Picture-Writing of the American Indians / Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1888-89, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1893, pages 3-822

by Garrick Mallery

Fig. 985.—Coward.

Fig. 985.—Afraid-of-him. Red-Cloud’s Census. This is obviously the same device without clear depiction of the arm, which is explained by the preceding.

Fig. 986.—Little-Chief.

Fig. 986.—Little-Chief. Red-Cloud’s Census. A typical gesture sign for chief is as follows:

Raise the forefinger, pointed upwards, in a vertical direction and then reverse both finger and motion; the greater the elevation the “bigger” the chief. In this case the elevation above the head is slight, so the chief is “little.”

Fig. 987.—Hit.

Fig. 987.—The Dakotas went out in search of the Crows in order to avenge the death of Broken-Leg-Duck. They did not find any Crows, but, chancing on a Mandan village, captured it and killed all the people in it. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1787-’88.