Chapter LXXXIII: Section 2: Particular Exploits or Events

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In the Doc. Hist. N. Y. (_b_) is an illustration, presented here as Fig. 822, of an Iroquois “returning from hunting, who has slept two nights on the hunting ground and killed three does; for when they are bucks they add their antlers.”

From the same volume, page 9, the following extract is made, describing Fig. 823:

_b._ This is the way they mark when they have been to war,
and when there is a bar extending from one mark to the other it
signifies that, after having been in battle, he did not come back to
his village, and that he returned with other parties whom he met or
formed.

_c._ This arrow, which is broken, denotes that they were wounded
in this expedition.

_d._ Thus they denote that the belts which they gave to raise a
war party and to avenge the death of some one, belonging to them or
to some of the same tribe.

_e._ He has gone back to fight without having entered his
village.

_f._ A man whom he killed on the field of battle, who had a bow
and arrow.

_g._ These are two men, whom he took prisoners, one of whom had
a hatchet and the other a gun in his hand.

_gg._ This is a woman who is designated only by a species of
waistcloth.

Fig. 824 is taken from the Winter Count of Battiste Good for the year 1853-’54.

He calls the year Cross-Bear-died-on-the-hunt winter.

The character on the extreme left hand is a “travail,” and means they moved; the buffalo, to hunt buffalo; the bear with mouth open and paw advanced, cross-bear. The involute character frequently repeated in Battiste’s record signifies pain in the stomach and intestines, resulting in death. In this group of characters there is not only the brief story, an obituary notice, but an ideographic mark for a particular kind of death, a noticeable name-totem, and a presentation of the Siouan mode of transportation.

The word “travail” may require explanation. It refers to the peculiar sledge which is used by many tribes of Indians for the purpose of transportation. It is used on the surface of the ground when not covered with snow even more than when snow prevails. In print the word is more generally found in the plural, where it is spelled “travaux” and sometimes “travois.” The etymology of this word has been the subject of much discussion. It is probably one of the words which descended in corrupted form from the language of the Canadian voyageurs, and was originally the French word “traineau,” with its meaning of sledge. The corrupt form “travail” was retained by English speakers from its connection with the sound of the word “travel.”

Fig. 825 is taken from a roll of birch bark, known to be more than seventy years old, obtained in 1882 from the Ojibwa Indians at Red Lake, Minnesota. The interpretation was given by an Indian from that reservation, although he did not know the author nor the history of the record. With one exception, all of the characters were understood and interpreted to Dr. Hoffman, in 1883, by Ottawa Indians at Harbor Springs, Michigan.

_a_ represents the Indian who visited a country supposed to have been near one of the great lakes. He has a scalp in his hand which he obtained from the head of an enemy, after having killed him. The line from the head to the small circle denotes the name of the person, and the line from the mouth to the same circle signifies (in the Dakota method), “That is it,” having reference to proper names.

_b_, the enemy killed. He was a man who held a position of some consequence in his tribe, as is indicated by the horns, marks used by the Ojibwas among themselves for shaman, wabeno, etc. It has been suggested that the object held in the hand of this figure is a rattle, though the Indians, to whom the record was submitted for examination, are in doubt, the character being indistinct.

_c_, three disks connected by short lines signify, in the present instance, three nights, i. e., three black suns. Three days from home was the distance the Indian _a_ traveled to reach the country for which he started.

_d_ represents a shell, and denotes the primary object of the journey. Shells were needed for making ornaments and to trade, and traffic between members of the different and even distant tribes was common, although attended with danger.

_e_, two parallel lines are here inserted to mark the end of the present record and the beginning of another.

The following narrative of personal exploit was given to Dr. W. J. Hoffman by “Pete,” a Shoshoni chief, during a visit of the latter to Washington, in 1880. The sketch, Fig. 826, was drawn by the narrator, who also gave the following explanation of the characters:

_a_, Pete, a Shoshoni chief; _b_, a Nez Percés Indian, one of the party from whom the horses were stampeded, and who wounded Pete in the side with an arrow; _c_, hoof-marks, showing course of stampede; _d_, lance, which was captured from the Nez Percés; _e_, _e_, _e_, saddles captured; _f_, bridle captured; _g_, lariat captured; _h_, saddle-blanket captured; _i_, body-blanket captured; _j_, pair of leggings captured; _k_, three single legs of leggings captured.

The figures in the following group represent some of the particular exploits and events in life which have been considered by the recorders of the Winter Counts of the Dakotas to be specially worthy of note:

Fig. 827.--While surrounded by the enemy (Mandans) a Blackfeet Dakota Indian goes at the risk of his life for water for the party. The-Flame’s Winter Count, 1795-’96. The interpreter stated that this was near the present Cheyenne agency, Dakota. In the original character there is a bloody wound at the shoulder, showing that the heroic Indian was wounded. He is shown bearing a water vessel.

Fig. 828.--Runs-by-the-Enemy. Red-Cloud’s Census. This figure suggests a feat of special courage and fleetness in making a circuit of a hostile force.

Fig. 829.--Runs-Around. Red-Cloud’s Census. This figure seems to indicate a warrior surrounded and shot at by a number of enemies, who yet escapes by his swiftness.

