The notes given under this heading are divided into (1) cult societies; (2) daily life and habits; (3) games. SECTION 1.
CULT SOCIETIES. Voluntary associations, to be distinguished from those of an exclusively religious character, have flourished among most Indian tribes and are still found among those least affected by contact with civilization. Maj. Powell, the Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, has named them cult societies. Their members are designated by special paintings and marks entirely distinct from those relating to their clans or gentes and their personal names. Travelers have frequently been confused by the diversity of such designations. The translated names of some of these societies found among the Sioux are “Brave Night Hearts,” “Owl Feathers,” and “Wolves and Foxes.” They control tribes in internal affairs and strongly influence their policy in external relations, and may be regarded as the substitute both for regular soldiery and for police. It is necessary that a young man proposing to be a warrior should be initiated into some one of these societies. But in distinguishing them from the purely shamanistic orders it must not be understood that their ceremonies and ties are independent of the cult of religion, or that they disregard it, for this among Indians would be impossible. The following account of these societies among the Blackfeet or Satsika and their pictorial or objective devices is condensed from Maximilian of Wied’s Travels (e): The bands, unions, or associations are found among the Blackfeet as well as all the other American tribes. They have a certain name, fixed rules and laws, as well as their peculiar songs and dances, and serve in part to preserve order in the camp, on the march, in the hunting parties, etc. Seven such bands or unions among the Blackfeet were mentioned to me. They are the following: (1) The band of the mosquitos. This union has no police business to do, but consists of young people, many of whom are only 8 or 10 years of age. There are also some young men among them and sometimes even a couple of old men, in order to see to the observance of the laws and regulations. This union performs wild, youthful pranks; they run about the camp whenever they please; pinch, nip, and scratch men, women, and children in order to give annoyance like the mosquitos. The young people begin with this union and then gradually rise higher through the others. As the badge of their band they wear an eagle’s claw fastened around the wrist with a leather strap. They have also a particular mode of painting themselves, like every other band, and their peculiar songs and dance. (2) The dogs. Its badge is not known to me; it consists of young married men, and the number is not limited. (3) The prairie dogs. This is a police union, which receives married men; its badge is a long hooked stick wound round with otter skin, with knots of white skin at intervals, and a couple of eagle’s feathers hanging from each of them. (4) Those who carry the raven. Its badge is a long staff covered with red cloth, to which black ravens’ feathers in a long thick row are fastened from one end to the other. They contribute to the preservation of order and the police. (5) The buffalo, with thin horns. When they dance they wear horns on their caps. If disorders take place they must help the soldiers, who mark out the camp and then take the first place. (6) The soldiers. They are the most distinguished warriors, who exercise the police, especially in the camp and on the march; in public deliberations they have the casting vote whether, for instance, they shall hunt, change their abode, make war or conclude peace, etc. They carry as their badge a wooden club the breadth of a hand, with hoofs of the buffalo cow hanging to the handle. They are sometimes 40 or 50 men in number. (7) The buffalo bulls. They form the first, that is, the most distinguished, of all the unions, and are the highest in rank. They carry in their hand a medicine badge, hung with buffalo hoofs, which they rattle when they dance to their peculiar song. They are too old to attend to the police, having passed through all the unions, and are considered as having retired from office. In their medicine dance they wear on their head a cap made of the long forelock and mane of the buffalo bull, which hangs down to a considerable length. Fig. 737.—“The policeman” was killed by the enemy. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1780-’81. The man here figured was probably one of the active members of the associations whose functions are above described to keep order and carry out the commands of the chiefs. These voluntary associations are not of necessity ancient or permanent. An instance is given in Fig. 738 which is instructive in the interpretation of pictographs. It is a copy of drawings on a pipe stem which had been made and used by Ottawa Indians. On each side are four spaces, upon each of which are various incised characters, three spaces on one side being reserved for the delineation of human figures, each having diverging lines from the head upward, denoting their social status as chiefs or warriors and medicine men. Fig. 738.—Ottawa pipe stem. Upon the space nearest the mouth is the drawing of a fire, the flames passing upward from the horizontal surface beneath them. The cross bands are raised portions of the wood (ash) of which the pipestem is made; these show peculiarly shaped openings which pass entirely through the stem, though not interfering with the tube necessary for the passage of the smoke. This indicates considerable mechanical skill. Upon each side of the stem are spaces corresponding in length and position to those upon the opposite side. In the lower space of the stem is a drawing of a bear, indicating that the two persons in the corresponding space on the opposite side belong to the bear gens. The next upper figure is that of a beaver, showing the three human figures to belong to the beaver gens, while the next to this, the eagle, means that the opposite persons are members of the eagle gens. The upper figure is that of a lodge which contains a council fire, shown on the opposite side. The signification of the whole is that two members of the bear gens, three members of the beaver gens, and three members of the eagle gens have united and constitute a society living in one lodge, around one fire, and smoke through the same pipe. Reference may also be made to remarks by Prof. Dall (d) upon the use of masks by associations or special classes. SECTION 2.
