.Chapter XIII: Totems, Titles, and Names496 words
  6. 61.Section 1: Pictorial Tribal Designations3,545 words
  7. 62.Section 2: Gentile and Clan Designations926 words
  8. 63.Section 3: Significance of Tattoo10,568 words
  9. 64.Section 4: Designations of Individuals (1)8,638 words
  10. 65.Section 4: Designations of Individuals (2)2,928 words
  11. 66.Chapter XIV: Religion590 words
  12. 67.Section 1: Symbols of the Supernatural1,523 words
  13. 68.Section 2: Myths and Mythic Animals7,590 words
  14. 69.Section 3: Shamanism3,707 words
  15. 70.Section 4: Charms and Amulets1,744 words
  16. 71.Section 5: Religious Ceremonies4,530 words
  17. 72.Section 6: Mortuary Practices3,332 words
  18. 73.Section 1: Cult Societies1,057 words
  19. 74.Section 2: Daily Life and Habits6,354 words
  20. 75.Section 3: Games1,026 words
  21. 76.Chapter XVI: History333 words
  22. 77.Section 1: Record of Expedition1,217 words
  23. 78.Section 2: Record of Battle4,842 words
  24. 79.Section 3: Record of Migration464 words
  25. 80.Section 4: Record of Notable Events846 words
  26. 81.Chapter XVII: Biography65 words
  27. 82.Section 1: Continuous Record of Events in Life768 words
  28. 83.Section 2: Particular Exploits or Events1,994 words
  29. 84.Chapter XVIII: Ideography368 words
  30. 85.Section 1: Abstract Ideas Expressed Pictorially6,092 words
  31. 86.Section 2: Signs, Symbols, and Emblems5,941 words
  32. 87.Section 3: Significance of Colors9,155 words
  33. 88.Section 4: Gesture and Posture Signs Depicted3,692 words
  34. 89.Chapter XIX: Conventionalizing559 words
  35. 90.Section 1: Conventional Devices4,453 words
  36. 91.Section 2: Syllabaries and Alphabets3,812 words
  37. 92.Chapter XX: Special Comparisons252 words
  38. 93.Section 1: Typical Style3,660 words
  39. 94.Section 2: Homomorphs and Symmorphs (1)8,616 words
  40. 95.Section 2: Homomorphs and Symmorphs (2)6,173 words
  41. 96.Section 3: Composite Forms590 words
  42. 97.Section 4: Artistic Skill and Methods2,984 words
  43. 98.Chapter XXI: Means of Interpretation330 words
  44. 99.Section 1: Marked Characters of Known Significance1,099 words
  45. 100.Section 22,064 words
  46. 101.Section 3629 words
  47. 102.Chapter XXII: Controverted Pictographs976 words
  48. 103.Section 1: The Grave Creek Stone662 words
  49. 104.Section 2: The Dighton Rock972 words
  50. 105.Section 3: Imitations and Forced Interpretations1,415 words
  51. 106.Chapter XXIII: General Conclusions (1)8,394 words
  52. 107.Chapter XXIII: General Conclusions (2)7,726 words
  53. 108.Chapter XXIII: General Conclusions (3)7,478 words
  54. 109.Chapter XXIII: General Conclusions (4)483 words