It is a noteworthy fact that among the Jews in Tunis, near the old Phenician settlement of Carthage, the sign of a bleeding hand is still an honored and a sacred symbol as if in recognition of the covenant-bond of their brotherhood and friendship. “What struck me most in all the houses,” says a traveler (Chevalier de Hesse-Wartegg) among these Jews, “was the impression of an open bleeding hand on every wall of each floor. However white the walls, this repulsive (yet suggestive) sign was to be seen everywhere.”
The following is extracted from Panjab Notes and Queries, Vol. I, No. 1 (October, 1883), p. 2:
At the Temple of Balasundarí Deví at Tilokpúr, near Náhan, the priests stamp a red hand on the left breast of the coat of a pilgrim who visits the temple for the first time to show that he has, as it were, paid for his footing. If the pilgrim again visits the temple and can show the stamp he pays only 4 annas as his fee to the priests.
Gen. A. Hontum-Schindler, Teheran, Persia, in a letter of December 19, 1888, tells:
All through Persia, principally in villages though, a rough representation of a hand, or generally the imprint of a right hand, in red, may be seen on the wall or over the door of a house whilst in building, or on the wall of a mosque, booth, or other public building. It is probably an ancient custom, although the Persians connect it with Islam, and they say that the hand represents that of Albas, a brother of Husain (a grandson of the prophet Mohammed), who was one of the victims at the massacre of Kerbela in 680, and who had his right hand cut off by el Abrad ibu Shaibân. In India I have noticed similar marks, hands, or simply red streaks.
In Journal of the Proc. Royal Soc. Antiq., Ireland, I, 3, fifth series, 1890, p. 247, is the following:
The hand an emblem of good luck in Ireland.—In Maj. Conder’s “Syrian Stone Lore,” published for the Palestine Exploration Committee by Bentley & Son (1886), p. 71, occurs the following passage: “Among other primitive emblems used by the Phenicians is the hand occurring on votive steles at Carthage, sometimes in connection with the sacred fish. This hand is still a charm in Syria, called Kef Miriam, ‘the Virgin Mary’s hand,’ and sovereign against the evil eye. The red hand is painted on walls, and occurs, for instance, in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople and elsewhere. It is common also in Ireland and in India (Siva’s hand) and on early scepters, always as an emblem of good luck.” What actual foundation is there for the above statement as regards Ireland? About twenty years ago the first Monday in January was known in the south of Ireland as “Handsel Monday,” and looked upon as in some way indicating the prosperity the year succeeding was to bring forth. But whether, as the name would seem to imply, this had any connection with the hand as an emblem of good luck I am unaware.—J. C.
Fig. 1179.—Irish cross.
Gen. Forlong (b) makes the following remarks:
The “red hand of Ireland” is known alike to Turanians, Shemites, and Aryans, and from the Americas to farthest Asia. The hand, being an organ peculiar to man, is in the East a sign of Siva, and seems to have been identified with his emblem even by the Medes. All men have usually worshiped and plighted their troth or sworn by manual signs, so the hand naturally stands as the sign of man himself; but more than this, Easterns attach a significance to it as an organ without which the procreating one is useless. In Germany, says J. Grimm, the hand was Tyr, or the son of Odin, “the one-handed,” for he lost one limb by the biting wintry wolf—that is, he became powerless to produce.... He was then the “golden-handed,” fertilizer, whom ancient Irans denoted by their name Zerdosht, and Irish Kelts placed as a talisman on their Ulster shield.... The Irish solo-phalik idea is seen in the “crosses” of Clon-Mac-Noise and Monasterboise, where, as in Fig. 1179, all the fingers are carefully placed in the center of the circle of fertility. The Vedas constantly speak of Savatar as “the golden-handed sun,” who lost this limb owing to his efforts when at sacrifice, and who remained impotent until the deity restored to him a hand of gold.
