Chapter LI: Section 2

DIRECTION BY DRAWING TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES.

Fig. 451 is a notice by Micmac scouts, which tribe was then at war with the Passamaquoddy, erected on a tree, to warn the rest of the tribe that ten Passamaquoddy Indians have been observed in canoes on the lake going toward the outlet of the lake and probably down the river. The Passamaquoddy tribal pictograph is shown and the whole topography is correctly drawn.

Notes in literature relating to the skill of the North American Indians in delineating geographic features are very frequent. The following are selected for reference:

Champlain (_c_), in 1605, described how the natives on the coast drew with charcoal its bays, capes, and the mouths of rivers with such accuracy that Massachusetts bay and Merrimack river have been identified.

Lafitau (_d_) says of the northeastern tribes of Indians--

Ils tracent grossierement sur des écorces, on sur le sable, des
Cartes exactes, et ausquelles il ne manque que la distinction des
degrés. Ils conservent même de ces sortes de Cartes Geographiques
dans leur Trésor public, pour les consulter dans le besoin.

Sir Alexander Mackenzie, (_a_) in 1793, spoke of the skilled manner of chart-making by an Athabascan tribe, in which the Columbia river was drawn.

An interesting facsimile of a map with which the treaty of Hopewell, in 1875, made by the Cherokees, is connected, appears in American State Papers, Indian Affairs, I, 40.

Hind (_b_) writes:

On lake Tash-ner-nus-kow, Labrador, was found a “letter” stuck
in a cleft pole overhanging the bank. It was written on birchbark,
and consisted of a small map of the country, with arrows showing the
direction the writer had taken, some crosses indicating where he
had camped, and a large cross to show where he intended to make his
first winter quarters. It was probably written by some Nasquapees as
a guide to others who might be passing up the river or hunting in
the country.

The Tegua Pueblos, of New Mexico, “traced upon the ground a sketch of their country, with the names and locations of the pueblos occupied in New Mexico,” a copy of which, “somewhat improved,” is given by Lieut. Whipple (_c_).

A Yuma map of the Colorado river, with the names and locations of tribes within its valley, is also figured in the last mentioned volume, page 19. The map was originally traced upon the ground.

A Piute map of the Colorado river, which was obtained by Lieut. Whipple, is also figured in the same connection.

Lean-Wolf, of the Hidatsa, who drew the picture of which Fig. 452 is a copy, made a trip on foot from Fort Berthold to Fort Buford, Dakota, to steal a horse from the Dakotas encamped there. The returning horse tracks show that he was successful and that he rode home. The following is his explanation of the characters:

Lean-Wolf is represented at _a_ by the head only of a man to
which is attached the outline of a wolf; _b_, Hidatsa earth lodges,
circular in form, the spots representing the pillars supporting
the roof--Indian village at Fort Berthold, Dakota; _c_, human
footprints, the course taken by the recorder; _d_, the Government
buildings at Fort Buford (square); _e_, several Hidatsa lodges
(round), the occupants of which had intermarried with the Dakotas;
_f_, Dakota lodges; _g_, a small square--a white man’s house--with
a cross marked upon it to represent a Dakota lodge, which denotes
that the owner, a white man, had married a Dakota woman, who dwelt
there; _h_, horse tracks returning to Fort Berthold; _i_, the
Missouri river; _j_, Tule creek; _k_, Little Knife river; _l_, White
Earth river; _m_, Muddy creek; _n_, Yellowstone river; _o_, Little
Missouri river; _p_, Dancing Beard creek.

The following illustration, Fig. 453, is the chart of the field of a battle between Ojibwas and Sioux with its description. The illustration, made by Ojibwa, the old Indian elsewhere mentioned, was drawn on birch bark, while the details of the description were oral. The locality referred to is above the mouth of Crow river, near Sauk rapids, Minnesota.

