Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 430 pages of information about Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes.

Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 430 pages of information about Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes.

Draw the extended right hand across the throat. (Arapaho I.) “The cut-throats.”

Pass the flat right hand, with palm down, from left to right across the throat. (Arapaho II; Cheyenne V; Dakota VI, VIII; Ponka II; Pani I.)

Draw the forefinger of the left hand from right to left across the throat. (Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo I.) “A cut-throat.”

Forefinger and thumb of right hand extended (others closed) is drawn from left to right across the throat as though cutting it.  The Dakotas have been named the “cut-throats” by some of the surrounding tribes. (Dakota I.) “Cut-throats.”

Right hand horizontal, flat, palm downward (as in W), and drawn across the throat as if cutting with a knife. (Dakota II, III.)

Draw the open right hand, or the right index, from left to right horizontally across the throat, back of hand upward, fingers pointing toward the left.  This sign is also made by the Arapahos. (Dakota IV.) “It is said that after a battle the Utes took many Sioux prisoners and cut their throats; hence the sign “cut-throats.”

Draw the extended right hand, palm downward, across the throat from left to right. (Kaiowa I; Comanche II, III; Shoshoni and Banak I; Ute I; Apache II; Wichita II.) “Cut-throats.”  Fig 290.

[Illustration:  Fig. 290.]

——­, Blackfoot (Sihasapa).

Pass the flat right hand along the outer edge of the foot from the heel to beyond the toes. (Dakota VIII; Hidatsa I; Ponka II; Arikara I; Pani I.) Same as Fig. 286, above.

Pass the right hand quickly over the right foot from the great toe outward, turn the heel as if brushing something therefrom. (Dakota V.)

Pass the widely separated thumb and index of the right hand over the lower leg, from just below the knee nearly down to the heel. (Kaiowa I; Comanche III; Apache II; Wichita II.)

——­, Brule.

Rub the upper and outer part of the right thigh in a small circle with the open right hand, fingers pointing downward.  This sign is also made by the Arapahos. (Dakota IV.) “These Indians were once caught in a prairie fire, many burned to death, and others badly burned about the thighs; hence the name Si-ca[n]-gu ‘burnt thigh’ and the sign.  According to the Brule chronology, this fire occurred in 1763, which they call ‘The-People-were-burned-winter.’”

Pass the flat right hand quickly over the thigh from near the buttock forward, as if brushing dust from that part. (Dakota V, VI, VII, VIII.)

Brush the palm of the right hand over the right thigh, from near the buttock toward the front of the middle third of the thigh. (Kaiowa I; Comanche III; Apache II; Wichita II.)

——­, Ogalala.

Fingers and thumb separated, straight (as in R), and dotted about over the face to represent the marks made by the small-pox. (Arapaho II; Cheyenne V; Dakota III, VI, VII, VIII.) “This band suffered from the disease many years ago.”

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Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.