The letter was written to a man of the Mud Puppy totem, as indicated in d.
i. The road leading to the lodge occupied by the recipient of the letter.
k and l. Lakes near which the lodges are built.
In examining c, the writer’s hand is seen protruding from an opening to denote beckoning and to indicate which lodge to visit. The clear indications of the locality serve as well as if in a city a young woman had sent an invitation to her young man to call at a certain street and number.
Fig. 472.—Cheyenne letter.
Fig. 472 is a letter sent by mail from a Southern Cheyenne, named Turtle-following-his-Wife, at the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, Indian Territory, to his son Little-Man, at the Pine Ridge Agency, Dakota. It was drawn on a half-sheet of ordinary writing paper, without a word written, and was inclosed in an envelope, which was addressed to “Little-Man, Cheyenne, Pine Ridge Agency,” in the ordinary manner, written by some one at the first named agency. The letter was evidently understood by Little-Man, as he immediately called upon Dr. V. T. McGillycuddy, Indian agent at Pine Ridge Agency, and was aware that the sum of $53 had been placed to his credit for the purpose of enabling him to pay his expenses in going the long journey to his father’s home in Indian Territory. Dr. McGillycuddy had, by the same mail, received a letter from Agent Dyer, inclosing $53, and explaining the reason for its being sent, which enabled him also to understand the pictographic letter. With the above explanation it very clearly shows, over the head of the figure to the left, the turtle following the turtle’s wife united with the head of the figure by a line, and over the head of the other figure, also united by a line to it, is a little man. Also over the right arm of the last-mentioned figure is another little man in the act of springing or advancing toward Turtle-following-his-Wife, from whose mouth proceed two lines, curved or hooked at the end, as if drawing the little figure toward him. It is suggested that the last mentioned part of the pictograph is the substance of the communication, i. e., “come to me,” the larger figures with their name totems being the persons addressed and addressing. Between and above the two large figures are fifty-three round objects intended for dollars. Both the Indian figures have on breechcloths, corresponding with the information given concerning them, which is that they are Cheyennes who are not all civilized or educated.
Sagard (a) tells of the Algonkins of the Ottawa river, that when a feast was to be given, the host sent to each person whose presence was desired a little stick of wood, peculiar to them (i. e., probably marked or colored) of the length and thickness of the little finger, which he was obliged to show on entering the lodge, as might be done with a card of invitation and admission. The precaution was seemingly necessary both for the host’s larder and the satisfaction of the guests, as on an occasion mentioned by the good brother, each of the guests was provided with a big piece of sturgeon and plenty of “sagamite huylée.” There was probably some principle of selection connected with totems or religious societies on such occasions, not told by the narrator, as the ordinary custom among Indians is to keep open house to all comers, who generally were the aboriginal “tramps,” with the result of waste and subsequent famine.
The Rev. Peter Jones (b), an educated Ojibwa missionary, in speaking of the eastern bands of the Ojibwa says: