  This is an important division of the purposes for which pictographs are used. The pictographs and the objective devices antecedent to pictographs under this head that have come immediately to the writer’s attention, may be grouped as follows: 1st. Notice of departure, direction, etc. 2d. Notice of condition, suffering, etc. 3d. Warning and guidance. 4th. Charts of geographic features. 5th. Claim or demand. 6th. Messages or communications. 7th. Record of expedition. NOTICE OF DEPARTURE AND DIRECTION.Dr. W. J. Hoffman obtained the original of the accompanying drawing, Fig. 47, from Naumoff an Alaskan native, in San Francisco, California, in 1882, also the interpretation, with text in the Kiatexamut dialect of the Innuit language. The drawing was in imitation of similar ones made by the natives, to inform their visitors or friends of their departure for a certain purpose. They are depicted upon strips of wood which are placed in conspicuous places near the doors of the habitations. Dr. Hoffman has published a brief account of this drawing as well as the succeeding one, in the Trans. Anthrop. Soc. Washington, II, 1883, p. 134, Fig. 3, and p. 132, Fig 2. The spelling adopted in the Innuit text, following in each case the explanation of characters, is in accordance with the system now used by the Bureau of Ethnology. The following is the explanation of the characters: 1. The speaker, with the right hand indicating himself, and with the left pointing in the direction to be taken. 2. Holding a boat paddle—going by boat. 3. The right hand to the side of the head, to denote sleep, and the left elevated with one finger elevated to signify one—one night. 4. A circle with two marks in the middle, signifying an island with huts upon it. 5. Same as No. 1. 6. A circle to denote another island. 7. Same as No. 3, with an additional finger elevated, signifying two—two nights. 8. The speaker with his harpoon, making the sign of a sea lion with the left hand. The flat hand is held edgewise with the thumb elevated, then pushed outward from the body in a slightly downward curve. 9. A sea lion. 10. Shooting with bow and arrow. 11. The boat with two persons in it, the paddles projecting downward. 12. The winter, or permanent habitation of the speaker. The following is the text in the Aigaluxamut dialect, with an interlinear translation: Hui ta-wÁ-ut ai-wÍ-xa-na kui-gÍ-qta-mun a-xi-lÚ-muk ka-wÁ-xa-lÚ-a, The following is of a similar nature, and was obtained under circumstances similar to the preceding. Fig. 48.—Alaskan notice of departure. The explanation of the above characters is as follows: 1, 3, 5, 7, represent the person spoken to. 2. Indicates the speaker with his right hand to the side or breast, indicating self, the left hand pointing in the direction in which he is going. 4. Both hands elevated, with fingers and thumbs signifies many, according to the informant. When the hands are thus held up, in sign-language, it signifies ten, but when they are brought toward and backward from one another, many. 6. The right hand is placed to the head to denote sleep—many sleeps, or, in other words, many nights and days; the left hand points downward, at that place. 8. The right hand is directed toward the starting point, while the left is brought upward toward the head—to go home, or whence he came. The following is the text in the same dialect last mentioned, with, translation: Hui a-qtcÍ-kua a-xlÁ mun nu-nÁ-mun, am-lic-ka-mu´-ik ha-wÁ-xa-lu-a, The drawing presented in Figure 49 was made by a native Alaskan, and represents information to the effect that the artist contemplates making a journey to hunt deer. The drawing is made upon a narrow strip of wood, and placed somewhere about the door of the house, where visitors will readily perceive it. 1. Represents the contour lines of the country and mountain peaks. 2. Native going away from home. 3. Stick placed on hill-top, with bunch of grass attached, pointing in the direction he has taken. 4. Native of another settlement, with whom the traveler remained over night. 5. Lodge. 6. Line representing the end of the first day, i. e., the time between two days; rest. 7. Traveler again on the way. 8. Making signal that on second day (right hand raised with two extended fingers) he saw game (deer, 9) on a hill-top, which he secured, so terminating his journey. 9. Deer. Figures 50, 51, and 52 were drawn by Naumoff, under the circumstances above mentioned, and signify “Have gone home.” Fig. 50.—Alaskan notice of direction. His explanation of Figure 50 is as follows: When one of a hunting party is about to return home and wishes to inform his companions that he has set out on such return, he ascends the hill-top nearest to which they became separated, where he ties a bunch of grass or other light colored material to the top of a long stick or pole. The lower end of the stick is placed firmly in the ground, leaning in the direction taken. When another hill is ascended, another stick with Fig. 51.