DAILY LIFE AND HABITS. Fig. 739.—Shooting fish. Micmac. Fig. 739, printed from the Kejimkoojik rocks, in Nova Scotia, represents two Indians in a canoe following a fish to shoot it. This is not a pure example of the class of totemic designs. Both Indians in the canoe have paddles in which the device resembles the Micmac tribal device, but in that the hunters pursue a deer and not a fish and the canoe is “humpback.” The Passamaquoddy tribal pictographic sign in which a fish is followed, requires both Indians to have paddles, and, it may be understood that the two Indians in the canoe are Passamaquoddy, but in the figure one of them has laid aside his paddle and is shooting at the fish with a gun, which departs from the totemic device, and also shows that the drawing was made since the Indians of the region had obtained firearms from Europeans, but these were obtained three centuries ago, quite long enough for hunting scenes on some of the petroglyphs to exhibit the use of a gun instead of a bow. This kind of fish hunting by gunshot is one of daily occurrence in the region during the proper season. Fig. 740.—Shooting fish. Micmac. Fig. 740, from the same locality, is more ideographic. The line of the gun barrel is exaggerated and prolonged so as nearly to touch the fish, and signifies that the shot was a sure hit. The hunters are very roughly delineated. Possibly this hunting was at night with fire on a brazier and screens, a common practice which seems to be indicated. Fig. 741.—Lancing fish. Micmac. Fig. 741, also from Kejimkoojik, is more ancient, but less distinct. The fish is larger, and the weapon may be a lance, not a gun. Fig. 742.—Whale hunting. Innuit. Fig. 742, copied from a walrus ivory drill-bow, from Cape Darley, Alaska (Nat. Mus. No. 44211), illustrates the mode of whale-hunting by the Innuit. The crosses over the whale and beneath the harpoon line represent aquatic birds; the three, oval objects attached to the line are floaters to support the line and to indicate its course after the downward plunge of the harpooned cetacean. Fig. 743.—Hunting in canoe. Ojibwa. A similar hunting scene by canoe, in which, however, the game was deer, is given in Fig. 743. The drawing is on birch bark, and was made by an old Indian named Ojibwa, now living at White Earth, Minnesota, an intimate friend and associate of the late chief Hole-in-the-Day. Ojibwa is supposed to be actor as well as depictor. He shows his lodges in a, where he resided many years ago; b is a lake; c, c, c, c represent four deer, one of which is shown only by the horns protruding above a clump of brush near the lake; e represents Ojibwa in his canoe, d, floating on the river, h, h; g is a pine torch, giving light and smoke, erected on the bow of the canoe, the light being thrown forward from a curve slice of birch bark at f, its bright inner surface acting as a reflector. The whole means that during one hunt, by night, the narrator shot four deer at the places indicated. Fig. 744.—Record of hunting. Ojibwa. The accompanying Fig. 744 is reproduced from a drawing also incised on birch bark by Ojibwa, and relates to a hunting expedition made by his father and two companions, all of whom are represented by three human forms near the left-hand upper line. The circle at the left is Red Cedar lake, Minnesota; a river is shown flowing northward, and another toward the east, having several indications of lakes which this river passes through or drains. The circle within the lake denotes an island upon which the party camped, as is shown by the trail leading from the human forms to the island. Around the lake are a number of short lines which signify trees, indicating a wooded shore. The first animal form to the right of the human figures is a porcupine; the next a bittern. The two shelters in the right-hand upper corner indicate another camp made by the hunters, to which one of them dragged a deer, as shown by the man in that act, just to the left of the shelter. Another camp of the same party of three is shown in the lower left-hand corner; the bow and arrow directed to the right indicates that there they shot a raccoon, a fisher, a duck (a man lying down decoyed this bird by calling), a mink, and an otter. The line above the lower row consists of the following animals, reading from the left to right, viz, bear, owl, wolf, elk, and deer. Fig. 745.—Fruit gatherers. Hidatsa. Fig. 745 is a copy of a sketch made by Lean-Wolf, second chief of the Hidatsa, and shows the manner in which the women carry baskets used in gathering wild plums, bull-berries, and other small fruits. The baskets are usually made of thin splints of wood, and very similar in manner of construction to the well known bushel-basket of our eastern farmers. Fig. 746.—Hunting antelope. Hidatsa. Fig. 746 was also made by Lean-Wolf, and illustrates the old manner of hunting antelope and deer. The hunter would disguise himself by covering his head with the head and skin of an antelope, and so be enabled to approach the game near enough to use his bow and arrow. Fig. 747.—Hunting buffalo. Hidatsa. In a similar manner the Hidatsa would mask themselves with a wolf skin to enable them to approach buffalo. This is illustrated in Fig. 747, which is a reproduction of a drawing made by the above-mentioned chief. The next group of figures illustrates the custom of gaining and afterwards counting coups or hits, the French expression, sometimes spelled by travelers “coo,” being generally adopted. This is an honor gained by hitting an enemy, whether dead or alive, with an ornamented lance, or sometimes a stick, carried for the purpose as part of a warrior’s equipment. These sticks or wands are about 12 feet long, often of willow, stripped of leaves and bark, and each having some distinguishing objects, such as feathers, bells, brightly-colored cloth, or else painted in a special manner. Further remarks on this custom appear in Chapter XIII, Section 4. Fig. 748.—Counting coups. Dakota. a, in Fig. 748, Kills-the-Enemy, from Red-Cloud’s Census, exhibits the coup stick in contact with the dead enemy’s head. b is taken from Bloody-Knife’s robe and shows an Indian about to strike his prostrate enemy. Fig. 749.—Counting coups. Dakota. Fig. 749.