For reasons before given it is important to ascertain the varying extent of familiarity with sign language among the members of the several tribes, how large a proportion possesses any skill in it, and the average amount of their vocabulary. It is also of special interest to learn the degree to which women become proficient, and the age at which children commence its practice; also whether they receive systematic instruction in it. The statement was made by Titchkemátski that the Kaiowa and Comanche women know nothing of sign language, while the Cheyenne women are versed in it. As he is a Cheyenne, however, he may not have a large circle of feminine acquaintances beyond his own tribe, and his negative testimony is not valuable. Rev. A.J. Holt, from large experience, asserts that the Kaiowa and Comanche women do know and practice sign language, though the Cheyenne either are more familiar with it than the Kaiowa or have a greater degree of expertness. The Comanche women, he says, are the peers of any sign-talkers. Colonel Dodge makes the broad assertion that even among the Plains tribes only the old, or at least middle-aged, men use signs properly, and that he has not seen any women or even young men who were at all reliable in signs. He gives this statement to show the difficulty in acquiring sign language; but it is questionable if the fact is not simply the result of the rapid disuse of signs, in many tribes, by which, cause women, not so frequently called upon to employ them, and the younger generation, who have had no necessity to learn them, do not become expert. Disappearing Mist, as before mentioned, remembers a time when the Iroquois women and children used signs more than the men.
It is also asserted, with some evidence, that the signs used by males and females are different, though mutually understood, and some minor points for observation may be indicated, such as whether the commencement of counting upon the fingers is upon those of the right or the left hand, and whether Indians take pains to look toward the south when suggesting the course of the sun, which would give the motion from left to right.
A suggestion has been made by a correspondent that some secret signs of affiliation are known and used by the members of the several associations, religious and totemic, which have been often noticed among several Indian tribes. No evidence of this has been received, but the point is worth attention.
In many cases positive signs to convey some particular idea are not reported, and in their place a sign with the opposite signification is given, coupled with the sign of negation. In other words, the only mode of expressing the intended meaning is supposed to be by negation of the reverse of what it is desired to describe. In this manner "fool—no,"would be "wise," and "good—no," would be "bad." This mode of expression is very frequent as a matter of option when the positive signs are in fact also used. The reported absence of positive signs for the ideas negatived is therefore often made with as little propriety as if when an ordinary speaker chose to use the negative form "not good," it should be inferred that he was ignorant of the word "bad." It will seldom prove, on proper investigation, that where sign language has reached and retained any high degree of development it will show such poverty as to require the expedient of negation of an affirmative to express an idea which is intrinsically positive.
The signs of the Indians appear to consist of motions more often than of positions—a fact enhancing the difficulty both of their description and illustration—and the motions when not designedly abbreviated are generally large, free, and striking, seldom minute. It seems also to be the general rule among Indians as among deaf-mutes that the point of the finger is used to trace outlines and the palm of the hand to describe surfaces. From an examination of the identical signs made to each other for the same object by Indians of the same tribe and band, they appear to make many gestures with little regard to the position of the fingers and to vary in such arrangement from individual taste. Some of the elaborate descriptions, giving with great detail the attitude of the fingers of any particular gesturer and the inches traced by his motions, are of as little necessity as would be, when quoting a written word, a careful reproduction of the flourishes of tailed letters and the thickness of down-strokes in individual chirography. The fingers must be insomeposition, but that is frequently accidental, not contributing to the general and essential effect. An example may be given in the sign forwhite manwhich Medicine Bull,infra, page491, made by drawing the palmar surface of the extended index across the forehead, and inLean Wolf's Complaint,infra, page526, the same motion is made by the back of the thumb pressed upon the middle joint of the index, fist closed. The execution as well as the conception in both cases was the indication of the line of the hat on the forehead, and the position of the fingers in forming the line is altogether immaterial. There is often also a custom or "fashion" in which not only different tribes, but different persons in the same tribe, gesture the same sign with different degrees of beauty, for there is calligraphy in sign language, though no recognized orthography. It is nevertheless better to describe and illustrate with unnecessary minuteness than to fail in reporting a real distinction. There are, also, in fact, many signs formed by mere positions of the fingers, some of which are abbreviations, but in others the arrangement of the fingers in itself forms a picture. An instance of the latter is one of the signs given for thebear, viz.: Middle and third finger of right hand clasped down by the thumb, fore and little finger extended crooked downward. SeeExtracts from Dictionary,infra. This reproduction, of the animals peculiar claws, with the hand and in any position relative to the body, would suffice without the pantomime of scratching in the air, which is added only if the sign without it should not be at once comprehended.
Lie, Falsehood. ArikaraFig. 233.
