6 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVlH. 



the windward direction. The other elements in the word are 

 not clear. The sign for this subtribe is said to have been the 

 index-finger placed against the nose. This may mean " smell- 

 ing towards the south." This sign is now the usual one for 

 Arapaho in the sign-language of the Plains. 



Ha°anaxawiiune'na" means "rock-men." It is said to have 

 reference to stone-chipping or the working of flint. The sign 

 for this subtribe is the sign for rock or rough flint. 



Hinanae'ina" (the Arapaho proper) were indicated by the 

 sign for "father." 



Baasa"wuune'na° means "shelter-men," "brush-hut-men." 



The sign for this tribe is that indicating a round camp-shelter. 



Hitoune'na" (the Gros Ventres) are indicated by the gesture 



for a large or swelling belly. The word means "begging 



men," or "greedy men," or "gluttons." 



These five tribes were separate, though allied. Occasion- 

 ally they came together. Later, most of them grew less in 

 number, and were absorbed by the Hinanae'ina". There is 

 more Baasa-wuune'na" blood among the present Arapaho than 

 there is of that of the other tribes. The Hitoune'na", how- 

 ever, maintained a separate existence. Known as Gros Ven- 

 tres, they are an independent tribe considerably north of the 

 Arapaho. The Gros Ventres have a mythical story, ana- 

 logues of which are found among other "Western Plains tribes, 

 about their detachment from a previous larger tribe; but 

 there appears to be no reference in their traditions to any 

 common origin with the Arapaho. The Gros Ventres call 

 themselves "Haa'ninin." 



_Each of these five tribes had a dialect of its own. The 

 Baasa"wuune'na° speech is very similar to the Arapaho, and 

 is easily understood. There are several individuals among 

 both the northern and the southern portions of the Arapaho 

 tribe that still habitually speak this dialect. 



Next in degree of similarity is the Gros Ventre. There are 

 several regular substitutions of sounds between the Arapaho 

 and Gros Ventre dialects, but they are not numerous enough 

 to prevent mutual intelligibility. 



The Na'wa^inaha'ana" is considerably different from the 