In the description _a_ is the Mississippi river; _b_, Crow river;
_c_, branch of Crow river; _d_, _e_, _f_, Crow lakes; _g_, Rice
lake; _h_, Clear Water lake; _i_, Clear Water river; _j_, Sauk
river; _k_, Big Sauk lake; _l_, Big prairie lake; _m_, Osakis lake;
_n_, Sauk rapids; _o_ and _p_, canoe and deer-hunting and fishing
grounds; _q_, 1 man and 2 women killed (Ojibwas); _r_, Sauk Center;
_s_, copses of timber--known as timber islands--on the prairie.

The chart refers to an episode of war in 1854, when 3 Ojibwa were pursued by 50 Dakota. Many of the lakes appear to be duplicated in name, simply because no special name for them was known.

Dr. Hoffman tells how at Grapevine springs, Nevada, in 1871, the Paiute living at that locality informed the party of the relative position of Las Vegas, the objective point. The Indian sat upon the sand and with his hands formed an oblong ridge to represent Spring mountain, and southeast of this ridge another gradual slope, terminating on the eastern side more abruptly; over the latter he passed his fingers to represent the side valleys running eastward. He then took a stick and showed the direction of the old Spanish trail running east and west over the lower portion of the last-named ridge. When this was completed, with a mixture of English, Spanish, Paiute, and gesture signs, he told that from where they were now they would have to go southward east of Spring mountain to the camp of Paiute Charlie, where they would have to sleep; then indicated a line southeastward to another spring (Stump’s) to complete the second day; then he followed the line representing the Spanish trail to the east of the divide of the second ridge above named, where he left it, and passing northward to the first valley he thrust the short stick into the ground and said, “Las Vegas.”

Mr. W. von Streeruwitz, of the Geological Survey of Texas, contributes the copy of a map, evidently the work of Indians, which is received too late for reproduction. The map is roughly scratched into the flat surface of a large granite block, and is an approximately correct sketch of a pass and the nearest surrounding. The rock is situated in the pass above the so-called rattlesnake or mica tank, in a spur on the west side of the Van Horn mountains, El Paso county, Texas. An Indian trail passes near the very rough and weathered rear part of the rock, which on this side shows weak traces of some scratched-in drawings, which are nearly weathered off, made no doubt with the purpose to lead the attention of passing parties to the other side of the rock upon which the map is drawn. An old trail leads from the Rio Grande across the Eagle mountains to this pass and in the shortest line from the Green river valley to the northern main range of the Van Horn and from there east to the Davis mountains, formerly Apache mountains, and thence through the southern extension of the Guadeloupe mountains to this range and into New Mexico; also through the Sierra Carrizo to the Sierra Diablo; so that this trail must be regarded as one of the best warpaths for raids across the Rio Grande. An arrowhead at the upper end of the trail points out water (small or doubtful supply), as far as could be ascertained from drawings made by Apaches.

Following are modes of exhibiting pictographically topographic features, Fig. 454:

_a_, from Copway’s Ojibway Nation, p. 136, represents “mountains.”

_b_ is the Chinese character for “mountain,” from Edkins, p. 14. “A picture of the object. More anciently, two upright cones or triangles connected at their bases.”

_c_ is the representation by the Dakotas of a gap in the mountains, taken from Red-Cloud’s census.

_d_, from Copway, p. 135, represents “islands.”

_e_, from the same, p. 134, is a representation of the character for “sea” or “water,” probably a large body of water, e. g., lake, such as the Ojibwa were familiar with.

_f_ is from the same authority, p. 134. It shows the character for “river” or “stream.”

_g_ gives two Chinese characters for “river,” “stream,” from Edkins, p. 14. Three parallel lines drawn downward express “flowing” in all cases.

_h_ is the Chinese character for “flowing water,” from Edkins, p. 23. “In the Chwen wen three strokes descending indicate the appearance of flowing water as seen in a river. The two outside strokes are broken in the middle.”