Hindus, like the high Asian tribes and the old Mexicans, usually impress a hand covered with blood or vermilion on the door posts of their temple—that is, on the Delpheus or “door of life;” and the great Islamite, Mahmood, when he captured Constantinople, rode up to the holy feminine shrine of St. Sophia, and reaching up as high as he could, there unwittingly imprinted this bloody sign of Great Siva. We must remember how often the hand appears with other significant objects on the arms of men and nations, and notably so on Roman standards.... Fig. 1180.
In the old shrines of America, Leslie says, the “sacred hand was a favorite subject of art,” and Stevens in his Yucatan says, “The red hand stared us in the face over all the ruined buildings of the country, ... not drawn or printed, but stamped by the living hand, the pressure of the palm upon the stone being quite distinct, the thumb and fingers being extended as we see in the Irish and Hindu hands.”
Fig. 1180.—Roman standard.
In the two first illustrations of this group the respective figures of the man and the eagle are in the act of forming tracks on the ground. Such tracks are shown in the next two figures, but without the context might not be recognized as such. The fifth figure is more distinctly ideographic, showing the foot and leg as in the act of making the impress, and the eagle’s feather to indicate the kind of track which would have been made by a running eagle.
Fig. 1181.
Fig. 1181.—Goes-Walking. Red-Cloud’s Census.
Fig. 1182.
Fig. 1182.—Running-Eagle. Red-Cloud’s Census.
Fig. 1183.
Fig. 1183.—Tracks. Red-Cloud’s Census.
Fig. 1184.
Fig. 1184.—Walking-Bull-Track. Red-Cloud’s Census.
Fig. 1185.
Fig. 1185.—Eagle-Track. Red-Cloud’s Census.
Fig. 1186.—Feet.
Fig. 1186, copied from Copway (b), gives three characters of which the first represents “ran,” the second “walked” or “passed,” and the third “stand,” characters similar both to the tracks and the feet found on many petroglyphs in North America.
They are also found in the terraces of temples of Thebes, of Karnak, and especially at Nakhaur in South Bihar.
P. le Page Renouf (a), in An Elementary Grammar of the Ancient Egyptian Language, gives the right-hand character of the same figure as the generic determinative implying motion.
This group gives several modes of expressing, pictorially, broken legs.
Fig. 1187.
Fig. 1187.—Many were thrown from their horses while surrounding buffalo, and some had their legs broken. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1847-’48. The legs are distorted and the line may refer to the slippery ice touched by the toes.
Fig. 1188.
Fig. 1188.—Lone-Horn’s father broke his leg. The-Flame’s Winter Count, 1832-’33. This is a strongly marked representation.
Fig. 1189.
Fig. 1190.
Fig. 1189.—A Minneconjou Dakota named Broken-Leg died. The-Flame’s Winter Count, 1846-’47. The-Flame’s representation is objective, but Battiste Good gives another more ideographic. The arm in his character, given in Fig. 1190, is lengthened so as nearly to touch the broken leg, which is shown distorted, instead of indicating the injury by the mere distortion of the leg itself. The bird over the head, and connected by a line with it, probably represents the teal as a name-totem. Perhaps he was called Broken-Leg after the injury.
Fig. 1191.
Fig. 1191.—There were a great many accidents and some legs were broken, the ground being covered with ice. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1847-’48. Here the fracture is very obvious—too much so to be intended as objective—rather delineating the idea of the breaking and separation of the bone.
Fig. 1192.
Fig. 1192.—Broken-Leg was killed by the Pawnees. His leg had been broken by a bullet in a previous fight with the Pawnees. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1807-’08. Here the leg is entirely removed from its normal position.
Fig. 1193.—Broken leg. Chinese.
Dr. Edkins (g) gives Fig. 1193, a, as a picture of a bent leg broken, and adds, “The true radical and phonetic for which this stands as representative is rather b, ‘fault,’ ‘move.’”
This group relates to sounds issuing from the mouth, that is, to voice and speech:
Fig. 1194.
Fig. 1194.—The-Elk-that-Holloes-Walking. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1860-’61. Interpreter A. Lavary said, in 1867, that The-Elk-that-Holloes-Walking, then chief of the Minneconjous, was then at Spotted-Tail’s camp. His father was Red-Fish. He was the elder brother of Lone-Horn. His name is given as A-hag-a-hoo-man-ie, translated The-Elk’s-Voice-Walking, compounded of he-ha-ka, elk, and omani, walk; this according to Lavary’s literation. The correct literation of the Dakota word meaning elk is heqaka; voice, ho; and to walk, walking, mani. Their compound would be heqaka ho mani, the translation being the same as above given.