—Alaskan notice of direction. He also explained Figure 51 as follows: Seal hunters adopt the following method of informing their comrades that they have returned to the settlement. The first to return to the regular landing place sometimes sticks a piece of wood into the ground, leaning toward the village, upon which is drawn or scratched the out-line of a baidarka, or skin canoe, heading toward one or more outlines of lodges, signifying that the occupants of the boat have gone toward their homes. This is resorted to when the voyage has been a dangerous one, and is intended to inform their companions of the safe arrival of some of the party. This device is used by coast natives of Southern Alaska and Kadiak. Fig. 52.—Alaskan notice of direction. He also explained Figure 52 as follows: When hunters become separated, the one first returning to the forks of the trail puts a piece of wood in the ground, on the top of which he makes an incision, into which a short piece of wood is secured horizontally, so as to point in the direction taken by the individual. The following instance is taken from the Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter’s River, * * under the command of Stephen H. Long, major U.S. Top. Eng. [commonly known as Keating’s Long’s Expedition]. Philadelphia, 1824. Vol. I, p. 217. When we stopped, says Major Long, to dine, White Thunder, (the Winnebago chief that accompanied me,) suspecting that the rest of his party were in the neighborhood, requested a piece of paper, pen and ink, to communicate to them the intelligence of his having come up with me. He then seated himself and drew three rude figures, which at my request he explained to me. The first represented my boat with a mast and flag, with three benches of oars and a helmsman; to show that we were Americans, our heads were represented by a rude cross, indicating that we wore hats. The representation of himself was a rude figure of a bear over a kind of cypher representing a hunting ground. The second figure was designed to show that his wife was with him; the device was a boat with a squaw seated in it; over her head lines were drawn in a zigzag direction, indicating that she was the wife of White Thunder. The third was a boat with a bear sitting at the helm, showing that an Indian of that name had been seen on his way up the river, and had given intelligence where the party were. This paper he set up at the mouth of Kickapoo Creek, up which the party had gone on a hunting trip. The following is extracted from an Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, * * under the command of Major Stephen H. Long [commonly known as James’ Long’s Expedition]. Philadelphia, 1823. Vol. I, p. 478. At a little distance [on the bank of the Platte River], in front of the entrance of this breastwork, was a semicircular row of sixteen bison skulls, with their noses pointing down the river. Near the center of the circle which this row would describe, if continued, was another skull marked with a number of red lines. Our interpreter informed us that this arrangement of skulls and other marks here discovered, were designed to communicate the following information, namely, that the camp had been occupied by a war party of the Skeeree or Pawnee Loup Indians, who had lately come from an excursion against the Cumancias, Ietans, or some of the western tribes. The number of red lines traced on the painted skull indicated the number of the party to have been thirty-six; the position in which the skulls were placed, that they were on their return to their own country. Two small rods stuck in the ground, with a few hairs tied in two parcels to the end of each, signified that four scalps had been taken. When a hunting party of the Hidatsa has arrived at any temporary camping ground, from which point a portion of the members might leave on a short reconnoitering expedition, the remainder, upon leaving for a time, will erect a pole and cause it to lean in the direction taken. At the foot of this pole a buffalo shoulder-blade or other flat bone is placed, upon which is depicted the object causing departure. For instance, should buffalo or antelope be discovered, an animal of the character sighted is rudely drawn with a piece of charred wood or red lead, the latter being a substance in the possession of nearly every warrior to use in facial decoration, etc. When a Hidatsa party has gone on the war path, and a certain number is detailed to take another direction, the point of separation is taken as the rendezvous. After the return of the first party to the rendezvous, should the second not come up in a reasonable length of time, they will set sticks in the ground leaning in the direction to be taken, and notches are cut into the upper ends of the sticks to represent the number of nights spent there by the waiting party. A party of Hidatsa who may be away from home for any purpose whatever often appoint a rendezvous, from which point they return to their respective lodges. Should an individual return to the rendezvous before any others and wish to make a special trip for game or plunder, he will, for the information of the others, place a stick of about 3 