1886. J ^J* [Hoffman. 



right hand near the right hip, forefinger extended and pointing forward, 

 palm down, then as the hand is pushed to the front and toward the left, 

 the hand is rotated from side to side, giving the index a serpentine motion. 

 This is also the sign for snake, as a reptile. 



It is quite natural to suppose, therefore, that when Lewis and Clark's 

 party met with these Indians they at once considered the tribe to desig- 

 nate itself as Snakes, thinking, possibly, that the word Sho'shoni meant the 

 same. 



The writer has at no time during his frequent visits to these Indians 

 been successful in obtaining from themselves a clear interpretation of 

 the word. 



The Rev. J. W. Cook, gives the Yancton Sioux word, as applied to the 

 Sho'shoni, as Pe-ji'-wo-ke-ya-o-ti — Those dwelling in grass lodges. This 

 term may have originated at a time when the Sho'shoni still built their 

 lodges in the primitive form, a process described to the writer by some of 

 the tribe, a short time since. Four poles were placed upright, at equal 

 distances to form a square, each having a fork at the upper extremity for 

 the reception of cross-pieces upon which to construct a roof. The sides of 

 the square were closed by placing thin willow poles, vertically side by 

 side, after which the broad leaves of water-grasses and rushes — sho'nip — 

 were woven into them, horizontally, from side to side. By passing the 

 end of a leaf in and out, or alternately in front of and behind these thin 

 poles, a serpentine motion is observed, when viewed from above, which 

 exactly corresponds to the gesture-sign and which, strange to say, was 

 made when illustrating this method of constructing the walls of a lodge. 

 It is the belief of the present writer, that the sign has reference to the 

 weaving or building of a grass lodge, and that the word Shoshoni signifies 

 something of a similar nature. 



The term Shoshocoe [Shosho'ki], has been met with in current literature 

 so frequently that a few words respecting it may not be amiss. The word is 

 generally applied to those who go on foot, in contradistinction to Sho'shoni 

 who own horses. Should a Sho'shoni, therefore, lose or dispose of his 

 horse, he at once becomes a Shoshocoe. The term as applied, to signify a 

 tribe or portion of a tribe, i. e., as a tribal designation in the strict sense of 

 the word, is therefore erroneous. What were these people before they 

 possessed horses? 



According to the chief men of the western Sho'shoni, their tribe was 

 formerly composed of seven bands — which may, in reality, have been 

 gens, as follows, viz : 

 I. Tu'kuari'ka. Mountain-Sheep-Eaters. 



= Sheepeaters. Rep. Ind. Affairs for 1871, 1872, p. 432. 



= Tookarikkahs. Bancroft. Nat. Races, i, p. 463. 



= Mountain Shoshone, or " Sheepeater'' band. Jones' Wyoming 

 Exped. p. 275. 



=Tuka-ri'ka, "Mountain-sheep Eaters." U. S. Geog. Surveys 

 W. of 100th Meridian, vii, p. 410. 



PROC. AMEK. PHILOS, SOC. XXIII. 122. 2L. PRINTED MARCH 8, 1886. 



