828 



MEAMSKINISHT MEASUREMENTS 



[b. a. b. 



asta, (12) Kh6yataotonwe, and (13) 

 Taoapa, constituting the Matantonwan 

 division, which early French writers 

 spoke of as a powerful tribe associated 

 with but not a part of the Mdewakan- 

 ton. The following subdivisions have 

 not been identified: Town band Indians, 

 Mankato, Nasiampaa, and Upper Meda- 

 wakanton. 



See Dorsey, Siouan Sociology, 15th 

 Eep. B. A. E., 1897; Long, Exped. St 

 Peter's R., 1824; Ind. Aff. Rep., 1847; 

 Ramsey in Minn. Hist. Coll., i, 1872; 

 Neill, Hist. Minn., 1858. (j. o. d. c. t.) 

 Gens de Lac— Pike, Exped., 93, 1810. Gens De 

 Lai,— Schermerhorn (1812) in Ma.ss. Hist. Soc. Coll., 

 2d s., II, 40, 1814 (misprint). Gens du Lac— Long, 

 Exped. St. Peter's R., i, 380, 1824. Mad-a-wakan- 

 toan.— Svveetser (1853) in Sen. Ex. Doc. 61, 33d 

 Cong., 1st sess., 2, 1854. Madawakanton.— Many- 

 penny in H. R. Rep. 138, 33d Cong., 1st sess., 10, 

 1854. Manchokatous. — Prise de Possession (1689) 

 in Margry, Dec, V, 34, 1883. Mandawakantons.— 

 Ind. AIT. Rep., 8.53, 1847. Mandawakanton Sioux.— 

 Ibid. Mandeouacantons. — Le Sueur (1700) in Mar- 

 gry, Die., VI, 81, 188G. Mawtawbauntowahs. — 

 Carver, Trav., 60, 1778. Mdawakontons. — Minn. 

 Hist. Soc. Coll., Ill, 86, 1880. Mdawakon ton-wans.- 

 Ibid., 84. M'day-wah-kaun-twan Dakotas. — Ram- 

 sey, ibid., I, 45, 1872. M'day-wah-kauntwaun 

 Sioux. — Sibley, ibid., 47. M'daywakantons. — Ibid., 

 Ill, 250,1880. iff'daywawkawntwawns. — Neill, Hist. 

 Minn., 144, note, 18.58. Mdeiyedan,— .Vshley, let- 

 ter to Dorsev, Jan. 1886. Mde-wahantonwan. — 

 Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 1,248, 1851. M'dewakan- 

 ton,— Nicollet, Rep. on Uj>per Mi.ss. R., map, 1843. 

 Mde-wa-kan-ton-wan. — Neill, Hi.st. Minn., 144, 

 note, 18.58. Mdewakaijtoijwan, — Riggs, Dakota 

 Gram, and Diet., vii, 18.52. M'de wakan-towwans, 

 Ramsey in Ind. Aff. Rep. ISl'.i, 7s, l.s.'iO. M'de- 

 wakant'wan. — Ibid. Md-Wakans. — Peet in Am. 

 Antiq., VIII, 304, 1886. Mdwakantonwans.— Riggs 

 in Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., lil, 126, 1880. Medaqua- 

 kantoan. — Ramsey (1853) in Sen. E.x. Doc. 61, 33d 

 Cong., 1st sess., 324, 18.54. Medawah-Kanton.— 

 Maximilian, Trav., 507, 1843. Med-a-wakan-toan.— 

 Svveetser in Sen. Ex. Doc. 61, 33d Cong., 1st sess., 

 2, 1854. Medawakantons.— Ind.Alf. Rep., 494, 1839. 

 Med-a-wa-kanton Sioux.— Ind. AiT. Rep., 495, 1838. 

 Medawakantwan. — Parker, Minn. Handbk., 140, 

 18.57. Medawe-con-tong.— U. S. Ind. Treat., 368, 

 1826. Medaykantoans. — Ramsey in Sen. Ex. Doc. 

 61, 33d Cong., 1st sess., 337, 18.54. Med-ay-wah- 

 kawn-t'waron.— Ramsey in Ind. Aff. Rep. 1849, 

 78, 18.50. Medaywakanstoan.— Ind. Aff. Rep., 18, 

 1851. Med-ay-wa-Kkn-toan.— U. S. Stat., x, 56, 

 1853. Medaywokant'wans, — Pike quoted by Neill, 

 Hist. Minn., 288, 18.58. Me-de-wah-kan-toan. — 

 Sweetserin Sen. Ex. Doc. 61, 33d Cong., 1st sess., 

 321, 1854. Medewakantoans. — Svveetser in Sen. 

 Ex. Doc. 29, 32d Cong., 2d sess., 14, 1853. Medewa- 

 kantons.— Neill in Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, 260, 

 1872. Mede-wakan-t'wans. — Ram.sev in Ind. Aff. 

 Rep. 1849, 72, 1850. Mediwanktons. — keane in Stan- 

 ford, Compend., 521, 1S78. Medwakantonwan.— 

 Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., iii, 190, 1880. Menchoka- 

 tonx.— Perrot (1689) quoted by Neill, Hist. Minn., 

 144, 18.58.. Menchokatouches. — Perrot (1689) in 

 Minn. Hist. See. Coll., ii, pt. 2, 31, note, 1864. 