—Killed-First. Red Cloud’s Census. This is the case where a warrior struck the enemy with his coup stick first in order, which is the most honorable achievement, greater than the actual killing. The word translated kill or killed does not always imply immediate death, but the infliction of a fatal wound. The apparent reason why the striking of the body of a dead or disabled enemy, whether or not killed or disabled by the striker, is more honorable than the actual infliction of the wound, is because the attempt to strike is vigorously resisted by the enemy, the survivors of which assemble to prevent the successful achievement; mere killing might be at a distance in comparative safety. Fig. 750.—Counting coups. Dakota. Fig. 750.—Enemies-hit-him. Red-Cloud’s Census. In this case the Dakota has been hit by the enemy’s lance or coup stick. This group refers to the custom, east of the Rocky mountains, of exhibiting scalps. Fig. 751.—Scalp displayed. Dakota. Fig. 751.—A war party of Oglalas killed one Pawnee; his scalp is on the pole. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1855-’56. This and the next figure show the custom of a successful war party on returning to the home village to display the scalps taken. This display is the occasion of special ceremonies. The marks on the foot signify that on their way home the men of the war party froze their feet.
Fig. 752.—Scalp displayed. Dakota. Fig. 752.—Owns-the-Pole, the leader of an Oglala war party, brought home many Cheyenne scalps. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1798-’99. The cross stands for Cheyenne, as explained above. Fig. 753.—Scalped head. Dakota. Fig. 753.—Black-Rock, a Dakota, was killed by the Crows. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1806-’07. A rock or, more correctly translated, a large stone is represented above his head. He was killed with an arrow and was scalped. The figure is introduced here to show the designation of a scalped head, which is colored red—that is, bloody—when coloration is possible. It frequently appears in the Winter Counts of the Dakotas. Fig. 754 was drawn by a Dakota Indian at Mendota, Minnesota, and represents a man holding a scalp in one hand, while in the other is the gun, the weapon used in killing the enemy. The short vertical lines below the periphery of the scalp indicate hair. The line crossing the leg of the Indian is only a suggestion of the ground upon which he is supposed to stand. The following group pictographically expresses the hunting of antelopes. Fig. 755.—Antelope hunting. Dakota. Fig. 755.—They drove many antelope into a corral and then killed them. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1828-’29. This and the following two figures show the old mode of procuring antelope and other animals by driving them into an inclosure. Fig. 756.—Antelope hunting. Dakota. Fig. 756.—They provided themselves with a large supply of antelope meat by driving antelope into a corral, in which they were easily killed. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1828-’29.
Fig. 757.—Antelope hunting. Dakota. Fig. 757.—They capture a great many antelope by driving them into a pen. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1860-’61. Fig. 758.—Wife’s punishment. Fig. 758.—A woman who had been given to a white man by the Dakotas was killed because she ran away from him. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1799-1800. The gift of the woman was in fact a sale, and, in addition to the crime of marital infidelity, the tribe was implicated in a breach of contract. The union line below the figures, mentioned before, means husband and wife. This picture illustrates, as far as may be done pictorially, a Dakotan custom as regards marriage and the penalty connected with it. The following figures relate to several different forms: Fig. 759.—Decorated horse. Fig. 759.—They brought in a fine horse with feathers tied to his tail. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1810-’11. White-Cow-Killer calls it “Came-with-medicine-on-horse’s-tail winter.” This illustrates the ornamentation of specially valuable or favorite horses, which, however, is not mere ornamentation, but often connected with sentiments or symbols of a religious character, and as often with the totemic, which from another point of view may also be regarded as religious. Fig. 760.—Suicide. Dakota. Fig. 760.—A young man who was afflicted with smallpox and was in his tipi by himself sang his death song and shot himself. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1784-’85. Suicide is more common among Indians than is generally suspected, and even boys sometimes take their own lives. A Dakota boy at one of the agencies shot himself rather than face his companions after his mother had whipped him; and a Paiute boy at Camp McDermit, Nevada, tried to poison himself with the wild parsnip because he was not well and strong like other boys. The Paiutes usually eat the wild parsnip when bent on suicide. Fig. 761.—Eagle hunting. Arikara. Fig. 761.—A Ree Indian hunting eagles from a hole in the ground was killed by the Two-Kettle Dakotas. The Swan’s Winter Count, 1806-’07. The drawing represents an Indian in the act of catching an eagle by the legs in the manner that the Arikaras were accustomed to catch eagles in their earth-traps. They rarely or never shot war eagles. The Dakotas probably shot the Arikara in his trap just as he put his hand up to grasp the bird. In this connection Fig. 762 is properly inserted. It is a sketch made by an Ojibwa hunter to illustrate the manner of catching eagles, the feathers of which are highly prized by nearly all Indians for personal decoration and for war bonnets. Fig. 762.—Eagle hunting. Ojibwa. The upper character represents an eagle; the curved line at the right denotes the covering of branches and leaves of a temporary structure placed over a hole in the ground in which the Indian is secreted. He is depicted beneath covering, while a line, extending toward the eagle, terminates in a small oblong object, which is intended to represent the bait placed upon the covering to attract the eagle. The bait may consist of a young deer, a hare, or some other live animal of sufficient size to attract the eagle. When the latter swoops down and seizes the prey he is caught by the leg and held until assistants arrive, after which he is carried back to camp and plucked and is then liberated. Fig. 763.—Gathering pomme-blanche. Fig. 763.