Fig. 532 is an illustration from the same work, facing page 378. It shows the “grave of an Australian native, with his name, rank, tribe, etc., cut in hieroglyphics on the trees,” which “hieroglyphics” are supposed to be connected with his tattoo marks.
Fig. 533 is a copy of a tattooed head carved by Hongi, and also of the tattooing on a woman’s chin, taken from the work last cited.
The accompanying illustration, Fig. 534, is taken from a bone obtained from a mound in New Zealand, by Prof. I. C. Russell, formerly of the U. S. Geological Survey. He says that the Maori formerly tattooed the bones of enemies, though the custom now seems to have been abandoned. The work consists of sharp, shallow lines, as if made with a sharp-pointed steel instrument, into which some blackish pigment has been rubbed, filling up some of the markings, while in others scarcely a trace remains.
In connection with the use of the tattoo marks as reproduced on artificial objects see Fig. 734.
Fig. 535 is a copy of a photograph obtained in New Zealand by Prof. Russell. It shows tattooing upon the chin.
Prof. Russell, in his sketch of New Zealand, published in the Am. Naturalist, XIII, 72, Feb., 1879, remarks, that the desire of the Maori for ornament is so great that they covered their features with tattooing, transferring indelibly to their faces complicated patterns of curved and spiral lines, similar to the designs with which they decorated their canoes and their houses.
E. J. Wakefield (a) reports of a man observed in New Zealand that he was a tangata tabu or sacred personage, and consequently was not adorned with tatu. He adds, p. 155, that the deeds of the natives are signed with elaborate drawings of the moko or tatu on the chiefs’ faces.
Dr. George Turner (b) says:
Herodotus found among the Thracians that the man who was not tattooed was not respected. It was the same in Samoa. Until a young man was tattooed he was considered in his minority. He could not think of marriage, and he was constantly exposed to taunts and ridicule, as being poor and of low birth, and as having no right to speak in the society of men. But as soon as he was tattooed he passed into his majority, and considered himself entitled to the respect and privileges of mature years. When a youth, therefore, reached the age of 16, he and his friends were all anxiety that he should be tattooed. He was then on the outlook for the tattooing of some young chief with whom he might unite. On these occasions six or a dozen young men would be tattooed at one time, and for these there might be four or five tattooers employed. Tattooing is still kept up to some extent and is a regular profession, just as house-building, and well paid. The custom is traced to mythologic times and has its presiding deities.
In Révue d’Ethnographie (a) (translated) it is published that—
Tattoo marks of Papuan men in New Guinea can be worn on the chest only when the man has killed an enemy. Fig. 26, p. 101, shows the marks upon the chest of Waara, who had killed five men.
Tattoo marks upon parts other than the chest of the bodies of men and women do not seem to have significance. They are made according to the fancy of the designer. Frequently the professional tattooers have styles of their own, which, being popular and generally applied, become customary to a tribe.
The illustration above mentioned is reproduced as Fig. 536.
Fig. 536.—Tattoo on Papuan chief.
In the same article, p. 112, is the following, referring to Fig. 537:
Among the Papuans of New Guinea tattooing the chest of females denotes that they are married, though all other parts of the body, including the face and legs, may be tattooed long before; indeed the tattooing of girls may begin at 5 years of age. Fig. 39, p. 112, gives an illustration of a married woman. * * * The different forms of tattoo depend upon the style of the several artists. Family marks are not recognizable, but exist.
De Clercq (a) gives further particulars about tattooing among the Papuans of New Guinea. Among the Sègèt it is only on women. They call it “fadjan,” and the figures consist of two rows of little circles, on each side of the abdomen toward the region of the arm-pit, with a few cross strokes on the outer edge; it is done by pricking with a needle and afterwards the spots are fumigated with the smoke of burning resin. It is said to be intended as an ornament instead of dress, and that young girls do it because young men like to see it.