The specified relation of the positions and motions of the hands to different parts of the body is essential to the formation and description of many signs. Those forspeak,hear, andsee, which must be respectively made relative to the mouth, ear and eye, are manifest examples; and there are others less obviously dependent upon parts of the body, such as the heart or head, which would not be intelligible without apposition. There are also some directly connected with height from the ground and other points of reference. In, however, a large proportion of the signs noted the position of the hands with reference to the body can be varied or disregarded. The hands making the motions can be held high or low, as the gesturer is standing or sitting, or the person addressed is distant or near by. These variations have been partly discussed under the head of abbreviations. While descriptions made with great particularity are cumbrous, it is desirable to give the full detail of that gesture which most clearly carries out the generic conception, with, if possible, also the description of such deviations and abbreviations as are most confusing. For instance, it is well to explain that signs for yes and no, described with precise detail as inExtracts from Dictionary,infra, are also often made by an Indian when wrapped in his blanket with only a forefinger protruding, the former by a mere downward and the latter by a simple outward bend of that finger. An example may be also taken from the following sign forlie, falsehood, made by an Ankara, Fig. 233. in which the separated index and second fingers are moved sidewise in a downward line near but below the mouth, which may be compared with other executions of the motion with the same position of the fingers directly forward from the mouth, and with that given inLean Wolf's Complaint, illustrated on page528, in which the motion is made carelessly across the body. The original sign was undoubtedly made directly from the mouth, the conception being "two tongues," two accounts oropposed statements, one of which must be false, but the finger-position coming to be established for two tongues has relation to the original conception whether or not made near or in reference to the mouth, the latter being understood.
It will thus be seen that sometimes the position of the fingers is material as forming or suggesting a figure without reference to motion, while in other cases the relative position of the hands to each other and to parts of the body are significant without any special arrangement of the fingers. Again, in others, the lines drawn in the air by the hand or hands execute the conception without further detail. In each case only the essential details, when they can be ascertained, should be minutely described.
The object always should be, not to translate from English into signs, but to ascertain the real signs and their meaning. By far the most satisfactory mode of obtaining this result is to induce Indians or other gesturers observed to tell stories, make speeches, or hold talks in gesture, with one of themselves as interpreter in his own oral language if the latter is understood by the observer, and, if not, the words, not the signs, should be translated by an intermediary linguistic interpreter. It will be easy afterward to dissect and separate the particular signs used. This mode will determine the genuine shade of meaning of each sign, and corresponds with the plan now adopted by the Bureau of Ethnology for the study of the tribal vocal languages, instead of that arising out of exclusively missionary purposes, which was to force a translation of the Bible from a tongue not adapted to its terms and ideas, and then to compile a grammar and dictionary from the artificial result. A little ingenuity will direct the more intelligent or complaisant gesturers to the expression of the thoughts, signs for which are specially sought; and full orderly descriptions of such tales and talks with or even without analysis and illustration are more desired than any other form of contribution.
The original authorities, or the best evidence, for Indian signs—i.e., the Indians themselves—being still accessible, the collaborators in this work should not be content with secondary authority. White sign talkers and interpreters may give some genuine signs, but they are very apt to interpolate their own improvements. Experience has led to the apparently paradoxical judgment that the direct contribution of signs purporting to be those of Indians, made by a habitual practitioner of signs who is not an Indian, is less valuable than that of a discriminating observer who is not himself an actor in gesture speech. The former, being to himself the best authority, unwittingly invents and modifies signs, or describes what he thinks they ought to be, often with a very different conception from that of an Indian. Sign language not being fixed and limited, as is the case with oral languages, expertness in it isnot necessarily a proof of accuracy in anyone of its forms. The proper inquiry is not what a sign might, could, would, or should be, or what is the best sign for a particular meaning, but what is any sign actually used for such meaning. If any one sign is honestly invented or adopted by any one man, whether Indian, African, Asiatic, or deaf-mute, it has its value, but it should be identified to be in accordance with the fact and should not be subject to the suspicion that it has been assimilated or garbled in interpretation. Its prevalence and special range present considerations of different interest and requiring further evidence.
The genuine signs alone should be presented to scholars, to give their studies proper direction, while the true article can always be adulterated into a composite jargon by those whose ambition is only to be sign talkers instead of making an honest contribution to ethnologic and philologic science. The few direct contributions of interpreters to the present work are, it is believed, valuable, because they were made without expression of self-conceit or symptom of possession by a pet theory.
It is proper to give to all readers interested in the subject, but particularly to those whose collaboration for the more complete work above mentioned is solicited, an account of the mode in which the researches have thus far been conducted and in which it is proposed to continue them. After study of all that could be obtained in printed form, and a considerable amount of personal correspondence, the results were embraced in a pamphlet issued by the Bureau of Ethnology in the early part of 1880, entitled "Introduction to the Study of Sign Language among the North American Indians as Illustrating the Gesture Speech of Mankind." In this, suggestions were made as to points and manner of observation and report, and forms prepared to secure uniformity and accuracy were explained, many separate sheets of which with the pamphlet were distributed, not only to all applicants, but to all known and accessible persons in this country and abroad who, there was reason to hope, would take sufficient interest in the undertaking to contribute their assistance. Those forms,Types of Hand Positions, Outlines of Arm Positions, andExamples, thus distributed, are reproduced at the end of this paper.