—A Ree woman is killed by a Dakota while gathering pomme-blanche. The-Flame’s Winter Count, 1797-’98. Pomme-blanche, or navet de prairie, is a white root, somewhat similar in appearance to a white turnip, botanically Psoralea esculenta (Nuttal) sometimes P. argophylla. It is a favorite food of the Indians, eaten boiled down to a sort of mush or hominy. A forked stick is used in gathering these roots. Fig. 764.—Lodge-Roll. Red-Cloud’s Census, No. 101. This figure shows the mode of rolling up the skins forming the tipi for transportation. It is attached to four lodge poles, the ends of which trail on the ground and constitute the “travail” which was dragged by dogs. Horses are now used for this purpose, and canvas takes the place of skins. Fig. 765.—Claiming sanctuary. Fig. 765.—An enemy came into Lone-Horn’s lodge during the medicine feast and was not killed. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1852-’53. The pipe is not in the man’s hand, and the head only is drawn with the pipe between it and the tipi. An interesting custom of the Indians connected with the rite of sanctuary is that called by English writers “running the gauntlet.” When captives had successfully run through a line of tormentors to a post near the council-house they were for the time free from further molestation. In the northeastern tribes this was in the nature of an ordeal to test whether or not the captive was vigorous and brave enough to be adopted into the tribe, but among other tribes it appears in a different shape. Any enemy, whether a captive or not, could secure immunity from present danger if he could reach a central post, or if there were no post, the lodge or tipi of the chief. A similar custom existed among the Arikaras, who kept a special pipe in a “bird-box.” If a criminal or enemy succeeded in smoking the pipe contained in the box he could not be hurt. This corresponds with the safety found in laying hold of the horns of the Israelite altar. The position of the pipe is significant. Its mouthpiece points to the entrance of the tipi. The visitor does not bring or offer peace, but hopes that the tribe visited may grant it to him. The four figures next following refer to ceremonies by which a war party was organized among some of the tribes of the Plains. A brief account of the ceremonies specially relating to the pipe is as follows: When a warrior desires to make up a war party he visits his friends and offers them a filled pipe as an invitation to follow him, and those who are willing to go accept the invitation by lighting and smoking it. Among the Dakotas this was succeeded by a muster feast and war dance. Any man whose courage has been proved may become the leader of a war party. The word leader has been generally translated “partisan,” an expression originally adopted by the French voyageurs. Among the Arapahos the would-be leader does not invite anyone to accompany him, but publicly announces his intention of going to war. He fixes the day for his departure, and states where he will camp the first night, naming some place not far off. The morning on which he starts, and before leaving the village, he invokes the aid of his guardian totem. He rides off alone, carrying his bare pipe in his hand with the bowl carefully tied to the stem to prevent it from slipping off. If the bowl should at any time accidentally fall to the ground he considers it an evil omen and immediately returns to the village, and nothing could induce him to proceed, as he thinks that only misfortune would attend him if he did. Sometimes he ties eagle or hawk plumes to the stem of his pipe, and after quitting the village, repairs to the top of some hill and makes an offering of them to the sun, taking them from his pipe and tying them to a pole which he erects in a pile of stones. Those who intend to follow him usually join him at the first camp, equipped for the expedition; but often there are some who do not join him until he has gone further on. He eats nothing before leaving the village, nor as long as the sun is up; but breaks his fast at his first camp after the sun sets. The next morning he begins another fast, to be continued until sunset. He counts his party, saddles his horse, names some place 6 or 7 miles ahead, where he says he will halt for awhile, and again rides off alone with his pipe in his hand. After awhile the party follow him in single file. When they have reached his halting place he tells them to dismount and let their horses graze. They all then seat themselves on the ground on the left of the leader, forming a semicircle facing the sun. The leader fills his pipe, all bow their heads, and, pointing the stem of the pipe upward, he prays toward the sun, asking that they may find an abundance of game, that dead shots may be made, so that their ammunition will not be wasted, but reserved for their enemies; that they may easily find their enemies and kill them; that they may be preserved from wounds and death. He makes his petition four times, then lights his pipe, and after sending a few whiffs of smoke skyward as incense to the sun, hands the pipe to his neighbor who smokes and passes it on to the next. It is passed from one to another toward the left, until all have smoked, the leader refilling it as often as necessary. They then proceed to their next camp, where probably others join them. The same programme is carried out for three or four days before the party is prepared for action. Fig. 766.—Raising war party. Dakota. Fig. 766.—Big Crow and Conquering-Bear had a great feast and gave many presents. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1846-’47. The two chieftains are easily recognized by the name characteristic over their heads. They have between them the war eagle pipe—specifically, but erroneously, called calumet by some writers. Fig. 767.—Raising war party. Dakota. Fig. 767.—Feather-in-the-Ear made a feast to which he invited all the young Dakota braves, wanting them to go with him. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1842-’43. A memorandum is added that he failed to persuade them. Fig. 768.—Raising war party. Dakota. Fig. 768.—The Cheyennes carry the pipe around to invite all the tribes to unite with them in a war against the Pawnees. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1852-’53. Fig. 769.—Raising war party. Dakota. Fig. 769.—Danced calumet dance before going to war. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1804-’05. The specially ornamented pipe becomes the conventional symbol for the ceremonial organization of a war party.
