malleby.] SIGNIFICANCE OF COLORS. 55 



gased in dances and religious ceremonies the members of most of the 

 tribes still exhibit precise care in the selection and arrangement of color. 



The Dakota at Grand Eiver Agency, now abandoned, generally painted 

 the face red from the eyes down to the chin when going to war. The 

 whole face was blacked with charcoal or ashes when mourning. The 

 women frequently resorted to this method of expressing grief. 



The Absaroka, or Crow Indians, generally paint the forehead red 

 when on the war path. This distinction of the Crows is also noted by 

 the Dakota in recording pictographic narratives of encounters with the 

 Crows. See page G2, and Figures 124 et. seq. 



Haywood, Nat. and Aborig. Hist, of Tennessee, 1823, p. 228, says of 

 the Cherokees: 



"When going to war their hair is combed and auuointed with bear's 

 grease and the red-root [Sanguinaria canadensis?], and they adorn it 

 with feathers of various beautiful colours, besides copper and iron rings, 

 and sometimes wampum or peak iu the ears. And they paint their faces 

 all over as red as vermilliou, making a circle of black about one eye 

 and another circle of white about the other." 



When a Modoc warrior paints his face black before going into battle 

 it means victory or death, and he will not survive a defeat. See Ban- 

 croft's Native Eaces, I, p. 333. 



The Los Angeles County Indian girls paint the cheeks sparingly with 

 red ocher when iu love. (Bancroft, I, 403.) This prevails, to some ex- 

 tent also, among the northern bands of the Sioux, and among the An- 

 kara at Fort Berthold, Dakota. 



Rev. J. Owen Dorsey reports that when the Osage men go to steal 

 horses from the enemy they paint their faces with charcoal. 



The same authority gives the following description of the Osage paint 

 for war parties : 



Before charging the foe the Osages warriors paint themselves anew. 

 This is called the death paint. If any of the men die with this paint on 

 them the survivors do not put on any other paint. 



All the geutes on the Tsiou side use the "fire paint" or ijrama", which 

 is red. It is applied by them with the left hand all over the face. And 

 they use prayers about the fire : "As the fire has no mercy, so should 

 we have none." Then they put mud on the cheek below the left eye, as 

 wide as two or more fingers. On the Han^a side this mud is put on the 

 cheek, below the right eye. It is the young buffalo bull decoration 

 (Tse-pi-oin'jia kinu" itaadi an). With reference to it, a man says, "My 

 little grandfather (the young buffalo bull) is ever dangerous, as he makes 

 attempts. Very close do I stand, ready to go to the attack" (Witsbpi 

 oiii'^a w;icku n nu n 'pewa<f.e ehnu"di aii. Ecu D qtsita wa}[a n '^a df e atqa"'hi 

 au!) The horse is painted with some of the mud on the left cheek, 

 shoulder, and thigh. 



For the corresponding Hanka decorations, substitute the right for the 

 left wherever the latter word occurs above. 



