The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-20
INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE.
Novel Way in Which the Red Man
Expresses His Thoughts Without
Speech.

speech.
From a Chicago Letter
Garrison life has developed some ex-
perts in Indian folklore among army Off
GERS. One of these is Lieut.. H. L. Scott,
of the Seventh cavalry. Lieut.. Scott has
made study of the sign language of the
plains Indians. In the days of Indian
outbreaks and wars, there was pract-
ical phase to this study, but now, that
peace prevails, and there are only reser-
walton Indians, Lieut. ScOtt's acquisition
Is remarkable chiefly for the scientific in
terest which attaches to it,
One day during the Folklore congress-
Lieut.. Scott borrowed four Indians of
various tribes from Buffalo Bills camps,
and with only such language as he used to
explain to the palefaee what he was say
ing, he carried on long conversation by
signs The Indians were Painted Horse,
Flat iron, Horse-Come-Last and Standing
Bear.
The lfeutenant's hand moved nimbly
when he asked Painted Horse where he
lived. Tina old Indian looked homesick
for moment and then he made superb
motion picture of a rock with trees on it.
'Pine Ridgel" interrupted Lieut.. Scott.
Painted Horse, having found his hands,
kept them going, while his face remained
expressionless. Lieut.. Scott added:
0He says his relatives live there and
that he has come long way and has ar
rived here"
One after another the Indians
joined in the sign conversation with as
much enthusiasm as an Indian can mani
fest They told their names and where
they were from and to what tribes they
belonged. They understood the heuten-
ant and each other as well. When Paint
ed Horse said Horses-C ome-Last was
Ia sn-f Al
ately worked his hands to say that was
mistake; he was an Ogallallah. Having
started, Horses-C ome-Last, magnificent
looking Indian, signed that he knew Gen.
Miles, who was sitting near, and he want
ed the general to say something to him.
Gen. Miles told Lieut. Scott to tell Horses
COme-Last that he remembered Shin
very well as an Indian who had done good
service in the Montana campaign. Lieut.
Scott interpreted by signs, and immedi-
atcly Borscs-C Come Last showed his pleas
ure.
Lieut.. Scott has has some striking evil
dence that the Indians of the plains meet
on common grounds when they resort to
sign language He was present when
| several hundred Indians The chief told
| the story of his march from Washington
| Territory across Idaho and into Montana
| to the vicinity of Yellowstone Park-a
| mastery military feat without a parallel
since the retreat Of Xenophon's Ten
! Thousand. In the crowd to which the
| chief gave the narrative there were
| Orickarees, Mandans, Gros VentIes,
! NeZ PerCes, Cheyennes and Sioux They
were representatives of six different
! spoken languages. Yet Lieut.. Scottc could
! see that there was perfect comprehension
of the narrative. Not a word was spoken.
| Chief Joseph used nothing but the sign
! language, but the Indians all followed
! him.
A literal translation of the sign Ian
! guage is the best illustration of its fOrma-
! ton. Take the following sentence:
Il shot with an arrow last night an ca
| gle which was sitting upon a limb of a
tree and it fell 10 the ground -
The Indian will convey this information
| by sign language as follows.
! "Night-before- trees-looking- saw
| bird-curved beak-limb of tree-arrow--
! bow aim--shoot- transhX-whirl down
| ward-strike the ground"
Lieut.. Scott has taken part in number
! less talks where the assemblageS included
/ Indians from almost every prairie tribe
| from Texas to the Canadian line. Practi-
! cally the same signs We're used by all. Il
/ must give, - he said, my unqualified ad-
/ herence TO the belief that the sign Ian
! guage of the plains Indians does exist an
| that it has reached a high degree of de-
VelOpmentn