The Swastika, the Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migration / With Observations on the Migration of Certain Industries in Prehistoric Times

by Thomas Wilson

Fig. 319.
FIGURES OF CROSSES, CIRCLES, AND
SQUARES REPRESENTING LODGES.
Dakota Indians. Tenth Annual Report
of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 1203.

Fig. 320.
LATIN CROSSES
REPRESENTING
THE DRAGON FLY.
Dakota Indians.

Dwellings.—Among the Hidatsa, the cross and the circle represent neither the sun nor any religious ideas, but merely lodges, houses, or dwellings. The crosses in [fig. 319] represent Dakota lodges; the small circles signify earth lodges, the points representing the supporting poles. Buildings erected by civilized people were represented by small rectangular figures, while the circles with dots in a square represent earth lodges, the home of the Hidatsa.

Dragon fly (Susbeca).—Among some of the Indian tribes, the Dakotas among others, the Latin cross is found, i. e., upright with three members of equal length, and the fourth, the foot, much longer. The use of this symbol antedates the discovery of America, and is carried back in tradition and myth. This sign signifies the mosquito hawk or the dragon fly ([fig. 320]). It is called in that language the “Susbeca,” and is a supernatural being gifted with speech, warning man of danger, approaching his ear silently and at right angles, saying, “Tci,” “tci,” “tci,” an interjection equivalent to “Look out!” “You are surely going to destruction!” “Look out!” “Tci,” “tci,” “tci!” The adoption of the dragon fly as a mysterious and supernatural being is on account of its sudden appearance in numbers. In the still of the evening, when the shades of darkness come, then is heard in the meadows a sound as of crickets or frogs, but indistinct and prolonged; on the morrow the Susbeca will be hovering over it. It is the sound of their coming, but whence no one knows. The cross not only represents the shape of the insect, but also the angle of its approach. It is variously drawn, but usually as in [fig. 320] a or b, and, in painting or embroidery, c, and sometimes d.

Fig. 321.
DOUBLE CROSS OF
SIX ARMS REPRESENTING
THE DRAGON FLY.
Moki Indians, Arizona.
Tenth Annual Report
of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 1165.