administrativp: report xxm 



Indian tribes possess heraldic systems ;nial,»uous ii, ,^in.^ u;.n . 

 to those of medieval Europe. Such a system is espVciiilU- 

 developed among the Kiowa, and his xv..,k .jurin- f],.. y,,,'r 

 was carried forward in this and neiohhorin-- tHh<s. Th,. 

 ways in which the system is develoi)ed reinlcr the stmly 

 extremely difficult The principal heraldic devices are «.f two 

 classes, one pertaining to tipis, the other to shields. The tipis, 

 with their devices, belong to families, in which thev are heredi- 

 tary. The shields, with their emblematic or armorial bearinjrs 

 belong to warrior brotherhoods, which arise in connection with 

 the bearings themselves. Usually the devices are dreamed by 

 a shaman or revealed to him in a visi<»ii, as h<- cnnceives it, 

 the dream indicating also the number of shields that it is per- 

 missible to make with the particular bearing of the revelation. 

 In due time the shields are made in accordance with the 

 shaman's dream, not to exceed the number indicated in the 

 vision, and may be adopted by unattached warriors until all 

 are in use. Each shield usually bears two devices, one on 

 an outer cover of skin which may be regarded as a sym- 

 bol of the bearing within, and another secret device upon 

 a second cover beneath or upon the body of the shield 

 proper. The latter design is never ex|)osed save in battle, 

 when it is displayed as a magical device for offense as 

 well as defense against enemies, and in sacred cenMuony. 

 The shield is reg-arded by its owner as the symbol ot' his 

 special tutelary. It is ])rized and kept sacred during liis 

 lifetime, and, unless sacrificed in his declining days on tin- 

 death of a kinsman, is buried with his body, Ix'ing usually 

 placed under his head in the grave or sometimes left sus- 

 pended from a tripod or the branch of a tree near by. Hy 

 reason of the habitual sacrifice of shields and the de«-line ot 

 aboriginal customs few now remain, though fortunately many 

 are preserved in memory and tradition. The devices can be 

 adequately studied only with the :ii(l of their respective own- 

 ers, when these can be induced to reveal the meaning and 

 medicine of the devices or, still better, to reconstruct them in 

 such manner as to permit the inve.stigat«»r to trace the inter- 

 related meanings of the various features as they are sh»wly 



