i9°2-] Kroeber, The Arapaho. 107 



their parfleches so as to be as pretty as possible. Often they 

 dream of the designs. 



Fig. 2 of Plate xviii shows the design on another parfieche. 

 In the centre of this design is a green rectangle, which de- 

 notes the earth. A yellow stripe traversing this longitudi- 

 nally represents a large river; a blue stripe bisected by it, 

 streams of water flowing into the river. The small white un- 

 painted square at the intersection of these stripes is called the 

 centre. The red triangles forming a diamond in the green 

 rectangle represent mountains. At the two ends of the de- 

 sign are two triangular areas, also representing mountains. 

 In each there is an equilateral triangle, which denotes a tent ; 

 the lower part of this triangle, which is red, is the door of the 

 tent. Yellow, outside of this tent-symbol but adjacent to it, 

 denotes day or sunlight. Four green lines which enclose the 

 whole area represent the camp-circle. 



Pig. 3 of Plate xviii shows an entire parfieche with its two 

 flaps painted with the same design. The long triangular 

 areas, which are blue, represent, of course wholly on account 

 of their color, the sky. The white areas in them, having 

 rounded tops, are sweat-houses; the black tooth-like marks 

 are people in the sweat-house. A red stripe at the foot of the 

 sweat-house represents red earth or paint. Between each 

 pair of the long, blue sky-triangles is a pair of figures stretch- 

 ing the whole length of the design; one of each pair is red, the 

 other yellow. These figures denote four sticks such as are 

 used in painting parfieche designs like this one. White trape- 

 zoidal areas at the ends of these stick-figures are life-symbols. 

 The longitudinal curved spaces left unpainted between the sky- 

 symbols and the stick-figures represent thongs or ropes of 

 rawhide, such as that used to fasten this parfieche. The nar- 

 row white stripes, of which there are several, are trails. The 

 green lines enclosing each design represent grass. On each 

 of the four sides near the edge, as well as in the very middle, 

 of the design, is a yellow stripe; these stripes, on account of 

 their color, represent sunlight and yellow clouds (literally, 

 "yellow day"). These yellow stripes are bounded at their 

 ends by small dark-brown (black) rectangular marks, invisible 