The main object of those forms was to eliminate the source of confusion produced by attempts of different persons at the difficult description of positions and motions. The comprehensive plan required that many persons should be at work in many parts of the world. It will readily be understood that if a number of persons should undertake to describe in words the same motions, whether of pantomimists on the stage or of other gesturers, even if the visual perception of all theobservers should be the same in the apprehension of the particular gestures, their language in description might be so varied as to give very diverse impressions to a reader who had never seen the gestures described. But with a set form of expressions for the typical positions, and skeleton outlines to be filled up and, when necessary, altered in a uniform style, this source of confusion is greatly reduced. The graphic lines drawn to represent the positions and motions on the same diagrams will vary but little in comparison with the similar attempt of explanation in writing. Both modes of description were, however, requested, each tending to supplement and correct the other, and provision was also made for the notation of such striking facial changes or emotional postures as might individualize or accentuate the gestures. It was also pointed out that the prepared sheets could be used by cutting and pasting them in the proper order, for successive signs forming a speech or story, so as to exhibit the semiotic syntax. Attention was specially directed to the importance of ascertaining the intrinsic idea or conception of all signs, which it was urged should be obtained directly from the persons using them and not by inference.
In the autumn of 1880 the prompt and industrious co-operation of many observers in this country, and of a few from foreign lands, had supplied a large number of descriptions which were collated and collected into a quarto volume of 329 pages, called "A Collection of Gesture Signs and Signals of the North American Indians, with some comparisons."
This was printed on sized paper with wide margins to allow of convenient correction and addition. It was not published, but was regarded as proof, a copy being sent to each correspondent with a request for his annotations, not only in revision of his own contribution, but for its comparison with those made by others. Even when it was supposed that mistakes had been made in either description or reported conception, or both, the contribution was printed as received, in order that a number of skilled and disinterested persons might examine it and thus ascertain the amount and character of error. The attention of each contributor was invited to the fact that, in some instances, a sign as described by one of the other contributors might be recognized as intended for the same idea or object as that furnished by himself, and the former might prove to be the better description. Each was also requested to examine if a peculiar abbreviation or fanciful flourish might not have induced a difference in his own description from that of another contributor with no real distinction either in conception or essential formation. All collaborators were therefore urged to be candid in admitting, when such cases occurred, that their own descriptions were mere unessential variants from others printed, otherwise to adhere to their own and explain the true distinction. When the descriptions showed substantial identity, they were united with the reference to all the authorities giving them.
Many of these copies have been returned with valuable annotations,not only of correction but of addition and suggestion, and are now being collated again into one general revision.
The above statement will, it is hoped, give assurance that the work of the Bureau of Ethnology has been careful and thorough. No scheme has been neglected which could be contrived and no labor has been spared to secure the accuracy and completeness of the publication still in preparation. It may also be mentioned that although the writer has made personal observations of signs, no description of any sign has been printed by him which rests on his authority alone. Personal controversy and individual bias were thus avoided. For every sign there is a special reference either to an author or to some one or more of the collaborators. While the latter have received full credit, full responsibility was also imposed, and that course will be continued.
No contribution has been printed which asserted that any described sign is used by "all Indians," for the reason that such statement is not admissible evidence unless the authority had personally examined all Indians. If any credible person had affirmatively stated that a certain identical, or substantially identical, sign had been found by him, actually used by Abnaki, Absaroka, Arikara, Assiniboins, etc., going through the whole list of tribes, or any definite portion of that list, it would have been so inserted under the several tribal heads. But the expression "all Indians," besides being insusceptible of methodical classification, involves hearsay, which is not the kind of authority desired in a serious study. Such loose talk long delayed the recognition of Anthropology as a science. It is true that some general statements of this character are made by some old authors quoted in the Dictionary, but their descriptions are reprinted, as being all that can be used of the past, for whatever weight they may have, and they are kept separate from the linguistic classification given below.
Regarding the difficulties met with in the task proposed, the same motto might be adopted as was prefixed to Austin'sChironomia: "Non sum nescius, quantum susceperim negotii, qui motus corporis exprimere verbis, imitari scriptura conatus sim voces."Rhet. ad Herenn, 1.3. If the descriptive recital of the signs collected had been absolutely restricted to written or printed words the work would have been still more difficult and the result less intelligible. The facilities enjoyed of presenting pictorial illustrations have been of great value and will give still more assistance in the complete work than in the present paper.