At Roembati tattooing is called “gomanroeri” and at Sĕkar “béti.” They do it there with bones of fish, with which they prick many holes in the skin until the blood flows, and then smear on it in spots the soot from pans and pots, which, after the staunching of the blood, leaves an ineffaceable bluish spot or streak. Besides the breast and upper arm they also tattoo in the same way the calf of the leg, and in some cases the forehead, as a mere ornamentation, both of men and women—children only in very exceptional cases.
The Bonggose and Sirito are much tattooed over the breast and shoulder. At Saoekorèm, a Doré settlement, a few women were seen tattooed on the breast and in the face. At Doré it is called “pa,” and is done with thorns, and charcoal is rubbed over the bloody spots; only here and at Mansinam is it a sign of mourning; everywhere else it merely serves as ornamentation.
At Ansoes it does not occur much, and is principally in the face; it is there called “toi.” It is found somewhat more commonly on Noord-Japèn, and then on shoulder and upper arm. In Tarfia, Tana-mérah, and Humboldt bay but few persons were tattooed, mostly on the forehead.
The tattooing is always the work of women, generally members of the family, both on men and on women. First the figure is drawn with charcoal, and if it suits the taste then begins the pricking with the thorn of a citrus or a fine bone of some animal. It is very painful and only a small spot can be pricked at one time, so long as the tattooee can stand it. If the pain is too violent, the wounds are gently pressed with a certain leaf that has been warmed, in order to soothe the pain, and the work is continued only after three or four days. No special names are given to the figures; those are chosen which suit the taste. Children are never tattooed at the wish of the parents; it is entirely a matter of individual choice.
Mr. Forbes, in Journ. Anthrop. Inst. G. B. and I., August, 1883, p. 10, says that in Timor Laut, an island of the Malay archipelago—
Both sexes tattoo a few simple devices, circles, stars, and pointed crosses, on the breast, on the brow, on the cheek, and on the wrists, and scar themselves on the arms and shoulders with red-hot stones, in imitation of immense smallpox marks, in order to ward off that disease. * * * I have, however, seen no one variola-marked, nor can I learn of any epidemic of this disease among them.
Prof. Brauns, of Halle, reports, Science, III, No. 50, p. 69, that among the Ainos of Yazo the women tattoo their chins to imitate the beards of the men.
Carl Bock (a) says:
All the married women here are tattooed on the hands and feet and sometimes on the thighs. The decoration is one of the privileges of matrimony and is not permitted to unmarried girls.
In Myths and Songs from the South Pacific, London, 1876, p. 94, it is said that in Mangaia, of the Hervey group, the tattoo is in imitation of the stripes on the two kinds of fish, avini and paoro, the color of which is blue. The legend of this is kept in the song of Iná.
Elisée Reclus (b) says:
Most of the Dayaks tattoo the arms, hands, feet, and thighs; occasionally also breast and temples. The designs, generally of a beautiful blue color on the coppery ground of the body, display great taste, and are nearly always disposed in odd numbers, which, as among so many other peoples, are supposed to be lucky.
In L’Anthropologie (a), 1890, T. I, No. 6, p. 693, it is thus reported:
Tradition tells that the Giao chi, the alleged ancestors of the Annamites, were fishermen and in danger from marine monsters. To prevent disasters from the genii of the waters the king directed the people to tattoo their bodies with the forms of the marine monsters, and afterwards the dragons, crocodiles, etc., ceased their persecution. The custom became universal, and even the kings tattooed a dragon on their thighs as a sign of power and nobility. The same idea was in the painting of eyes, etc., on the prows of Annamite boats, which strongly resembled the sea monsters.
Mr. O’Reilly, the professional tattooer of New York, in a letter, says that he is familiar with the tattoo system of Burmah, and that, besides the ruling principle of ordeal, the Burmese use special tattoo marks to charm and to bring love. They also believe that tattooing the whole person renders the skin impenetrable to weapons.
