Sign Language Among North American Indians 33

Sign Language Among North American Indians 33

It is also asserted, with some evidence, that the signs used by males

and females are different, though mutually understood, and some

minor points for observation may be indicated, such as whether the

commencement of counting upon the fingers is upon those of the right

or the left hand, and whether Indians take pains to look toward the

south when suggesting the course of the sun, which would give the

motion from left to right.

 

* * * * *

 

A suggestion has been made by a correspondent that some secret signs

of affiliation are known and used by the members of the several

associations, religious and totemic, which have been often noticed

among several Indian tribes. No evidence of this has been received,

but the point is worth attention.

 

 

 

_POSITIVE SIGNS RENDERED NEGATIVE._

 

In many cases positive signs to convey some particular idea are not

reported, and in their place a sign with the opposite signification

is given, coupled with the sign of negation. In other words, the only

mode of expressing the intended meaning is supposed to be by negation

of the reverse of what it is desired to describe. In this manner

"fool--no," would be "wise," and "good--no," would be "bad." This mode

of __EXPRESSION__ is very frequent as a matter of option when the positive

signs are in fact also used. The reported absence of positive signs

for the ideas negatived is therefore often made with as little

propriety as if when an ordinary speaker chose to use the negative

form "not good," it should be inferred that he was ignorant of the

word "bad." It will seldom prove, on proper investigation, that where

sign language has reached and retained any high degree of development

it will show such poverty as to require the expedient of negation of

an affirmative to express an idea which is intrinsically positive.

 

 

 

_DETAILS OF POSITIONS OF FINGERS._

 

The signs of the Indians appear to consist of motions more often

than of positions--a fact enhancing the difficulty both of their

description and illustration--and the motions when not designedly

abbreviated are generally large, free, and striking, seldom minute.

It seems also to be the general rule among Indians as among deaf-mutes

that the point of the finger is used to trace outlines and the palm

of the hand to describe surfaces. From an examination of the identical

signs made to each other for the same object by Indians of the same

tribe and band, they appear to make many gestures with little regard

to the position of the fingers and to vary in such arrangement from

individual taste. Some of the elaborate descriptions, giving with

great detail the attitude of the fingers of any particular gesturer

and the inches traced by his motions, are of as little necessity as

would be, when quoting a written word, a careful reproduction of the

flourishes of tailed letters and the thickness of down-strokes in

individual chirography. The fingers must be in _some_ position, but

that is frequently accidental, not contributing to the general and

essential effect. An example may be given in the sign for _white man_

which Medicine Bull, _infra_, page 491, made by drawing the palmar

surface of the extended index across the forehead, and in LEAN WOLF'S

COMPLAINT, _infra_, page 526, the same motion is made by the back of

the thumb pressed upon the middle joint of the index, fist closed. The

execution as well as the conception in both cases was the indication

of the line of the hat on the forehead, and the position of the

fingers in forming the line is altogether immaterial. There is often

also a custom or "fashion" in which not only different tribes, but

different persons in the same tribe, gesture the same sign with

different degrees of beauty, for there is calligraphy in sign

language, though no recognized orthography. It is nevertheless better

to describe and illustrate with unnecessary minuteness than to fail

in reporting a real distinction. There are, also, in fact, many

signs formed by mere positions of the fingers, some of which are

abbreviations, but in others the arrangement of the fingers in itself

forms a picture. An instance of the latter is one of the signs given

for the _bear_, viz.: Middle and third finger of right hand clasped

down by the thumb, fore and little finger extended crooked downward.

See EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY, _infra_. This reproduction, of the

animals peculiar claws, with the hand and in any position relative

to the body, would suffice without the pantomime of scratching in the

air, which is added only if the sign without it should not be at once

comprehended.

 

 

 

_MOTIONS RELATIVE TO PARTS OF THE BODY._

 

 

[Illustration: Fig. 233.]

 

The specified relation of the positions and motions of the hands

to different parts of the body is essential to the formation and

description of many signs. Those for _speak, hear_, and _see_,

which must be respectively made relative to the mouth, ear and eye,

are manifest examples; and there are others less obviously dependent

upon parts of the body, such as the heart or head, which would not

be intelligible without apposition. There are also some directly

connected with height from the ground and other points of reference.

In, however, a large proportion of the signs noted the position of

the hands with reference to the body can be varied or disregarded.

The hands making the motions can be held high or low, as the gesturer

is standing or sitting, or the person addressed is distant or near

by. These variations have been partly discussed under the head of

abbreviations. While descriptions made with great particularity are

cumbrous, it is desirable to give the full detail of that gesture

which most clearly carries out the generic conception, with, if

possible, also the description of such deviations and abbreviations

as are most confusing. For instance, it is well to explain that signs

for yes and no, described with precise detail as in EXTRACTS FROM

DICTIONARY, _infra_, are also often made by an Indian when wrapped

in his blanket with only a forefinger protruding, the former by a

mere downward and the latter by a simple outward bend of that finger.