or 4 feet in length in the ground, upon the upper end of which a notch is cut, or perhaps split, for the reception of a thinner piece of twig or branch having a length of about a foot. This horizontal top piece is inserted at one end, so that the whole may point in the direction to be taken. Should the person wish to say that the trail would turn at a right angle, to either side, at about one-half the distance of the whole journey in prospect, the horizontal branch is either bent in that direction or a naturally-curved branch is selected having the turn at the middle of its entire length, thus corresponding to the turn in the trail. Any direction can be indicated by curves in the top branch. NOTICE OF CONDITION.According to Masta, chief of the Abnaki, members of that tribe remove the bark of trees in prominent places to denote that the inhabitants of the nearest lodge are in a starving condition. The Ottawa and the Potawatomi Indians indicate hunger and starvation by drawing a black line across the breast or stomach of the figure of a man. (See Fig. 145, page 221.) This drawing is placed upon a piece of wood, either incised or with a mixture of powdered charcoal and glue water, or red ocher. This is then attached to a tree or fastened to a piece of wood, and erected near the lodge on a trail, where it will be observed by passers by, who are expected to alleviate the sufferings of the native who erected the notice. Figure 53 illustrates information with regard to distress in another village, which occasioned the departure of the party giving the notification. The drawing was made for Dr. W. J. Hoffman, in 1882, by Naumoff, in imitation of drawings prepared by Alaska natives. The designs are traced upon a strip of wood, which is then stuck upon the roof of the house belonging to the recorder. Fig. 53.—Alaskan notice of distress. 1. The summer habitation, showing a stick leaning in the direction to be taken. 2. The baidarka, containing the residents of the house. The first person is observed pointing forward, indicating that they “go by boat to the other settlement.” 3. A grave stick, indicating a death in the settlement. 4, 5. Summer and winter habitations, denoting a village. The drawing, Figure 54, made for Dr. Hoffman in 1882, by a native, in imitation of originals in Alaska, is intended to be placed in a conspicuous portion of a settlement which has been attacked by a hostile force and finally deserted. The last one to leave prepares the drawing upon a strip of wood to inform friends of the resort of the survivors. Fig. 54.—Alaskan notice of departure and refuge. 1. Represents three hills or ranges, signifying that the course taken would carry them beyond that number of hills or mountains. 2. The recorder, indicating the direction, with the left hand pointing to the ground, one hill, and the right hand indicating the number two, the number still to be crossed. 3. A circular piece of wood or leather, with the representation of a face, placed upon a pole and facing the direction to be taken from the settlement. In this instance the drawing of the character denotes a hostile attack upon the town, for which misfortune such devices are sometimes erected. 4, 5. Winter and summer habitations. 6. Store-house, erected upon upright poles. This device is used by Alaska coast natives generally. In connection with these figures reference may be made to a paper by the present writer in the First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 369, showing the devices of the Abnaki. Dr. George Gibbs (Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, Vol. I, p. 222) says of “symbolic writing” of the northwest tribes: I am not aware how far this may be carried among the Sound tribes. Probably there is no great essential difference between them and their neighbors of the plains in this art. It may perhaps be best explained by an example given me by a veteran mountaineer, Dr. Robert Newell, of Champoeg. A party of Snakes are going to hunt strayed horses. A figure of a man, with a long queue, or scalp lock, reaching to his heels, denoted Shoshonee; that tribe being in the habit of braiding horse- or other hair into their own in that manner. A number of marks follow, signifying the strength of the party. A foot-print, pointed in the direction they take, shows their course, and a hoof-mark turned backward, that they expect to return with animals. If well armed, and expecting a possible attack, a little powder mixed with sand tells that they are ready, or a square dotted about the figures indicates that they have fortified. The design shown in Figure 55 is in imitation of etchings made by natives of Southern Alaska to convey to the observer the information that the recorder had gone away to another settlement the inhabitants of which were in distress. The drawings were put on a strip of wood and placed at the door of the house where it might be seen by visitors or inquirers. Naumoff gave the following explanation: 1. A native making the gesture of indicating self with the right hand, and with the left indicating direction and going. 