In Zeitschrift für Ethnologie (a) it is recounted of the Badagas in the Nilgiri mountains, India:
All the women are tattooed on the forehead. The following [Fig. 538] a is the most usual form:
Besides this there occur the following (same Fig., b, c, d, and e):
Besides the forehead, the tattooing of which is obligatory for women, other parts of the body are often tattooed thus (same Fig., f)
Fig. 538.—Badaga tattoo marks.
on each shoulder. Other forms not infrequently found are variously grouped dots, also those shown in the same Fig., g, on the forearm and the back of the hand.
Nordenskiöld (a) gives the following account of tattooing among the Chukchis of Siberia:
It is principally the women that tattoo. The operation is performed by means of pins and soot; perhaps also graphite is employed, which the Chukchis gather. The tattooing of the women seems to be the same along the whole Chukchi coast from Cape Shelagskoy to Bering strait. The usual mode of tattooing is found represented in Nordenskiöld’s “Voyage of the Vega around Asia and Europe,” second part, p. 104. Still the tattooing on the cheek is not rarely more compound than is there shown. The picture given below [Fig. 539] represents a design of tattooing on the cheek.
Girls under nine or ten years are never tattooed. On reaching that age they gradually receive the two streaks running from the point of the nose to the root of the hair; next follow the vertical chin streaks and lastly the tattooing on the cheeks, of which the anterior arches are first formed and the posterior part of the design last. The last named in fact is the part of the design which is oftenest wanting.
The accompanying picture (the left hand of the same Fig.) represents the tattooing of the arms of a woman from the town of T’ápka. The design of the tattooing extends from the shoulder joint, where the upper triple ring is situated, to the hand joint at the bottom. As appears from the drawing, the tattooing on the right and left arm is different.
The men at the winter station of the Vega tattooed themselves only with two short horizontal streaks across the root of the nose. Some of the men at Rerkaypiya (C. North), on the other hand, had a cross tattooed on each cheek bone; others had merely painted similar ones with red mold. Some Chukchis at the latter place had also the upper lip tattooed.
Fig. 539.—Chukchi tattoo marks.
The Chukchi designs are much simpler than those of the Eskimo.
Dr. Bazin, in “Étude sur le Tatouage dans la Régence de Tunis,” in L’Anthropologie (b), tells that the practice of tattooing is very widespread and elaborate in Tunisia, but chiefly among the natives of Arab race, who are nomads, workmen in the towns, and laborers, and also among the fellahs. The Berbers, on the contrary, who have remained mountaineers, the merchants of the coast towns, and the rich proprietors are little or not at all tattooed. In regard to the last class this proves that tattooing has become nothing but an ornament, since the members of this class are clothed in such a way that the legs and arms are completely covered, so that it would be useless to draw figures which would be invisible or almost entirely hidden. He adds that the notables “du Tinge” do not disfigure themselves by incisions. The distinctive sign of the lower classes is the presence of three incisions on the temples, three on the cheeks, and three also on the lower part of the face.
Notes on East-Equatorial Africa, in Bull. Soc. d’Anthro. de Bruxelles (a) contains the following memoranda: Tattooing is done by traveling artists. Perhaps at first it showed tribal characteristics, but now it is difficult to distinguish more than fancy. The exception is that Wawenba alone tattoo the face. The local fetiches bear marks of tattoo.
Gordon Cumming (a) says:
One of the “generals” of Mosielely, King of the Bakatlas group of the Bechuana tribe, had killed about twenty men in battle with his own hand, and bore a mark of honor for every man. This mark was a line tattooed on his ribs.
David Greig Rutherford (a) makes remarks on the people of Batanga, West Tropical Africa, from which the following is extracted:
Tattooing evidently originated in certain marks being applied to the face and other parts of the body in order to distinguish the members of one tribe from those of another. The same marks would be used for both sexes, but as the tendency to ornamentation became developed, they would be apt to observe some artistic method in making them. Among the Dualles the custom at one time appears to have obtained with both sexes, with a preponderance, however, in the practice of it on the side of the women. The men did not always see the force of giving themselves needless pain, but the women, with a shrewd idea that it added to their charms, persisted in having it done. The men (and it is significant that in places where the men have ceased to tattoo themselves they continue to do it for the women) tattooed their children at an early age, but as the girls approached a marriageable age they added, on their own account, various ornamentations to those already existing. As an example that tattooing in its later stages is regarded as an increase of beauty, I may mention an instance given me by the wife of a missionary here. A woman belonging to some neighboring tribe having come to stay at the mission, was presented with a dress of some showy material as an inducement to her to discard the loin cloth she had been in the habit of wearing and as an introduction to the habits of civilized life. She objected to wear the dress, however, upon the ground that if she did so she would thereby hide her beauty. It appears certain that the unmarried woman who is most finely tattooed wins most admiration from the men.
Oscar Peschel (a) describes tattooing as another substitute for raiment and remarks: “That it actually takes away from the impression of nudity is declared by all who have seen fully tattooed Albanese.” As bearing in the same direction Mr. Darwin, in “Voyage of the Beagle,” may be quoted, who, when at New Zealand, speaking of the clean, tidy, and healthy appearance of the young women who acted as servants within the houses, remarks: “The wives of the missionaries tried to persuade them not to be tattooed, but a famous operator having arrived from the south they said: ‘We really must have a few lines on our lips, else when we grow old our lips will shrivel, and we shall be so very ugly.’”
In September, 1891, a Zulu, claiming to be a son of the late Cetewayo, gave to a reporter of the Memphis Avalanche the following account:
When some one expressed a doubt of his coming from Zululand he promptly rolled up his sleeve and showed on his right arm the brand of the tribe. The brand is just below the elbow-joint, and it is of a bright red color, showing conclusively that it had been burned into the flesh. The design is very much on the principle of a double heart with a cross running through the center. The same design has been branded over his left eye in a somewhat smaller shape. When questioned about these brands he said:
“In our country all the men have to have the brand of their tribe burned into their skin so that they can never desert us, and no matter where they are found, you can always tell a Zulu by the brand. Always look for it just over the left eye and on the inside of the right arm. Does it hurt? Oh, no: you see they just take the skin together in their fingers and when the brand is red hot touch it once to the skin and it is all done, and the brand can never wear away.”
The following notes regarding scarification are presented:
Edward M. Curr (b), p. 94, says:
The principal and most general ornament throughout Australia consists of a number of scars raised on the skin. They are made by deep incisions with a flint or shell, which are kept powdered with charcoal or ashes. The wounds thus made remain open for about three months, and, when covered with skin, scars sometimes almost as thick and long as one’s middle finger remain raised above the natural surface of the skin. The incisions are made in rows on various parts of the body, principally on the chest, back, and on the upper muscle of the arm, and less frequently on the thighs and stomach. The breasts of the female are often surrounded with smaller scars. In some tribes dots cut in the skin take the place of scars. The operation is a very painful one, and is often carried out amidst yells of torture. Both sexes are marked in this manner, but the male more extensively than the female.
In the same volume, p. 338, is the following:
When, as often happens, a young man and girl of the Whajook tribe in Australia elope and remain away from the tribe for a time, it is not unusual for them to scar each other in the interim as a memorial of their illicit loves; a singular proceeding when one remembers the agony caused by the operation and the length of time required to get over it. This proceeding is a great aggravation of the original offense in the eyes of husbands.
In Vol. II, p. 414, the same author says:
Men of the Cape river tribe scar their backs and shoulders in this way. Scars are made generally on the left thigh both of the men and women, continues Mr. Chatfield, but occasionally on the right, for the purpose of denoting the particular class to which they belong; but as such a practice would conflict with the custom prevalent throughout the continent as far as known, which is to make these marks for ornament alone, the statement cannot be received without further evidence.
Thomas Worsnop, in the Prehistoric Arts of the Aborigines of Australia, says:
This practice of tattooing by scarification was common all over the continent, varying in character amongst the respective tribes, each having its own distinctive marks, although all patterned upon one monotonous idea.
This is far from evidence of distinct tribal marks, the slight varieties of which may be only local or tribal fashions.
Alfred C. Haddon (a), p. 366, says:
Tattooing is unknown, but the body used to be ornamented with raised cicatrices. * * * The Torres strait islanders are distinguished by a large, complicated, oval scar, only slightly raised and of neat construction. This, which I have been told has some connection with a turtle, occupies the right shoulder and is occasionally repeated on the left. I suspect that a young man was not allowed to bear a cicatrice until he had killed his first turtle or dugong.
The same author, op. cit., says of the Mabuiag of Torres straits:
The people were formerly divided up into a number of clans. * * * A man belonging to one clan could not wear the badge of the totem of another clan. * * * All the totems appear to have been animals—as the crocodile, snake, turtle, dugong, dog, cassowary, shark, sting-ray, kingfish, etc.
The same writer, in Notes on Mr. Beardsmore’s paper, in Jour. Anthrop. Inst. of Gr. Br. and I. (a), says:
A large number of the women of Mowat, New Guinea, have a Λ-shaped scar above the breasts. * * * Maino of Tud told me that it was cut when the brother leaves the father’s house and goes to live with the men; and another informant’s story was that it was made when a brother harpooned his first dugong or turtle. Maino (who, by the by, married a Mowat woman) said that a mark on the cheek recorded the brother’s prowess.
D’Albertis (c) tells that the people of New Guinea produced scars “by making an incision in the skin and then for a lengthened period irritating it with lime and soot. * * * They use some scars as a sign that they have traveled, and tattoo an additional figure above the right breast on the accomplishment of every additional journey. * * * In Yuli island women have nearly the whole body covered with marks. Children are seldom tattooed; slaves never. Men are hardly ever tattooed, though they have frequently marks on the chest and shoulders; rarely on the face. Tribes and families are recognized by tattoo marks.”
Mr. Griffith, in his paper on Sierra Leone, in Jour. Anthrop. Inst. of Gr. Br. and I. (b), says:
The girls are cut on their backs and loins in such a manner as to leave raised scars, which project above the surface of the skin about one-eighth of an inch. They then receive Boondoo names, and after recovery from the painful operation are released from Boondoo with great ceremony and gesticulation by some who personate Boondoo devils. They are then publicly pronounced marriageable.
Dr. Holub (b), speaking of three cuts on the breast of a Koranna of Central South Africa, says:
They have among themselves a kind of freemasonry. Some of them have on their chest three cuts. When they were asked what was the reason of it they generally refused to answer, but after gaining their confidence they confessed that they belonged to something like a secret society, and they said, “I can go through all the valleys inhabited by Korannas and Griquas, and wherever I go when I open my coat and show these three cuts I am sure to be well received.”
Mr. H. H. Johnston (a) tells us that scarification is practiced right along the course of the Congo up to the Stanley falls. The marks thus made are tribal. Thus the Bateke are always distinguished by five or six striated lines across the cheek bones, while the Bayansi scar their foreheads with a horizontal or vertical band.
E. Brussaux, in L’Anthropologie (c), reports that scarifications in Congo, which are chiefly on the back, are made for therapeutic reasons.
Julian Thomas (a) gives the following description of a New Hebrides woman:
She had a pattern traced over her throat and breast like a scarf. It was done with a shark’s tooth when a child. The women’s skins are blistered up into flowers and ferns. The skin is cut and earth and ashes placed inside the gashes, and the flesh grows into these forms. Of course they do not cover up these beauties by clothing.
According to Mr. Man, Journ. Anthrop. Inst. of Gr. Br. and I. (c), the Andamanese, who also tattoo by means of gashing, do so first by way of ornament, and, secondly, to prove the courage of the individual operated upon and his or her power of enduring pain.