An example may be also taken from the following sign for _lie,

falsehood_, made by an Ankara, Fig. 233. in which the separated index

and second fingers are moved sidewise in a downward line near but

below the mouth, which may be compared with other executions of the

motion with the same position of the fingers directly forward from the

mouth, and with that given in LEAN WOLF'S COMPLAINT, illustrated on

page 528, in which the motion is made carelessly across the body.

The original sign was undoubtedly made directly from the mouth, the

conception being "two tongues," two accounts or opposed statements,

one of which must be false, but the finger-position coming to be

established for two tongues has relation to the original conception

whether or not made near or in reference to the mouth, the latter

being understood.

 

It will thus be seen that sometimes the position of the fingers

is material as forming or suggesting a figure without reference to

motion, while in other cases the relative position of the hands

to each other and to parts of the body are significant without any

special arrangement of the fingers. Again, in others, the lines drawn

in the air by the hand or hands execute the conception without further

detail. In each case only the essential details, when they can be

ascertained, should be minutely described.

 

 

 

_SUGGESTIONS FOR COLLECTING SIGNS._

 

The object always should be, not to translate from English into signs,

but to ascertain the real signs and their meaning. By far the most

satisfactory mode of obtaining this result is to induce Indians or

other gesturers observed to tell stories, make speeches, or hold talks

in gesture, with one of themselves as interpreter in his own oral

language if the latter is understood by the observer, and, if not,

the words, not the signs, should be translated by an intermediary

linguistic interpreter. It will be easy afterward to dissect and

separate the particular signs used. This mode will determine the

genuine shade of meaning of each sign, and corresponds with the plan

now adopted by the Bureau of Ethnology for the study of the tribal

vocal languages, instead of that arising out of exclusively missionary

purposes, which was to force a translation of the Bible from a tongue

not adapted to its terms and ideas, and then to compile a grammar and

dictionary from the artificial result. A little ingenuity will direct

the more intelligent or complaisant gesturers to the __EXPRESSION__ of

the thoughts, signs for which are specially sought; and full orderly

descriptions of such tales and talks with or even without analysis and

illustration are more desired than any other form of contribution.

 

The original authorities, or the best evidence, for Indian

signs--i.e., the Indians themselves--being still accessible, the

collaborators in this work should not be content with secondary

authority. White sign talkers and interpreters may give some genuine

signs, but they are very apt to interpolate their own improvements.

Experience has led to the apparently paradoxical judgment that the

direct contribution of signs purporting to be those of Indians, made

by a habitual practitioner of signs who is not an Indian, is less

valuable than that of a discriminating observer who is not himself

an actor in gesture speech. The former, being to himself the best

authority, unwittingly invents and modifies signs, or describes what

he thinks they ought to be, often with a very different conception

from that of an Indian. Sign language not being fixed and limited, as

is the case with oral languages, expertness in it is not necessarily

a proof of accuracy in anyone of its forms. The proper inquiry is not

what a sign might, could, would, or should be, or what is the best

sign for a particular meaning, but what is any sign actually used

for such meaning. If any one sign is honestly invented or adopted by

any one man, whether Indian, African, Asiatic, or deaf-mute, it has

its value, but it should be identified to be in accordance with the

fact and should not be subject to the suspicion that it has been

assimilated or garbled in interpretation. Its prevalence and special

range present considerations of different interest and requiring

further evidence.

 

The genuine signs alone should be presented to scholars, to give

their studies proper direction, while the true article can always be

adulterated into a composite jargon by those whose ambition is only to

be sign talkers instead of making an honest contribution to ethnologic

and philologic science. The few direct contributions of interpreters

to the present work are, it is believed, valuable, because they were

made without __EXPRESSION__ of self-conceit or symptom of possession by a

pet theory.

 

 

 

 

MODE IN WHICH RESEARCHES HAVE BEEN MADE.

 

 

It is proper to give to all readers interested in the subject, but

particularly to those whose collaboration for the more complete work

above mentioned is solicited, an account of the mode in which the

researches have thus far been conducted and in which it is proposed

to continue them. After study of all that could be obtained in printed

form, and a considerable amount of personal correspondence, the

results were embraced in a pamphlet issued by the Bureau of Ethnology

in the early part of 1880, entitled "_Introduction to the Study of

Sign Language among the North American Indians as Illustrating the

Gesture Speech of Mankind._" In this, suggestions were made as to

points and manner of observation and report, and forms prepared to

secure uniformity and accuracy were explained, many separate sheets of

which with the pamphlet were distributed, not only to all applicants,

but to all known and accessible persons in this country and abroad

who, there was reason to hope, would take sufficient interest in the

undertaking to contribute their assistance. Those forms, TYPES OF HAND POSITIONS, OUTLINES OF ARM POSITIONS, and EXAMPLES, thus distributed, are reproduced at the end of this paper.