568 



SIGUNIKTAWAK SIHA8APA 



[b. a. e. 



sign for white man. The buffalo, and in 

 later days a cow, is indicated by crooking 

 the index finger at the side of the head to 

 resemble a liorn. A dog is indicated by 

 drawing tlie hand, with first and second 

 fingers spread apart, across in front of the 

 body, typifying the old time travois 

 dragged by the animal when used as a 

 beast of burden. 



Eating and drinking are indicated by 

 signs easily intelligible. Sleeping is indi- 

 cated by inclining the head to one side, 

 with the open palm held just below, typi- 

 fying the recumbent attitude of repose. 

 As days, or rather nights, are counted by 

 "sleeps," the same sign may mean a day 

 when used in connection with enumera- 

 tion, indicated by the motion of counting 

 upon the fingers. In the same way cold is 

 indicated by a shivering movement of the 

 clenched hands in front of the body, and as 

 Indians count years by winters or "cold" 

 seasons, it signifies also a year in another 

 context. The hand upright and turned 

 upon the wrist, with fingers apart and 

 extended, indicates the question sign, and 

 a somewhat similar but slower gesture 

 means vacillation, i. e. may be. 



Reduced to action, the question, " How 

 old are you?" becomes (1) point finger 

 at subject=?/OH; (2) cold s\gn=tvmter, 

 year; (3) counting ^ign=niunber; (4) 

 question 8ign =how vianyf An expert 

 can go through the whole movement in 

 about the time required to put the spoken 

 question, with the advantage that he can 

 be understood by an Indian of any lan- 

 guage from Canada to Texas. 



Some signs are beautifully symbolic. 

 Thn^, fatigue is shown by a downward 

 and outward sweep of the two hands in 

 front of the body, index fingers extended, 

 giving a gesture-picture of utter collapse. 

 Bad is indicated by a motion of throwing 

 away; truth by signs for straight talk, and 

 falsehood by the talk sign, with another 

 for different directions, i. e. "talking two 

 ways." 



Besides the hand gestures, there is also 

 a signal system for communicating on 

 war or hunting expeditions by means of 

 smoke, waving of a blanket, riding in a 

 circle, etc., to indicate discovering ene- 

 mies, buffalo, advance, retreat, etc. See 

 Signals. 



The best practical treatise on the sub- 

 ject is Capt. W. P. Clark's Indian Sign 

 Language, 1885. A philosophic and com- 

 parative presentation is given by Col. 

 Garrick Mallery in 1st Rep. B. A. E., 

 1881. (.1. M.) 



Siguniktawak ('inhabitants of C. Chig- 

 necto,' from sigunikt, 'foot cloth,' the 

 native name of the cape). A Micmac 

 band on a reservation near Parrsborough, 

 Cumberland co. , Nova Scotia. The num- 

 ber connected with the agency was 95 in 

 1909. 



Siguniktawak. A Micmac band in 

 Pictou CO., Nova Scotia (Rand, Micmac 

 Reading Bk., 81, 1875). The Micmac 

 now in this county occupy the Fisher's 

 Grant and Indian Island reserves and 

 numbered 174 in 1909. 



Sigwaahsohgwih. See Sequidongquee. 



Sihasapa ( ' black feet', so called because 

 they wore black moccasins). A small 

 division of the Teton Sioux. The name, 

 like the names of some other Teton tribes, 

 does not appear to have come into notice 



PEZHI, "GRASS," A SIHASAPA OR BLACKFOOT SIOUX 



until a recent date, no mention being 

 made of it by Lewis and Clark, Long, or 

 earlier authorities. Catlin in his Letters 

 and Notes, written during his stay among 

 the northwestern Indians (1832-39), 

 mentions the Blackfoot Sioux. In a 

 note to De Smet's Letters (1843) they 

 were estimated to number 1,500. Cul- 

 bertson (Smithson. Rep. 1850, 141, 1851) 

 estimated the tribe at 450 lodges, an 

 exaggeration, and mentions five bands or 

 subtribes, but does not locate them. It 

 was not until Gen. Warren and Dr. 



