LXX BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



count of Lone-dog was brought to light. For some j-ears this 

 was regarded as a unique production on the part of the plains 

 Indians, and hence of less significance and value than typical 

 productions; but the discoveries of similar records among the 

 Kiowa Indians, including the three calendars acquired by Mr 

 Mooney, the one obtained by Captain Scott, and the tradition 

 of a fifth example buried with the body of its maker a few 

 years ago, serve to show that calendric inscription was typ- 

 ically characteristic of the plains Indians up to the time of 

 modification by white influence. Accordingly, the discoveries 

 of the Kiowa calendars are of no little significance to ethno- 

 logic students, while the interpretation of the records through 

 the aid of contemporary tradition and individual memory 

 materially enhances their importance. 



The chief value of the Kiowa calendars lies in the fact that 

 they are not merely illustrations, but seriously considered 

 applications, of primitive })ictography. They stand for that 

 critical stage in the development of expression in which men 

 sought to perpetuate their deepest impressions, and hence con- 

 stitute the germ of writing, and reveal the mental and manual 

 processes attending the all-important transition from the pre- 

 scriptorial plane to scriptorial culture. The carefully inter- 

 preted calendars of the Kiowa supplement the tribal traditions, 

 and render it feasible to compare the episodes of their history 

 with those recounted and recorded by other peoples; thus they 

 furnish a striking example of practically useful historical rec- 

 ords jjrepared by aboriginal historians in accordance with 

 aboriginal methods. . Yet even this strong interest is over- 

 shadowed by the significance of the interpreted calendars as 

 mirrors of primitive method, and as guides to the meaning of 

 ill-TUiderstood aboriginal records from other sections. 



Navaho Houses 



The Navaho Indians stand in strong contrast to the Kiowa, 

 alike in habitat and habits. They ranged over a peculiarly 

 arid and arenaceous portion of the plateau country lying south 

 and southwest of the Rocky mountains. Originally condjining 

 a crude agriculture with the chase as means of subsistence, 

 their hard environment tended to limit (.)ccupancy to particular 



