XXXII REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY 



studied among many peoples now passing from the primitive 

 condition toward civilization. 



Numerous aboriginal tribes were at the threshold < if writing 

 when the American continent was discovered; a few were fairly 

 entered on the domain of graphic expression, but most were 

 still groping blindly and widely for definite methods; and their 

 spontaneous and unguided essays toward the crystallization 

 and perpetuation of thought in graphic symbols were remark- 

 ably curious and instructive. A common mode of recording 

 thought among the Indians inhabiting the territory now form- 

 ing the United States was that of crude inscription forming 

 pictographs; accordingly these primitive essays toward graphic 

 expression were subjected to study, and the research was found 

 fruitful. Earlier than the attempt to annihilate time through 

 a permanent record was the effort to bridge the chasm of space 

 by thought symbols extending beyond the reach of sound; and 

 thus nearly all primitive peoples, including most of the American 

 tribes, devised systems of signaling by means of gestures, the 

 waving of weapons and garments, fires and smokes, etc. In 

 conjunction with signaling, many ill-organized groups of people, 

 consisting of clan's and tribes temporarily or permanently at 

 peace yet speaking distinct dialects or tongues, devised systems 

 of gestures or signs for conveying ideas; among some Ameri- 

 can tribes this mode of expression became highly developed. 

 Together, signaling and gesture speaking constitute a distinct 

 art of expression coordinate with speech and writing, though a 

 nearly useless one after the invention and utilization of graphic 

 symbolism; and the study of the art is especially significant 

 since its stages of rise, culmination, and decadence were exem- 

 plified among different American tribes. It is for these reasons 

 that the work of pictography and sign language was taken up 

 in the Bureau, and the reasons have appeared only stronger 

 and more definite as the study progressed. 



Researches concerning the pictographs and gesture speech 

 of the native American tribes were continued by Colonel Clar- 

 rick Mailer v, who spent a part of the year in the field in 

 northern New England and contiguous territory in special 

 work among the survivors of the Abnaki, Micmac, and other 



