First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology / to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1879-1880, Government Printing Office 1881

by Unknown

Fig. 300.

Place the clinched fists to either side of the head with the forefingers extended and curved, as in Fig. 298; then extend the left hand, flat, palm down, before the left side, fingers pointing forward; the outer edge of the flat and extended right hand is then laid transversely across the back of the left hand, and slid forward over the fingers as in Fig. 299. (Dakota VI; Arikara I.) “Bull and eagle—‘Haliaëtus leucocephalus, (Linn.) Sav.’” In the picture-writing of the Moquis, Fig. 300 represents the eagle’s tail as showing the difference of color which is indicated in the latter part of the above gesture.

Fig. 298.	Fig. 299.

Rushing Bear, an Arikara chief.

Place the right fist in front of the right side of the breast, palm down; extend and curve the thumb and little finger so that their tips point toward one another before the knuckles of the remaining closed fingers, then reach forward a short distance and pull toward the body several times ratter quickly; suddenly push the fist, in this form, forward to arm’s length twice. (Dakota VI; Arikara I.) “Bear, and rushing.”

Spotted Tail, a Dakota chief.

With the index only of the right hand extended, indicate a line of curve from the sacrum (or from the right buttock) downward, backward, and outward toward the right; then extend the left forefinger, pointing forward from the left side, and with the extended index draw imaginary lines transversely across the left forefinger. (Absaroka I; Shoshoni I; Dakota VI, VII; Arikara I.) “Tail, and spotted.”

Stumbling Bear, a Kaiowa chief.

Place the right fist in front of the right side of the breast, palm down; extend and curve the thumb and little finger so that their tips point toward one another before the knuckles of the remaining closed fingers; then place the left flat hand edgewise before the breast, pointing to the right; hold the right hand flat pointing down nearer the body; move it forward toward the left, so that the right-hand fingers strike the left palm and fall downward beyond the left. (Kaiowa I.) “Bear, and stumble or stumbling.”