Fig. 770.—Walrus hunting. Alaska. Fig. 770 represents an Alaskan in the water killing a walrus. The illustration was obtained from a slab of walrus ivory in the museum of the Alaska Commercial Company of San Francisco. Fig. 771.—Records carved on ivory. Alaska. The carving, Fig. 771, made of a piece of walrus tusk, was copied from the original in the same museum during the summer of 1882. Interpretations were verified by Naumoff, a Kadiak half-breed. a is a native whose left hand is resting against the house, while the right hangs toward the ground. The character to his right represents a “Shaman stick” surmounted by the emblem of a bird, a “good spirit,” in memory of some departed friend. It was suggested that the grave stick had been erected to the memory of his wife. b represents a reindeer, but the special import in this drawing is unknown. c signifies that one man, the designer, shot and killed another with an arrow. d denotes that the narrator has made trading expeditions with a dog sledge. e is a sailboat, although the elevated paddle signifies that that was the manner in which the voyage was best made. f, a dog sled, with the animal hitched up for a journey. The radiating lines in the upper left hand corner, over the head of the man, are the rays of the sun. g, a sacred lodge. The four figures at the outer corners of the square represent the young men placed on guard, armed with bows and arrows, to keep away those not members of the band, who are depicted as holding a dance. The small square in the center of the lodge represents the fireplace. The angular lines extending from the right side of the lodge to the vertical partition line show in outline the subterranean entrance to the lodge. h, a pine tree upon which a porcupine is crawling upward. i, a pine tree, from which a bird (woodpecker) is extracting larvÆ for food. j, a bear. k, the designer in his boat holding aloft his double-bladed paddle to drive fish into a net. l, an assistant fisherman driving fish into the net. m, the net. The figure over the man (l) represents a whale, with harpoon and line attached, caught by the narrator. Many customs, such, for instance, as the peculiar arrangement of hair in any tribe, are embodied in their pictorial designation by other tribes and often by themselves. Numerous examples are presented in this paper. In Lord Kingsborough, Vol. VI, p. 45 et seq., is the text relating to the collection of Mendoza, in Vol. I, Pls. LVIII, to LXII, inclusive, here presented as Pls. XXXIV to XXXVIII. The textual language is preserved with some condensation. Pl. XXXIV exhibits the customs of the Mexicans at the birth of a male or female infant; the right and ceremony of naming the children and of afterwards dedicating and offering them at their temples or to the military profession. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIV
MEXICAN TREATMENT OF NEW-BORN CHILDREN. As soon as the mother was delivered of the infant they put it into a cradle and when it was 4 days old the midwife took the infant in her arms, naked, and carried it into the court of the mother’s house, in which court was strewed reeds, or rushes, which they call tule, upon which was placed a small vessel of water in which the midwife bathed the infant; and after she had bathed it 3 boys being seated near the said rushes, eating roasted maize mixed with boiled beans, which kind of food they named yxcue, which provision or paste they set before the said boys in order that they might eat it. After the bathing, or washing, the midwife desired the boys to pronounce the name aloud, bestowing a new name on the infant which had been thus bathed; and the name that they gave it was that which the midwife wished. They first carried out the infant to bathe it. If it was a boy they carried him, holding his symbol in his hand, which symbol was the instrument which the father of the infant employed either in the military profession or in his trade, whether it was that of a goldsmith, jeweller, or any other; and the said ceremony having been gone through, the midwife delivered the infant to his mother. But if the infant was a girl the symbol with which they carried her to be bathed was a spinning wheel and distaff, with a small basket and a handful of brooms which were the things which would afford her occupation when she arrived at a proper age. They offered the umbilical cord of the male infant together with the shield and arrows, the symbols with which they carried him to be bathed, in that spot and place where war was likely to happen with their enemies, where they buried them in the earth; and they did the same with that of the female infant, which they in the same way buried beneath the metate or stone on which they ground meal. After these ceremonies, when twenty days had expired, the parents of the infant went with it to the temple, or mesquita, which they called calmecac, and in the presence of their alfaquis presented the infant with its offering of mantles and maxtles, together with some provision; and after the infant had been brought up by its parents, as soon as it arrived at the proper age, they delivered him to the superior of the said mezquita, that he might be there instructed in order that he might afterwards become an alfaqui; but if the parents resolved that when the infant attained a fit age he should go and serve in the military profession, they immediately offered him to the master, making a promise of him, which master of the young men and boys was named Teachcauh or Telpuchtlato; which offering they accompanied with a present of provisions and other things for its celebration; and when the infant attained a fit age they delivered him up to the said master. In the plate a is a woman lately delivered; the four roses, b, signify four days, at the completion of which period the midwife carried forth the new born infant to be bathed; c, is the cradle with the infant; d, the midwife; e, the symbols; f, g, h, the three boys who named the new-born infant; i, the rushes, with the small vessel of water; j, the brooms, distaff, spinning wheel, and basket; k, the father of the infant; l, the superior alfaqui; m, the infant in the cradle, whose parents are offering it at the mezquita; n, the mother of the girl; o, the master of the boys and young men. Kingsborough’s Pl. LIX—here Pl. XXXV, treats of the time and manner in which the Mexicans instructed their children how they ought to live. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXV
