[*]Chatidoolts explained this to his sons as well as to me, saying that the mountain men had a peculiar mode of catching beavers with long sticks.
[†]They never occupy a house in which one of the other Indians died.
In giving this narrative I have observed the original sequence, but there were frequent interruptions, caused by consultation between Chatidoolts and his sons, and before the strangers departed again they had obtained a knowledge of some words of the Kenaitze language.
[ OJIBWA DIALOGUE.]
[Communicated by the Very Rev. Edward Jacker.]
The following short dialogue forms part of the scanty tradition the civilized Ojibwas possess regarding their ancestors’ sign language:
Two Indians of different tongue meet on a journey. First Indian points to second Indian with the outstretched forefinger of the right hand, bringing it within a few inches of his breast; next he extends both forearms horizontally, clinches all but the forefingers, and bends the hands inward; then he brings them slowly and in a straight line together, until the tips of the outstretched forefingers meet. This gesture is accompanied with a look of inquiry—You met somebody?
Second Indian, facing the south, points to the east, and with the outstretched hand forms a half-circle from east to west (corresponding to the daily course of the sun); then he raises the arm and points to a certain height above the southern horizon. Then the sign for meeting (as above) may be made, or omitted. After this he bends the right hand downward, and repeatedly moves the outstretched forefinger and middle finger in opposite directions (in imitation of the motion of the legs in the act of walking). Finally he raises the right hand and stretches up the forefinger (or several fingers). To-day, when the sun stood at such a height, I met one (or several) persons traveling on foot. If the travelers met were on horseback he makes the sign for horse as described by (Dakota III), see Extracts from Dictionary, or the identical one for going given by (Ojibwa I), which is as follows: To describe a journey on horseback the first two fingers of the right hand are placed astride of the forefinger of the left hand, and both represent the galloping movement of a horse. If it is a foot journey, wave the two fingers several times through the air.
[ NARRATIVES.]
The following, which is presented as a good descriptive model, was obtained by Dr. W. J. Hoffman, of the Bureau of Ethnology, from Natci, a Pai-Ute chief connected with the delegation of that tribe to Washington in January, 1880, and refers to an expedition made by him by direction of his father, Winnimukka, Head Chief of the Pai-Utes, to the northern camp of his tribe, partly for the purpose of preventing the hostile outbreak of the Banaks which occurred in 1878, and more particularly to prevent those Pai-Utes from being drawn into any difficulty with the United States by being leagued with the Banaks.