Fig. 1195.
Fig. 1195.—Elk-walking-with-his-Voice. Red-Cloud’s Census: This is explained by the following figure.
Fig. 1196.
Fig. 1196 is taken from the manuscript drawing book of an Indian prisoner at St. Augustine, Florida, now in the Smithsonian Institution, No. 30664. It represents an antelope and the whistling sound produced by the animal on being surprised or alarmed. It also shows the tracks, and supplies the idea of walking not exhibited by the preceding two figures.
Fig. 1197.
Fig. 1197.—Dog-with-good-voice. Red-Cloud’s Census. The peculiar angular divisions of the line may indicate the explosive character of a dog’s bark as distinct from a long-drawn howl. Among the many lines indicating voice which appear in the Dakota pictographs none has been found identical with this, and therefore it probably has special significance.
Fig. 1198.
Fig. 1198.—Bear-that-growls. Red-Cloud’s Census. This figure gives a marked differentiation. The sound of growling does not appear to come from the mouth, but from the lower part of the neck or the upper part of the chest, from which the lines here are drawn to emanate. They are also confined by a surrounding line, to suggest the occluded nature of the sound.
The Mexican pictograph, Fig. 1200, taken from Kingsborough (n), is illustrative of the sign made by the Arikara and Hidatsa for “tell” and “conversation.” “Tell me” is: Place the flat right hand, palm upward, about 15 inches in front of the right side of the face, fingers pointing to the left and front; then draw the hand inward toward and against the bottom of the chin. For “conversation,” talking between two persons, both hands are held before the breast, pointing forward, palms up, the edges being moved several times toward one another. Perhaps, however, the picture in fact only means the common poetical image of “flying words.”
Fig. 1201.—Talk. Maya.
Fig. 1201 is from Landa (b) and suggests one of the gestures for “talk,” and more especially that for “sing,” in which the extended and separated fingers are passed forward and slightly downward from the mouth—“many voices.” Although late criticisms of the bishop’s work are unfavorable to its authenticity, yet even if it were prepared by a Maya, under his supervision, the latter would probably have given him some genuine native conceptions, and among them gestures would be likely to occur.
Gustav Eisen (a), in describing Fig. 1202, says:
The original, from near Santa Lucia, Guatemala, represents a sepulchral tablet, on which are seen the portraits of perhaps man and wife, their different headdresses, etc., indicating decidedly their different sexes. From the mouths of the respective portraits extend as usual curved figures with notes or nodes.
Irving (c) noticed fifty years ago that each tribe of Indians has a different mode of shaping and arranging lodges, and especially that the Omaha make theirs gay and fanciful with undulating bands of red and yellow or with dressed and painted buffalo skins.
The left-hand upper characters of Fig. 1203 represents Dakota lodges as drawn by the Hidatsa. These characters when carelessly or rudely drawn can only be distinguished from personal marks by their position and their relation to other characters.
Fig. 1203.—Dwellings.
The right-hand upper characters of the same figure signify, among the Hidatsa, earth lodges. The circles represent the ground plan of the lodges, while the central markings are intended to represent the upright poles, which support the roof on the interior. Some of these are similar to the Kadiak drawing for island, Fig. 439.
The left-hand lower character of the figure represents buildings erected by civilized men; the character is generally used by the Hidatsa to designate government buildings and traders’ stores.
The remaining character is the Hidatsati, the home of the Hidatsa; an inclosure having earth lodges within it.
Fig. 1204.
Fig. 1204.—Dakotas and Rees meet in camp together and are at peace. The-Flame’s Winter Count, 1792-’93. The two styles of dwellings, viz, the tipi of the Dakotas and the earth lodge of the Arikaras, are depicted.
Fig. 1205.
