The Topeka state journal., 1905-07-13
HERAnDRY OF THE INDIANS.

People In general have been con-
tent to look upon the Indians adorn-
ment OF his head with eagle feathers
ana MS face with paint as marks or
personal decoration, inspired by van
ity and a savage taste, different only
IN degree from what is sometimes wit
messed among highly civilized peo-
ples" remarked a scientist Of the
is, he continued, chat in reference
to the latter custom, for instance,
every paint mark on an Indians face
mas sort of heraldic meaning, I'M
plying not only the honors won by
the brave in person. but representing
also the claims of his family and race
to distinction. In other words, what
Is shown among more cultured COM
munities by coats of arms, orders and
decorations is depicted by the Indian
on his face by means of pigments
Scientists of this bureau are now
engaged, among other novel 1nVestl-
cations concerning the North Amer
lean Indian, in compiling a record OF
the armorial, or, rather, facial, bear
ings of certain celebrated chiefs, and
1t is found to be fascinating work
One renowned warrior, for instance,
will have his lip painted copper red
This is found to indicate that his tribe
was once in possession of huge mines
of copper.
"Another individual will have his
forehead adorned with a painting of
certain fish, thus implying that he or
his people are renowned for prOWeSS
in catching fish. The same distin-
guished person sometimes wears a
disk of pearl in addition to his paint
mask. This by its shimmering ra-
dance and its form implies that he IS
descended from the moon in the
sense that the goddess of night is one
of his ancestors.
'"The fact that the Indian artist has
no conception of perspective seriously
AI,,o f,T hi Tofn
efforts. Indeed, the Indian Emner
merely aims to show the most charac-
Ateristic portion of the object he at
tempts to depict, unless he be man
of unusual attainmentS, in which case
he divides or dissects the subject of
his picture and represents the whole
by its parts, the latter being arranged
entirely irrespective of the natural
sequence, so that properly to under
= stand a native Indian picture would
require a course in a specialized
branch of art criticism.
1.-THE exceedingly arbitrary methods
of the Indian artist render 1t ditncuIt,
if not wholly impossible, for any but
an expert to interpret the meanings of
the pictorial representations.
'"Thus, the animals ears are in
variably depicted above the eyes on
the human subject, the ears of the
beaver being just above the eyebrows
On the cheek are painted the paws in
a position as they were raised to the
mouth in the manner conventional In
Indian carvings.
''The dogfish painted in red on the
face designates the members of an en-
tire tribe On the foreheads of the
members of this tribe is painted the
long, thin snout; the gills are repre-
sented by two curved lines below the
eyes, while the tail is shown as cut in
two and hanging from each nostril.
Only one or two parts of an animal
painted on an Indians face indicates
that he is of inferior position; the en-
tire symbol, no matter in what form
presented, is significant of lofty station
and high honors.
This facial heraldry of the Indians
may be said to be unique not alone in
the method of representation en-
ployed. but in the subjects selected.
These latter include fish, flesh and
fowl of all descriptions-dog salmon,
devilf1sh, starf1sh. wcodpeckers, ravens,
eagles, bears, wolves, frogs are COM
prised in the armorial gallery.
Every object represented has its
own particular Significance. and one of
the most peculiar phrases of p face
painting relates to the employment of
forms other than animal-tools, i'm
plements of the chase, of war, denot-
ing the occupation of the individual
or his tribe, etc."-Chicago Chronicle.