First type. Single cups.—They are the simplest type of these ancient stone-cuttings. Their diameter varies from 1 inch to 3 inches and more, while they are often only half an inch deep, but rarely deeper than an inch or an inch and a half. They commonly appear in different sizes on the same stone or rock, and although they sometimes form the only sculptures on a surface they are more frequently associated with figures of a different character. They are in general scattered without order over the surface, but occasionally four or five or more of them are placed in more or less regular groups, exhibiting a constellation-like arrangement.
Second type. Cups surrounded by a single ring.—The incised rings are usually much shallower than the cups and mostly surround cups of comparatively large size. The ring is either complete or broken, and in the latter case it is often traversed by a radial groove which runs from the central cup through and even beyond the ring.
Third type. Cups surrounded by a series of concentric complete rings.—In this complete annular form the central cup is generally more deeply cut than the surrounding rings, but not always.
Fourth type. Cups surrounded by a series of concentric, but incomplete rings having a straight radial groove.—This type constitutes perhaps the most common form of the circular carvings. The rings generally touch the radial line at both extremities, but sometimes they terminate on each side of it without touching it. The radial groove occasionally extends considerably beyond the outer circle, and in most cases it runs in a more or less downward direction on the stone or rock. Sometimes it runs on and unites into a common line with other ducts or grooves coming from other circles, till thus several series of concentric rings are conjoined into a larger or smaller cluster, united together by the extension of their radial branch-like grooves.
Fifth type. Cups surrounded by concentric rings and flexed lines.—The number of inclosing or concentric rings is generally fewer in this type than in the two last preceding types, and seldom exceeds two or three in number.
Sixth type. Concentric rings without a central cup.—In many cases the concentric rings of the types already described appear without a central cup or depression, which is most frequently wanting in the complete concentric circles of the third type.
Seventh type. Concentric circular lines of the form of a spiral or volute.—The central beginning of the spiral line is usually, but not always, marked by a cup-like excavation.
It often occurs that two, three, or more of these various types are found on the same stone or rock, a fact indicating that they are intimately allied to each other.
Prof. Simpson presents what he calls “the chief deviations from the principal types” reproduced here as Fig. 148.
The first four designs represent cups connected by grooves, which is a noticeable and frequently occurring feature. In Fig. 149 views of sculptured rock surfaces at Auchnabreach, Argyleshire, Scotland, are given. Simple cups, cups surrounded by one ring or by concentric rings, with radial grooves and spirals, appear here promiscuously mingled. Fig. 150 exhibits isolated as well as connected cups, a cup surrounded by a ring, and concentric rings with radial grooves, on a standing stone (menhir), belonging to a group of seven at Ballymenach, in the parish of Kilmichael-Glassary, in Argyleshire, Scotland.
Dr. Berthold Seeman remarks concerning the characters in Fig. 105, supra, copied from a rock in Chiriqui, Panama, that he discovers in it a great resemblance to those of Northumberland, Scotland, and other parts of Great Britain. He says, as quoted by Dr. Rau (d):
It is singular that, thousands of miles away, in a remote corner of tropical America, we should find the concentric rings and several other characters typically identical with those engraved on the British rocks.
The characters in Chiriqui are, like those of Great Britain, incised on large stones, the surface of which has not previously undergone any smoothing process. The incised stones occur in a district of Veraguas (Chiriqui or Alanje), which is now thinly inhabited, but which, judging from the numerous tombs, was once densely peopled.
From information received during my two visits to Chiriqui and from what has been published since I first drew attention to this subject, I am led to believe that there are a great many inscribed rocks in that district. But I myself have seen only one, the now famous piedra pintal (i. e., painted stone), which is found on a plain at Caldera, a few leagues from the town of David. It is 15 feet high, nearly 50 feet in circumference, and rather flat on the top. Every part, especially the eastern side, is covered with incised characters about an inch or half an inch deep. The first figure on the left hand side represents a radiant sun, followed by a series of heads or what appear to be heads, all with some variation. It is these heads, particularly the appendages (perhaps intended for hair?), which show a certain resemblance to one of the most curious characters found on the British rocks, and calling to mind the so-called “Ogham characters.” These “heads” are succeeded by scorpion-like or branched and other fantastic figures. The top of the stone and the other sides are covered with a great number of concentric rings and ovals, crossed by lines. It is especially these which bear so striking a resemblance to the Northumbrian characters.
Fig. 151 presents five selected characters from the rock mentioned: a attached to the respective numbers always refers to the Chiriqui and b to the British type of the several designs; 1a and 1b represent radiant suns; 2a and 2b show several grooves, radiating from an outer arch, resembling, as Dr. Seeman thinks, the Ogham characters; 3a and 3b show the completely closed concentric circles; 4a and 4b show how the various characters are connected by lines; 5a and 5b exhibit the groove or outlet of the circle.
Mr. G. H. Kinahan, in Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1889, p. 171, gives an account of Barnes’s Inscribed Dallâus, County Donegal, Ireland. One of his figures bears four cups joined together by lines forming a cross. The remainder of the illustrations consist of concentric rings and cups resembling others already figured in this paper.
Marcano (c) describes Fig. 152 as follows:
The chain of Cuchivero, situated in Venezuela between the Orinoco and the Caura, shows on its flanks small plateaus on which are numerous stones which seem to have been aligned. This chain is separated by a deep valley from that of Tiramuto, from which were copied the petroglyphs here presented. The one represents a single sun, the other two suns joined together. The rays of the former run from one circumference to the other. The other two are joined together by a central stroke, and the rays all start from the outer circumference.
The same author (loc. cit.) thus describes Fig. 153:
These designs, taken on the little hills of the high Cuchivero, differ altogether from the preceding. a is a very regular horizontal grouping. It begins by a spiral joined to three figures similar among themselves, and similar also to the eyes of jaguars which we have often met with. There follows a sort of isolated fret; at its right is another, larger and joined to a circle different from the preceding; it has a central point, and the second circumference is interrupted. The figure terminates in a spiral like the one at the beginning of the line, and which, being turned in the opposite direction, serves as its pendant.
b is formed of two horizontal rows one above the other. We there find first of all two frets united by a vertical stroke ending in a hook. The characters which follow, resembling those of a, are distinct in each row, but on closer inspection they are seen to have a peculiar correspondence.
Dr. Ladisláu Netto (b) gives copies of carvings on the rocks in Brazil on the banks of the Rio Negro, from Moura to the city of Manaus, and remarks upon the characters reproduced here as Fig. 154, that they represent the figure of the multiple concentric circles joined together two by two, as were found on several other rocks in the same region, and as they appear in many inscriptions of Central America and at various points of North America.
Senhor Araripe (b) gives the following account:
In Banabuiu, Brazil, about three-quarters of a league from the plantation of Caza-nova, on the road to Castelo, is a stone resting upon another, at the height of a man, which the inhabitants call Pedra-furada (pierced stone) having on its western face the inscription in Fig. 155.
The characters have been much effaced by the rubbing of cattle against them; the stone has also cracked. Some fragments lying at the foot of it bear on their upper faces round holes made by a sharp tool, and resembling those shown in this figure.
Cup stones, called by the French pierres à ecuelles and pierres à cupules and by the Germans Schalensteine, are found throughout Hindustan, on the banks of the Indus, at the foot of the Himalayas, in the valley of Cashmere, and on the many cromlechs around Nagpoor. At this very day one may see the Hindu women carrying the water of the Ganges all the way to the mountains of the Punjab, to pour into the cupules and thus obtain from the divinity the boon of motherhood earnestly desired.