Fig. 1205.—The Dakotas camped on the Missouri river, near the Gros Ventres, and fought with them a long time. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1792-’93. The Dakota tipi and the Gros Ventre lodge are shown in the figure. The gun shows that war was raging.
Fig. 1206.
Fig. 1206.—The Dakotas camped near the Rees and fought with them. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1795-’96. This figure is a variant of the one foregoing.
Fig. 1207.
Fig. 1207.—Some of the Dakotas built a large house and lived in it during the winter. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1815-’16. White-Cow-Killer calls it “Made-a-house-winter.” It would seem to be a larger dwelling than the ordinary tipi, and that wood entered into its construction. This is made more clear by the figure next following.
Fig. 1208.
Fig. 1208.—They lived in the same house that they did last winter. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1816-’17.
Fig. 1209.
Fig. 1209.—Adobe houses were built by Maj. J. W. Wham, Indian agent (afterwards paymaster, U. S. Army), on the Platte river, about 30 miles below Fort Laramie. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1871-’72. White-Cow-Killer calls it “Major-Wham’s-house-built-on-Platte-river winter.”
Fig. 1210.
Fig. 1210.—American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1815-’16. The figure is intended to represent a white man’s house. Other forms are shown in Lone-Dog’s Winter Count, Chap. X, sec. 2.
Fig. 1211.—Dwelling. Moki.
Fig. 1211 shows different representations of Moki houses copied from a petroglyph at Oakley Springs, Arizona.
Prof. Cyrus Thomas, in A Study of the Manuscript Troano, Contrib. N. A. Ethn., Vol. V, p. 128, gives the following description of Fig. 1212:
Fig. 1212.—Dwelling. Maya.
The side wall in Fig. 1212 appears to be composed of blocks of some kind placed one upon another, probably of stone, each bearing the Muluc character. The character at the top of the wall with a cross in it, somewhat resembling that in the symbol for Ezanab, is very common in these figures. This probably marks the end of the beam which was placed on the wall to support the roof. The curved line running from this to the top portion probably represents the rafter; the slender thread-like lines (yellow in the original) the straw or grass with which the roof was thatched.
The checkered part may represent a matting of reeds or brushwood on which the straw was placed.
Fig. 1213.—House. Egyptian.
Champollion (h) gives the Egyptian characters for house, reproduced in Fig. 1213.
Fig. 1214.—Eclipse of the sun.
Fig. 1214.—Dakotas witnessed eclipse of the sun; they were terribly frightened. The sun is a dark globe and the stars appear. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1869-’70.
The left-hand design on the lower line of Pl. XLIX is reproduced from Kingsborough. “In this year there was a great eclipse of the sun.”
Humboldt infers from this painting that the Mexicans were informed of the real cause of the eclipses; which would not be at all surprising considering the many other curious things with which they were acquainted, the knowledge of which they must have derived from the West. It is proper to observe that on the 127th page of the Vatican MS., where a representation of the same eclipse occurs, the disk of the moon does not appear to be projecting over that of the sun. The Vatican MS. appears to have been copied from a Mexican painting similar to but not the same as that which Pedro de los Rios copied, whose notes and interpretations the Italian interpreter had before his eyes and strictly followed.
This group shows the pictorial representation of meteors by the Dakotas. The translations as well as the devices are suggestive.
Fig. 1215.
Fig. 1215.—A large roaring star fell. It came from the east and shot out sparks of fire along its course. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1821-’22. Its track and the sparks are shown in the figure. White-Cow-Killer says “One-star-made-a-great-noise winter.”
This and the three following figures evidently refer to the fall of a single large meteor in the land of the Dakotas some time in the winter of 1821-’22. The fact can not be verified by scientific records. There were not many correspondents of scientific institutions in the upper Missouri region at the date mentioned.
Fig. 1216.
Fig. 1216.—Large ball of fire with hissing noise (aerolite). The-Flame’s Winter Count, 1821-’22.
Fig. 1217.
Fig. 1217.—Dakota Indians saw an immense meteor passing from southeast to northwest, which exploded with great noise. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1821-’22.
Fig. 1218.
