Fig. 635.
Fig. 635.—Tree-in-the-Face. Red-Cloud’s Census. This man probably painted a tree on his face.
Fig. 636.
Fig. 636.—Leaves. Red-Cloud’s Census. This and the following figure represent two different men of the same name and the devices are distinctly individual.
Fig. 637.
Fig. 637.—Leaves. Red-Cloud’s Census.
With regard to the errors arising from bad translation, an example may be given, relating to a name the explanation of which has often been asked. A former chief of the Oglala was called “Old-man-afraid-of-his-Horses,” by the whites, and his son is known as “Young-man-afraid-of-his-Horses.” A common interpretation about “afraid-of-his-horses” is that the man valued his horses so much that he was afraid of losing them. The representative of the name, however, stated to the writer that the correct name was Ta-shunka Kokipapi, and that the true meaning was “He-whose-horse-they-fear”; literally “His-horse-they-fear-it.”
A large number of pictorially rendered Indian names attached to deeds and treaties have been published, e. g., in Documents relating to the Colonial History of New York (b). Few of them are of interest, and they generally suggest the assistance of practiced penmen. In the collections mentioned some of the Dutch marks are in the same general style as those of the Indians.