The cup sculptures often become imposing by their number and combination. In the Kamaon mountains there are numerous blocks that support small basins. One of them is mentioned as being 13 feet in length by 9 in breadth and 7 in height, and showing five rows of cupules. At Chandeswar (see Fig. 146) the rocks themselves are covered with these signs. They present two different types. One of the most frequent groups shows a simple round cavity; in the others, the cupels are encircled by a sort of ring carved in intaglio and encircling figures. One of these figures recalls the swastika, the sacred sign of the Aryans. The present Hindus are absolutely ignorant of the origin of these sculptures; they are fain to attribute them to the Goalas, a mysterious race of shepherd kings who preceded the great invasions which imprinted an indelible stamp on the Indies as well as on Europe. These cupels are correlated with the worship of Mahadeo, one of the many names given to Siva, the third god of the Hindu triad, whose emblem is the serpent. Chandeswar is reached through a narrow gorge; at the entrance is found a temple sacred to Mahadeo. The columns and slabs bear cupules similar to those seen on the rocks.
Some of the Mahadeo designs engraved on stone slabs in this temple (see Rivett-Carnac, loc. cit.) are represented in Fig. 156, showing a marked resemblance to and approaching identity with this class of cuttings on bowlders, rocks, and megalithic monuments in Europe.
A large number of stones with typical cup markings have been found in the United States of America. Some of those illustrated in this paper are presented in Pl. V, and Figs. 19 and 48.
Among the many attempts, all hitherto unsatisfactory, to explain the significance of the cup stones as distributed over nearly all parts of the earth, one statement of Mr. Rivett-Carnac (b) is of value as furnishing the meaning now attached to them in India. He says:
Having seen sketches and notes on rock sculptures in India which closely resemble unexplained rock carvings in Scotland, and having myself found one of the Scotch forms cut on a bowlder in Kángrá, * * * being at Ayodhyá with a Hindu who speaks good English, I got a fakir and drew on the sand of the Gogra the figure concentric circles . I asked what that meant. The fakir at once answered, “Mahadeo.” I then drew concentric circles with line from center and got the same answer. At Delhi my old acquaintance, Mr. Shaw, told me that these two signs are chalked on stones in Kángrá by people marching in marriage processions. The meaning given to these two symbols now in India is familiarly known to the people.
Mahadeo, more accurately Mahadiva, is the god of generation. He is worshiped by the Sawas, one of the numerous Hindu sects, under the form of a phallus, often represented by a simple column, which sometimes is placed on the yoni or female organ. It is suggested that in a common form of the sculptures the inner circle represents the Mahadeo or lingam, and the outer or containing circle the yoni. No idea of obscenity occurs from this representation to the Hindus, who adore under this form the generative power in nature.
Prof. Douglas, in the Saturday Review, November 24, 1883, furnishes some remarks on the topic now considered:
In Palestine and the country beyond Jordan some of the marks found are so large that it has been supposed that they may have been used as small presses of wine, or as mortars for pounding the gleanings of wheat. But there is an objection to these theories as accounting for the marks generally, which is fatal to them. To serve these purposes the rocks on which the marks occur should be in a horizontal position, whereas in a majority of cases all over the world the “cups” are found either on shelving rocks or on the sides of perpendicular stones. This renders worthless also the ideas which have at different times been put forward that they may have been used for some sort of gambling game, or as sun-dials. A Swiss archæologist who has lately devoted himself to the question believes that he has recognized, in the sculpturings under his observation, maps of the surrounding districts, the “cups” indicating the mountain peaks. In the same way others have thought that similar markings may have been intended as maps or plans pointing out the direction and character of old circular camps and cities in their neighborhood. But if any such resemblances have been discovered they can hardly be other than fortuitous, since it is difficult to understand how rows of cup marks, arranged at regular intervals and in large numbers, could have served as representatives either of the natural features of a country or of camps and cities. But a closer resemblance may be found in them as maps if we suppose that they were intended to represent things in the heavens rather than on earth. The round cup-like marks are reasonably suggestive of the sun, moon, and stars, and if only an occasional figure could be found representing a constellation, some color might be held to be given to the idea; but unfortunately this is not the case. Nevertheless the shape of the marks has led many to believe that they are relics of the ancient sun worship of Phœnicia, and that their existence in Europe is due to the desire of the Phœnician colonists to convert our forefathers to their faith. But there are many reasons for regarding this theory, though supported by the authority of Prof. Nilsson, as untenable. The observations of late years have brought to light cup marks and megalithic circles in parts of Europe on which a Phœnician foot never trod; and it is a curious circumstance that in those portions of the British Isles most frequented by these indefatigable traders there are fewer traces of these monuments than in the northern and inland districts, which were comparatively inaccessible to them.
The Swiss archæologist mentioned above by Prof. Douglas is Fritz Roediger (a), of whose theory the following is a translated abstract:
What renders the deciphering of these sign stones exceedingly difficult (I purposely avoid the words “map stones” because not all are such) is their great variety in size, position, material, workmanship, and meaning. I will here speak of the latter only, inasmuch as there are stones which in their smallest and their largest form are yet frequently nothing else than boundary stones, whose origin can often not be definitely established as prehistoric, while on the other hand again we discover well-marked boundary stones, which at the same time show the outline of the piece of ground which they guard. Similarly we find prehistoric (Gallic) “Leuk” stones, differing from the meter-high communal and state boundary stones of modern times in nothing but this, that they have some indistinct grooves and one or two hooks, while on the other hand we meet “Leuk” stones, which on their restricted heads, often also on the side walls, indicate their environs for (Leuk) miles around, up, down, and sidewise, while a third class of this form merely adorn crossroads, and indicate deviations by means of lines and points (waranden). Thus we find quite extensive slabs or structures that signify only some hectares, often only one, while we meet very small ones, or, at any rate, of moderate size, which, one man can move, that represent very large districts, some presenting only lines and grooves, others with shells of various sizes, a third kind with both kinds of ornaments and samples of ornaments, and again others with no sign at all, but yet respected as stones of special meaning by the population, and called “hot stone,” “pointed stone,” “heath stone,” “child’s stone,” etc. Other stones have basin-like or platter-like depressions, and finally there are outcropping rocks with marks of one kind or another, holes, rents, clefts, etc. A further great difficulty hampering the deciphering of these wonderful stones is the lack of opportunities for comparison and experience. I have been markedly favored in this respect by my sojourn and wanderings in valley, mountain and alp. Western Switzerland is a very paradise for investigations of this kind, especially the lake country and the upper part of the canton of Solothurn (Soleure). A third difficulty, often insuperable, lies in the nonexistence of appropriate good maps for comparison. In this respect too we are well off in Switzerland.
According to my observations in this field, now continued nearly 12 years, prehistoric man had: (1) His land or province survey; (2) his circle, district, and communal surveys, in reference to which (3) the Alpine surveys deserve special mention, in cantons which down to the present day know nothing of such surveys; (4) private and special surveys. Thus it seems that my observations lend full confirmation to the oldest historic or traditional statements concerning the tenure of land of the Kelto-Germans or Germano-Kelts.
Among the Ojibwa concentric circles, according to Schoolcraft (d), constituted the symbol of time. It would be dangerous to explain the many markings of this character by the suggested symbolism, which also recalls that of Egypt in relation to the circle-figure. Inquiries have often been made whether the North American Indians have any superstitious or religious practices connected with the markings under consideration, e. g., in relation to the desire for offspring, which undoubtedly is connected with the sculpturing of cup depressions and furrows in the eastern hemisphere. No evidence is yet produced of any such correspondence of practice or tradition relating to it. In the absence of any extrinsic explanation the prosaic and disappointing suggestion intrudes that circular concentric rings are easy to draw and that the act of drawing them suggests the accentuation of depressions or hollows within their curves. Much stress is laid upon the fact that the characters are found in so many parts of the earth, with the implication that all the sculptors used them with the same significance, thus affording ground for the hypothesis that anciently one race of people penetrated all the regions designated. But in such an implication the history of the character formed by two intersecting straight lines is forgotten. The cross is as common as the cup-stone, and has, or anciently had, a different signification among the different people who used it, beginning as a mark and ending as a symbol. Therefore, it may readily be imagined that the rings in question, which are drawn nearly as easily as the cross, were at one time favorite but probably meaningless designs, perhaps, in popular expression, “instinctive” commencements of the artistic practice, as was the earliest delineation of the cross-figure. Afterward the rings, if employed as symbols or emblems, would naturally have a different meaning applied to them in each region where they now appear.
It must, however, be noted that the figures under discussion can be and often are the result of conventionalization. A striking remark is made by Mr. John Murdoch (a), of the Smithsonian Institution, that south of Bering strait the design of the “circle and dot,” which may be regarded as the root of the cup sculpture, is the conventionalized representation of a flower, and is very frequently seen as an ornamental device.
An elucidation of some of the most common forms of cup sculptures is given, without qualification and also without authority, but with the serene consciousness of certainty, by the Rev. Charles Rogers, “D.D., LL. D., F. S. A., Scot., etc.,” as follows:
The sculptures are sacred books, which the awe-inspired worshipper was required to revere and, probably, to salute with reverence. A single circle represented the sun, two circles in union the sun and moon—Baal and Ashtaroth. The wavy groove passing across the circle pointed to the course of water from the clouds, as discharged upon the earth. Groups of pit marks pointed to the stars or, more probably, to the oaks of the primeval temples.
In leaving the geographic distribution of petroglyphs to examine the comprehensive theme of pictographs in general, the first and correct impression is that the mist of the archaic and unknown is also left and that the glow of current significance is reached. The pictographs of the American Indians are seldom if ever cryptographs, though very often conventional and sometimes, for special reasons, preconcerted, as are their signals. They are intended to be understood without a key, and nearly all of those illustrated below in the present work are accompanied by an interpretation. As the art is in actual daily use it is free from the superstition pending from remote antiquity.
It will be noticed that a large proportion of the pictographs to be now presented, which are not petroglyphs, are Micmac, Abnaki, Dakota, and Ojibwa, although it is admitted that as many more could be obtained from other tribes, such as the Zuñi and the Navajo. The reason for the omission of details regarding the latter is that they are already published, or are in the course of publication, by Mrs. Stevenson, Dr. Matthews, Mr. Cushing, Mr. Fewkes, and other writers, who have specially devoted themselves to the peoples mentioned and the region occupied by them.
The present writer obtained a valuable collection of birch-bark pictographs immemorially and still made by the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes of Abnaki in Maine, showing a similarity in the use of picture-writing between the members of the widespread Algonquian stock in the regions west of the great lakes and those on the northeastern seaboard. He also learned that the same art was common to the less known Montagnais and Nascapees in the wooded regions north of the St. Lawrence. This correlation of the pictographic practice, in manner and extent, was before inferentially asserted, but no satisfactory evidence of it had been furnished until the researches of the Bureau of Ethnology, in 1887 and 1888, made by the writer, brought into direct comparison the pictography of the Ojibwa with that of the Micmacs and the Abnaki. Many of the Indians of the last-named tribes still use marks and devices on birch bark in the ordinary affairs of life, especially as notices of departure and direction and for warning and guidance. The religious use of original drawings among them, which is still prominent among the Ojibwa, has almost ceased, but traces of it remain.
The most interesting of all the accounts regarding the pictographs of the North American Indians published before the last decade was contained in the works of Henry R. Schoolcraft, issued in 1853 and subsequent years, and the most frequently quoted part of his contributions on this subject describes the pictographs of the Ojibwa. He had special facilities for obtaining accurate information with regard to all matters relating to that tribe on account of his marriage to one of its women, a granddaughter of a celebrated chief, Waub-o-jeeg and daughter of a European named Johnson. She was educated in Ireland and had sufficient intelligence to understand and describe to her husband the points of interest relating to her tribe.
