The pictographs under this head that have come to the writer’s notice have been grouped as, First, a continuous account of the chief events in the life of the subject of the sketch; Second, separate accounts of some particular exploit or event in the life of the person referred to. Pictographs of both of these descriptions are very common.

CONTINUOUS RECORD OF EVENTS IN LIFE.

An example of a continuous record is the following “autobiography” of Running-Antelope:

The accompanying illustrations, Figures 124 to 134 are copied from a record of eleven drawings prepared by Running-Antelope, chief of the Uncpapa Dakota, at Grand River, Dakota, in 1873. The sketches were painted in a large drawing-book by means of water colors, and were made for Dr. W. J. Hoffman, to whom the following interpretations were given by the artist:

The record comprises the most important events in the life of Running-Antelope as a warrior. Although frequently more than one person is represented as slain, it is not to be inferred that all were killed in one day, but during the duration of one expedition, of which the recorder was a member or chief. The bird (Falco cooperi?) upon the shield refers to the clan or band totem, while the antelope drawn beneath the horses, in the act of running, signifies the personal name.

Figure 124. Killed two Arikara Indians in one day. The lance held in the hand, thrusting at the foremost of the enemy, signifies that he killed the person with that weapon; the left-hand figure was shot, as is shown, by the discharging gun, and afterwards struck with the lance. This occurred in 1853.

Figure 125. Shot and scalped an Arikara Indian in 1853. It appears that the Arikara attempted to inform Running-Antelope of his being unarmed, as the right hand is thrown outward with distended fingers, in imitation of making the gesture for negation, having nothing.

Figure 126. Shot and killed an Arikara in 1853.

Figure 127. Killed two warriors on one day in 1854.

Figure 128. Killed ten men and three squaws in 1856. The grouping of persons strongly resembles the ancient Egyptian method of drawing.

Figure 129. Killed two Arikara chiefs in 1856. Their rank is shown by the appendages to the sleeves, which consist of white weasel skins. The arrow in the left thigh of the recorder shows that he was wounded. The scars are still distinct upon the person of Running-Antelope, showing that the arrow passed through the thigh.

Figure 130. Killed one Arikara in 1857. Striking the enemy with a bow is considered the greatest insult that can be offered to another. The act of so doing also entitles the warrior to count one coup when relating his exploits in the council chamber.

Figure 131. Killed an Arikara in 1859 and captured a horse.

Figure 132. Killed two Arikara hunters in 1859. Both were shot, as is indicated by the figure of a gun in contact with each Indian. The cluster of lines drawn across the body of each victim represents the discharge of the gun, and shows where the ball took effect. The upper one of the two figures was in the act of shooting an arrow when he was killed.

Figure 133. Killed five Arikara in one day in 1863. The dotted line indicates the trail which Running-Antelope followed, and when the Indians discovered that they were pursued, they took shelter in an isolated copse of shrubbery, where they were killed at leisure. The five guns within the inclosure represent the five persons armed.

Figure 134. An Arikara killed in 1865.

The Arikara are delineated in the above, in nearly all instances, wearing the top-knot of hair, a custom similar to that practiced by the Absaroka, though as the latter were the most inveterate enemies of the Sioux, and as the word PallÁni for Arikara is applied to all enemies, the Crow custom may have been depicted as a generic mark. The practice of painting the forehead red, also an Absaroka custom, serves to distinguish the pictures as individuals of one of the two tribes.

PARTICULAR EXPLOITS AND EVENTS.

A record on ivory shown as Figure 135, was obtained by Dr. W. J. Hoffman in San Francisco, California, in 1882, and was interpreted to him by an Alaskan native. The story represents the success of a hunt; the animals desired are shown, as well as those which were secured.

The following is the explanation of the characters:

1, 2. Deer.

3. Porcupine.

4. Winter, or permanent, habitation. The cross-piece resting upon two vertical poles constitutes the rack, used for drying fish.

5. One of the natives occupying the same lodge with the recorder.

6. The hunter whose exploits are narrated.

7, 8, 9. Beavers.

10-14. Martens.

15. A weasel, according to the interpretation, although there are no specific characters to identify it as different from the preceding.

16. Land otter.

17. A bear.

18. A fox.

19. A walrus.

20. A seal.

21. A wolf.

By reference to the illustration it will be observed that all the animals secured are turned toward the house of the speaker, while the heads of those animals desired, but not captured, are turned away from it.

