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Signals in Which Objects Are Used in
Connection With Personal Action
Buffalo Discovered. See also
Notes on Cheyenne and Arapaho
signals.
When the Ponkas or Omahas discover
buffalo the watcher stands erect on
the hill, with his face toward the
camp, holding his blanket with an
end in each hand, his arms being
stretched out (right and left) on a
line with, shoulders. (Dakota
VIII; Omaha I; Ponka I.)
See Fig. 337.
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Signal for "buffalo discovered."
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Same as (Omaha I), and (Ponka
I); with the addition that after the
blanket is held out at arm's length
the arms are crossed in front of the
body. (Dakota I.)
Camp!
When it is intended to encamp, a
blanket is elevated upon a pole so
as to be visible to all the
individuals of a moving party. (Dakota
VIII.)
Come! To Beckon to a Person.
Hold out the lower edge of the robe
or blanket, then wave it in to the
legs. This is made when there is a
desire to avoid general observation.
(Matthews.)
Come Back!
Gather or grasp the left side of the
unbuttoned coat (or blanket) with
the right hand, and, either standing
or sitting in position so that the
signal can be seen, wave it to the
left and right as often as may be
necessary for the sign to be
recognized. When made standing the
person should not move his body. (Dakota
I.)
Danger. See also Notes on
Cheyenne and Arapaho signals.
—— Horseman at a distance,
galloping, passing and repassing,
and crossing each other—enemy
comes. But for notice of herd of
buffalo, they gallop back and
forward abreast—do not cross each
other. (H.M. Brackenridge's Views
of Louisiana. Pittsburgh, 1814,
p. 250.)
—— Riding rapidly round in a circle,
"Danger! Get together as quickly as
possible." (Richard Irving Dodge,
lieutenant-colonel United States
Army, The Plains of the Great
West. New York, 1877, p. 368.)
—— Point the right index in the
direction of the danger, and then
throw the arm over the front of the
body diagonally, so that the hand
rests near the left shoulder, back
outward. If the person to be
notified of the danger should be in
the rear precede the above signal
with that for "Attention."
This signal can also be made with a
blanket, properly grasped so as to
form a long narrow roll. Perhaps
this signal would more properly
belong under "Caution," as it
would be used to denote the presence
of a dangerous beast or snake, and
not that of a human enemy. (Dakota
I.)
—— Passing and repassing one
another, either on foot or mounted,
is used as a war-signal; which is
expressed in the Hidatsa—makimakă'da—halidié.
(Mandan and Hidatsa I.)
Direction.
—— Pass around that place.
Point the folded blanket in the
direction of the object or place to
be avoided, then draw it near the
body, and wave it rapidly several
times in front of the body only, and
then throwing it out toward the side
on which you wish the person to
approach you, and repeat a
sufficient number of times for the
signal to be understood. (Dakota
I.)
Discovery.
The discovery of enemies, game, or
anything else, is announced by
riding rapidly to and fro, or in a
circle. The idea that there is a
difference in the signification of
these two directions of riding
appears, according to many of the
Dakota Indians of the Missouri
Valley, to be erroneous. Parties
away from their regular encampment
are generally in search of some
special object, such as game, or of
another party, either friendly or
hostile, which is, generally
understood, and when that object is
found, the announcement is made to
their companions in either of the
above ways. The reason that a
horseman may ride from side to side
is, that the party to whom he
desires to communicate may be at a
particular locality, and his
movement—at right angles to the
direction to the party—would be
perfectly clear. Should the party be
separated into smaller bands, or
have flankers or scouts at various
points, the only way in which the
rider's signal could be recognized
as a motion from side to side, by
all the persons to whom the signal
was directed, would be for him to
ride in a circle, which he naturally
does. (Dakota VI, VII, VIII.)
Fig. 338.
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Signal of discovery or alarm.
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The latter was noticed by Dr.
Hoffman in 1873, on the Yellowstone
River, while attached to the Stanley
Expedition. The Indians had again
concentrated after their first
repulse by General Custer, and taken
possession of the woods and bluffs
on the opposite side of the river.