The accounts given by Mr. Schoolcraft, with numerous illustrations, convey the impression that the Ojibwa were nearly as far advanced in hieroglyphic writing as the Egyptians before their pictorial representations had become syllabic. The general character of his voluminous publications has not been such as to assure modern critics of his accuracy, and the wonderful combination of minuteness and comprehensiveness attributed by him to the Ojibwa “hieroglyphs” has of late been generally regarded with suspicion. It was considered in the Bureau of Ethnology an important duty to ascertain how much of truth existed in these remarkable accounts, and for that purpose the writer, with Dr. Hoffman as assistant, examined the most favorable points in the present habitat of the tribe, namely, the northern regions of Minnesota and Wisconsin, to ascertain how much was yet to be discovered.
The general results of the comparison of Schoolcraft’s statements with what is now found show that he told the truth in substance, but with much exaggeration and coloring. The word “coloring” is particularly appropriate, because in his copious illustrations various colors were used freely and with apparent significance, whereas, in fact, the general rule in regard to the birch-bark rolls was that they were never colored at all; indeed, the bark was not adapted to coloration. The metaphorical coloring was also flourished by him in a manner which seems absurd to any thorough student of the Indian philosophy and religions. Metaphysical concepts are attached by him to some of the devices which he calls “symbols,” which could never have been entertained by a people in the stage of culture of the Ojibwa. While some symbolism, in the wide sense of the term, may be perceived, iconography and ideography are more apparent.
The largest part of the bark rolls and other pictographs of the Ojibwa obtained by the Bureau, relates to the ceremonies of the Midē' and of the shamanistic orders; another division refers to the Jessakid performances, which can be classed under the head of jugglery; and a third part embraces the more current and practical uses. Examples of all of these are given, infra.
The difficulties sometimes attending the pursuit of ceremonial pictographs were exemplified to the writer at Odanah, Wisconsin. Very few of the Ojibwa in that neighborhood, who are generally civilized and in easy circumstances, had any more than a vague knowledge that such things as inscribed bark rolls had ever existed. Three, however, were traced and one was shown. The owner, an uncompromising heathen, was called Kitche-sha-bads. “Kitche” means big, “sha” is an attempt at the French form of John, and “bads” is a bad shot at Baptiste, the whole translation, therefore, being “Big John the Baptist.” This old fellow, though by no means as enterprising or successful as some of the younger generation, had a snug house and farm and $300 in the savings bank at Ashland. One thing, however, he needed, viz, whisky. The strictest regulations prevailed on the reservation, really prohibitory to the introduction of spirits, and, indeed, there was at the nearest town, Ashland, a severe penalty for selling any form of liquor to an Indian. To obtain whisky, therefore, was the only consideration which would tempt him to allow a copy of the roll to be taken or by which he could be induced to recite or rather to chant it in the manner prescribed. He was undoubtedly accomplished in the knowledge of the Midē' rites, and the roll, which was shown in his hands, but not out of them, is substantially the same as one of those copied in the present work, which was discovered several hundred miles farther northwest among a different division of the same tribe. The shaman began rather mildly to plead that he was an old man and could not remember well unless his spirit was made good by a little whisky. This difficulty might have been obviated by a traveler’s pocket flask, but his demands increased with great rapidity. He said that the roll could only be sung at night, that he must have another old man to help him, and the old man must have whisky; then that there must be a number of young men, who would join in the chorus, and all the young men must have whisky too. These demands made it evident that he was intending to have a drunken orgy, which resulted in a cloture of the debate. And yet the idea of the old shaman was in its way correct. The ceremonial chants could be advantageously pronounced only under inspiration, which was of old obtained by a tedious form of intoxication, now expedited by alcohol.
