Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples Part 12

Rev. G.L. Deffenbaugh describes what may perhaps be regarded as an intensive sign among the Sahaptins in connection with the sign for _good_; i.e., _very good_. "Place the left hand in position in front of the body with all fingers closed except first, thumb lying on second, then with forefinger of right hand extended in same way point to end of forefinger of left hand, move it up the arm till near the body and then to a point in front of breast to make the sign _good_."

For the latter see EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY page 487, _infra_. The same special motion is prefixed to the sign for _bad_ as an intensive.

Another intensive is reported by Mr. Benjamin Clark, interpreter at the Kaiowa, Comanche, and Wichita agency, Indian Territory, in which after the sign for _bad_ is made, that for _strong_ is used by the Comanches as follows: Place the clinched left fist horizontally in front of the breast, back forward, then pa.s.s the palmar side of the right fist downward in front of the knuckles of the left.

Dr. W.H. Corbusier, a.s.sistant surgeon U.S.A., writes as follows in response to a special inquiry on the subject: "By carrying the right fist from behind forward over the left, instead of beginning the motion six inches above it, the Arapaho sign for _strong_ is made. For _brave_, first strike the chest over the heart with the right fist two or three times, and then make the sign for _strong_.

"The sign for _strong_ expresses the superlative when used with other signs; with coward it denotes a base coward; with hunger, starvation; and with sorrow, bitter sorrow. I have not seen it used with the sign for pleasure or that of hunger, nor can I learn that it is ever used with them."

OPPOSITION.

The principle of opposition, as between the right and left hands, and between the thumb and forefinger and the little finger, appears among Indians in some expressions for "above," "below," "forward," "back,"

but is not so common as among the methodical, distinguished from the natural, signs of deaf-mutes. It is also connected with the attempt to express degrees of comparison. _Above_ is sometimes expressed by holding the left hand horizontal, and in front of the body, fingers open, but joined together, palm upward. The right hand is then placed horizontal, fingers open but joined, palm downward, an inch or more above the left, and raised and lowered a few inches several times, the left hand being perfectly still. If the thing indicated as "above"

is only a _little_ above, this concludes the sign, but if it be _considerably_ above, the right hand is raised higher and higher as the height to be expressed is greater, until, if _enormously_ above, the Indian will raise his right hand as high as possible, and, fixing his eyes on the zenith, emit a duplicate grunt, the more prolonged as he desires to express the greater height. All this time the left hand is held perfectly motionless. _Below_ is gestured in a corresponding manner, all movement being made by the left or lower hand, the right being held motionless, palm downward, and the eyes looking down.

The code of the Cistercian monks was based in large part on a system of opposition which seems to have been wrought out by an elaborate process of invention rather than by spontaneous figuration, and is more of mnemonic than suggestive value. They made two fingers at the right side of the nose stand for "friend," and the same at the left side for "enemy," by some fanciful connection with right and wrong, and placed the little finger on the tip of the nose for "fool" merely because it had been decided to put the forefinger there for "wise man."

PROPER NAMES.

It is well known that the names of Indians are almost always connotive, and particularly that they generally refer to some animal, predicating often some attribute or position of that animal. Such names readily admit of being expressed in sign language, but there may be sometimes a confusion between the sign expressing the animal which is taken as a name-totem, and the sign used, not to designate that animal, but as a proper name. A curious device to differentiate proper names was observed as resorted to by a Brule Dakota. After making the sign of the animal he pa.s.sed his index forward from the mouth in a direct line, and explained it orally as "that is his name," i.e., the name of the person referred to. This approach to a grammatic division of substantives maybe correlated with the mode in which many tribes, especially the Dakotas, designate names in their pictographs, i.e., by a line from the mouth of the figure drawn representing a man to the animal, also drawn with proper color or position. Fig. 150 thus shows the name of Shun-ka Luta, Red Dog, an Ogallalla chief, drawn by himself. The shading of the dog by vertical lines is designed to represent red, or _gules_, according to the heraldic scheme of colors, which is used in other parts of this paper where it seemed useful to designate particular colors. The writer possesses in painted robes many examples in which lines are drawn from the mouth to a name-totem.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 150.]