Battiste Good says for the same phenomenon: “Star-passed-by-with-loud-noise winter.” His device is shown in Fig. 1218, showing the meteor, its pathway, and the clouds from which it came.
The five winter counts next cited all undoubtedly refer to the magnificent meteoric display of the morning of November 13, 1833, which was witnessed throughout North America and which was correctly assigned to the winter corresponding with that of 1833-’34. All of them represent stars having four points, except The-Swan, who draws a globular object followed by a linear track.
Fig. 1219.
Fig. 1219.—It rained stars. Cloud-Shield’s Winter Count, 1833-’34. White-Cow-Killer calls it “Plenty-stars winter.”
Fig. 1220.
Fig. 1220.—The stars moved around. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1833-’34. This shows one large four-pointed star as the characterizing object and many small stars, also four-pointed.
Fig. 1221.
Fig. 1221.—Many stars fell. The-Flame’s Winter Count, 1833-’34. The character shows six stars above the concavity of the moon.
Fig. 1222.
Fig. 1222.—Dakotas witnessed magnificent meteoric showers; much terrified. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1833-’34.
Fig. 1223.
Battiste Good calls it “Storm-of-stars winter,” and gives as the device a tipi with stars falling around it. This is presented in Fig. 1223. The tipi is colored yellow in the original and so represented in the figure according to the heraldic scheme.
Fig. 1224 is taken from Kingsborough, I, Pls. XXIX and XXX. The description, given in Codex Tell.-Rem., VI, p. 148, et seq., is as follows: Regarding the left-hand device figure, “In the year of Three Rabbits, or in 1534, Don Antonio de Mendoça arrived as Viceroy of New Spain. They say that the star smoked.”
Regarding the lower figure: “In the year of Eleven Houses, or in 1529, Nuño de Guzman set out for Yalisco on his march to subdue that territory; they pretend that a serpent descended from the sky, exclaiming that troubles were preparing for the natives since the Christians were directing their course thither.”
Referring to the numerous forms of cross delineated in the work of Mr. W. H. Holmes (d), it is to be noted that most of them are equilateral or the Greek pattern, and that similar ornaments or instruments now used by the Dakotas are always worn so that the cross upon them stands as if resting on one foot only and not on two, as is the mode in which St. Andrew’s cross is drawn.
The “Greek” cross represents to the Dakota the four winds, which issue from the four caverns in which the souls of men existed before their incarnation in the human body. All “medicine-men,” i. e., conjurers and magicians, recollect their previous dreamy life in those places and the instructions then received from the gods, demons, and sages. They recollect and describe their preexistent life, but only dream and speculate as to the future life beyond the grave.
Fig. 1225.—Cross. Dakota.
The top of the cross is the cold all-conquering giant, the North-wind, most powerful of all. It is worn on the body nearest the head, the seat of intelligence and conquering devices. The left arm covers the heart; it is the East-wind, coming from the seat of life and love. The foot is the melting burning South-wind, indicating, as it is worn, the seat of fiery passion. The right arm is the gentle West-wind, blowing from the spirit land, covering the lungs, from which the breath at last goes out, gently, but into unknown night. The center of the cross is the earth and man, moved by the conflicting influences of the gods and winds. This cross is often illustrated as in Fig. 1225. It is sometimes drawn and depicted in beadwork and also on copper, as in Fig. 1226, extracted from the Second Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn., Pl. LII, Fig. 4, where it appears cut out of a copper plate found in an Ohio mound.
Fig. 1226.—Cross. Ohio mound.
But among some of the Indian tribes the true Latin cross is found, viz, upright with three members of equal length, and the fourth, the foot, much longer. The use of this symbol antedates the discovery of America, and is carried far back in tradition and myth. When a missionary first asked a Dakota the name of this figure, which he drew for him in the sand, wishing to use the information in his translation of Bible and Creed, the Dakota promptly replied Sus-be-ca, and retraced the figure saying “That is a Sus-be-ca.” It was therefore promptly transferred to Scripture and Creed where it still reads “He was nailed to the Susbeca,” etc. “God forbid that I should glory save in the Susbeca of our Lord Jesus Christ.” To the good missionary this was plain and satisfactory; for the Dakota had demonstrated by tracing it in the sand that Susbeca was the name of the figure called in English, “cross.” The foregoing statement is made on the excellent authority of Rev. S. D. Hinman.