The fact that this work shows a large proportion of pictographs from the Siouan linguistic family, and especially from the Dakota division of that family, may be explained partly by the greater familiarity of the present writer with it than with most other Indian divisions. Yet probably more distinctive examples of evolution in ideography and in other details of picture-writing are found still extant among the Dakota than among any other North American tribe. The degree of advance made by the Dakota was well expressed by the Rev. S. D. Hinman, who was born, lived, married, and died in their midst, and, though unfortunately he committed to writing but little of his knowledge, was more thoroughly informed about that people than any other man of European descent.
To express his views clearly he gave to this writer in a manuscript communication his own classification of pictography (which is not in all respects approved) as follows:
I. Picturing.—[This is the method called by Prof. Brinton (b) iconographic writing.] This shows a simple representation of a thing or event in picture, as of a bear, a man’s hand, a battle.
II. Ideography.—This arbitrarily, though significantly, recalls an idea or abstract quality, as love or goodness.
III. Picture-writing.—This will, in picture and character, arbitrarily or otherwise, recite a connected story, there being a picture or character for every word, even for conjunctions and prepositions.
IV. Phonetic writing.—This gives phonetic value to every picture and spells out the words by sound, almost as in later alphabets, as if a lion should stand for the “l” sound, a bear for the “b” sound, etc., and from this last by modification came alphabets. [This is the familiar theory, which is accurate so far as it is applicable, of the initial sound, but other elements are disregarded, such as the “rebus,” for which special class Prof. Brinton, loc. cit., has invented the title of the Iconomatic method.]
Accepting this chronologic if not evolutionary arrangement, Mr. Hinman decided that the Dakota picture-writing had passed through stage I and was already entering upon stage II when it was first observed by the European explorers. Of III and IV he found no examples in Dakota pictography, though in sign language the Dakota had progressed further and had entered upon III.
As a summary of the topic it seems that pictographs other than petroglyphs which presumably are more modern than most of the latter, can be studied, not by geographic distribution, but by their ascertainable intent and use. Unless the classification of the remaining part of this work under its various headings has been defective, further discussion in this chapter is unnecessary.
Substances on which pictographs are made may be divided into—
I. The human body.
II. Natural objects other than the human body.
III. Artificial objects.
Markings on human bodies are—(1) Those expressed by painting or such coloration as is not permanent. It has been found convenient to treat this topic under the heading of “Significance of Colors,” Chap. XVIII, Sec. 3. (2) Those of intended permanence upon the skin, generally called tattoo, but including scarification. This enormous and involved topic is discussed, so far as space allows, under the heading of “Totems, Titles, and Names,” Chapter XIII, Sec. 3, where it seems to be most convenient in the general arrangement of this work. Though logically it might have been divided among several of the headings, that course would have involved much repetition or cross reference.
Other natural objects may be divided into—(1) Stone; (2) bone; (3) skins; (4) feathers and quills; (5) gourds; (6) shells; (7) earth and sand; (8) copper; (9) wood.
This caption comprises the pictographs upon stone surfaces or tablets which are not of the dimensions or in the position to be included under the heading of petroglyphs, as elsewhere defined. Accounts, with and without illustrations, have been published of several engraved tablets, regarding which there has been much discussion, and some examples appear, infra, under the appropriate heading. (See Chapter XXII, Sec. 1.) Other examples, in which the genuine aboriginal character of the work is undisputed, appear in the present work, and a large number of other engraved and incised stone objects could be referred to, some of which are in the possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, unpublished, others being figured in its several reports. It is sufficient now for illustration of this subject to refer to the account accompanying Pl. LI, infra, describing and copying the Thruston tablet, which is, perhaps, the most interesting of any pictograph on stone yet discovered, the genuineness of which as Indian work has not been called in question.
For instances of the use of bone, several Alaskan and Eskimo carvings figured in this work may be referred to, e. g., Figs. 334, 459-462, 534, 703, 704, 742, 771, 844, and 1228.
Fig. 157, copied from Schoolcraft (e), is taken from the shoulder-blade of a buffalo found on the plains in the Comanche country of Texas. He says:
It is a symbol showing the strife for the buffalo existing between the Indian and white races. The Indian (1) presented on horseback, protected by his ornamented shield and armed with a lance, (2) kills a Spaniard (3) after a circuitous chase (6), the latter being armed with a gun. His companion (4), armed with a lance, shares the same fate.