Fig. 830.--Goes-through-the-Camp. Red-Cloud’s Census. This figure notes the successful passage of a spy through the enemy’s camp.

Fig. 831.--Cut-Through. Red-Cloud’s Census. Here a footman cuts his way through a line of hostile horsemen.

Fig. 832.--Paints-His-Face-Red, a Dakota, was killed in his tipi by the Pawnees. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1837-’38. The right to paint the face red was sometimes gained by providing the ceremonial requirements for a commemoration of the dead, which were very expensive. There are two facts depicted by the figure. The man and his tipi are surrounded by a ring of enemies, who are shooting him, and, touched by the upper part of the ring, is the bottom of another and more minute tipi, marked with the sign of a fatal shot.

Fig. 833.--Paints-His-Cheeks-Red and his family, who were camping by themselves, were killed by Pawnees. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1837-’38. This character tells the same story as the one preceding, but is more conventional.

Fig. 834.--Spotted-Horse carried the pipe around and took the warpath against the Pawnees to avenge the death of his uncle, Paints-His-Cheeks-Red. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1838-’39. This figure is the sequel to those immediately preceding.

Fig. 835.--White-Bull and many others were killed in a fight with the Shoshoni. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1845-’46. This warrior seems to have lost more than the normal quantity of scalp.

Fig. 836.--Brave-Bear was killed in a quarrel over a calf. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1854-’55. He was killed by enemies; hence his scalp is gone.

Fig. 837.--The-Brave-Man was killed in a great fight. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1817-’18. The fight is shown by the arrows flying to and from him. He is also scalped.

Fig. 838.--A soldier ran a bayonet into Crazy-Horse and killed him. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1877-’78. This was done in the guard-house at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, September 5, 1877. The horse in this instance does not distinctly exhibit the wavy lines shown in several other representations of the chief which appear among the illustrations of this paper. This omission is doubtless due to carelessness of the Indian artist.

Fig. 839.--Striped-Face stabbed and killed his daughter’s husband for whipping his wife. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1829-’30.

Fig. 840.--Spotted-Face stabs his daughter’s husband for whipping his wife. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1829-’30. This is another form of the preceding figure.

Fig. 841.--Kaglala-kutepi, Shot-Close. The Oglala Roster. This may refer to an incident in the warrior’s life in which he had a narrow escape, or may, on the other hand, refer to his stealing upon and shooting from near by at an enemy. The design, as often occurs, allows of double interpretation. The close shooting is not accurate markmanship, but with proximity as suggested by the arrow touching the head while still near the bow. This figure may receive some interpretation from the one following.

Fig. 842.--The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1835-’36. A Minneconjou chief named Lame-Deer shot an Assiniboin three times with the same arrow. He kept so close to his enemy that he never let the arrow slip away from the bow but pulled it out and shot it in again.

Fig. 843 consists of two stories pictured by Lean-Wolf, a Hidatsa chief, showing the attack made by Sioux Indians in search of horses and the result of the raid. In the upper figure, at the left end, is shown the Sioux camp from which the trail of the horse thieves extends to near the camp of the Hidatsa, at Fort Berthold, North Dakota. This village is indicated by the circular dirt lodges within a square inclosure. The Sioux captured some Indian horses and rode away, as indicated by the prints of horse hoofs. A series of short lines from the Hidatsa village indicates that Lean-Wolf and his companions followed on foot, subsequently overtaking the Sioux, killing one and taking his scalp. The scalp is shown above the figure of the human head, while the weapon with which he struck the Sioux is also shown. This is the war club. The lower division of the figure is similar to the upper. In the pursuit of the Sioux, who had come to Fort Berthold on another occasion to steal horses, Lean-Wolf assisted in capturing and killing three of the marauders. In the left-hand group of the three human heads he is shown to have killed an enemy; in the second he was the third to strike a Sioux after he was shot, but took his scalp, and in the third, or right hand, he was the fourth to strike the fallen enemy.

A record on ivory shown as Fig. 844 was obtained by Dr. Hoffman in San Francisco, California, in 1882, and was interpreted to him by an Alaskan native. The story represents the success of a hunt; the animals desired are shown, as well as those which were secured.

The following is the explanation of the characters:

_a_, _b_, deer; _c_, porcupine; _d_, winter, or permanent, habitation. The cross-piece resting upon two vertical poles constitutes the rack, used for drying fish; _e_, one of the natives occupying the same lodge with the recorder; _f_, the hunter whose exploits are narrated; _g_, _h_, _i_, beavers; _j_, _k_, _l_, _m_, _n_, martens; _o_, a weasel, according to the interpretation, although there are no specific characters to identify it as different from the preceding; _p_, land otter; _q_, a bear; _r_, a fox; _s_, a walrus; _t_, a seal; _u_, a wolf.

By comparing the illustration with the text it will be observed that all the animals secured are turned toward the house of the speaker, while the heads of those animals desired, but not obtained, are turned away from it.

The following is the text in the Kiatéxamut dialect of the Innuit language as dictated by the Alaskan, with his own literal translation into English:

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Picture-Writing of the American IndiansChapter LXXXIII: Section 2: Particular Exploits or Events

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