I902.] Kroeber, The Arapaho. I13 



Blue triangles on this are mountains; and small yellow tri- 

 angles enclosed within the blue are yellowish rocks on the 

 mountains. Inside of this border the white unpainted skin 

 represents earth or ground. The triangles are all tents, what- 

 ever their colors. Some of them have two small dark-brown 

 marks at their bases; others, one such mark at the vertex. 

 These small figures represent respectively tent-pegs and pro- 

 jecting tent-poles. Straight red lines are again paths, while 

 white lines with black rectangular spots on them represent a 

 row of buffalo-tracks. 



Fig. 4 of Plate xx shows the design on another unusually 

 small parfleche. The green lines enclosing the whole design 

 are the camp-circle. The long flat triangles are hills. The 

 six acute triangles are all tents: the interior red is the fire 

 inside; the yellow line, next to the red, is the tent itself, 

 i. e. , the skins of which it consists ; and the green outer border 

 of the triangle is the ground on which the tent stands. Four 

 black tooth-figures at the base of some of the triangles are 

 tent-pegs. The rhombus in the centre of the design repre- 

 sents both the eye and the navel. In each of the hills there 

 is an oblong area, in which a red stripe denotes earth, a yellow 

 stripe sunlight, and two white trapezoids the symbol of life. 

 In general, without reference to their location in particular 

 places in the design, the colors on this parfleche have the fol- 

 lowing signification: green is the earth, yellow is day or light, 

 red is htimanity, black is the sky. 



In the parfleche design shown in Fig. 5 of Plate xx, two 

 elongated central diamonds, which were originally red, rep- 

 resent lizards. Green lines in them, forming a cross, are their 

 bones. The red diamonds are surrounded by a white area, 

 which is rhombic-elliptical. This entire area, white and red, 

 represents a buffalo-scrotum. The surface adjacent to it is 

 blue, which denotes haze and smoke. At the ends of this blue 

 area are somewhat irregular white trapezoids ; and in them, ir- 

 regular green triangles. Both are life-symbols. All the figures 

 thus far described are enclosed by yellow and red lines, which 

 denote paths. Along the two sides of the whole pattern is a 

 series of convex yellow and concave green figures. These 



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