EDUCATION OF MEXICAN CHILDREN, THREE TO SIX YEARS. The first section shows how parents corrected their children of 3 years old by giving them good advice, and the quantity of food which they allowed them at each meal was half a roll. The three circles, a, indicate 3 years of age; b, denotes the father of the boy; c, the boy; d, the half of a roll; e, the mother of the girl; f, the half of a roll; g, the girl of 3 years of age. The second section represents the parents employed in the same way, in instructing their children when they attained 4 years of age, when they began to exercise them by bidding them to do a few slight things. The quantity of food which they gave them at each meal was a roll. The father of the boy is shown at h; the boy, 4 years of age, at i; j, a roll; k, the mother of the girl; l, a roll; m, the girl of 4 years. The third section shows how the parents employed and exercised their sons of 5 years of age in tasks of bodily strength; for example, in carrying loads of wood of slight weight, and in sending them with light bundles to the tianquez or market place; and the girls of this age received lessons how they ought to hold the distaff and the spinning wheel. Their allowance of food was a roll. In this section, n shows the father of the boy; o, two boys of 5 years of age; p, a roll; q, a roll; r, the mother of the girl; s, a roll; t, the girl of 5 years of age. The fourth section shows how parents exercised and employed their sons of 6 years in personal services, that they might be of some assistance to their parents; as also in the tianquez, or market places, in picking up from the ground the grains of maize which lay scattered about, and the beans and other trifling things which those who resorted to the market had dropped. The girls were set to spin, and employed in other useful tasks that they might hereafter, through the said tasks and works, sedulously shun idleness in order to avoid the bad habits which idleness is accustomed to cause. The allowance of food which was given to the boys at each meal was a roll and a half. The father of the two boys appears at u; two boys of 6 years old at v; w, a roll and a half; x, the mother of the girl: y, a roll and a half; z, the girl of 6 years old. Pl. LX, here Pl. XXXVI, treats of the time and manner in which the native Mexicans instructed and corrected their sons, that they might learn to avoid all kinds of sloth and to keep themselves constantly exercised in profitable things. It is divided into four sections. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVI
EDUCATION OF MEXICAN CHILDREN, SEVEN TO TEN YEARS. The first section shows how fathers employed their sons of 7 years old in giving them nets to fish with; and mothers occupied their daughters in spinning and in giving them good advice. The allowance of food which they gave to their sons at each meal was a roll and a half. The seven points, a, signify seven years; b, is the father of the boys; c, a roll and a half; d, the boy of 7 years old whose father is instructing him how to fish with the net which he holds in his hands; e, the mother of the girls; f, a roll and a half; g, the girl of 7 years whom her mother is teaching how to spin. The second section declares how fathers chastised their sons of 8 years of age, threatening them with thorns of the aloe, that in case of negligence and disobedience to their parents they should be punished with the said thorns. The boys accordingly weep for fear. The quantity of food which they allowed them consisted of a roll and a half. The eight points, h, signify eight years; i, the father of the boys; j, a roll and a half; k, the boy of 8 years, whose father threatens him in case of ill behavior to inflict public punishment upon him with thorns; l, thorns of the aloe; m, the mother of the girls; n, a roll and a half; o, the girl of 8 years of age, whose mother threatens her with thorns of the aloe in case of ill behavior; p, thorns of the aloe. The third section declares how fathers punished with the thorn of the aloe their sons of 9 years of age, when they were incorrigible and rebellious toward their parents, by running the said thorns into their shoulders and bodies. They also corrected their daughters by pricking their hands with thorns. The allowance of food which they gave them was a roll and a half. The nine points, q, signify nine years; r, a roll and a half; s, the father of the boys; t, a boy of 9 years old being found to be incorrigible, his father runs thorns of the aloe into his body; u, the mother of the girls; v, a roll and a half; w, the girl of 9 years old and her mother, who corrects her for her negligence by pricking her hands with thorns. The fourth section shows how fathers chastised their sons of 10 years of age, when they were refractory, by inflicting blows upon them with a stick and threatening them with other punishments. The quantity and allowance of food which they gave them was a roll and a half. The ten points, x, signify ten years; y, a roll and a half; z, the father of the boys; aa, the boy of 10 years old, whose father is correcting him with a stick; bb, the mother of the girl; cc, a roll and a half; dd, the girl of 10 years old, whose mother is correcting her with a stick. Pl. LXI, here Pl. XXXVII, is in three sections. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVII
EDUCATION OF MEXICAN CHILDREN, ELEVEN TO FOURTEEN YEARS. The first section explains that when a boy of 11 years of age disregarded verbal reproof, his parents obliged him to inhale smoke of axi through the nostrils, which was a cruel and severe punishment, that he might be sorry for such conduct and not turn out worthless and abandoned, but on the contrary employ his time in profitable things. They gave boys of such an age bread, which consisted of rolls, only by allowance, that they might learn not to be gormandizers or gluttons. Girls received similar discipline. The eleven points, a, signify eleven years; b, a roll and a half; c, the father of the boys; d, the boy of 11 years of age, whose father is punishing him by obliging him to inhale through the nostrils the smoke of dried axi; e, the smoke or vapor of axi; f, the mother of the girls; g, the girl of 11 years, whose mother is punishing her by making her breathe smoke of axi; h, a roll and a half; i, the smoke of axi. The second section represents that when boys or girls of 12 years of age would not submit to the reproof or advice of their parents, the father took the boy and tied his hands and feet and laid him naked on the ground in some damp and wet place, in which situation he kept him for a whole day, in order that by this punishment he might amend and fear his displeasure. And the mother obliged the girl of the said age to work by night before break of day, employing her in sweeping the house and the street and continually occupying her in personal tasks. They gave them food likewise by allowance. The points, j, indicate twelve years; k, a roll and a half; l, the father of the boys; m, the boy of 12 years of age, stretched upon the wet ground, with his hands and feet tied, for a whole day; the painting at n signifies the night; o, the mother of the girls; p, a roll and a half; q, the girl of 12 years of age, who is employed by night in sweeping. The third section of this plate represents that boys and girls of 13 years of age were occupied by their parents, the boys in fetching wood from the mountains and in bringing reed grass and other litter in canoes for the use of the house; and the girls in grinding meal and making bread, and preparing other articles of food for their parents. They gave the boys for their allowance of food two rolls each at each meal. The father of the boys is represented at r; the points, s, indicate thirteen years; t, two rolls; u, the boy of 13 years old, who brings a load of reed grass; v, the boy in a canoe, with bundles of canes; w, the mother of the girls; x, the girl of 13 years of age, who makes cakes and prepares articles of food; y, two cakes; z, a bowl; aa, the comali; bb, a pot for boiling provisions in and two cakes. The fourth section of this plate represents how their parents employed and occupied a boy or girl of 14 years of age, the boy in going in a canoe to fish in the lakes, and the girl in the task of weaving a piece of cloth. Their allowance of food was two rolls. The fourteen points, cc, represent fourteen years; dd, two rolls; ee, the father of the boys; ff, the boy of 14 years of age, who goes out fishing with his canoe; gg, the mother of the girls; hh, two rolls; ii, the girl of 14 years, who is occupied in weaving; jj, the web and occupation of weaving. The figures of Pl. LXII, here Pl. XXXVIII, are in two sections. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVIII
ADOPTION OF PROFESSION AND MARRIAGE, MEXICAN. Those contained in the first section signify that the father, who had sons nearly grown up, carried them to the two houses represented in the plate; either to the house of the master, who taught and instructed the young men, or to the mezquita, accordingly as the lad was himself inclined, and committed him to the care of the superior Alfaqui or to the master of the boys, to be educated, which lads it was fit should have attained the age of 15. In this section a is a youth of 15 years of age, whose father delivers him up to the superior Alfaqui, that he might receive him as an Alfaqui; b is the Tlamazqui, who is the superior Alfaqui; c, the mezquita, named Calmecac; d, the father of these two youths; e, a young man of 15, whose father delivers him up to the master that he might teach and instruct him; f, the teachcauh or master; g, the seminary where they educated and taught the young men, which was called cuincacali; h, fifteen years. The second section of the plate signifies the laws and usages which they followed and observed in marriages. The ceremony consisted in the female negotiator, who arranged the nuptials, carrying on her back on the first night of the wedding the betrothed woman, accompanied by four women with blazing torches of resinous fir, who attended to light her on the way; and having arrived at the house of the man to whom she was engaged, the parents of the betrothed man went out to receive her in the court of the house and conducted her to an apartment where the man expected her; and seating the betrothed couple on a mat on which were placed seats, near a hearth of fire, they took them and tied them to each other by their clothes and offered incense of copal to their gods. Two old men and two women afterward delivered a separate discourse to the newly married couple and set food before them, which they presently ate; and after their repast was over, the two old men and women gave good advice to the married pair, telling them how they ought to conduct themselves and to live, and by what means they might pass their lives in tranquillity. The square inclosure, i, is the apartment; j, the old man; k, the hearth, of fire; l, the wife; m, copal (the latter is not shown in the drawing, but the copal is between the marrying couple); n, the husband; o, the old woman; p, the old man; q, food; r, a mat; s, food; t, an old woman; u, a pitcher of pulque; v, a cup; w, x, the women lighting the bride on her way with torches, when on the first night of the wedding they accompany her to the house of the bridegroom; y, the female negotiator; z, the bride; aa, bb, women lighting the bride and bridegroom on the first night of their wedding. SECTION 3.