Many notes on the topic are omitted, especially those relating mainly to the methods of and the instruments used in the operation. But from those presented above it appears that tattooing still is or very recently was used in various parts of the world for many purposes besides the specific object of designating a tribe, clan, or family, and also apart from the general intent of personal ornament. The most notable of those purposes are as follows: 1, to distinguish between free and slave without reference to the tribe of the latter; 2, to distinguish between a high and low status in the same tribe; 3, as a certificate of bravery exhibited by supporting the ordeal of pain; 4, as marks of personal prowess, particularly, 5, as a record of achievements in war; 6, to show religious symbols; 7, as a therapeutic remedy for disease, and 8, as a prophylactic against disease; 9, as a brand of disgrace; 10, as a token of a woman’s marriage, or, sometimes, 11, of her marriageable condition; 12, identification of the person, not as tribesman or clansman, but as an individual; 13, to charm the other sex magically; 14, to inspire fear in the enemy; 15, to magically render the skin impenetrable by weapons; 16, to bring good fortune; and 17, as the device of a secret society.
The use of tattoo marks as certificates and records of prowess in war is considered to be of special importance in any discussion of their origin. A warrior returns from the field stained with blood from an honorable wound, the scars of which he afterwards proudly displays. It would be strictly in the line of ideography to make artificial scars or to paint the semblance of wounds on the person as designations of honor, and from such origin quite as well as from a totemic representation all other forms and uses may have been evolved. For instance, the vigor of manhood being thus signified, the similar use would show the maturity of women. Yet some of the practices of tattoo may have originated independently of either totem or glory mark. The mere idea of decoration as shown in what civilized people call deformations of nose, lip, ear, teeth, and in fact all parts of the body, is sufficient to account for the inception of any form of tattoo. Primitive man never seemed to be content to leave the surface of his body in its natural condition, and from recognition of that discontent studies of clothing and of ornament should take their point of departure.
In this paper many examples are presented of the use, especially by the North American Indians, of tribal signs carved or painted on rock, tree, bark, skin, and other materials, and suggestion is made of an interesting connection between these designs and those of heraldry in Europe. It would, therefore, seem natural that the same Indians who probably for ages used such totemic and tribal devices should paint or tattoo them on their own persons, and the meagerness of the evidence that they actually did so is surprising. Undoubtedly the statement has been made in a general way by some of the earlier explorers and travelers, but when analyzed it is frequently little more than a vague expression of opinion, perhaps based on a preconceived theory. Nearly all the Indian tribes have peculiarities of arrangement of the hair and of some article of apparel and accouterment by which they can always be distinguished. These are not totemic, nor are they by design expressions of a tribal character. They come under the heading of fashion, and such fashions in clothing and in arrangement of the hair still exist among civilized peoples, so that the people of one nation or province can at once be distinguished from others. Very little appears from the account of actual observers to show that the character of the tattoo marks of the North American Indians, perhaps excluding those of the northwest coast, was more than a tribal fashion. Such styles or fashions with no intent or deliberate purpose that they should serve as tribal signs prevail to-day in Africa and in some other regions, and have been introduced by the professional artists who had several styles. Besides the necessary influence of a school of artists, it is obvious that people living together would contract and maintain the same custom and fashion in their cutaneous decoration.
These are divided into: (1) Insignia or tokens of authority. (2) Signs of individual achievements. (3) Property marks. (4) Personal names.
Champlain (e) says of the Iroquois in 1609:
Those who wore three large “pannaches” [plumes] were the chiefs, and the three chiefs delineated have their plumes much larger than those of their companions who were simple warriors.
In Travels of Lewis and Clarke (a) it is said:
Among the Teton Sioux the interior police of a village is confided to two or three officers who are named by the chief for the purpose of preserving order, and remain in power some days, at least till the chief appoints a successor; they seem to be a sort of constable or sentinel, since they are always on the watch to keep tranquility during the day and guarding the camp in the night. * * * Their distinguishing mark is a collection of two or three raven skins fixed to the girdle behind the back in such a way that the tails stick out horizontally from the body. On the head too is a raven skin split into two parts and tied so as to let the beak project from the forehead.