It would be interesting to dwell more than is now allowed upon the peculiar objectiveness of Indian proper names with the result, if not the intention, that they can all be signified in gesture, whereas the best sign-talker among deaf-mutes is unable to translate the proper names occurring in his speech or narrative and, necessarily ceasing signs, resorts to the dactylic alphabet. Indians are generally named at first according to a clan or totemic system, but later in life often acquire a new name or perhaps several names in succession from some exploit or adventure. Frequently a sobriquet is given by no means complimentary. All of the subsequently acquired, as well as the original names, are connected with material objects or with substantive actions so as to be expressible in a graphic picture, and, therefore, in a pictorial sign. The determination to use names of this connotive character is shown by the objective translation, whenever possible, of those European names which it became necessary to introduce into their speech. William Penn was called "Onas," that being the word for feather-quill in the Mohawk dialect. The name of the second French governor of Canada was "Montmagny" which was translated by the Iroquois "Onontio"--"Great Mountain," and becoming a.s.sociated with the t.i.tle, has been applied to all successive Canadian governors, though the origin being generally forgotten, it has been considered as a metaphorical compliment. It is also said that Governor Fletcher was not named by the Iroquois "Cajenquiragoe," "the great swift arrow," because of his speedy arrival at a critical time, but because they had somehow been informed of the etymology of his name--"arrow maker" (_Fr. flechier_).

GENDER.

This is sometimes expressed by different signs to distinguish the s.e.x of animals, when the difference in appearance allows of such varied portraiture. An example is in the signs for the male and female buffalo, given by the Prince of Wied. The former is, "Place the tightly closed hands on both sides of the head, with the fingers forward;" the latter is, "Curve the two forefingers, place them on the sides of the head and move them several times." The short stubby horns of the bull appear to be indicated, and the cow's ears are seen moving, not being covered by the bull's shock mane. Tribes in which the hair of the women is differently arranged from that of men often denote their females by corresponding gesture. In many cases the s.e.x of animals is indicated by the addition of a generic sign for male or female.

TENSE.

While it has been mentioned that there is no inflection of signs to express tense, yet the conception of present, past, and future is gestured without difficulty. A common mode of indicating the present time is by the use of signs for _to-day_, one of which is, "(1) both hands extended, palms outward; (2) swept slowly forward and to each side, to convey the idea of openness." (_Cheyenne_ II.) This may combine the idea of _now_ with _openness_, the first part of it resembling the general deaf-mute sign for _here_ or _now_.

Two signs nearly related together are also reported as expressing the meaning _now, at once_, viz.: "Forefinger of the right hand extended, upright, &c. (J), is carried upward in front of the right side of the body and above the head so that the extended finger points toward the center of the heavens, and then carried downward in front of the right breast, forefinger still pointing upright." (_Dakota_ I.) "Place the extended index, pointing upward, palm to the left, as high as and before the top of the head; push the hand up and down a slight distance several times, the eyes being directed upward at the time."

(_Hidatsa_ I; _Kaiowa_ I; _Arikara_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II.)

Time past is not only expressed, but some tribes give a distinct modification to show a short or long time past. The following are examples:

_Lately, recently_.--Hold the left hand at arm's length, closed, with forefinger only extended and pointing in the direction of the place where the event occurred; then hold the right hand against the right shoulder, closed, but with index extended and pointing in the direction of the left. The hands may be exchanged, the right extended and the left retained, as the case may require for ease in description. (_Absaroka I; Shoshoni and Banak_ I.)

_Long ago_.--Both hands closed, forefingers extended and straight; pa.s.s one hand slowly at arm's length, pointing horizontally, the other against the shoulder or near it, pointing in the same direction as the opposite one. Frequently the tips of the forefingers are placed together, and the hands drawn apart, until they reach the positions described. (_Absaroka_ I; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I.)

The Comanche, Wichita, and other Indians designate a _short time ago_ by placing the tips of the forefinger and thumb of the left hand together, the remaining fingers closed, and holding the hand before the body with forefinger and thumb pointing toward the right shoulder; the index and thumb of the right hand are then similarly held and placed against those of the left, when the hands are slowly drawn apart a short distance. For a _long time ago_ the hands are similarly held, but drawn farther apart. Either of these signs may be and frequently is preceded by those for _day, month_, or _year_, when it is desired to convey a definite idea of the time past.

A sign is reported with the abstract idea of _future_, as follows: "The arms are flexed and hands brought together in front of the body as in type-position (W). The hands are made to move in wave-like motions up and down together and from side to side." (_Oto_ I.) The authority gives the poetical conception of "Floating on the tide of time."

The ordinary mode of expressing future time is, however, by some figurative reference, as the following: Count off fingers, then shut all the fingers of both hands several times, and touch the hair and tent or other white object. (_Apache_ III.) "Many years; when I am old (whitehaired)."

CONJUNCTIONS.

An interesting instance where the rapid connection of signs has the effect of the conjunction _and_ is shown in NaTCI'S NARRATIVE, _infra_.

PREPOSITIONS.

In the TENDOY-HUERITO DIALOGUE (page 489) the combination of gestures supplies the want of the proposition _to_.

PUNCTUATION.

While this is generally accompanied by facial expression, manner of action, or pause, instances have been noticed suggesting the device of interrogation points and periods.