But when the Dakota read his new Bible or Creed, he must have been puzzled or confused to find, “He was nailed to a mosquito-hawk,” or, “God forbid that I should glory save in the mosquito-hawk of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Fig. 1227.—Dragon fly.
The same disposition of straight lines which is called the Latin cross was and is used by the Dakota to picture or signify both in pictograph and gesture sign, the mosquito-hawk, more generally called dragon fly. The Susbeca or mosquito-hawk is a supernatural being. He is gifted with speech. He warns men of danger. He approaches the ear of the man moving carelessly or unconcernedly through the deep grass of the meadow or marsh—approaches his ear silently and at right angles, as shown in Fig. 1227a, and says to him, now alarmed, “Tci”-“tci”-“tci!”—which is an interjection equivalent to “Look out!” “You are surely going to destruction!” “Look out!” “Tci”-“tci”-“tci!”
Now the mosquito-hawk is easily knocked down and caught and has a temptingly small neck. But woe to the man or woman or child who with the cruelty commonly practiced on all living things by Indians of all ages and states, dares to wring off his head. Whoever shall do this before the winter comes shall be beheaded by the detested Ojibwa. It is true, for long ago a reckless young warrior feeling annoyed or insulted by the infernal “Tci”-“tci”-“tci!” so unceremoniously uttered in explosive breaths near his ear, tried it, and his headless trunk was found ere he escaped from the swamp.
The cross has its proper significance in this use not only in representing quite faithfully the shape of the insect but also the angle of his approach. It is variously drawn, but usually as in Fig. 1227, a, or b, and in painting or embroidery, c, and sometimes d.
One reason for the adoption of the dragon fly as a mysterious and supernatural being, is on account of its sudden appearance in large numbers. When in the still of the evening, before the shades of darkness come, there is heard from the meadow a hum as of the sound of crickets or frogs, but indistinct and prolonged; on the morrow the Susbeca will be hovering over it; it is the sound of their coming, but whence no man kens. See also Fig. 1165 and remarks.
Among the Ojibwa of northern Minnesota the cross is one of the sacred symbols of the society of the Midē or shamans, and has special reference to the fourth degree. A neophyte who has been advanced to the third initiation or degree, is instructed in ritualistic chants purporting to relate the struggle between Mi'nabō'zho, the mediator between the Ojibwa and Ki'tshi Ma'nidō, and the malevolent Bear spirit, which contest occurred when Mi'nabō'zho entered the fourth degree structure at the time when the first Indian was inducted therein for initiation.
The structure as erected at this day is built in the form of an oblong square having openings or doors at the four cardinal points. At these openings Mi'nabō'zho appeared and shot into the inclosure charmed arrows, to expel the horde of demons occupying the sacred place, and the Bear spirit was the last to yield to his superior powers. The openings being opposite to one another, north and south and east and west, suggested to Mi'nabō'zho the cross, which is now erected whenever a third degree Midē receives this last and highest honor.
The cross is made of saplings, the upright pole reaching the height of 4 to 6 feet, the transverse arms being somewhat shorter, each being of the same length as that part of the pole between the arms and the top. The upper parts are painted white, or besmeared with white clay, over which are spread small spots of red, the latter suggesting the sacred shell or mēgis, the symbol of the order. The lower arm or pole is squared, the surface toward the east being painted white, to denote the source of light and warmth. The face on the south is green, denoting the source of the thunder bird who brings the rains and causes the appearance of vegetation; the surface toward the west is covered with vermilion and relates to the land of the setting sun, the abode of the dead. The north is painted black, as that faces the direction from which come affliction, cold, and hunger.
Illustrations and additional details on this topic are presented in the paper of Dr. Hoffman (a).
In the chart presented in that paper, Pl. B, a midē' structure is also shown, within which are a number of crosses, each of which designates the spirit of a deceased midē priest.
