168 THE 8I0UAN INDIANS [etii asn. 15 



is not easy to find Waca'ce in •' Osage" (so spelled by tlie French, whose 

 orthography was adopted and mispronounced by English-speaking 

 ])i()iieersi, or I'a'qotce in "Iowa." 



The meanings of most of the eastern names are lost; yet so far as 

 they are preserved they are of a kind with those of the interior. So, 

 too, are the subtribal names enumerated by Dorsey. 



PRINCIPAL CnAEACTEES 



I'HONETIC AND GRAPHIC ARTS 



The Siouan stock is defined by linguistic cliaracters. The several 

 tribes and larger and smaller groups si>eak dialects so closely related 

 as to imply occasional or habitual association, and hence to indicate 

 coaimunity in interests and aflinity in development; and while the arts 

 (reflecting as they did the varying environment of a wide territorial 

 range) were diversified, the similarity in language was. as is usual, 

 accompanied by similarity in institutions and beliefs. Nearly all of 

 the known dialects are eminently vocalic, and the tongues of the plains, 

 wliich have been most extefisively studied, are notably melodious; thus 

 the leading languages of the group display moderately high phonetic 

 development. In grammatic structure the better-known dialects are 

 not so well developed ; the structure is complex, chiefly through the large 

 use of inflection, though agglutination sometimes occurs. In some cases 

 the germ of organization is found in fairly definite Juxtaposition or 

 placement. The vocaljulary is moderately rich, and of course represents 

 the daily needs of a primitive people, their surroundings, their avoca- 

 tions, and their thoughts, while expressing little of the richer ideation 

 of cultured cosmopolites. Ou the whole, the speech of the Siouan stock 

 may be said to have been fairly developed, and may, with the Algon- 

 quian, Iroquoian. and Shoshonean, be regarded as typical for the por- 

 tion of North America lying north of Mexico. Fortunately it has been 

 extensively studied by Riggs, Hale, Dorsey, and several others, includ- 

 ing distinguished representatives of some of the tribes, and is thus 

 accessible to students. The high jjhonetic development of the Siouan 

 tongues retiects the needs and records the history of the hunter and 

 warrior tribes, whose phonetic symbols were necessarily so difleren- 

 tiated as to be intelligible in whisper, oratory, and war cry. as well as 

 in ordinary converse, while the complex structure is in harmony with 

 the elaborate social organization and ritual of the Siouan people. 



Many of the Siouan Indians were adepts in the sign language; 

 indeed, this mode of conveying intelligence attained perhaps its high- 

 est development among some of the tribes of this stock, who, with 

 other plains Indians, developed pantomime and gesture into a surpris- 

 ingly perfect art of expression adapted to the needs of huntsmen and 

 warriors. 



Most of the tribes were fairly proficient in ]i if tQgraj jji}" ; totemic and 

 other designs were inscribed on bark and wood, painted on skins, 



