910 THE GHOST-DANCE RELIGION [eth.ann.14 



return and give to his people the message of inspiration. Frequently 

 these vigils were undertaken at the request of friends of sick people 

 to obtain spiritual knowledge of the proper remedies to be applied, or 

 at the request of surviving relatives who wished to hear from their 

 departed friends in the other world. Be is now about 55 years of age, 

 quiet and dignified in manner, with a thoughtful cast of countenance 

 which accords well with his character as a priest aud seer. His intel- 

 lectual bent is further shown by the fact that he has invented a system 

 of ideographic writing which is nearly as distinct from the ordinary 

 Indian pictograph system as it is from our own alphabet. It is based 

 on the sign language of the plains tribes, the primary effort being to 

 convey the idea by a pictured representation of the gesture sign; but, 

 as in the evolution of the alphabet, a part is frequently put for the 

 whole, and numerous arbitrary or auxiliary characters are added, until 

 the result is a well developed germ of an alphabetic system. He has 

 taught the system to his sons, and by this means was able to keep up a 

 correspondence with them while they were attending Carlisle school. 

 It is unintelligible to the rest of the tribe. 1 have specimens of this 

 curious graphic method, obtained from the father and his sous, which 

 maybe treated at length at some future time. In the picture of Asa'ti- 

 to'la (plate evi), he holds in one hand a .paper on which is depicted 

 one of his visions, while in the other is the pointer with which he 

 explains its meaning. 



Plate cvn herewith represents this vision. On this occasion, after 

 reaching the spirit world he found himself on a vast prairie covered 

 with herds of buffalo and ponies, represented respectively in the 

 picture by short black and green lines at the top. He went on through 

 the buffalo, the way being indicated by the dotted green lines, until he 

 came to a large Kiowa camp, in which, according to their old custom, 

 nearly every tipi had its distinctive style of painting or ornamentation 

 to show to what family it belonged, all these families being still repre- 

 sented in the tribe. He went on to the point indicated by the first 

 heavy blue mark, where he met four youug women, whom he knew as 

 having died years before, returning on horseback with their saddle- 

 pouches filled with wild plums. After some conversation he asked 

 them about two brothers, his relatives, who had died some time ago. 

 He went in the direction pointed out by the young women aud soon 

 met the two young meu coming into camp with a load of fresh buffalo 

 meat hung at their saddles: Their names were Emanki'na, "Can't- 

 hold-it," a policeman, and E''pea, " Afraid-of-him," who had died 

 while held as a prisoner of war in Florida about fifteen years before. 

 It will be noted that they are represented in the picture as armed ouly 

 with bows and arrows, in agreement with the Ghost-dance doctrine of 

 a return to aboriginal things. After proceeding some distance he 

 retraced his steps and met two curious beings, represented iu the 

 picture by green figures with crosses instead of heads. These told him 