In James’s Long (d) it is reported that—
Among the Omaha on all occasions of public rejoicings, festivals, dances, or general hunts, a certain number of resolute warriors are previously appointed to preserve order and keep the peace. In token of their office they paint themselves entirely black; usually wear the crow, and arm themselves with a whip or war-club with which they punish on the spot those who misbehave, and are at once both judges and executioners.
Prince Maximilian of Wied (a) says:
In every numerous war party there are four leaders (partisans, karokkanakah) sometimes seven, but only four are reckoned as the real partisans; the others are called bad partisans (karokkanakah-chakohosch, literally, partisans galeux). All partisans carry on their backs a medicine pipe in a case which other warriors dare not have. To become a chief (Numakschi) a man must have been a partisan and then kill an enemy when he is not a partisan. If he follows another partisan for the second time he must have first discovered the enemy, have killed one and then possessed the hide of a white buffalo cow complete with the horns to pretend to the title of chief (Numakschi). * * * All the warriors wear small war pipes round their necks, which are often very elegantly ornamented with porcupine quills.
Pls. XXVI and XXVII are illustrations specially relating to insignia of office selected from an important and unique pictorial roster of the heads of Oglala families, eighty-four in number, in the band of Chief Big-Road, which were obtained by Rev. S. D. Hinman at Standing Rock Agency, Dakota, in 1883, from the United States Indian agent, Maj. McLaughlin, to whom the original had been delivered by Chief Big-Road when brought to that agency and required to give an account of his followers. Other selections from this Oglala Roster appear under the headings of Ideography, Personal names, Comparisons, Customs, Gestures, Religion, and Conventionalizing.
Chief Big Road and his people belong to the northern Oglala, and at the time mentioned had been lately associated with Sitting-Bull in various depredations and hostilities against settlers and the United States authorities. The translations of the names have been verified and the Oglala name attached. At the date of the roster Chief Big-Road was above 50 years old, and was as ignorant and uncompromising a savage in mind and appearance, as one could well find.
The drawings in the original are on a single sheet of foolscap paper, made with black and colored pencils, and a few characters are in yellow-ocher waters color paint. They were made for the occasion with the materials procured at the agency.
Pl. XXVI exhibits the five principal chiefs with their insignia. Each has before him a decorated pipe and pouch, the design of each being distinct from the others. The use of pipes as insignia for leaders is frequently mentioned in this work. The five chiefs do not have the war club, their rank being shown by pipe and pouch. Each of the five chiefs has at least three transverse bands on the cheek, with differentiations of the pattern.
Pl. XXVII shows the subchiefs of the band. The three red bands are the sign that they are Akicita-itacanpi, which means head soldiers—captains in war, and captains of police in civil administration. Each of them is decorated with three red transverse bands on the cheek and carries a war club held vertically before the person.
The other male figures not represented in the plates have in general each but a single red band on the cheek; others, two bands, red and blue. These are merely ornamental and without significance.
It will be noticed that in this series the device indicating the name is not generally connected by lines with the mouth but only when there is a natural connection with it. It appears attached by a line to the crown of the head, but sometimes without any connecting line.
Pl. XXVI shows the five principal chiefs of the Oglala in 1883, who are severally designated as follows:
a. Cankutanka, Big-Road. Big-Road is often called Good-Road because a road that is big or broad and well traveled is good. The tracks on both sides of the line indicating a mere path show that the road is big. The bird flying through the dusk indicates the rapidity of travel which the good road allows. This is the same chief as the following:
Fig. 540.—Big-Road.
Fig. 540, Big-Road as appearing in Red-Cloud’s Census, No. 96. The broad and big road is indicated by the artist of that series as having distinctly marked sides and horsetracks between these roadsides. In this instance as in several others it is obvious that the ideographic device was not fixed but elastic and subject to variation, the intention being solely to preserve the idea.
b. Sunka-kuciyela, Low-Dog. The dog figure is represented as “low” by the shortness of the legs as compared with the next figure of Long-Dog.
c. Sunka-hanska, Long-Dog. This term “long” is in the pictography of the Siouan tribes, but is differently translated as tall. There is a marked variation in the length of the legs between this and the next foregoing.
d. Kangi-maza, Iron-Crow. The term “iron” is explained above. The color blue is always used in Dakotan pictography for the word translated as iron.
e. Cetan-cigala, Little-Hawk.