_MARK OF INTERROGATION._

The Shoshoni, Absaroka, Dakota, Comanche, and other Indians, when desiring to ask a question, precede the gestures const.i.tuting the information desired by a sign intended to attract attention and "asking for," viz., by holding the flat right hand, with the palm down, directed, to the individual interrogated, with or without lateral oscillating motion; the gestural sentence, when completed, being closed by the same sign and a look of inquiry. This recalls the Spanish use of the interrogation points before and after the question.

_PERIOD_.

A Hidatsa, after concluding a short statement, indicated its conclusion by placing the inner edges of the clinched hands together before the breast, and pa.s.sing them outward and downward to their respective sides in an emphatic manner, Fig. 334, page 528. This sign is also used in other connections to express _done_.

The same mode of indicating the close of a narrative or statement is made by the Wichitas, by holding the extended left hand horizontally before the body, fingers pointing to the right, palm either toward the body or downward, and cutting edgewise downward past the tips of the left with the extended right hand. This is the same sign given in the ADDRESS OF KIN CHE-ESS as _cut off_, and is ill.u.s.trated in Fig.

324, page 522. This is more ideographic and convenient than the device of the Abyssinian Galla, reported by M.A. d'Abbadie, who denoted a comma by a slight stroke of a leather whip, a semicolon by a harder one, and a full stop by one still harder.

_GESTURES AIDING ARCHaeOLOGIC RESEARCH._

The most interesting light in which the Indians of North America can be regarded is in their present representation of a stage of evolution once pa.s.sed through by our own ancestors. Their signs, as well as their myths and customs, form a part of the paleontology of humanity to be studied in the history of the latter as the geologist, with similar object, studies all the strata of the physical world. At this time it is only possible to suggest the application of gesture signs to elucidate pictographs, and also their examination to discover religious, sociologic, and historic ideas preserved in them, as has been done with great success in the radicals of oral speech.

SIGNS CONNECTED WITH PICTOGRAPHS.

The picture writing of Indians is the sole form in which they recorded events and ideas that can ever be interpreted without the aid of a traditional key, such as is required for the signification of the wampum belts of the Northeastern tribes and the _quippus_ of Peru.

Strips of bark, tablets of wood, dressed skins of animals, and the smooth surfaces of rock have been and still are used for such records, those most ancient, and therefore most interesting, being of course the rock etchings; but they can only be deciphered, if at all, by the ascertained principles on which the more modern and the more obvious are made. Many of the numerous and widespread rock carvings are mere idle sketches--of natural objects, mainly animals, and others are as exclusively mnemonic as the wampum above mentioned. Even since the Columbian discovery some tribes have employed devices yet ruder than the rudest pictorial attempt as markers for the memory. An account of one of these is given in E. Winslow's Relation (A.D. 1624), _Col.

Ma.s.s. Hist. Soc._, 2d series, ix, 1822, p. 99, as follows:

"Instead of records and chronicles they take this course: Where any remarkable act is done, in memory of it, either in the place or by some pathway near adjoining, they make a round hole in the ground about a foot deep, and as much over, which, when others pa.s.sing by behold, they inquire the cause and occasion of the same, which being once known, they are careful to acquaint all men as occasion serveth therewith. And lest such holes should be filled or grown over by any accident, as men pa.s.s by they will often renew the same; by which means many things of great antiquity are fresh in memory. So that as a man traveleth, if he can understand his guide, his journey will be the less tedious, by reason of the many historical discourses which will be related unto him."

Gregg, in _Commerce of the Prairies_, _New York_, 1844, II, 286, says of the Plains tribes: "When traveling, they will also pile heaps of stones upon mounds or conspicuous points, so arranged as to be understood by their pa.s.sing comrades; and sometimes they set up the bleached buffalo heads, which are everywhere scattered over those plains, to indicate the direction of their march, and many other facts which may be communicated by those simple signs."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 151.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 152.]

A more ingenious but still arbitrary mode of giving intelligence is practiced at this day by the Abnaki, as reported by H.L. Masta, chief of that tribe, now living at Pierreville, Quebec. When they are in the woods, to say "I am going to the east," a stick is stuck in the ground pointing to that direction, Fig. 151. "Am not gone far," another stick is stuck across the former, close to the ground, Fig. 152. "Gone far" is the reverse, Fig. 153. The number of days journey of proposed absence is shown by the same number of sticks across the first; thus Fig. 154 signifies five days' journey. Cutting the bark off from a tree on one, two, three or four sides near the b.u.t.t means "Have had poor, poorer, poorest luck." Cutting it off all around the tree means "I am starving." Smoking a piece of birch bark and hanging it on a tree means "I am sick."