In connection with the subject of illustrations it may be noted that a writer in theJournal of the Military Service Institution of the United States, Vol. II, No. 5, the same who had before invented the mode of describing signs by "means" mentioned on page330supra, gives a curious distinction between deaf-mute and Indian signs regarding their respective capability of illustration, as follows: "This French system is taught, I believe, in most of the schools for deaf-mutes in this country, and in Europe; but so great has been the difficulty of fixing the handsin space, either by written description or illustrated cuts, that no text books are used. I must therefore conclude that the Indian sign language is not only the more natural, but the more simple, as the gestures can be described quite accurately in writing, and I think can be illustrated." The readers of this paper will also, probably, "think" that the signs of Indians can be illustrated, and as the signs of deaf-mutes are often identical with the Indian, whether expressing the same or different ideas, and when not precisely identical are always made on the same principle and with the same members, it is not easy to imagine any greater difficulty either in their graphic illustration or in their written description. The assertion is as incorrect as if it were paraphrased to declare that a portrait of an Indian in a certain attitude could be taken by a pencil or with the camera while by some occult influence the same artistic skill would be paralysed in attempting that of a deaf-mute in the same attitude. In fact, text books on the "French system" are used and one in the writer's possession published in Paris twenty-five years ago, contains over four hundred illustrated cuts of deaf-mute gesture signs.
The proper arrangement and classification of signs will always be troublesome and unsatisfactory. There can be no accurate translation either of sentences or of words from signs into written English. So far from the signs representing words as logographs, they do not in their presentation of the ideas of actions, objects, and events, under physical forms, even suggest words, which must be skillfully fitted to them by the glossarist and laboriously derived from, them by the philologer. The use of words in formulation, still more in terminology, is so wide a departure from primitive conditions as to be incompatible with the only primordial language yet discovered. No vocabulary of signs will be exhaustive for the simple reason that the signs are exhaustless, nor will it be exact because there cannot be a correspondence between signs and words taken individually. Not only do words and signs both change their meaning from the context, but a single word may express a complex idea, to be fully rendered only by a group of signs, and,vice versa, a single sign may suffice for a number of words. The elementary principles by which the combinations in sign and in the oral languages of civilization are effected are also discrepant. The attempt must therefore be made to collate and compare the signs according to general ideas, conceptions, and, if possible, the ideas and conceptions of the gesturers themselves, instead of in order of words as usually arranged in dictionaries.
The hearty thanks of the writer are rendered to all his collaborators, a list of whom is given below, and will in future be presented in a manner more worthy of them. It remains to give an explanation of the mode in which a large collection of signs has been made directly by the officers of the Bureau of Ethnology. Fortunately for this undertaking, the policy of the government brought to Washington during the year1880 delegations, sometimes quite large, of most of the important tribes. Thus the most intelligent of the race from many distant and far separated localities were here in considerable numbers for weeks, and indeed, in some cases, months, and, together with their interpreters and agents, were, by the considerate order of the honorable Secretary of the Interior, placed at the disposal of this Bureau for all purposes of gathering ethnologic information. The facilities thus obtained were much greater than could have been enjoyed by a large number of observers traveling for a long time over the continent for the same express purpose. The observations relating to signs were all made here by the same persons, according to a uniform method, in which the gestures were obtained directly from the Indians, and their meaning (often in itself clear from the context of signs before known) was translated sometimes through the medium of English or Spanish, or of a native language known in common by some one or more of the Indians and by some one of the observers. When an interpreter was employed, he translated the words used by an Indian in his oral paraphrase of the signs, and was not relied upon to explain the signs according to his own ideas. Such translations and a description of minute and rapidly-executed signs, dictated at the moment of their exhibition, were sometimes taken down by a phonographer, that there might be no lapse of memory in any particular, and in many cases the signs were made in successive motions before the camera, and prints secured as certain evidence of their accuracy. Not only were more than one hundred Indians thus examined individually, at leisure, but, on occasions, several parties of different tribes, who had never before met each other, and could not communicate by speech, were examined at the same time, both by inquiry of individuals whose answers were consulted upon by all the Indians present, and also by inducing several of the Indians to engage in talk and story-telling in signs between themselves. Thus it was possible to notice the difference in the signs made for the same objects and the degree of mutual comprehension notwithstanding such differences. Similar studies were made by taking Indians to the National Deaf Mute College and bringing them in contact with the pupils.
By far the greater part of the actual work of the observation and record of the signs obtained at Washington has been ably performed by Dr.W.J. Hoffman, the assistant of the present writer. When the latter has made personal observations the former has always been present, taking the necessary notes and sketches and superintending the photographing. To him, therefore, belongs the credit for all those references in the following "List of Authorities and Collaborators," in which it is stated that the signs were obtained at Washington from Indian delegations. Dr.Hoffmanacquired in the West, through his service as acting assistant surgeon, United States Army, at a large reservation, the indispensable advantage of becoming acquainted with the Indian character so as to conduct skillfully such researches as that inquestion, and in addition has the eye and pencil of an artist, so that he seizes readily, describes with physiological accuracy, and reproduces in action and in permanent illustration all shades of gesture exhibited. Nearly all of the pictorial illustrations in this paper are from his pencil. For the remainder, and for general superintendence of the artistic department of the work, thanks are due to Mr.W.H. Holmes, whose high reputation needs no indorsement here.
