Pictographs of the North American Indians. A preliminary paper: Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1882-83, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1886, pages 3-256Mallery, Garrick
History
Pictographs of the North American Indians. A preliminary paper: Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1882-83, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1886, pages 3-256
Mallery, Garrick
Haida Indians; Picture-writing, Indian; Tattooing
The umbrella signifies Shadow; the three marks under the arrow,
Cheyenne; the blood-stained arrow in the man’s body, killed; Shadow’s
name and the umbrella in the figure intimates that he was the first
Dakota to carry an umbrella. The advantages of the umbrella were soon
recognized by the Dakotas, and the first they obtained from the whites
were highly prized.
In the record prepared by Battiste Good this is the only instance
where the short vertical lines below the arrow signify Cheyenne. In
all others these marks are numerical, and denote the number of persons
killed. That these short lines signify Cheyenne may be attributable to
a practice of that tribe, to make transverse cuts in the forearm after
or before going into a conflict, as an offering or vow to the Great
Spirit for success. Cheyennes are thus represented in the winter count
of Cloud-Shield for 1834-’35 (see page 139) and 1878-’79 (see page 146.)
Mr. P. W. Norris has presented a buffalo robe containing a record of
exploits, which was drawn by Black-Crow, a Dakota warrior, several
years ago. The peculiarity of the drawings is, that the warrior is
represented in each instance in an upright position, the accompanying
figure being always in a recumbent posture, representing the enemy who
was slain. Instead of depicting the personal name above the fallen
personage with a line connecting the two, the name of the enemy is
placed above the head of the victor in each instance, a line extending
between the character and the speaker or warrior whose exploits the
characters represent. The latter seems to proclaim the name of his
victim. A pipe is also figured between the victor and the vanquished,
showing that he is entitled to smoke a pipe of celebration.
A copy of the whole record was shown to the Mdewakantawan Dakotas,
near Fort Snelling, Minnesota, in 1883, and the character reproduced
in Figure 79, about which there was the most doubt, was explained as
signifying “many tongues,” _i. e._, Loud-Talker, being the name of the
person killed.
[Illustration: FIG. 79.--Loud-Talker.]
The circle at the end of the line running from the mouth contains a
number of lanceolate forms, the half of each of which is black, the
other white. They have the appearance of feathers. These figures
signify voice, the sounds as issuing from the mouth, and correspond in
some respect to those drawn by the Mexicans with that significance. The
considerable number of these figures, signifying intensity, denotes
loud voice, or, as given literally, “loud talker,” that being the name
of the victim.
It is however to be noted that “Shield,” an Oglala Dakota, says the
character signifies Feather-Shield, the name of a warrior formerly
living at the Pine Ridge Agency, Dakota.
AN OGALALA ROSTER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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