BULL. .'?0] 



COUECHITOU COUNTING 



353 



Acoma and the Rio Grande villages in 

 New Mexico, and the Pima of s. Arizona 

 also raised the plant until about ]850; 

 but the introduction of cheap fabrics by 

 traders has practically brought the in- 

 dustry to an end everywhere among the 

 Indians, the Hopi alone adhering to the 

 old custom of cultivating and weaving it, 

 and that chiefly for ceremonial garments. 

 In ancient Hopi and Zuni mortuary rites 

 raw cotton was placed over the face of the 

 dead, and cotton seed was often deposited 

 with food vessels and other accompani- 

 ments in the grave. Consult Bandelier 

 in Arch. Inst. Papers, iii, iv, 1890-92; 

 Fewkes in 17th Rep. B. A. E., 1898; 

 Holmesin 18th Rep. B. A. E. , 1896; Hough 

 in Rep. Nat. Mus., 1901; Winship in 14th 

 Rep. B. A. E., 1896. {w. ii. ) 



CouecliitoTi. A former important Choc- 

 taw town destroyed in the Choctaw civil 

 war of 1764. Its location is in doubt, 

 but it was traditionally placed in the 

 neighborhood of Moscow, Kemper co.. 

 Miss. ( Halbert in Miss. Hist. Soc. Publ., 

 VI, 424, 1902). This name appears on 

 Danville's map, ca. 1732, in which it 

 seems to be translated "village of the 

 great chief." In later times it was known 

 by the same name as Conchachitou 

 (q. V. ), usually in the contracted form 

 Congeto, or Cooncheto, and to distin- 

 guish it it was called East Congeto. 

 Halbert assumes that the original name 

 was Conchachitou and inter] )rets it as 

 'big reed-l)rake,' like the other; but if 

 such were indeed the case it is surprising 

 that Danville, who locates and trans- 

 lates Conchachitou correctly, should have 

 erred regarding this. (j. r. s. ) 



Conachitow, — LattR', map of U. S., 1784. Couet- 

 chiou.— Ovissefeld, map of U. S., 1784. Coue-tchi- 

 tou. — Danville map (1732) in Hamilton, Colonial 

 Mobile, 158, 1897. Cowachitow. — Philippeanx, 

 map, 1781. Cuoerchltou. — Bartram, Vov., I, map, 

 1799. East Congeata.— Romans, Florida, 310, 177.5. 

 East Congeeto. — West Fla. map, ca. 1775. East 

 Coongeeto. — Romans, op. cit., 73. 



Couna. Mentioned by Oiiate (Doc. 

 Ined., XVI, 114, 1871) as a i)nel)lo of New 

 Mexico in 1598. Doubtless situated in 

 the Salinas, in the vicinity of Abo, e. of 

 the Rio Grande, and in all probability a 

 Tigua or Piros village. 



Counting, Two systems of counting 

 were formerly in use among the Indians 

 of North America, the decimal and the vi- 

 gesimal. Tlie latter, which was used 

 in Mexico and Central America, was also 

 in general use N. of Columbia r. , on the 

 Pacific slope, while between that area and 

 the border of Mexico it was employe<l by 

 only a few tribes, as the Pomo, Tuolumne, 

 Konkau, Nishinam, and Achomawi. On 

 the Atlantic side the decimal system was 

 used by all except the Eskimo tribes. 

 Both systems, based apparently on the 

 finger and hand count, were as a rule 

 fundamentally quinary. There are some 



indications, however, of a more primitive 

 count, with minor tribal differences. In 

 Siouan and Algonquian the word for 2 

 is generally related to that for arms or 

 hands, and in Athapascan dialects to 

 the term for feet. In a few languages, the 

 Siksika, Catawba, Gabrieleno, and some 

 others, 3 is expressed by joining the 

 words for 2 and 1. In many others the 

 name for 4 signifies 2 and 2, or 2 times 2, 

 as in most of the Shoshonean dialects, 

 and in Catawba, Haida, Tlingit, and ap- 

 parently Kiowa; the Pawnee formerly 

 apijlied a name signifying 'all the fin- 

 gers,' or 'the fingers of the hand,' thus 

 excluding the thumb. Five has usually 

 a distinct name, which in most cases 

 refers to one hand or fist. The numbers 

 from 6 to 9 are generally based on 5, thus, 

 6=5-f-l, 7=5-i-2, etc.; or the names refer 

 to the fingers of the second hand as used 

 in counting; thus, among the Eskimo of 

 Pt Barrow 6 is 'to the other hand 1', 

 7 'to the other hand 2', and in many 

 dialects6 = '] on the other haiid.' There 

 are exceptions to this rule, however; for 

 example, 6 is 3 and 3 in Haida and some 

 other dialects; in Bellacoola the name 

 signifies 'second 1', and in Montagnais 

 (Algonquian), '3 on each side.' Al- 

 though 7 is usually 'the second finger 

 on the second hand', in some cases it is 

 based on 4, as among the Montagnais, 

 who say '4 and 3.' Eight is generally 

 expressed by 'the third finger on the 

 second hand'; but the Montagnais say 

 ' 4 on each side ' , and the Haida ' 4 and 4 ' ; 

 in Karankawait signifies '2 fathers', and 

 in the Kwakiutl and some other languages 

 it is '2 from 10.' In a number of lan- 

 guages the name for 9 signifies 1 from 10, 

 as with the Kwakiutl, the Eskimo of n. w. 

 Alaska, the Pawnee, and the Heiltsuk. 



The numbers from 11 to 19 are usually 

 formed in both systems by adding 1, 2, 

 3, 4, etc., to 10; but in the vigesimal the 

 quinary count is carried out, 16 being 

 15+1, 17 = 15+2, etc., or, in some dialects, 

 17=10+5+2. Many of the Indians could 

 count to 1,000, some by a regular system, 

 while in a number of languages, as Tlingit, 

 Cherokee, etc., its signification is 'great 

 100.' In Ottawa the meaning was 'one 

 body'; in Abnaki, 'one box'; in Iroquois 

 dialects, 'ten hand-claps,' that is, ten 

 hundreds; in Kiowa, 'the whole hand 

 hundred.' Baraga and Cuoq give terms 

 for figures up to a million or more, but it 

 is doubtful if such were actually in use 

 before contact with I^uropeans. 



The common Indian method of count- 

 ing on the hands, as perhaps is usual with 

 most savage or uncivilized peoples, was 

 to "tell off" the fingers of the left hand, 

 beginning with the little finger, the 

 thumb being the fifth or 5; while in 

 counting the right hand the order was 



Bull. 30—05- 



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