1. A list prepared byWilliam Dunbar, dated Natchez, June 30, 1800, collected from tribes then "west of the Mississippi," but probably not from those very far west of that river, published in theTransactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. vi, pp. 1-8, as read January 16, 1801, and communicated by Thomas Jefferson, president of the society.
2. The one published inAn Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819-1820, Philadelphia, 1823, vol. i, pp. 378-394. This expedition was made by order of the Hon. J.O. Calhoun, Secretary of War, under the command of Maj.S. H. Long, of the United States Topographical Engineers, and is commonly called James' Long's Expedition. This list appears to have been collected chiefly by Mr. T. Say, from the Pani, and the Kansas, Otos, Missouris, Iowas, Omahas, and other southern branches of the great Dakota family.
3. The one collected by PrinceMaximilian von Wied-NeuwiedinReise in das Innere Nord-America in den Jahren 1832 bis 1834.Coblenz, 1839 [—1841], vol. ii, pp. 645-653. His statement is, "the Arikaras, Mandans, Minnitarris [Hidatsa], Crows [Absaroka], Cheyennes, Snakes [Shoshoni], and Blackfeet [Satsika] all understand certain signs, which, on the contrary, as we are told, are unintelligible to the Dakotas, Assiniboins, Ojibwas, Krihs [Crees], and other nations. The list gives examples of the sign language of the former." From the much greater proportion of time spent and information obtained by the author among the Mandans and Hidatsa then and now dwelling near Port Berthold, on the Upper Missouri, it might be safe to consider that all the signs in his list were in fact procured from those tribes. But as the author does not say so, he is not made to say so in this work. If it shall prove that the signs now used by the Mandans and Hidatsa more closely resemble those on his list than do those of other tribes, the internal evidence will be verified. This list is not published in the English edition,London, 1843, but appears in the German, above cited, and in the French,Paris, 1840. Bibliographic reference is often made to this distinguished explorer as "Prince Maximilian," as if there were but one possessor of that Christian name among princely families. For brevity the reference in this paper will beWied.
No translation of this list into English appears to have been printed in any shape before that recently published by the present writer in theAmerican Antiquarian, vol. ii, No. 3, while the German and French editions are costly and difficult of access, so the collection cannot readily be compared by readers with the signs now made by the same tribes.The translation, now presented is based upon the German original, but in a few cases where the language was so curt as not to give a clear idea, was collated with the French edition of the succeeding year, which, from some internal evidence, appears to have been published with the assistance or supervision of the author. Many of the descriptions are, however, so brief and indefinite in both their German and French forms that they necessarily remain so in the present translation. The princely explorer, with the keen discrimination shown in all his work, doubtless observed what has escaped many recent reporters of Indian signs, that the latter depend much more upon motion than mere position, and are generally large and free, seldom minute. His object was to express the general effect of the motion rather than to describe it with such precision as to allow of its accurate reproduction by a reader who had never seen it. To have presented the signs as now desired for comparison, toilsome elaboration would have been necessary, and even that would not in all cases have sufficed without pictorial illustration.
On account of the manifest importance of determining the prevalence and persistence of the signs as observed half a century ago, an exception is made to the general arrangement hereafter mentioned by introducing after theWiedsigns remarks of collaborators who have made special comparisons, and adding to the latter the respective names of those collaborators—as, (Matthews), (Boteler). It is hoped that the work of those gentlemen will be imitated, not only regarding theWied, signs, but many others.
4. The signs given to publication by Capt.R.F. Burton, which, it would be inferred, were collected in 1860-'61, from the tribes met or learned of on the overland stage route, including Southern Dakotas, Utes, Shoshoni, Arapahos, Crows, Pani, and Apaches. They are contained inThe City of the Saints,New York, 1862, pp. 123-130.
Information has been recently received to the effect that this collection was not made by the distinguished English explorer from his personal observation, but was obtained by him from one man in Salt Lake City, a Mormon bishop, who, it is feared, gave his own ideas of the formation and use of signs rather than their faithful description.
5. A list read by Dr.D.G. Macgowan, at a meeting of the American Ethnological Society, January 23, 1866, and published in theHistorical Magazine, vol. x, 1866, pp. 86, 87, purporting to be the signs of the Caddos, Wichitas, and Comanches.
6. Annotations by Lieut.Heber M. Creel, Seventh United States Cavalry, received in January, 1881. This officer is supposed to be specially familiar with the Cheyennes, among whom he lived for eighteen months; but his recollection is that most of the signs described by him were also observed among the Arapaho, Sioux, and several other tribes.
