Soiv Ancient America Wrote. 219 



dress, blankets, robes, deer skins, shields, and birch-bark were chosen * 

 Thus, step by step, we can trace the transition from immovable to 

 portal)le material chosen for notation. . 



Just as easily can we follow the development of pictorial writing 

 itself through its different stages. But, prior to startuig on this tour 

 of investigation, let us ask what fundamental principles governed 

 the pictographic notation ? In the earliest stages, it was a mere por- 

 trayal of known facts and events by representative delineations of 

 visible objects. The desire to, awaken new ideas, or chronicle abstract 

 notions (spiritual matters), suggested the necessity of investing the 

 figures with an allegoric meaning, or expressing the idea with such a 

 figure ft-om the material world as had a logical relation to it, by way 

 of cause, quality or effect. The picture of a deer recalls the ideas, 

 not simply of a particular kind of quadruped, but,- also of a swift, graceful 

 animal, whose flesh makes a delicate dish, and whose skin is suitable 

 for dress and robes. The figure of a deer answers, therefore, very 

 well for swiftness or gracefulness. The signs over the doors of our 

 shops are based on the same principle. If we see a half filled bottle, 

 painted on the windows of a tavern, we know that something stronger 

 than water can be had within. 



Favored by the metaphorical nature of language, and accustomed to 

 uniform associations of ideas, it was for the native mind neither diffi- 

 cult to find the proper representative images nor to interpret their 

 correct meaning. Frequent use of and comparison between the various 

 emblems employed, led to a uniform adoption of the most judicious 

 and expressive. 



But there are ideas which have neither a direct nor a symbolical re- 

 lation to any visible object. For such cases arbitrary signs seem to 

 have been invented, at least there is no other explanation left, where- 

 ever the relation between idea and symbol is obscure. Why the figure 

 of the sun signifies watchfulness, a bow with an arrow war, a bone 

 with a feather the power to fly, or even air, is a matter of easy guess- 

 ing, since the relation between idea and symbol is apparent ; but why 

 in the Ojibway scrolls, which have more than two hundred of these 

 symbols, a simple circle means spirit, a circle with transverse lines 

 means water, or a horned snake life, can be explained only by the 

 hypothesis that they are conventional emblems, since the logical re- 

 lation between idea and symbol is purely fanciful. 



In regard to the form of the figures, the desire for saving time and 

 space led to abbreviations and simplifications. The Indian mind, 

 gifted with extremely acute senses, was able to recognize from a few 



=:-. A fine specimen, painted on a buffalo robe, formerly belonging to a Sioux chief, and 

 said to contain the history of his tribe, is in the possession of Judge Force, of our city. 



