1024 THE GHOST DANCE RELIGION [kth.ank.11 



TRIBAL SIGN 



The. Cheyenne tribal sign, made by drawing' the right index linger 

 several times across the left forefinger, is commonly interpreted "cut 

 fingers" or "cut wrists," and is said to be derived from their custom of 

 cutting off the fingers and hands of slain enemies. Although the 

 same practice was found among other tribes, the Cheyenne were par- 

 ticularly distinguished in this regard. In Mackenzie's great tight with 

 the Cheyenne in Wyoming, in 187G, two necklaces made of human 

 fingers were found in the captured Indian cam]), together with a small 

 bag filled with hands cut from the bodies of children of the Shoshoni 

 tribe, their enemies. One of these necklaces was afterward deposited 

 in the National .Museum at Washington. (See Bourhe in Ninth Annual 

 Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.) Some competent Indian authori- 

 ties say, however, that the sign is intended to indicate " stripe people," 

 or "striped-arrow people," referring to the fact that the Cheyenne 

 usually feathered their arrows with the striped feathers of the wild 

 turkey. This agrees with the interpretation of the name for the Chey- 

 enne in several different languages. 



SKETCH OF THE TRIBE 



The Cheyenne are one of the westernmost tribes of the great Algon- 

 quian stock. In one of their ghost songs they sing of the '-turtle 

 river," on which they say they once lived. (Cheyenne song 3.) From 

 several evidences this seems to be identical with the Saint Croix, which 

 forms the boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota. This state- 

 ment agrees with the opinion of Clark (Indian Sign Language), who 

 locates their earliest tradition in the neighborhood of Saint Anthony 

 falls. They were driven out by the Sioux and forced toward the 

 northwest, where they came in contact with the Asiniboin (called by 

 them Uolie' ), with whom they were never afterward at peace. At a 

 later period, according to Lewis and Clark, they lived on the Chey- 

 enne branch of Red river, in northern Minnesota, whence they were 

 again driven by the Sioux into the prairie. 



In 1805 they wandered about the head of Cheyenne river of Dakota 

 and in the Black hills, and were at war with the Sioux, though at 

 peace with most other tribes. Since then they have pushed on to the 

 west and south, always in close confederation with the Arapaho. 

 These two tribes say they have never known a time when they were 

 not associated. About forty years ago, in Wyoming, the band since 

 known as the northern Cheyenne separated from the others (Clark), 

 and have since lived chiefly in Montana or with the Sioux, with whom 

 the Cheyenne made peace about sixty years ago. The other and 

 larger portion of the tribe continued to range chiefly on the lands 

 of the Arkansas and Canadian in Colorado and the western nart of 