2. The native’s habitation. 3. Scaffold used for drying fish. Upon the top of the pole is placed a piece of wood tied so that the longest end points in the direction to be taken by the recorder. 4. The baidarka conveying the recorder. 5. A native of the settlement to be visited. 6. Summer habitation. 7. “Shaman stick” or grave stick, erected to the memory of a recently deceased person, the cause of which has necessitated the journey of the recorder. 8. Winter habitation. This, together with No. 6, indicates a settlement. Fig. 56, also drawn by Naumoff, means “ammunition wanted.” Fig. 56.—Ammunition wanted. Alaska. When a hunter is tracking game, and exhausts his ammunition, he returns to the nearest and most conspicuous part of the trail and sticks his ihÚnuk in the ground, the top leaning in the direction taken. The ihÚnuk is the pair of sticks arranged like the letter A, used as a gun-rest. This method of transmitting the request to the first passer is resorted to by the greater number of coast natives of Southern Alaska. Fig. 57, also drawn by Naumoff, means “discovery of bear; assistance wanted.” Fig. 57.—Assistance wanted in hunt. Alaska. When a hunter discovers a bear, and requires assistance, he ties together a bunch of grass, or other fibrous matter, in the form of an animal with legs, and places it upon a long stick or pole which is erected at a conspicuous point to attract attention. The head of the effigy is directed toward the locality where the animal was last seen. This device is also used at times by most of the Southern Alaskan Indians. Figure 58 was also drawn by Naumoff, and signifies “starving hunters.” Fig. 58.—Starving hunters. Alaska. Hunters who have been unfortunate, and are suffering from hunger, scratch or draw upon a piece of wood characters similar to those figured, and place the lower end of the stick in the ground on the trail where the greatest chance of its discovery occurs. The stick is inclined toward the locality of the habitation. The accompanying explanation will serve to illustrate more fully the information contained in the drawing. 1. A horizontal line denoting a canoe, showing the persons to be fishermen. 2. An individual with both arms extended signifying nothing, corresponding with the gesture for negation. 3. A person with the right hand to the mouth, signifying to eat, the left hand pointing to the house occupied by the hunters. 4. The habitation. The whole signifies that there is nothing to eat in the house. This is used by natives of Southern Alaska. Fig. 59.—Starving hunters. Alaska. Figure 59, with the same signification, and from the same hand, is similar to the preceding in general design. This is placed in the ground near the landing place of the canoemen, so that the top points toward the lodge. The following is the explanation of the characters: 1. Baidarka, showing double projections at bow, as well as the two individuals, owners, in the boat. 2. A man making the gesture for nothing. (See in this connection Figure 155, page 235.) 3. Gesture drawn, denoting to eat, with the right hand, while the left points to the lodge. 4. A winter habitation. This is used by the Alaskan coast natives. WARNING AND GUIDANCE.An amusing instance of the notice or warning of “No thoroughfare” is given on page 383 of the present writer’s paper, Sign Language among North American Indians, in the First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. It was taken from a rock-etching in CaÑon de Chelly, New Mexico. A graphic warning against trespass appears in Schoolcraft, Vol. I, Plate 48, Figure B, op. page 338. During his connection with the geographic surveys west of the one hundredth meridian under the direction of Capt. G. M. Wheeler, U.S. Army, Dr. Hoffman observed a practice which prevailed among the TivÁtikai Shoshoni, of Nevada, in which heaps of stones were erected along or near trails to indicate the direction to be taken and followed to reach springs of water. Upon slight elevations of ground, or at points where a trail branched into two or more directions, or at the intersection of two trails, a heap of stones would be placed, varying from 1 to 2 or more feet in height, according to the necessity of the case, to attract attention. Upon the top of this would be fixed an elongated piece of rock so placed that the most conspicuous point projected and pointed in the course to be A knowledge of the prevalence of this custom proved very beneficial to the early prospectors and pioneers. Stone circles and stone heaps of irregular form were also met with, which to a casual observer might be misleading. These resulted from previous deposits of edible pine nuts, which had been heaped upon the ground and covered over with stones, grass, and earth to prevent their destruction by birds and rodents. These deposits were placed along the trails in the timbered regions to afford sustenance to Indians who had failed in the hunt, or who might not reach camp in time to prevent suffering from hunger. Plate LXXX (A, B, C) represents colored pictographs found by