Signaling and Indian Signs 



241 



In general, picture writing aims to give on paper the idea 

 of the Sign Language without first turning it into sounds. 

 In the dictionary of Sign Language I give the written form 

 after each of the signs that has a well estabhshed or pos- 

 sible symbol. Many of these are drawn from the Indians 

 who were among the best scouts and above all noted for 

 their use of the picture-writing, A few of them will serve 

 to illustrate. 



I (I III 1(11 

 / i. > * 



V y' V" y" y"" '^^' 



Numbers were originally lingers held up, and five was the 

 whole hand, while ten was a double hand. We can see 

 traces of this origin in the Roman style of numeration. 



A one-night camp, a more permanent camp, a village and 

 a town are shown in legible symbols. 



An enemy, sometimes expressed as a " snake," recalls our 

 own "snake in the grass." A ''friend," was a man with a 



The picture on the teepee Iming, to record Guy's Exploit 



branch of a tree; because this was commonly used as a 

 flag of truce and had indeed the same meaning as our olive 

 branch. The "treaty" is easily read; it was a pair of figures 

 like this done in Wampum that recorded Penn's Treaty. 

 "Good" is sometimes given as a circle full of lines all 