The following is the text in the Kiatexamut dialect of the Innuit language as dictated by the Alaskan, with his own literal translation into English:

HuÍ-nu-nÁ-ga huÍ-pu-qtÚ-a pi-cÚ-qu-lÚ-a mus´-qu-lÍ-qnut. Pa-mÚ-qtu-lit´
I, (from) my place. I went hunting (for) skins. martens
(settlement.) (animals)
ta-qÍ-men, a-mÍ-da-duk´ a-xla-luk´, Á-qui-Á-muk pi-qÚ-a a-xla-luk´; ku-qÚ-lu-hÚ-nu-muk´
five, weasel one, land otter caught one; wolf
a-xla-luk´, tun´-du-muk tÚ-gu-qlÍ-u-gÚ me-lÚ-ga-nuk´, pÉ-luk
one, deer (I) killed two, beaver
pi-naÍ-u-nuk, nÚ-nuk pit´-qu-nÍ, ma-klak-muk´ pit´-qu-nÍ, a-cÍ-a-na-muk
three, porcupine (I) caught none, seal (I) caught none, walrus
pit´-qu-ni, ua-qÍ-la-muk pit´-qu-nÍ, ta-gÚ-xa-muk pit´-qu-nÍ.
(I) caught none, fox (I) caught none, bear (I) caught none.

The following narrative of personal exploit was given to Dr. W. J. Hoffman by “Pete,” a Shoshoni chief, during a visit of the latter to Washington, in 1880. The sketch, Figure 136, was drawn by the narrator, and the following explanation of characters will be sufficient interpretation to render the figures intelligible.

a. Pete, a Shoshoni chief.

b. A Nez PercÉs Indian, one of the party from whom the horses were stampeded, and who wounded Pete in the side with an arrow.

c. Hoof marks, showing course of stampede.

d. Lance, which was captured from the Nez PercÉs.

e, e, e. Saddles captured.

f. Bridle captured.

g. Lariat captured.

h. Saddle-blanket captured.

i. Body-blanket captured.

j. Pair of leggings captured.

k. Three single legs of leggings captured.

Figure 137, copied from Schoolcraft, IV, p. 253, Pl. 32, is taken from the shoulder-blade of a buffalo, found on the plains in the Comanche country of Texas. No. 5 is a symbol showing the strife for the buffalo existing between the Indian and white races. The Indian (1), presented on horseback, protected by his ornamented shield and armed with a lance, kills a Spaniard (3), the latter being armed with a gun, after a circuitous chase (6). His companion (4), armed with a lance, shares the same fate.

Figure 138 is taken from the winter count of Battiste Good for the year 1853-’54.

He calls the year Cross-Bear-died-on-the-hunt winter.

The “travail” means, they moved; the buffalo, to hunt buffalo; the bear with mouth open and paw advanced, cross-bear. The involute character frequently repeated in Battiste’s record signifies pain in the stomach and intestines, resulting in death. In this group of characters there is not only the brief story, an obituary notice, but an ideographic mark for a particular kind of death, a noticeable name-totem, and a presentation of the Indian mode of transportation.

The word “travail” appearing above, as given by the interpreter, requires explanation. It refers to the peculiar sledge which is used by many tribes of Indians for the purpose of transportation. It is used on the surface of the ground when not covered with snow, even more than when snow prevails. The word is more generally found in print in the plural, where it is spelled “travaux” and sometimes “travois.”

The etymology of this word, which has not yet been found in any Indian language, has been the subject of considerable discussion. The present writer considers it to be one of the class of words which descended in corrupted form from the language of the Canadian voyageurs, and that it was originally the French word “traineau,” with its meaning of sledge.

Figure 139 is taken from a roll of birch bark obtained from the Ojibwa Indians at Red Lake, Minnesota, in 1882, known to be more than seventy years old. The interpretation was given by an Indian from that reservation, although he did not know the author nor the history of the record. With one exception, all of the characters were understood and interpreted to Dr. Hoffman, in 1883 by Ottawa Indians at Harbor Springs, Michigan. This tribe at one time habitually used similar methods of recording historic and mythologic data.

No. 1. Represents the person who visited a country supposed to have been near one of the great lakes. He has a scalp in his hand which he obtained from the head of an enemy, after having killed him. The line from the head to the small circle denotes the name of the person, and the line from the mouth to the same circle signifies (in the Dakota method), “That is it,” having reference to proper names.

No. 2. The person killed. He was a man who held a position of some consequence in his tribe, as is indicated by the horns, marks used by the Ojibwas among themselves for Shaman, Wabeno, etc. It has been suggested that the object held in the hand of this figure is a rattle, though the Indians, to whom the record was submitted for examination, are in doubt, the character being indistinct.

No. 3. Three disks connected by short lines signify, in the present instance, three nights, i. e., three black suns. Three days from home was the distance the person in No. 1 traveled to reach the country for which started.

No. 4. Represents a shell, and denotes the primary object of the journey. Shells were needed for making ornaments and to trade.

No. 5. Two parallel lines are here inserted to mark the end of the present record and the beginning of another.