Dr. Hoffman in 1884 on the North Fork of the San Gabriel River, also known as the Azuza CaÑon, Los Angeles County, California. Its description is as follows: A and B are copies, one-sixteenth natural size, of rock painting found in the Azuza CaÑon, 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California. The bowlder upon which the paintings occur measures 8 feet long, about 4 feet high, and the same in width. The figures occur on the eastern side of the rock, so that the left arm of the human figure on the right points toward the north. The map (C) at the bottom of the plate presents the topography of the immediate vicinity and the relative positions of the rocks bearing the two illustrations. The map is drawn on a scale of 1,000 yards to the inch. The stream is the North Fork of the San Gabriel River, and is hemmed in by precipitous mountains, with the exception of two points marked c, c, over which the old Indian trail passed in going from the Mojave Desert on the north to the San Gabriel Valley below, this course being the nearest for reaching the mission settlements at San Gabriel and Los Angeles. In attempting to follow the water-course the distance would be greatly increased and a rougher trail encountered. The pictograph A, painted on the rock marked b on the map C, shows characters in pale yellow, upon a bowlder of almost white granite, which are partly obliterated by weathering and annual floods, though still enough remains to indicate that the right-hand figure is directing the observer to the northeast, although upon taking that course it would be necessary to round the point a short distance to the west. It may have been placed as a notification of direction to those Indians who might have come up the caÑon instead of on the regular trail. Farther west, at the spot marked a on the map, is a granite bowlder bearing a large number of paintings part of which have become almost obliterated. These were drawn with red ocher (ferric The middle figure represents gesture, which in its present connection may indicate direction, of the trail, i. e., toward the left, or northward in an up-hill course, as indicated by the arm and leg, and southward, or downward, as suggested by the lower inclination of the leg, and lower forearm and hand on the right of the illustration. The right-hand figure, although similar in manner of delineating gesture and general resemblance to the Shoshonian method, is not yet determined in that connection. These illustrations, as well as other pictographs on the same rock, not at present submitted, bear remarkable resemblance to the general type of Shoshonian drawing, and from such evidence as is now attainable it appears more than probable that they are of Chemehuevi origin, as that tribe at one time ranged thus far west, though north of the mountains, and also visited the valley and settlements at Los Angeles at stated intervals to trade. It is also known that the Mojaves came at stated periods to Los Angeles as late as 1845, and the trail indicated at point a of the map would appear to have been their most practicable and convenient route. There is strong evidence that the Mokis sometimes visited the Pacific coast and might readily have taken this same course, marking the important portion of the route by drawings in the nature of guide boards. CHARTS OF GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES.Dr. W. J. Hoffman states that when at Grapevine Springs, Nevada, in 1871, the Pai-Uta living at that locality informed the party of the exact location of Las Vegas, the objective point. The Indian sat upon the sand, and with the palms of his hands formed an oblong ridge to represent Spring Mountain, and southeast of this ridge another gradual slope, terminating on the eastern side more abruptly; over the latter he passed his fingers to represent the side valleys running eastward. He then took a stick and showed the direction of the old Spanish trail running east and west over the lower portion of the last-named ridge. When this was completed the Indian looked at the members of the party, and with a mixture of English, Spanish, Pai-Uta, and gesture signs, told them that from where they were now they would have to go southward, east of Spring Mountain, to the camp of Pai-Uta Charlie, where they would have to sleep; then indicating a line southeastward to It is needless to say that the information was found to be correct and of considerable value to the party. Schoolcraft (Vol. I, p. 334, Pl. 47, Fig. B) mentions that the discovery, on one of the tributaries of the Susquehanna River, “of an Indian map drawn on stone, with intermixed devices, a copy of which appears in the first volume of the collections of the Historical Committee of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, proves, although it is thus far isolated, that stone was also employed in that branch of inscription. This discovery was in the area occupied by the Lenapees, who are known to have practiced the art, which they called Ola Walum.” The Tegua Pueblos, of New Mexico, “traced upon the ground a