GAMES. Many accounts of the games of the Indians have been published, but they are not often connected with pictography. Those now presented refer to the picturing connected with only three games. Fig. 772.—Haka game. Dakota. Fig. 772.—A dead man was used in the ring-and-pole game. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1779-’80. The figure represents the stick and ring used in the game of haka, with a human head in front to suggest that the corpse took the place of the usual stick. This and the next figure illustrate the game. Fig. 773.—Haka game. Dakota. Fig. 773.—It was an intensely cold winter and a Dakota froze to death. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1777-’78. The sign for snow or winter, i.e., a cloud with snow falling from it, is above the man’s head. A haka-stick, which is used in playing that game, is represented in front of him. Battiste Good’s record further explains the illustration by the account that the Dakota was killed in a fight with the Pawnees, and his companions left his body where they supposed it would not be found, but the Pawnees found it, and, as it was frozen stiff, they dragged it into their camp and played haka with it. Fig. 774.—Haida gambling stick. The characters a and b, Fig. 774, represent one point of view of two of a set of Haida gambling sticks, real size. They are made of juniper or some other similar wood, and neatly carved with diverse figures. The game is played by any number of persons, and it would seem with any number of marked sticks. A dealer sits on the ground with a pile of shredded cedar bark in front of him, and with much ceremony draws out the sticks one by one without looking at them and passes them to the players, in turn, who sit in front of him. Each device counts a certain number, in a manner similar to the devices on ordinary playing cards, and the winning is by the high and low or the definite and specific values of the sticks decided upon in variations of the games. These sticks are cylindrical, and to illustrate the characters on them, c is presented, which shows the whole round of the character b. This exhibits the typical Haida style. An excellent collection of these pictured sticks is in the U.S. National Museum, No. 73552. Dr. Fewkes (c) reports as follows: Among the very interesting games played by the Hopi Indians is one of ethnological interest, which is allied to a game described by the early Spanish historians of the Mexicans. This game, to-to-lÓs-pi, resembles somewhat the game of checkers and can be played by two persons or by two parties. In playing the game a rectangular figure, divided into a large number of squares, is drawn upon the rock, either by scratching or by using a different colored stone as a crayon. (Figures of this game formerly existed on the rocks near the village of WÁl-pi.) A diagonal line, tuh-ki-o-ta, is drawn across the rectangle from northwest to southeast, and the players station themselves at each end of this line. When two parties play, a single person acts as player and the other members of the party act as advisers. The first play is won by tossing up a leaf or corn husk with one side blackened. The pieces which are used are bean or corn kernels, stones, and wood, or small fragments of any substance of marked color. The players were stationed at each end of the diagonal line, tuh-ki-o-ta. They move their pieces upon this line, but never across it. The moves which are made are intricate and the player may move one or more pieces successively. Certain positions entitle him to this privilege. He may capture or, as he terms it, kill one or more of his opponent’s pieces at one play. In this respect the game is not unlike checkers, and to capture the pieces of the opponent seems to be the main object of the game. The checkers, however, must be concentrated and always moved towards the southeast corner. This game is now rarely played on the East Mesa, but is still used at O-rai-be. It is said to have been played in ancient times by the sun and moon or by other mythical personages. Turning now to old Mexico, we find that the Spanish chronicles give an account of a Mexican game called patolli, which was played with colored stones. The squares were made of a cross-shaped figure, and the stones were moved according to the throws of beans which were marked upon one side. A discussion of the “ghost gamble,” with many illustrations, some of which show marks which, in a broad sense, may be classed as pictographic, is published in the paper “Study of the mortuary customs of the North American Indians,” by Dr. H. C. Yarrow (a), U.S. Army. Colored pebbles found in the grotto of Mas d’Azil, in the department of the AriÈge, France, have lately awakened some discussion. These pebbles were selected as being narrow and flat, and, with rare exceptions, are no more than 9 centimeters in length. They were colored with red oxide of iron. Many of the designs could have been made by the end of a finger anointed with the coloring matter, but others would have required a small pencil. The coloring matter was thick and probably fixed by grease or glue, which time has destroyed. The color now disappears on the least rubbing. Its preservation until now has been owing to the fact that the pebbles were left undisturbed in the cindery layer where they were deposited. Only one of the faces of the pebbles bears a design, and generally their border is ornamented by a narrow band of red, resembling a frame to the design, the color being applied in the same manner as to the latter. Fig. 775 gives examples though without color of these pebbles. They are selected from a plate in L’Anthropologie (d) illustrating the text by Émile Cartailbac, who declines to offer any hypothesis concerning the use of these objects. But to an observer familiar with the gambling games of the North American Indians in which marked plum stones, and similar objects are employed, these stained flat pebbles at once suggest their use to decide the values in a game by the several designs and by the pebbles falling on the figured or on the unmarked side. Fig. 775.—Pebbles from Mas d’Azil.
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