 Mencouacantons. — Relation of P6nicaut (1700) in 

 Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., in, 6, 1880. Mendawahkan- 

 ton.— Prescott (1847) in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 

 II, 168, 1852. Men-da-wa-kan-ton. -Prescott, ibid., 

 170. Mendeouacanton. — Le Sueur (1700) in Margry, 

 Dec, VI, 86, 1886. Mendeouacantous. — La Harpe 

 (1700) in Shea, Early Vov., 104, 1861. Mendewacan- 

 tongs.— Schoolcraft, Trav., 307, 1821. Mende 

 Wahkan toan.— Long, Exped. St Peter's R., i, 378, 

 18'24. Mende-'Wakan 'Toann. — Maximilian, Trav., 

 149, 1843 Mendouca-ton.— La Harpe (1700) In 

 French, Hist. Coll. La., lil, 27, 18.51. Mendu- 

 ■wakanton. — Huebschmann In Schoolcraft, Ind. 

 Tribes, vi, 707, 1857. MenowaKautong.— Boudinot, 

 Star in the West, 127, 1816. Menowa Kontong.— 



Farnham, Trav., 32, 1848. Kidewakantonwans. — 

 Domenech, Deserts N. Am., ii, 26, 1860. Min'-da- 

 war'-car-ton. — Lewis and Clark, Discov., 30, 1806. 

 Minokantongs.— Schoolcraft, Trav., 308, 1821. 

 Minowakanton. — Lewis and Clark, Exped., I, 145, 

 1814. Minowa Kantong. — Brown, West. Gaz., 208, 

 1817. Minoway-Kantong. — Schermerhorn (1812) in 

 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., •2d s., ll, 40, 1814. Minoway 

 Kautong, — Ibid, (misprint). Minow Kantong, — 

 SclKMilcraft, Trav., 286, 1821. Mundaywahkanton.— 

 ISIcKcniiey and Hall, Ind. Tribes, I, 303, 1854. 

 Munday 'Wawkantons. — Snelling, Tales of N. W., 

 231, 1830. 0-man-ee.— .Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, ii, 

 141, 1852. 0-maum-ee, — Warren in Minn. Hist. Soc. 

 Coll., V, 162, 1885. People of the Lake,— Lewis and 

 Clark, E.xped., 145, 1814. Siou Mendeouacanton, — 

 Le Sueur ( 1700) in Margry, Dec, vi, .80, 1886. Sioux 

 Mindawarcarton. — Lewis and Clark, Discov., 28, 

 1806. Sioux of the River. — Seymour, Sketches of 

 Minn., 133, 8-50. Siouxs of the Lakes.— U. S. Ind. 

 Treaties (1815), 869, 1873. Win-de-wer-rean-toon,— 

 Arrowsmith, map. N. Am. (1795), 1814. 



Meamskinisht ('porcupine-foot grove'). 

 A Tsimshian mission village founded 

 in 1889 and settled by the Kitksan. In 

 1897 the population was about 50 — Dor- 

 sey in Ain. Antiq., xix, 280, 1897 



Measurements. Among civilized people, 

 previous to the introduction of the metric 

 system, linear measurements were de- 

 rived mostly, if not exclusively, from the 

 human body, and although in later cen- 

 uries these measurements became stand- 

 ardized, it is not long since they were all 

 determined directly from the human 

 frame. It is still common, even for white 

 men, in the absence of a graduated rule, 

 to compute the inch by the transverse 

 dimension of the terminal joint of the 

 thumb, and for women to estimate a yard 

 by stretching cloth from the nose to the 

 tips of the fingers — the arm being ex- 

 tended and thrown strongly backward — 

 or to estimate an eighth of a yard by the 

 length of the middle finger. The use of 

 the span as a standard of lineal measure 

 is also still quite common. Within the 

 last 30 years it has been a custom for 

 traders to sell cloth to Indians by 

 the natural yard or by the brace, and 

 although this measure on a trader of small 

 stature might be much less than 3 feet, 

 the Indians preferred it to the yardstick. 

 Below is given a list of what maybe called 

 natural measures which are known to 

 have been employed by Indians. Some 

 of the larger measures have been in 

 general use among many tribes, while 

 some of the smaller ones have been used 

 by the Navaho and Pueblo shamans in 

 making sacrificial and other sacred objects 

 and in executing their dry-paintings. 

 Some are also employed by Pueblo women 

 in making and decorating their pottery. 

 Linear measures. — 1. One finger width: 

 the greatest width of the terminal joint 

 of the little finger in the palmar aspect. 

 2. Two finger widths: the greatest width 

 of the terminal joints of the first and sec- 

 ond fingers held closely together, taken 

 in the palmar aspect. 3. Three finger 

 widths: the greatest width of the terminal 