As the column came up, one Indian
was seen upon a high bluff to ride
rapidly round in a circle,
occasionally firing off his
revolver. The signal announced the
discovery of the advancing force,
which had been expected, and he
could be distinctly seen from the
surrounding region. As many of the
enemy were still scattered over the
neighborhood, some of them would not
have been able to recognize this
signal had he ridden to and from an
observer, but the circle produced a
lateral movement visible from any
point.
—— Of enemies, or other game than
Buffalo. See also Notes on Cheyenne
and Arapaho signals.
The discovery of enemies is
indicated by riding rapidly around
in a circle, so that the signal
could be seen by their friends, but
out of sight of the discovered
enemy. (Dakota I.)
When enemies are discovered, or
other game than buffalo, the
sentinel waves his blanket over his
head up and down, holding an end in
each hand. (Omaha I; Ponka
I.)
—— Of game, wood, water, &c.
This is communicated by riding
rapidly forward and backward on the
top of the highest hill. The same
would be communicated with a blanket
by waving it right and left, and
then directly toward the game or
whatever the party might be
searching for, indicating that it is
not to the right or to the left, but
directly in front. (Dakota
I.)
Drill, Military.
"It is done by signals, devised
after a system of the Indian's own
invention, and communicated in
various ways.
"Wonderful as the statement may
appear, the signaling on a bright
day, when the sun is in the proper
direction, is done with a piece of
looking-glass held in the hollow of
the hand. The reflection of the
sun's rays thrown on the ranks
communicates in some mysterious way
the wishes of the chief. Once
standing on a little knoll
overlooking the valley of the South
Platte, I witnessed almost at my
feet a drill of about one hundred
warriors by a Sioux chief, who sat
on his horse on a knoll opposite me,
and about two hundred yards from his
command in the plain below. For more
than half an hour he commanded a
drill, which for variety and
promptness of action could not be
equaled by any civilized cavalry of
the world. All I could see was an
occasional movement of the right
arm. He himself afterwards told me
that he used a looking-glass."
(Dodge's Plains of the Great
West, loc. cit., pp. 307, 308.)
Friendship.
If two Indians [of the plains] are
approaching one another on
horseback, and they may, for
instance, be one mile apart, or as
far as they can see each other. At
that safe distance one wants to
indicate to the other that he wishes
to be friendly. He does this by
turning his horse around and
traveling about fifty paces back and
forth, repeating this two or three
times; this shows to the other
Indian that he is not for hostility,
but for friendly relations. If the
second Indian accepts this proffered
overture of friendship, he indicates
the same by locking the fingers of
both hands as far as to the first
joints, and in that position raises
his hands and lets them rest on his
forehead with the palms either in or
out, indifferently, as if he were
trying to shield his eyes from the
excessive light of the sun. This
implies, "I, too, am for peace," or
"I accept your overture." (Sac,
Fox, and Kickapoo I.) It is
interesting in this connection to
note the reception of Father
Marquette by an Illinois chief who
is reported to have raised his hands
to his eyes as if to shield them
from overpowering splendor. That
action was supposed to be made in a
combination of humility and
admiration, and a pretended
inability to gaze on the face of the
illustrious guest has been taken to
be the conception of the gesture,
which in fact was probably only the
holding the interlocked hands in the
most demonstrative posture. An
oriental gesture in which the flat
hand is actually interposed as a
shield to the eyes before a superior
is probably made with the poetical
conception erroneously attributed to
the Indian.
The display of green branches to
signalize friendly or pacific
intentions does not appear to have
been noticed among the North
American Indians by trustworthy
observers. Captain Cook makes
frequent mention of it as the
ceremonial greeting among islands he
visited. See his Voyage toward
the South Pole. London, 1784,
Vol. II, pp. 30 and 35. Green
branches were also waved, in signal
of friendship by the natives
of the island of New Britain to the
members of the expedition in charge
of Mr. Wilfred Powell in 1878.
Proceedings of the Royal Geological
Society, February, 1881, p. 89.
Halt!
—— Stand there! he is coming this
way.
Grasp the end of the blanket or
robe; wave it downward several
times. (Omaha I.)
—— To inquire disposition.
Wave the folded blanket to the right
and left in front of the body, then
point toward the person or persons
approaching, and carry it from a
horizontal position in front of the
body rapidly downward and upward
several times. (Dakota I.) |
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Sign Language
Among North American Indians Compared with
that Among Other Peoples and Deaf-Mutes,
1881
Indian Sign
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