Upon several birch-bark scrolls received from Ojibwa midē priests are characters resembling rude crosses, which are merely intended to designate wigwams, resembling in this respect similar characters made by Hidatsa to designate Sioux lodges as shown in Fig. 1203.
Fig. 1228.—Crosses. Eskimo.
Groups of small crosses incised upon ivory bow drills and representing flocks of birds, occur on Eskimo specimens, Nos. 45020 and 44211, in the collection of the U. S. National Museum. They are reproduced in Fig. 1228. In Figs. 429 and 1129, representing petroglyphs at Oakley Springs, Arizona, are crosses which are mentioned by Mr. G. K. Gilbert as signifying stars. The simple cross appears to be the simplest type of character to represent stellar forms. See Figs. 1219, 1220, 1221 and 1223.
Fig. 28, supra, represents a cross copied from the Najowe Valley group of colored pictographs, 40 miles west of Santa Barbara, California. The cross measures 10 inches in length, the interior portion being painted black, while the outside or border is of a dark red tint. This drawing, as well as numerous others in close connection, is painted on the walls of a shallow cave or rock-shelter in the limestone formation.
Fourteen miles west of Santa Barbara, on the summit of the Santa Ynez mountains, are caverns having a large opening, facing the northwest and north, in which crosses occur of the types given in Fig. 33, supra.
The interior portion of the cross is of a dull, earthy red, while the outside line is of a faded black tint. The cross measures nearly a foot in extent.
Fig. 1229.—Cross. Tulare valley, California.
At Tulare Indian agency, Tulare valley, California, is an immense bowlder of granite which has become broken in such a manner that one of the lower quarters has moved away from the larger mass sufficiently to leave a passageway 6 feet wide and nearly 10 feet high. The interior walls are well covered with large, painted figures, while upon the ceiling are numerous forms of animals, birds, and insects. Among this latter group is a white cross measuring about 18 inches in length, Fig. 1229, presenting a unique appearance, for the reason that white coloring matter applied to petroglyphs is, with this single exception, entirely absent in that region.
One of the most interesting series of rock sculpturings in groups is that in Owens valley, south of Benton, California. Among these various forms of crosses occur, and circles containing crosses of various simple and complex types, as shown in Pls. I to XI and in Mojave desert, California, illustrated in Fig. 19, but the examples of most interest in the present connection are the two shown herewith in Fig. 1230, a and b.
Fig. 1230.—Crosses. Owens valley, California
The larger one, a, occurs upon a large bowlder of trachyte, blackened by exposure, located 16 miles south of Benton, at a locality known as the Chalk Grade. The circle is a depression about 1 inch in depth, the cross being in high relief within. Another smaller cross, b, found 3 miles north of the one above-mentioned, is almost identical, each of the arms of the cross, however, extending to the rim of the circle.
In this locality occurs also the form of the cross c, in the same figure, and some examples having more than two cross arms. Other simple forms clearly represent the human form, but by erosion the arms and body have become partially obliterated so as to lose all trace of resemblance to humanity.
In the same figure, d, from a rock in the neighborhood, exhibits the outline of the human form, while in e parts of the extremities have been removed by erosion so that the resemblance is less striking; in f a simple cross occurs, which may also have been intended to represent the same, but through disintegration the extremities have been so greatly changed or erased that their original forms can not be determined.
Rev. John McLean (a) says: “On the sacred pole of the sun lodge of the Blood Indians two bundles of small brushwood taken from the birch tree were placed in the form of a cross. This was an ancient symbol evidently referring to the four winds.”
Among the Kiatéxamut, an Innuit tribe, a cross placed on the head, as in Fig. 1231, signifies a Shaman’s evil spirit or demon. This is an imaginary being under control of the Shaman to execute the wishes of the latter.
Fig. 1231.—Cross. Innuit.
Many of the mescal eaters at the Kaiowa mescal ceremony wear the ordinary Roman Catholic crucifixes, which they adopt as sacred emblems of the rite, the cross representing the cross of scented leaves upon which the consecrated mescal rests during the ceremony, while the human figure is the mescal goddess.