MALLERY.] MISTAKEN DENIAL OF SIGNS. 327 
the intelligent and respectable chief of the Wyandots, Hénto (Gray Eyes), 
came to the rescue. His tribe was moved from Ohio in July, 1843, to 
the territory now occupied by the State of Kansas, and then again 
moved to Indian Territory, in 1870. He asserts that about one-third of 
the tribe, the older portion, know many signs, a partial list of which he 
gave with their descriptions. He was sure that those signs were used 
before the removal from Ohio, and he saw them used also by Shawnees, 
Delawares, and Senecas there. 
Unanimous denial of any existence of sign language came from the 
British provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and was followed by the col- 
lection obtained by the Hon. Horatio Hale. His statement of the time 
and manner of its being procured by him is not only interesting but 
highly instructive : 
“The aged Mohawk chief, from whom the information on this subject 
has been obtained, is commonly known by his English name of John 
Smoke Johnson. ‘Smoke’ is a rude version of his Indian name, 
Sakayenkwaraton, which may be rendered ‘Disappearing Mist.’ It is 
the term applied to the haze which rises in the morning of an autumn 
day, and gradually passes away. Chief Johnson has been for many 
years ‘speaker’ of the great council of the Six Nations. In former 
times he was noted as a warrior, and later has been esteemed one of the 
most eloquent orators of his race. At the age of eighty-eight years he 
retains much of his original energy. He is considered to have a better 
knowledge of the traditions and ancient customs of his people than any 
other person now living. This superior knowledge was strikingly ap- 
parent in the course of the investigations which were made respecting 
the sign language. Two other members of his tribe, well-educated and 
very intelligent men of middle age, the one a chief and government in- 
terpreter, the other a clergyman now settled over a white congregation, 
had both been consulted on the subject and both expressed the opinion 
that nothing of the sign language, properly speaking, was known among 
the Six Nations. They were alikesurprised and interested when the old 
chief, in their presence, after much consideration, gradually drew forth 
from the stores of his memory the proofs of an accomplishment which 
had probably lain unused for more than half a century.” 
One of the most conclusive instances of the general knowledge of sign 
language, even when seldom used, was shown in the visit of five Jicarilla 
Apaches to Washington in April, 1880, under the charge of Dr. Ben- 
jamin Thomas, their agent. The latter said he had never heard of any 
use of signs among them. But it happened that there was a delega- 
tion of Absaroka (Crows) at the same hotel, and the two parties from 
such widely separated regions, not knowing a word of each other’s lan- 
guage, immediately began to converse in signs, resulting in a decided 
sensation. One of the Crows asked the Apaches whether they ate 
horses, and it happening that the sign for eating was misapprehended 
for that known by the Apaches for many, the question was supposed 