sketch of their country, with the names and locations of the pueblos occupied in New Mexico,” a copy of which, “somewhat improved,” is given in Vol. III, Pacific R. R. Explorations, 1856, Part III, pp. 9, 10. A Yuma map of the Colorado River, with the names and locations of tribes within its valley, is also figured in the last mentioned volume, page 19. The map was originally traced upon the ground. A Pai-Uta map of the Colorado River is also figured in the same connection, which was obtained by Lieutenant Whipple and party. Lean-Wolf, of the Hidatsa, who drew the picture of which Figure 60 is a fac-simile, made a trip on foot from Fort Berthold to Fort Buford, Dakota, to steal a horse from the Dakotas encamped there. The 1. Lean-Wolf, the head only of a man to which is attached the outline of a wolf. 2. Hidatsa earth lodges, circular in form, the spots representing the pillars supporting the roof. Indian village at Fort Berthold, Dakota. 3. Human footprints; the course taken by the recorder. 4. The Government buildings at Fort Buford (square). 5. Several Hidatsa lodges (round), the occupants of which had inter-married with the Dakotas. 6. Dakota lodges. 7. A small square—a white man’s house—with a cross marked upon it, to represent a Dakota lodge. This denotes that the owner, a white man, had married a Dakota woman who dwelt there. 8. Horse tracks returning to Fort Berthold. 9. The Missouri River. 10. Tule Creek. 11. Little Knife River. 12. White Earth River. 13. Muddy Creek. 14. Yellowstone River. 15. Little Missouri River. 16. Dancing Beard Creek. CLAIM OR DEMAND.Stephen Powers states that the Nishinam of California have a curious way of collecting debts. “When an Indian owes another, it is held to be in bad taste, if not positively insulting, for the creditor to dun the debtor, as the brutal Saxon does; so he devises a more subtle method. He prepares a certain number of little sticks, according to the amount of the debt, and paints a ring around the end of each. These he carries and tosses into the delinquent’s wigwam without a word and goes his way; whereupon the other generally takes the hint, pays the debt, and destroys the sticks.” See Contrib. to N. A. Ethnology, Vol. III, 321. Dr. W. J. Hoffman says, “When a patient has neglected to remunerate the Shaman [Wiktcom´ni´ of the Yokotsan linguistic division] for his services, the latter prepares short sticks of wood, with bands of colored porcupine quills wrapped around them, at one end only, and every time he passes the delinquent’s lodge a certain number of them are thrown in as a reminder of the indebtedness.” See San Francisco (Cal.) Western Lancet, XI, 1882, p. 443. MESSAGES AND COMMUNICATIONS.Figure 61 is a letter sent by mail from a Southern Cheyenne, named Turtle-following-his-Wife, at the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, Indian Territory, to his son, Little-Man, at the Pine Ridge Agency, Dakota Territory. It was drawn on a half-sheet of ordinary writing paper, without a word written. It was inclosed in an envelope, which was addressed to “Little-Man, Cheyenne, Pine Ridge Agency,” in the ordinary manner, written by some one at the first-named agency. The letter was evidently understood by Little-Man, as he immediately called upon Dr. V. T. McGillycuddy, Indian agent at Pine Ridge Agency, and was aware that the sum of $53 had been placed to his credit for the purpose of enabling him to pay his expenses in going the long journey to his father’s home in Indian Territory. Dr. McGillycuddy had, by the same mail, received a letter from Agent Dyer, inclosing $53, and explaining the reason for its being sent, which enabled him also to understand the pictographic letter. With the above explanation it very clearly shows, over the head of the figure to the left, the turtle following the turtle’s wife united with the head of the figure by a line, and over the head of the other figure, also united by a line to it, is a little man. Also over The illustration, Figure 62, was made by a native Alaskan, and represents a native of the Teninahs making a smoke signal to the people of the village on the opposite shore of a lake, so that a boat may be sent to carry the signalist across. The K’niqamut band of the Tenina have no boats, as they live inland, and therefore resort to signaling with smoke when desiring transportation. On account of this custom they are termed “Signal People.” If the pictograph could be transmitted in advance of the necessity, the actual use of the smoke signal, with consequent delay in obtaining the boat, would be avoided. Fig. 62.—Drawing of smoke signal. Alaska. 1. Represents the mountain contour of the country. 2. A Tenina Indian. 3. Column of smoke. 