The same authority, p. 155, gives another character, _i_, with the same meaning as the last. The author says: “It is supposed to be turned on end. It is better to regard the old form with its three descending lines as a picture of water flowing downward.”

_k_, from Copway (_a_), represents the character for “land.” It is a turtle, and refers to a common cosmologic myth concerning the recovery of land after the deluge.

G. Holm (_a_) gives the following account, translated and condensed, descriptive of Fig. 455, a wooden map made by the natives of the east coast of Greenland:

In reference to map making I will only remark that many are
inclined to enlarge the scale as they approach the better known
places, which in fact is quite natural, as they would not otherwise
find room for all details. As a natural result, map drawing in the
form of ground plat is something quite new to them. Their mode of
representing their land is by carving it on wood. This has the
advantage that not only the contour of the land, but also its
appearance and rock forms, can in a certain degree be represented.

The block of wood brought back represents the tract between
Kangerdluarsikajik, east of Sermiligak, and Sieralik, north of
Kangerdlugsuatsiak. The mainland continues from one side of the
wooden block to the other, while the islands are located on the
accompanying block without regard to the distance between them in
reference to the mainland. All places where there are old ruins of
houses, and therefore good storage places, are marked on the wood
map, which also shows the points where a kayak can be carried over
the ground between two fiords when the sea ice blocks the headland
outside. This kind of models serves to represent the route the
person in question has followed, inasmuch as during his recital he
moves the stick, so that the islands are shown in their relative
positions. The other wooden map, which was prepared by request,
represents the peninsula between Sermiligak and Kangerdluarsikajik.

A and B represent the tract between Kangerdluarsikajik
(immediately east of Sermiligak) and Sieralik (slightly north of
Kangerdlugsuatsiak). B represents the coast of the mainland, and
is continuous from one side of the block to the other, while the
outlying islands are represented by the wooden block of A, on which
the connecting pieces between the various islands must be imagined
as being left out. While the narrator explains the map he moves the
stick to and fro, so as to get the islands into the right position
in reference to the mainland.

Kunit explained the map to me. The names of the islands on A
are: _a_, Sardlermiut, on the west side of which is the site of an
old settlement; _b_, Nepinerkit (from napavok), having the shape of
a pyramid; _c_, Ananak, having the site of an old settlement on the
southwest point. (NOTE.--Others give the name Ananak to the cape on
the mainland directly opposite, calling the island Kajartalik.) _d_,
Aputitek; _e_, Itivdlersuak; _f_, Kujutilik; _g_, Sikivitik.

For B I obtained the following names, beginning at the north,
as in the case of the islands: _h_, Itivdlek, where there are
remains of a house; _i_, Sierak, a small fiord, in which salmon are
found; _k_, Sarkarmiut, where there are remains of a house; _l_,
Kangerdlugsuatsiak, a fiord of such length that a kayak can not
even in a whole day row from the mouth to the head of the fiord and
back again; _m_, Erserisek, a little fiord; _n_, Nutugat, a little
fiord with a creek at the bottom; _o_, Merkeriak, kayak portage from
Nutugkat to Erserisek along the bank of the creek, when the heavy
ice blocks the headland between the two fiords; _p_, Ikerasakitek,
a bay in which the land ice goes straight out to the sea; _q_,
Kangerajikajik, a cape; _r_, Kavdlunak, a bay into which runs a
creek; _s_, Apusinek, a long stretch where the land ice passes
out into the sea; _t_, Tatorisik; _u_, Iliartalik, a fiord with
a smaller creek; _v_, Nuerniakat; _x_, Kugpat; _y_, Igdluarsik;
_z_, Sangmilek, a little fiord with a creek; _aa_, Nutugkat;
_bb_, Amagat; _cc_, Kangerdluarsikajik, a smaller fiord; _dd_,
Kernertuarsik.

C represents the peninsula between the fiords Sermiligak and
Kangerdluarsikajik.