Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples Part 26

----, A man on a.

Same sign as for HORSE, with the addition of erecting the thumb while making the gesture. (_Dodge_.)

----, Bay.

Make the sign for HORSE, and then rub the lower part of the cheek back and forth. (_Dakota_ IV.)

----, Black.

Make the sign for HORSE, and then, point to a black object or rub the back of the left hand with the palmar side of the fingers of the right. (_Dakota_ IV.)

----, Bronco. An untamed horse.

Make the sign TO RIDE by placing the extended and separated index and second fingers of the right hand astraddle the extended forefinger of the left hand, then with both hands retained in their relative positions move them forward in high arches to show the bucking of the animal. (_Ute_ I.)

----, Grazing of a.

Make the sign for HORSE, then lower the hand and pa.s.s it from side to side as if dipping it upon the surface. (_Ute_ I.)

----, Packing a.

Hold the left hand, pointing forward, palm inward, a foot in front of the chest and lay the opened right hand, pointing forward, first obliquely along the right side of the upper edge of the left hand, then on top, and then obliquely along the left side. (_Dakota_ IV.)

----, Racing, Fast horse.

The right arm is elevated and bent at right angle before the face; the hand, in position (S 1) modified by being horizontal, palm to the face, is drawn across edgewise in front of the face. The hand is then closed and in position (B) approaches the mouth from which it is opened and closed successively forward several times, finally it is suddenly thrust out in position (W 1) back concave. (_Oto and Missouri_ I.) "Is expressed in the (_Oto_ I) sign for HORSE, then the motion for quick running."

---- Racing.

Extend the two forefingers and after placing them parallel near together in front of the chest, backs upward, push them rapidly forward about a foot. (_Dakota_ IV.)

Place both hands, with the forefingers only extended and pointing forward side by side with the palms down, before the body; then push them alternately backward and forward, in imitation of the movement of horses who are running "neck and neck." (_Ute_ I; _Apache_ I, II.)

----, Saddling a.

Hold the left hand as in the sign for HORSE, _Packing a_, and lay the semiflexed right hand across its upper edge two or three times, the ends of the right fingers toward the left. (_Dakota_ IV.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 267.]

Place the extended and separated fingers rapidly with a slapping sound astraddle the extended fore and second fingers of the left hand. The sound is produced by the palm of the right hand which comes in contact with the upper surface of the left. (_Ute_ I.) Pig. 267.

----, Spotted; pied.

Make the sign for HORSE, then the sign for SPOTTED, see page 345.

(_Dakota_ IV.)

KILL, KILLING.

The hands are held with the edge upward, and the right hand strikes the other transversely, as in the act of chopping. This sign seems to be more particularly applicable to convey the idea of death produced by a blow of the tomahawk or war-club. (_Long_.)

Clinch the hand and strike from above downward. (_Wied_.) I do not remember this. I have given you the sign for killing with a stroke.

(_Matthews_.) There is an evident similarity in conception and execution between the (_Oto and Missouri_ I) sign and _Wied's_.

(_Boteler_.) I have frequently seen this sign made by the Arikara, Gros Ventre, and Mandan Indians at Fort Berthold Agency.

(_McChesney_.) This motion, which maybe more clearly expressed as the downward thrust of a knife held in the clinched hand, is still used by many tribes for the general idea of "kill," and ill.u.s.trates the antiquity of the knife as a weapon. _Wied_ does not say whether the clinched hand is thrust downward with the edge or the knuckles forward. The latter is now the almost universal usage among the same tribes from which he is supposed to have taken his list of signs, and indicates the thrust of a knife more decisively than if the fist were moved with the edge in advance. The actual employment of arrow, gun, or club in taking life, is, however, often specified by appropriate gesture.

Smite the sinister palm earthward with the dexter fist sharply, in sign of "going down"; or strike out with the dexter fist toward the ground, meaning to "shut down"; or pa.s.s the dexter under the left forefinger, meaning to "go under." (_Burton_.)

Right hand cast down. (_Macgowan_.)

Hold the right fist, palm down, knuckles forward, and make a thrust forward and downward. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII; _Hidatsa_ I; _Ponka_ II; _Arikara_ I; _Pani_ I.) Fig. 268.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 268.]

Right hand clinched, thumb lying along the finger tips, elevated to near the shoulder, strike downward and out vaguely in the direction of the object to be killed. The abstract sign for _kill_ is simply to clinch the right hand in the manner described and strike it down and out from the right side. (_Cheyenne_ II.)

Close the right hand, extending the forefinger alone; point toward the breast, then throw from you forward, bringing the hand toward the ground. (_Ojibwa_ V; _Omaha_ I.)

Both hands clinched, with the thumbs resting against the middle joints of the forefingers, hold the left transversely in front of and as high as the breast, then push the right, palm down, quickly over and down in front of the left. (_Absaroka_ I; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I.) "To force under--literally."

With the dexter fist carried to the front of the body at the right side, strike downward and outward several times, with back of hand upward, thumb toward the left, several times. (_Dakota_ I.) "Strike down."

With the first and second joints of the fingers of the right hand bent, end of thumb against the middle of the index, palm downward, move the hand energetically forward and downward from a foot in front of the right breast. Striking with a stone--man's first weapon.

(_Dakota_, IV.)

The left hand, thumb up, back forward, not very rigidly extended, is held before the chest and struck in the palm with the outer edge of the right hand. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I.) "To kill with a blow; to deal the death blow." Fig. 269.

Right hand, fingers open but slightly curved, palm to the left; move downward, describing a curve. (_Omaha_ I.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 269.]

Another: Similar to the last, but the index finger is extended, pointing in front of you, the other fingers but half open. (_Omaha_ I.)

Place the flat right hand, palm down, at arm's length to the right, bring it quickly, horizontally, to the side of the head, then make the sign for DEAD. (_Ojibwa_ V; _Wyandot_ I.) "To strike with a club, dead."

Both hands, in positions (AA), with arms semiflexed toward the body, make the forward rotary sign with the clinched fists as in fighting; the right hand is then raised from the left outward, as clutching a knife with the blade pointing downward and inward toward the left fist; the left fist, being held _in situ_, is struck now by the right, edgewise as above described, and both suddenly fall together. (_Oto and Missouri_ I.) "To strike down in battle with a knife. Indians seldom disagree or kill another in times of tribal peace."

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Strike a blow in the air with the clinched fist, and then incline the head to one side, and lower the open hand, palm upward. (_Ballard_.)

Strike the other hand with the fist, or point a gun, and, having shot, suddenly point to your breast with the finger, and hold your head sidewise on the hand. (_Cross_.)

Use the closed hand as if to strike, and then move back the head with the eyes shut and the mouth opened. (_Hasenstab_.)

Put the head down over the breast, and then move down the stretched hand along the neck. (_Larson_.)

_Turkish sign_: