Picture-Writing of the American Indians: Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1888-89, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1893, pages 3-822Mallery, Garrick
History
Picture-Writing of the American Indians: Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1888-89, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1893, pages 3-822
Mallery, Garrick
Picture-writing, Indian
In England the pictographs styled “turf monuments” are sometimes made
by cutting the natural turf and filling with chalk the part of the
surface thus laid bare. Sometimes the color depends wholly upon the
limestone, granite, or other rock exposed by removing the turf. Rev. W.
C. Plenderleath (_a_) gives a full account of this variety of pictograph.
COPPER.
This is the only metal on which it is probable that the North American
Indians made designs. To present comparisons of pictures by other
peoples on that or other metals or alloys would be to enter into a
field, the most interesting part of which is classed as numismatic,
and which would be a departure from the present heading. That virgin
copper was used for diverse purposes, generally ornamental, by the North
American Indians, is now established, and there is a presentation of the
subject in Prof. Cyrus Thomas’s (_a_) Burial Mounds. The most distinct
and at the same time surprising account of a true pictographic record on
copper is given by W. W. Warren (_a_), an excellent authority, and is
condensed as follows:
The Ojibwa of the Crane family hold in their possession a
circular plate of virgin copper, on which are rudely marked
indentations and hieroglyphics denoting the number of generations
of the family who have passed away since they first pitched their
lodges at Shang-a-waum-ik-ong and took possession of the adjacent
country, including the island of La Pointe.
When I witnessed this curious family register in 1843 it was
exhibited to my father. The old chief kept it carefully buried in
the ground and seldom displayed it. On this occasion he brought it
to view only at the entreaty of my mother whose maternal uncle he
was.
On this plate of copper were marked eight deep indentations,
denoting the number of his ancestors who had passed away since they
first lighted their fire at Shang-a-waum-ik-ong. They had all lived
to a good old age.
By the rude figure of a man with a hat on its head, placed
opposite one of these indentations, was denoted the period when the
white race first made its appearance among them. This mark occurred
in the third generation, leaving five generations which had passed
away since that important era in their history.
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