Sign talk

by Ernest Thompson Seton

Indian Tribal signs:

Apache. (Probably using the notched-stick fiddle). Draw the right G finger up and down along the left G several times, from near the point to the base, a foot long each stroke. Compare Poor.

Arapahoe. With all fingers of right hand compressed so the points are together, tap the left breast, that is, sign Mother. As Sherman Coolidge tells me, the Arapahoes claim theirs to have been the mother of all tribes. In the south, the sign is rub the side of the nose with the right G, referring to their one-time salutation of nose-rubbing.

Banak. Sign for Lodge and Bad. (C)

Blackfeet. Sign for Moccasin and Black.

Caddo. Draw the right N over the left N from the tips back to the knuckles (because they wore pants). (Father Isadore.)

Cheyennes. (Perhaps meaning “striped tail,” because they used turkey feathers; or, more likely, “finger-choppers,” because they chopped their fingers when in mourning.)

Hold out left G finger and cut it with the edge of the right G finger drawn across it once or twice, each time further up the hand. Compare Often and And all the time.