Chapter LV: Section 1: Declaration of War

Le Page du Pratz (_a_), in 1718, reported the following:

The Natchez make a declaration of war by leaving a hieroglyphic
picture against a tree in the enemy’s country, and in front of
the picture they place, saltierwise, two red arrows. At the upper
part of the picture at the right is the hieroglyphic sign which
designates the nation that declares war; next, a naked man, easy
to recognize, who has a casse-tête in his hand. Following is an
arrow, drawn so as in its flight to pierce a woman, who flees with
her hair spread out and flowing in the air. Immediately in front of
this woman is a sign belonging to the nation against which war is
declared; all this is on the same line. That which is below is not
so clear or so much relied upon in the interpretation. This line
begins with the sign of a moon (_i. e._, month) which will follow in
a short time. The days that come afterward are indicated by straight
strokes and the moon by a face without rays. There is also a man
who has in front of him many arrows which seem directed to hit a
woman who is in flight. All that announces that when the moon will
be so many days old they will come in great numbers to attack the
designated nation.

Lahontan (_a_) writes:

The way of declaring war by the Canadian Algonquian Indians is
this: They send back to the nation that they have a mind to quarrel
with a slave of the same country, with orders to carry to the
village of his own nation an axe, the handle of which is painted red
and black.

The Huron-Iroquois of Canada sent a belt of black wampum as a declaration of war.

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

Capt. Laudonnière (_a_) says: “Arrows, to which long hairs are attached, were stuck up along the trail or road by the Florida Indians, in 1565, to signify a declaration of war.”

Dr. Georg. Schweinfurth (_a_) gives the following:

I may here allude to the remarkable symbolism by which war
was declared against us on the frontiers of Wando’s territory. *
* * Close on the path, and in full view of every passenger, three
objects were suspended from the branch of a tree, viz, an ear of
maize, the feather of a fowl, and an arrow. * * * Our guides readily
comprehended and as readily explained the meaning of the emblems,
which were designed to signify that whoever touched an ear of maize
or laid his grasp upon a single fowl would assuredly be the victim
of the arrow.

In the Notes on Eastern Equatorial Africa, by MM. V. Jacques (_a_) and É. Storms, it is stated that when a chief wishes to declare war he sends to the chief against whom he has a complaint an ambassador bearing a leaden bullet and a hoe. If the latter chooses the bullet, war ensues; if the hoe, it means that he consents to enter into negotiations to maintain peace.

Terrien de Lacouperie, op. cit., pp. 420, 421, reports:

The following instance in Tibeto-China is of a mixed character.
The use of material objects is combined with that of notched
sticks. When the Li-su are minded to rebel they send to the Moso
chief (who rules them on behalf of the Chinese Government) what
the Chinese call a muhki and the Tibetans a shing-tchram. It is
a stick with knife-cut notches. Some symbols are fastened to it,
such, for instance, as a feather, calcined wood, a little fish, etc.
The bearer must explain the meaning of the notches and symbols.
The notches may indicate the number of hundreds or thousands of
soldiers who are coming; the feather shows that they arrive with
the swiftness of a bird; the burnt wood, that they will set fire to
everything on their way; the fish, that they will throw everybody
into the water, etc. This custom is largely used among all the
savage tribes of the region. It is also the usual manner in which
chiefs transmit their orders.