MALLERY. | DEAD—DEATH. 421 
Left hand flattened and held back upward, thumb inward in front of 
and a few inches from the breast. Right hand slightly clasped, fore- 
finger more extended than the others, and passed suddenly under the 
left hand, the latter being at the same time gently moved toward the 
breast. (Cheyenne II.) ‘‘Gone under.” 
Both hands horizontal in front of body, backs outward, index of each 
hand alone extended, the right index is passed under the left with a 
downward, outward and then upward and inward curved motion at the 
same time that the left is moved inward toward the body two or three 
inches, the movements being ended on the same level as begun. “Up- 
set, keeled over.” For many deaths repeat the sign many times. The 
sign of (Cheyenne II) expresses “gone under,” but is not used in the 
sense of death, dead, but going under a cover, as entering a lodge, under a 
table, &c. (Dakota I.) 
Make the sign for ALIVE, viz.: The right hand, back upward, is to be 
at the height of the elbow and forward, the index extended and point- 
ing forward, the other fingers closed, thumb against middle finger; then, 
while rotating the hand outward, move it to a position about four inches 
in front of the face, the back looking forward and the index pointing 
upward; then the sign for No. (Dakota IV.) 
Another: Hold the left hand pointing toward the right, palm obliquely 
downward and backward, about a foot in front of the lower part of the 
chest, and pass the right hand pointing toward the left, palm downward, 
from behind forward underneath it. Or from an upright position in 
front of the face, back forward, index extended and other fingers closed, 
carry the right hand downward and forward underneath the left and 
about four inches beyond it, gradually turning the right hand until its 
back is upward and its index points toward the left. An Arapaho sign. 
Gone under or buried. (Dakota IV.) 
Hold the left hand slightly bent with the palm down, before the breast, 
then pass the extended right hand, pointing toward the left, forward 
under and beyond the left. (Dakota VI, VII.) 
Hold the right hand, flat, palm downward, before the body; then throw 
it over on its back to the right, making a curve of about fifteen inches. 
(Dakota V1; Hidatsa 1; Arikara I.) The gesture of reversal in this 
and other instances may be compared with picture-writings in which 
the reversed character for the name or totem of a person signifies his 
death. One of these is givenin Fig. 249, taken from Schooleraft’s Hist. 
Am. Tribes, 1, p. 356, showing the cedar burial post or adjedatig of Wa- 
bojeeg, an Ojibwa war chief, who died on Lake Superior about 1793. He 
