130 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS 



sweat house were embroidered on the moccasin in 

 order that the child might grow to the age at which the 

 sweat house is principally used ; namely, old age. 



The Dakota also have interpretation- for their 

 designs but seemingly to a less degree than t he Arapaho. 

 Among other tribes, occasional cases of symbolism 

 have been reported. In the Museum collections is a 

 pair of moccasins from the Plains-Ojibway bearing 

 Plains designs and accompanied by a definite symbolic 

 interpretation. All this suggests that there must have 

 one time been a marked undercurrent of symbolism 

 in the art of the Plains. 



It was once assumed that when you found in the 

 art of any people a geometric design, said to stand for 

 a definite plant or animal form, the realistic drawing 

 was the original form from which it was derived by a 

 process of conventionalization. When we attempt to 

 apply this principle to the art of the Dakota and the 

 Arapaho, for instance, we find in some cases the 

 same geometrical figure used by both tribes but to 

 symbolize entirely different objects. We are, therefore, 

 forced to assume that there is no necessary connection 

 between the life history of a decorative design and the 

 object it symbolizes. Plains art clearly shows that 

 often along with a style of designs, goe> also a style or 

 mode of interpretation. Since this interpretation is 

 a reading-in on the part of those having such a mode, 

 any vague resemblance will suffice. 



