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
Among the Sioux and Western Chippewas, after the body has been
wrapped in its best clothes and ornaments, it is then placed on a
scafford, or in a tree, where it remains until the flesh is entirely
decayed; after which the bones are buried, and the grave-posts
fixed. At the head of the grave a tabular piece of cedar, or other
wood, called the adjedatig, is set. This grave-board contains the
symbolic or representative figure which records, if it be a warrior,
his totem; that is to say, the symbol of his family, or surname,
and such arithmetical or other devices as serve to denote how many
times the deceased has been in war parties, and how many scalps he
had taken from the enemy; two facts from which his reputation is
essentially to be derived. It is seldom that more is attempted in
the way of inscription. Often, however, distinguished chiefs have
their war-flag, or, in modern days, a small ensign of American
fabric, displayed on a standard at the head of their graves, which
is left to fly over the deceased till it is wasted by the elements.
Scalps of their enemies, feathers of the bald and black eagle,
the swallow-tailed falcon, or some carnivorous bird, are also
placed, in such instances, on the adjedatig, or suspended, with
offerings of various kinds, on a separate staff. But the latter are
super-additions of a religious character, and belong to the class of
the ke-ke-wa-o-win-an-tig. The building of a funeral fire on recent
graves, is also a rite which belongs to the consideration of their
religious faith.
[Illustration:
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXXIII
OJIBWA GRAVE-POSTS.]
The following quotations and illustrations are taken from Dr. Ferdinand
von Hochstetter’s New Zealand, before cited. That author says on page
437 _et seq._:
The carved Maori-figures, which are met with on the road, are the
memorials of chiefs, who, while journeying to the restorative baths
of Rotorua, succumbed to their ills on the road. Some of the figures
are decked out with pieces of clothing or kerchiefs; and the most
remarkable feature in them is the close imitation of the tattooing of
the deceased, by which the Maoris are able to recognize for whom the
monument has been erected. Certain lines are peculiar to the tribe,
others to the family, and again others to the individual. A close
imitation of the tattooing of the face, therefore, is to the Maori
the same as to us a photographic likeness; it does not require any
description of name.
A representation of one of these carved posts is given in Figure 116.
[Illustration: FIG. 116.--New Zealand grave effigy.]
Another carved post of like character is represented in Figure 117,
concerning which the same author says, page 338:
[Illustration: FIG. 117.--New Zealand grave-post.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account