Language. 907 



than one case the dog has by running forward, then stopping and look- 

 ing back, whining or barking, or by tugging at the garments of his 

 master, given him to understand that he wanted him to go with him to 

 the relief or rescue of some one. 



The Indian Sign Language, which is used by our western Indians over 

 an area of nearly a million square miles, and by numerous tribes, is 

 about as copious as most of the Indian spoken languages. It is indeed 

 largely conventional, and many of the signs are arbitrary, but many of 

 them are such obvious imitations of nature that an uninstructed person 

 catches the meaning without difficulty. 



The sign language has undergone growth and modification, and is do- 

 ing so yet, and many of the signs have no doubt received the same sort 

 of alteration that vocal words and written characters have ; that is, 

 there have been short cuts and simplifications made, by which the imita- 

 tion of nature, which characterizes the original or root sign, has become 

 obscured; just as our letters have lost their resemblance to the objects 

 of which they were originally pictures. 



The sign language has been in use from time immemorial. The Indi- 

 ans that attempt to account for its origin, think it was a gift from God, 

 just as some civilized people yet regard written language. The Sioux 

 Chief, "Iron Hawk," said to Capt. Clark that while God gave to the 

 whites the power to read and write, he gave to the Indians the power 

 to talk with their hands, and to make distant signals with the mirror, 

 blanket and pony. The deaf-mutes in some of our schools for that 

 class, are taught a sign language very similar to that of the Indians, 

 and in many cases the signs are exactly the same. Of course the deaf- 

 mute Indians, of whom there are a few, use the sign language exclu- 

 sively. The sort of language we use is purely a matter of education 

 with us. The child imitates his parents, and will learn the language 

 they use, whether it be Russian, English, or Hottentot ; or, if they are 

 deaf and dumb, it will learn their sign language. Capt. Clark says : 

 1 ' I have seen the little three-years-old child of a deaf-mute Indian, hold 

 up its tiny hands and carry on a conversation (without any attempt at 

 vocal speech) which would have done credit to any child of that age." 

 The children of Dr. Kitto, a deaf-mute, made signs to him (but not to 

 others) before they were able to talk. Laura Bridgeman, the famous 

 deaf-mute and "blind girl educated by Dr. Howe, talked in her sleep 

 with her fingers, and frequently talked to herself when awake, probably 

 unconsciously. 



Gesture signs are doubtless as old as vocal signs. The emotional 

 movements are as old as emotional cries. The expressions of the horse 

 with his ears, his neck, his nostrils, and his feet, are as old as his 

 whinny and his neigh ; and the dog indicated his mental state by the 