7. A special contribution from Mr.F.F. Gerard, of Fort A. Lincoln, D.T., of signs obtained chiefly from a deaf-mute Dakota, who hastraveled among most of the Indian tribes living between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Gerard's own observations are based upon the experience of thirty-two years' residence in that country, during which long period he has had almost daily intercourse with Indians. He states that the signs contributed by him are used by the Blackfeet, (Satsika), Absaroka, Dakota, Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara Indians, who may in general be considered to be the group of tribes referred to by the Prince of Wied.
In the above noted collections the generality of the statements as to locality of the observation and use of the signs rendered it impossible to arrange them in the manner considered to be the best to study the diversities and agreements of signs. For that purpose it is more convenient that the names of the tribe or tribes among which the described signs have been observed should catch the eye in immediate connection with them than that those of the observers only should follow. Some of the latter indeed have given both similar and different signs for more than one tribe, so that the use of the contributor's name alone would create confusion. To print in every case the name of the contributor, together with the name of the tribe, would seriously burden the paper and be unnecessary to the student, the reference being readily made to each authority through thislistwhich also serves as an index. The seven collections above mentioned will therefore be referred to by the names of the authorities responsible for them. Those which now follow are arranged alphabetically by tribes, under headings of Linguistic Families according to MajorJ.W. Powell's classification, which are also given below in alphabetic order. Example: The first authority is under the headingAlgonkian, and, concerning only the Abnaki tribe, is referred to as (AbnakiI), ChiefMastabeing the personal authority.
AbnakiI. A letter dated December 15, 1879, fromH.L. Masta, chief of the Abnaki, residing near Pierreville, Quebec.
ArapahoI. A contribution from Lieut.H.B. Lemly, Third United States Artillery, compiled from notes and observations taken by him in 1877, among the Northern Arapahos.
ArapahoII. A list of signs obtained fromO-qo-his'-sa(the Mare, better known as Little Raven) andNa'-watc(Left Hand), members of a delegation of Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians, from Darlington, Ind. T., who visited Washington during the summer of 1880.
CheyenneI. Extracts from theReport of Lieut.J.W. Abert, of his Examination of New Mexico in the years 1846-'47, in Ex. Doc. No. 41, Thirtieth Congress, first session, Washington, 1848, p. 417,et seq.
CheyenneII. A list prepared in July, 1879, by Mr.Frank H. Cushing, of the Smithsonian Institution, from continued interviews withTitc-ke-ma'-tski(Cross-Eyes), an intelligent Cheyenne, then employed at that Institution.
CheyenneIII. A special contribution with diagrams from Mr.Ben Clark, scout and interpreter, of signs collected from the Cheyennes during his long residence among that tribe.
CheyenneIV. Several communications from Col.Richard I. Dodge, A.D.C., United States Army, author ofThe Plains of the Great West and their Inhabitants,New York, 1877, relating to his large experience with the Indians of the prairies.
CheyenneV. A list of signs obtained fromWa-un' (Bob-tail) andMo-hi'nuk-ma-ha'-it(Big Horse), members of a delegation of Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians from Darlington, Ind. T., who visited Washington during the summer of 1880.
OjibwaI. The small collection ofJ.G. Kohl, made about the middle of the present century, among the Ojibwas around Lake Superior. Published in hisKitchigami. Wanderings Around Lake Superior, London, 1860.
OjibwaII. Several letters from the Very Rev.Edward Jacker, Pointe St. Ignace, Mich., respecting the Ojibwas.
OjibwaIII. A communication from Rev.James A. Gilfillan, White Earth, Minn., relating to signs observed among the Ojibwas during his long period of missionary duty, still continuing.
OjibwaIV. A list from Mr.B.O. Williams, Sr., of Owosso, Mich., from recollection of signs observed among the Ojibwas of Michigan sixty years ago.
OjibwaV. Contributions received in 1880 and 1881 from Mr.F. Jacker, of Portage River, Houghton County, Michigan, who has resided many years among and near the tribe mentioned.
Sac, Fox, and KickapooI. A list from Rev.H.F. Buckner, D.D., of Eufaula, Ind. T., consisting chiefly of tribal signs observed by him among the Sac and Fox, Kickapoos, &c., during the early part of the year 1880.
AbsarokaI. A list of signs obtained fromDe-e'-ki-tcis(Pretty Eagle),É-tci-di-ka-hătc'-ki(Long Elk), andPe-ri'-tci-ka'-di-a(Old Crow), members of a delegation of Absaroka or Crow Indians from Montana Territory, who visited Washington during the months of April and May, 1880.
DakotaI. A comprehensive list, arranged with great care and skill, from Dr.Charles E. McChesney, acting assistant surgeon, United States Army, of signs collected among the Dakotas (Sioux) near Fort Bennett, Dakota, during the year 1880. Dr. McChesney requests that recognition should be made of the valuable assistance rendered to him by Mr.William Fielden, the interpreter at Cheyenne Agency, Dakota Territory.
DakotaII. A short list from Dr.Blair D. Taylor, assistant surgeon, United States Army, from recollection of signs observed among the Sioux during his late service in the region inhabited by that tribe.