4. Bird’s-eye view of the lake. 5. The settlement on opposite shore of lake. 6. Boat crossing for the signalist. Under this head of messages and communications may be included the material objects sent as messages, many accounts of which are published. It is to be expected that graphic representations of the same or similar objects, with corresponding arrangement, should have similar significance. Among the Indians painted arrows, bearing messages when discharged, are familiar. The Turkish Selam, or flower letters, are in the same category. The following account of a “diplomatic packet” is extracted from Schoolcraft, Vol. III, p. 306, et seq.: In the month of August, 1852, a message reached the President of the United States, by a delegation of the Pueblos of Tesuque in New Mexico, offering him friendship and intercommunication; and opening, symbolically, a road from the Moqui country to Washington. * * * This unique diplomatic packet consists of several articles of symbolic import. The first is the official and ceremonial offer of the peace-pipe. This is symbolized by a joint of the maize, five and a half inches long, and half an inch in diameter. The hollow of the tube is filled by leaves of a plant which represents tobacco. It is stopped to secure the weed from falling out, by the downy yellow under plumage of some small bird. Externally, around the center of the stalk, is a tie of white cotton twisted string of four strands, (not twisted by the distaff,) holding, at its end, a small tuft of the before-mentioned downy yellow feathers, and a small wiry feather of the same species. The interpreter has written on this, “The pipe to be smoked by the President.” * * The object is represented in the cut, A, [represented in Figure 63.] The second symbol consists of two small columnar round pieces of wood, four and a half inches long, and four-tenths in diameter, terminating in a cone. The cone is one and a half inches long, and is colored black; the rest of the pieces are blue; a peace color among the Indians south, it seems, as well as north. This color has the appearance of being produced by the carbonate of copper mixed with aluminous earth; and reminds one strongly of the blue clays of the Dacotahs. The wood, when cut, is white, compact, and of a peculiar species. A notch is cut at one end of one of Fig. 64.—Part of diplomatic packet. Fig. 65.—Part of diplomatic packet. The third object is, in every respect, like B, [reproduced in Figure 64,] and symbolizes the President of the United States. A colored cotton cord, four feet long, unites these symbols. Six inches of this cord is small and white. At the point of its being tied to the long colored cord there is a bunch of small bird’s feathers. This bunch, which symbolizes the geographical position of the Navajoes, with respect to Washington, consists of the feathers of six species, the colors which are pure white, blue, brown, mottled, yellow, and dark, like the pigeon-hawk, and white, tipped with brown. (See the preceding cut, C.) The interpreter appends to these material effigies or devices [which are arranged as in D, reproduced in Figure 66] the following remarks. “These two figures represent the Moqui people and the President; the cord is the road which separates them; the feather tied to the cord is the meeting point; that part of the cord which is white is intended to signify the distance between the President and the place of meeting; and that part which is stained is the distance between the Moqui and the same point. Your Excellency will perceive that the distance between the Moqui and place of meeting is short, while the other is very long. “The last object of this communication from the high plains of New Mexico, is the most curious, and the most strongly indicative of the wild, superstitious notions of the “A charm to call down rain from heaven.—To produce the effect desired, the President must take a piece of the shuck which contains the wild honey, chew it, and spit it upon the ground which needs rain; and the Moquis assure him that it will come.” Fig. 67.—Part of diplomatic packet. The Maori used a kind of hieroglyphical or symbolical way of communication; a chief inviting another to join in a war party sent a tattooed potato and a fig of tobacco bound up together, which was interpreted to mean that the enemy was a Maori and not European by the tattoo, and by the tobacco that it represented smoke; he therefore roasted the one and eat it, and smoked the other, to show he accepted the invitation, and would join him with his guns and powder. Another sent a water-proof coat with the sleeves made of patchwork, red, blue, yellow, and green, intimating that they must wait until all the tribes were united before their force would be water-proof, i. e., able to encounter the European. Another chief sent a large pipe, which would hold a pound of tobacco, which was lighted in a large assembly, the emissary taking the first whiff, and then passing it round; whoever smoked it showed that he joined in the war. See Te Ika a Maui, by Rev. Richard Taylor, London, 1870. RECORD OF EXPEDITION.Under this head, many illustrations of which might be given besides several in this paper, see account of colored pictographs in Santa Barbara County, California, page 34 et seq., Plates I and II, also Lean-Wolf’s trip, Figure 60, page 158. Also, Figures 135 and 136, pages 214 and 215. |
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