It may be questioned whether Mr. Schoolcraft was not too active in the search for symbols in his explanation of (6) as a circuitous chase. The device is either a lasso or a lariat, and relates to the possession or attempt to take possession of the buffalo. The design (5), however, well expresses ideographically the fact that the buffalo at the time was in contention, and therefore was the property half of the Indians and half of the whites.
A large number of pictographs upon the hides of animals are mentioned in the present paper. Pl. XX, with its description in the Dakota Winter Counts, infra, Chap, X, Sec. 2, is one instance. Rawhide drum-heads are also used to paint upon, as by the shamans of the Ojibwa.
The use of robes made of the hides of buffalo and other large animals, painted with biographic, shamanistic, and other devices, is also mentioned in various parts of this work. A description of very early observation is now introduced, taken from John Ribault in Hakluyt (a).
The king gaue our Captaine at his departure a plume or fanne of Hernshawes feathers died in red, and a basket made of Palmeboughes after the Indian fashion, and wrought very artificially and a great skinne painted and drawen throughout with the pictures of diuers wilde beasts so liuely drawen and pourtrayed, that nothing lacked but life.
With the American use of pictographic robes may be compared the following account of the same use by Australian natives by Dr. Richard Andree (b).
The inner side of the opossum skins worn by the blacks is also often ornamented with figures. They scratch lines into the skin, which afterward are rubbed over with fat and charcoal.
Edward M. Kern, in Schoolcraft (f), reports that the Sacramento tribes of California were very expert in weaving blankets of feathers, many of them having beautiful figures worked upon them.
The feather work in Mexico, Central America, and the Hawaiian Islands is well known, often having designs properly to be considered among pictographs, though in modern times not often passing beyond ornamentation.
Worsnop (op. cit.) mentions that on grand occasions of the “Mindarie” (i. e., peace festival) the Australian natives decorate the bodies, face, legs, and feet with the down of wild fowl, stuck on with their own blood. The ceremony of taking the blood is very painful, yet they stand it without a murmur. It takes five or six men four to five hours to decorate one man. The blood is put on the body wet and the down stuck on the blood, showing, when finished, outlines of man’s head, face, feet, snakes, emu, fish, trees, birds, and other outlines representing the moon, stars, sun, and Aurora Australis, the whole meaning that they are at peace with the world.
Mr. David Boyle (a) gives an account of a piece of porcupine quill work, with an illustration, a part of which is copied in Fig. 158.
Among the lost or almost lost arts of the Canadian Indians is that of employing porcupine quills as in the illustration. Partly on account of scarcity of material, but chiefly, it is likely, from change of habits and of taste, there are comparatively few Indian women now living who attempt to produce any fabric of this kind. * * *
The central figure is meant to represent the eagle or great thunder-bird, the belief in which is, or was, widely spread among the Indians over the northern part of this continent. * * *
This beautiful piece of quill work was produced from Ek-wah-satch, who resides at Baptiste lake. He informed me that it had belonged to his grandfather, who resided near Georgian bay.
See also Fig. 685 for another illustration of pictographic work by colored porcupine quills.
After gourds have dried the contents are removed and small pebbles or bones placed in the empty vessel. Handles are sometimes attached. They serve as rattles in dances and in religious and shamanistic rites. The representations of natural or mythical objects, connected with the ceremonies, for which the owner may have special reverence are often depicted upon their outer surfaces. This custom prevails among the Pueblos generally, and also among many other tribes, notably those of the Siouan linguistic stock.
Fig. 159 is a drawing of the Sci-Manzi or “Mescal Woman” of the Kiowa as it appears on a sacred gourd rattle in the mescal ceremony of that tribe, and was procured with full explanations in the winter of 1890-’91 by Mr. James Mooney of the Bureau of Ethnology.