DakotaIII. A special contribution from Capt.A.W. Corliss, Eighth United States Infantry, of signs observed by him during his late service among the Sioux.
DakotaIV. A copious contribution with diagrams from Dr.William H. Corbusier, assistant surgeon, United States Army, of signs obtained from the Ogalala Sioux at Pine Ridge Agency, Dakota Territory, during 1879-'80.
DakotaV. A report of Dr.W.J. Hoffman, from observations among the Teton Dakotas while acting assistant surgeon, United States Army, and stationed at Grand River Agency, Dakota, during 1872-'73.
DakotaVI. A list of signs obtained fromPe-zhi'(Grass), chief of the Blackfoot Sioux;Na-zu'-la-tan-ka(Big Head), chief of the Upper Yanktonais; andCe-tan-kin-yan(Thunder Hawk), chief of the Uncpapas, Teton Dakotas, located at Standing Rock, Dakota Territory, while at Washington in June, 1880.
DakotaVII. A list of signs obtained fromShun-ku Lu-ta(Red Dog), an Ogalala chief from the Red Cloud Agency, who visited Washington in company with a large delegation of Dakotas in June, 1880.
DakotaVIII. A special list obtained fromTa-tanka Wa-kan(Medicine Bull), and other members of a delegation of Lower Brulé Dakotas, while at Washington during the winter of 1880-'81.
HidatsaI. A list of signs obtained fromTce-caq'-a-daq-a-qic(Lean Wolf), chief of the Hidatsa, located at Fort Berthold, Dakota Territory, while at Washington with a delegation of Sioux Indians, in June, 1880.
Mandan and HidatsaI. A valuable and illustrated contribution from Dr.Washington Matthews, assistant surgeon, United States Army, author ofEthnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians, Washington, 1877, &c., lately prepared from his notes and recollections of signs observed during his long service among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians of the Upper Missouri.
OmahaI. A special list from Rev.J. Owen Dorsey, lately missionary at Omaha Agency, Nebraska, from observations made by him at that agency in 1880.
OtoI. An elaborate list, with diagrams, from Dr.W.G. Boteler, United States Indian service, collected from the Otos at the Oto Agency, Nebraska, during 1879-'80.
Oto and MissouriI. A similar contribution by the same authority respecting the signs of the Otos and Missouris, of Nebraska, collected during the winter of 1879-'80, in the description of many of which he was joined by MissKatie Barnes.
PonkaI. A short list from Rev.J. Owen Dorsey, obtained by him in 1880 from the Ponkas in Nebraska.
PonkaII. A short list obtained at Washington fromKhi-dha-skă, (White Eagle), and other chiefs, a delegation from Kansas in January, 1881.
IroquoisI. A list of signs contributed by the Hon.Horatio Hale, author of "Philology" of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, &c., nowresiding at Clinton, Ontario, Canada, obtained in June, 1880, fromSakayenkwaraton(Disappearing Mist), familiarly known as John Smoke Johnson, chief of the Canadian division of the Six Nations, or Iroquois proper, now a very aged man, residing at Brantford, Canada.
WyandotI. A list of signs fromHen'-to(Gray Eyes), chief of the Wyandots, who visited Washington during the spring of 1880, in the interest of that tribe, now dwelling in Indian Territory.
KaiowaI. A list of signs fromSittimgea(Stumbling Bear), a Kaiowa chief from Indian Territory, who visited Washington in June, 1880.
KutineI. A letter fromJ.W. Powell, Esq., Indian superintendent, British Columbia, relating to his observations among the Kutine and others.
ArikaraI. A list of signs obtained fromKua-nuq'-kna-ui'-uq(Son of the Star), chief of the Arikaras, residing at Fort Berthold, Dakota Territory, while at Washington with a delegation of Indians, in June, 1880.
PaniI. A short list obtained from "Esau," a Pani Indian, acting as interpreter to the Ponka delegation at Washington, in January, 1881.
Pima and PapagoI. A special contribution obtained fromAntonito, son of the chief of the Pima Indians in Arizona Territory, while on a visit to Washington in February, 1881.
SahaptianI. A list contributed by Rev.G.L. Deffenbaugh, of Lapwai, Idaho, giving signs obtained at Kamiah, Idaho, chiefly fromFelix, chief of the Nez Percés, and used by the Sahaptin or Nez Percés.
ComancheI. Notes from Rev.A.J. Holt, Denison, Texas, respecting, the Comanche signs, obtained at Anadarko, Indian Territory.
ComancheII. Information obtained at Washington, in February, 1880, from Maj.J.M. Haworth, Indian inspector, relating to signs used by the Comanches of Indian Territory.
ComancheIII. A list of signs obtained fromKobi(Wild Horse), a Comanche chief from Indian Territory, who visited Washington in June, 1880.
Pai-UteI. Information obtained at Washington fromNa'toi, a Pai-Ute chief, who was one of a delegation of that tribe to Washington in January, 1880.
