MatiEry,] GESTURAL ETYMOLOGY OF INDIAN WORDS. 353 
left, then raise the right and throw it forcibly over and downward in 
front of the left—brave, strong. See Fig. 242, page 415. 
The Arikaras make the sign for brave by striking the clinched fist 
forcibly toward the ground in front of and near the breast. 
Brave, or “strong-hearted,” is made by the Absaroka, Shoshoni, and 
Banak Indians by merely placing the clinched fist to the breast, the 
latter having allusion to the heart, the clinching of the hand to strength, 
vigor, or force. 
An Ojibwa sign for death, to die, is as follows: 
Place the palm of the hand at a short distance from the side of the 
head, then withdraw it gently in an oblique downward direction, inelin- 
ing the head and upper part of the body in the same direction. 
The same authority, The Very Rev. E. Jacker, who contributes it, 
notes that there is an apparent connection between this conception and 
execution and the etymology of the corresponding terms in Ojibwa. 
“He dies,” is nibo; “he sleeps,” is niba. The common idea expressed 
by the gesture is a sinking torest. The original significance of the root 
nib seems to be “leaning;” anibeia, “it is leaning”; anibekweni, “he in- 
clines the head sidewards.” The word niba or nibe (only in compounds) 
conveys the idea of “night,” perhaps as the falling over, the going to 
rest, or the death of the day. 
Ogima, the Ojibwa term for chief, is derived from a root which signifies 
“above” (Ogidjati, upon ; ogidjina, above ; ogidaki, on a hill or mountain, 
etc.). Ogitchida, a brave, a hero (Otawa, ogida), is probably from the 
same root. 
Sagima, the Ojibwa form of sachem, is from the root sag, which implies 
a coming forth, or stretching out. These roots are to be considered in 
- connection with several gestures described under the head of Chief, in 
EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY, infra. 
Onijishin, it is good (Ojibwa), originally signifies “it lies level.” This 
may be compared with the sign for good, in the Tendoy-Huerito Dialogue, 
Fig. 309, page 487, and also that for happy, contentment, in the Speech 
of Kin Ché-éss, page 523. 
In Klamath the radix lam designates a whirling motion, and appears 
in the word ldma, ‘‘ to be crazy, mad,” readily correlated with the com- 
mon gesture for madman and fool, in which the hand is rotated above 
and near the head. 
Evening, in Klamath, is litkht, from luta, to hang down, meaning the 
time when the sun hangs down, the gesture for which, described else- 
where in this paper (see Natci’s Narrative, page 503), is executive of the 
same conception, which is allied to the etymology usually given for eve, 
even, ‘‘ the decline of the day.” These Klamath etymologies have been 
kindly contributed by Mr. A. 8. Gatschet. 
The Very Rev. E. Jacker also communicates a suggestive excursus 
exegeticus upon the probable gestural origin of the Ojibwa word tibishko, 
“opposite in space; just so; likewise :” 
“The adverb tibishko (or dibishko) is an offshoot of the root tib (or dib), 
