BULL. 30] 



SYMBOLISM 



663 



ordinarily so slight that we may rather 

 speak of pattern names than of symbolic 

 meaning of design. The triangle may be 

 called a mountain; a zigzag line, a snake; 

 a meandric pattern, waves of the sea; a 

 rectangular line, the leg of a lizard; a 

 series of acute angles, flying birds. Simi- 

 lar names occur in the folk-art of more 

 advanced people. Thus the Shetland 

 islanders give their patterns names of 

 "flowers"; and thus has the Mexican 

 woman names for her patterns in drawn- 

 work. It is hardly possible to draw a 

 sharp line between pattern names and a 

 stronger feeling for symbolic significance 

 of a design. That the tendency is 

 markedly present in California and on 

 the plateaus of British Columbia is shown, 

 for instance, by rock-paintings in which 

 a semicircular line with ray-like divergent 

 lines represents an unfinished basket, 

 and symbolizes industry and persever- 

 ance; or in the decoration of war-axes, 

 which represent the woodpecker and sym- 

 bolize the striking-power of its beak. 



Symbolic significance is much more 

 highly developed on the Great Plains, 

 and still more in the S. W. Its develop- 

 ment in this area is so peculiar that it 

 seems likely that one must look for the 

 origin of this strong symbolistic tendency 

 in the relations between the Mississippi 

 basin and the S. The decorative ele- 

 ments of which designs are composed 

 are largely triangles and squares, but 

 their meanings show an endless variety. 

 Thus the triangle or semicircle, with a 

 number of lines descending from its base, 

 conveys the idea to the Pueblo Indian of 

 the beneficent rain-cloud and raindrops; 

 or, to the Plains Indian, of a mountain 

 and springs streaming down from it; to 

 other tribes, the idea of the bear's foot, 

 and thus of the bear himself. A straight 

 line in dark color, interrupted by a few 

 light spots, may be a trail on the prairie 

 interrupted by gulches, or the path of 

 life. Each tribe has its own style of 

 symbolic interpretation of similar de- 

 signs. In the S. W., ideas relating to 

 rain, water, and fertility prevail; among 

 the Sioux men the symbolic significance 

 relates to war; among the Shoshoni, geo- 

 metric designs tend to become pictures of 

 events happening in a certain geographic 

 environment; but more abstract ideas, 

 like prayers for life, thoughts, etc., are 

 not absent. The more important in the 

 social or religious life of a people an ob- 

 ject is, the more important also is the 

 symbolic value of its decoration. 



The question as to whether the sym- 

 bolic ornament should be considered as a 

 conventionalized representation of the 

 symbol which was originally shown in a 

 realistic manner, or whether the geo- 

 metrical ornament was given a symbolic 



meaning by reinterpretation, has been 

 much discussed. There is little doubt 

 that both lines of development have oc- 

 curred with great frequency, but that re- 

 interpretation has been more common in 

 North America. This may be inferred 

 from the similarity of style in different 

 parts of the continent, and the variety of 

 symbolic interpretation. 



In a few cases the symbolic interpre- 

 tation of decorative elements has become 

 so definitely fixed that we may recognize 

 the beginnings of ideographic writing. 

 Cases of this kind are found in the so- 

 called "calendar histories" of North 

 American Indians, and also in symbolic 

 objects used in definite ceremonials. 

 Thus the associations between the colors 

 and certain quarters of the world among 

 the Southern tribes; between red and 

 blood among the Sioux (see Color sym- 

 bolism); between an arrow and prayer 

 among the Huichol ; that of the triangle as 

 rain-cloud in the S. \V. — seem so fixed 

 that their symbolic significance may be 

 read without hesitation. 



Symbolism is not confined to decora- 

 tive art, but appears also in other arts. 

 In music, rhythm has very often sym- 

 bolic significance; as, for instance, in the 

 f rhythm of the N. Pacific coast, which 

 is confined strictly to songs of the high- 

 est societies of the winter-dances. The 

 burden of songs is almost always associ- 

 ated with definite ideas conveyed by the 

 song. It is not certain whether or not a 

 symbolic meaning of musical phrases and 

 scales exists in America. 



The dance is very often symbolic in so 

 far as motion or gestures are associated 

 with distantly related concepts: like the 

 crouching of a dancer to express his sub- 

 missiveness, heavy steps symbolizing the 

 weight of the wealth that he carries; or 

 a circuit contrary to the custom of the 

 tribe, signifying his greatness, which per- 

 mits him to disregard the customs of 

 everyday life. 



Symbolism in poetry is highly devel- 

 oped; and it is found that very often 

 the meaning of songs is entirely unintel- 

 ligible unless its symbolic meaning is ex- 

 plained. There is hardly an exception 

 to this rule among the songs of American 

 Indians, even among tribes that have no 

 strongly developed symVjolism in deco- 

 rative art. The numerous songs of the 

 Hako ceremony of the Pawnee and those 

 of the ceremonials of the N. W. coast are 

 examples of symbolism of poetry. 



Symbolism plays an important part in 

 rituals in so far as acts signify or are in- 

 tended to bring about a result different 

 from the act itself. Thus, smoking is a 

 symbol of prayer, the shooting of an ar- 

 row symbolizes the sending of a prayer 

 to the deity, painting with red paint sig- 