Shoshoni and BanakI. A list of signs obtained fromTendoy(The Climber),Tisidimit,Pete, andWi'agat, members of a delegation ofShoshoni and Banak chiefs from Idaho, who visited Washington during the months of April and May, 1880.
UteI. A list of signs obtained fromAlejandre,Ga-lo-te,Augustin, and other chiefs, members of a delegation of Ute Indians of Colorado, who visited Washington during the early months of the year 1880.
ApacheI. A list of signs obtained fromHuerito(Little Blonde),Agustin Vijel, andSantiago Largo(James Long), members of a delegation of Apache chief from Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, who were brought to Washington in the months of March and April, 1880.
ApacheII. A list of signs obtained fromNa'-ka'-na'-ni-ten(White Man), an Apache chief from Indian Territory, who visited Washington in June, 1880.
ApacheIII. A large collection made during the summer of 1880, by Dr.Francis H. Atkins, acting assistant surgeon, United States Army, from the Mescalero Apaches, near South Fork, N. Mex.
KutchinI. A communication, received in 1881, from Mr.Ivan Petroff, special agent United States census, transmitting a dialogue, taken down by himself in 1866, between the Kenaitze Indians on the lower Kinnik River, in Alaska, and some natives of the interior who called themselvesTennanahorMountain-River-Men, belonging to the Tinne Kutchin tribe.
WichitaI. A list of signs from Rev.A.J. Holt, missionary, obtained fromKin-chē-ĕss(Spectacles), medicine-man of the Wichitas, at the Wichita Agency, Indian Territory, in 1879.
WichitaII. A list of signs fromTsodiáko(Shaved Head Boy), a Wichita chief, from Indian Territory, who visited Washington in June, 1880.
Zun̄iI. Some preliminary notes received in 1880 from Rev.Taylor F. Ealy, missionary among the Zun̄i, upon the signs of that body of Indians.
Valuable contributions have been received in 1880-'81 and collated under their proper headings, from the following correspondents in distant countries:
Rev.Herman N. Barnum, D.D., of Harpoot, Turkey, furnishes a list of signs in common use among Turks, Armenians, and Koords in that region.
MissL.O. Lloyd, Charleton House, Mowbray, near Cape Town, Africa, gives information concerning the gestures and signals of the Bushmen.
Rev.Lorimer Fison, Navuloa, Fiji, notes in letters comparisons between the signs and gestures of the Fijians and those of the North American Indians. As this paper is passing through the press aCollectionis returned with annotations by him and also by Mr.Walter Carew, Commissioner for the Interior of Navitilevu. The last named gentleman describes some signs of a Fijian uninstructed deaf-mute.
Mr.F.A. von Rupprecht, Kepahiang, Sumatra, supplies information and comparisons respecting the signs and signals of the Redjangs and Lelongs, showing agreement with some Dakota, Comanche, and Ojibwa signs.
Letters from Mr.A.W. Howitt, F.G.S., Sale, Gippsland, Victoria, upon Australian signs, and from Rev.James Sibree, jr., F.R.G.S., relative to the tribes of Madagascar, are gratefully acknowledged.
Many other correspondents are now, according to their kind promises, engaged in researches, the result of which have not yet been received. The organization of those researches in India and Ceylon has been accomplished through the active interest of Col.H.S. Olcott, U.S. Commissioner, Breach Candy, Bombay.
Grateful acknowledgment must be made to Prof.E.A. Fay, of the National Deaf Mute College, through whose special attention a large number of the natural signs of deaf-mutes, remembered by them as having been invented and used before instruction in conventional signs, indeed before attending any school, was obtained. The gentlemen who made the contributions in their own MS., and without prompting, are as follows: Messrs.M. Ballard,R.M. Ziegler,J. Cross,Philip J. Hasenstab, andLars Larson. Their names respectively follow their several descriptions. Mr.Ballardis an instructor in the college, and the other gentlemen were pupils during the session of 1880.
Similar thanks are due to Mr.J.L. Noyes, superintendent of the Minnesota Institution for the education of the Deaf and Dumb, Faribault, Minn., and to Messrs.George WingandD.H. Carroll, teachers in that institution, for annotations and suggestions respecting deaf-mute signs. The notes made by the last named gentlemen are followed by their respective names in reference.
Special thanks are also rendered to Prof.James D. Butler, of Madison, Wis., for contribution of Italian gesture-signs, noted by him in 1843, and for many useful suggestions.
Other Italian signs are quoted from the Essay on Italian gesticulations by his eminence CardinalWiseman, in hisEssays on Various Subjects, London, 1855, Vol. III, pp. 533-555. Many Neapolitan signs are extracted from the illustrated work of the canonAndrea de Jorio,La Mimica degli Antichi investigata nel gestire Napoletano,Napoli, 1832.
A small collection of Australian signs has been extracted fromR. Brough Smyth'sThe Aborigines of Victoria,London, 1878.