Pl. XXVII shows the subchiefs or partisans of the Oglala at the time of the roster in 1883.
a. Represents Tatanka-he-luta, Red-horn-Bull. The bull’s horns have been made bloody by goring.
b. Represents Cetan-watakpe, Charging-Hawk. This subchief also appears with a slightly different form of “charging” in Red-Cloud’s Census, in which the bird is represented head downward.
Fig. 541.—Charging-Hawk.
Fig. 541.—Charging-Hawk, from Red-Cloud’s Census, No. 142. On careful examination the bird is seen to be not erect, as at first appears, but is swooping down.
c. Represents Wiyaka-aopazan, Wears-the-Feather. The feather in its conventional form is presented twice, once connected by a line with the mouth and also over the war club as in common with other pictures of this series. The same person is represented next below.
Fig. 542.—Feather-on-his-Head.
Fig. 542.—Feather-on-his-Head, from Red-Cloud’s Census, No. 86. In this case the feather droops while it is erect in the figure next above. No significance is indicated in the slight variation.
d. Represents Pankeskahoksila, Shell-Boy. The shell is the circular object over the head of the small human figure, which is without the proper number of legs, showing perhaps that he can not march, and his open, weaponless hands say that he is not a warrior, i. e., he is a boy. The object, now translated shell, was originally a large excrescence on the trunk of a tree which was often cut away by the Dakotas, hollowed out and used as a bowl.
e. Mato-niyanpi, The-Bear-spares-him. The bear passing through the marks of several tracks indicates an incident not explained, in which the subchief was in danger.
f. Represents Cetan-maza, Iron-Hawk. The bird is colored blue, as before explained.
g. Represents Kangi-luta, Red-Crow.
h. Represents Situpi-ska, White-Tail. The bird is probably one of the hawks, as is more distinctly indicated in the representation of the same name as follows:
Fig. 543.—White-Tail.
Fig. 543.—White-Tail; from Red-Cloud’s Census, No. 190. This is inserted for convenient comparison with the foregoing, being a slightly variant device for the same person.
i. Represents Mato-ska, White-Bear.
Fig. 544.—White-Bear.
Fig. 544.—White-Bear; from Red-Cloud’s Census, No. 252. This is inserted here for comparison of the drawings. The characteristics of the animal appear in both.
k. Represents Mato-najin, Standing-Grizzly-Bear. The differentiations of these and other similar positions of the same object remind one of the heraldic devices “statant,” “regardant,” “passant,” and the like.
Fig. 545.—Standing-Bear.
Fig. 545.—Standing-Bear; from Red-Cloud’s Census, No. 140. This is probably the same man as in the last-mentioned figure, though the fancy of the artist has blazoned the bear as demi. This was, however, for convenience and without special significance, as the forequarters are not indicated in the name. But that might well have been done if the device were strictly totemic and connected with the taboo. Some of the bear gens are only allowed to eat the fore quarters of the animal, others the hind quarters.
l. Represents Tatanka-najin, Standing-Buffalo-Bull.
m. Represents Tasunke-inyanke, His-Running-Horse. This man was probably the owner of a well known racing pony.
Fig. 546.—Four-Horn calumet.
Fig. 546.—A Minneconjou Dakota, named Red-Fish’s-Son, danced the calumet dance. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1856-’57.
Maj. Bush says: “A Minneconjou, Red-Fish’s-Son, The-Ass, danced the Four-Horn calumet.”
The peculiarly ornamented pipe, frequently portrayed and mentioned in the parts of the paper relative to the Dakotas, is, at least for the time of the duration of the ceremonies, the sign of the person who leads them.
In connection with the display of pipes as insignia of authority and rank, Figs. 547 and 548 are introduced here.