The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-03
SIGN TALK OF RED MEN
HISTORY WILL BE COMPLIED BY
 THE SMIIHSONIAN.

| in the beWildering tangle oI tune
 Among the many tribes that roameo free and wild, in the wilderness ther
 was no moccasined Macaulay nor cop
 per-colored Gbbon to preserve for fu
 ture generations the story of the earl.
 red mans deeds of prowess, his wan
 derings and his traditions. As conse
 quence, many of his proudest exploits
 are altogether lost, or but faintly pre-
 served in absurd fable and legendary
 folklore. An effort will be made t(
 compile as much of Indian history as k
 known, and, with this end in view, the
 government authorities have ordered
 Colonel H. l.. Scott, adjutant general oi Cuba, to prepare for the bureau Of ethnology of the Smithsonian institu- tion a history of the sign language of
 the plains Indian.
 Colonel Scott spent twenty of his | twenty-four years of army service among the Indians and is probably the best livng authority on the sign lan- guage. He has made a profound study of the subject, having talked with rep resentatives of nearly all the tribes from British Columbia to the Rio
 
 tie evidence of his habits and travels. The language of gesture signs has been traced back to the beginning of the last century by the white mans records and to more remote periods by l the reports of others. It is veritable 1 language of signs, and not at all like the deaf and dumb alphabet, as the reader might suppose. Colonel Scott, speaking on the subject, said;
 "A conversation in the sign language 1 has been likened to series of moving pictures. Most of the signs are made with graceful and flowing gestures, but with none of the swiftness observed in the intercourse of deaf mutes. The h. dian is seldom in hurry, having, as he expresses it, all the time there is He prefers grace of motion to rapidity of execution-tbe more expert takers making their signs rather slowly, not allowing d halt, but causing each sign without hesitation to flow into another, just as the words of the softer lan guages of Europe glide into each other by the elision of harsh sounds-and of ten for the sake of elegance they cause the hand at the end of most signs to make q SllSul ItDbuIlti' T CN ppStht 70 or facial expressions are used.
 "The divisions of time as regards day and night are governed by the position of the sun The end of the month is represented by the death or wiping out of the moon the years are counted by the number of winters; the spring is shown by the coming of the grass; the summer by the heat of the sun; the au- tumn by the redness of the leaves on the trees: and winter begins when 1t Is little cold Water is symbolized by the act of drinking out of the hand, and a round motion added to the water sign shows 1t is a lake or pond, while the straight sign would make it a stream.
 There are but two specific signs for colors-red and black. Animals are described by their most prom inent characteristics, as the elk by it's 1 large and bracing antlers; the noun 1 tain sheeb by it's horns curving to the | rear: the antelope by it's prongs, and | the buffalo by it's incurving horns. The [ mule is portrayed by it's large ears and | the wolf by the manner in which it car ries it's ears erect The beaver is repre- Se0IPu DN US 1IdDll. Nlltll uiSlui ptu cl frightened. of striking it's broad tail on the water in order to facilitate diving; the spider by It's many legs crawling rapidly away; the fish by its course un- der water, and the cactus by its many spines.
 "The ra bbit is shown hastening away 70 a safe distance and then sitting up with it's ears erect to observe it's enemy; he turtle moves in a slow and tor uous course while the rattlesnake is recognized at once by the vibration of ts tail when accompanied by its pe- uliar rattliRg sound. "The rain is typified by the. sprink- ing of drops from above, the lightning , " it's downward zigZag course and the thunder by it's noise. To tell the truth s to tell straight story. To lie is to ! peak with forked tongue-this sign is ften used without the offensive mean q ng, rather in the sense of mistake. ,buse is derived from the idea of ( hroWing lies as one. To remember is to old fast to a thing. To forget is to ' ave it slip away and be lost, To be un8ry is to have a gnaWing in the ab- Omlnal region.
 10 De thirsty IS lO Dt NdleT hungry, l 'hile to have enough of anything is to @ full of ones eyes To try anything to push or strive at it. To die a nat , /, ral death is to leave the natural up- ght position and lie underground To i' i'll is made with motion by both ands, the sign having it's origin in the e lotion of striking, but it indicates no ertain kind of stroke, as with a club knife or fist It can be accounted I IT, however, in satisfactory manner a Y referring it to the idea of the action " the forelegs of a deer or buffalo In 5 le death struggle. ,, The Indian considers the heart as :, e seat of most of his emotions. When ~ ] is sorroWful he says that his heart on the ground or else that his heart :" weeping When he is glad his heart VI V, open: when bold it is stung; when 'i scouraged it is wiped out; when '" ,ubtful he has two or more hearts p hich are alternately up and down; U, U, hen disturbed his heart flutters up in 1 ti s throat when breeding over an in- W us ry he feels as if it is being stabbed: III len he is homesick it goes out in ge arch of home When he is angry ut says that his mind is twisted and
 
 h