22 PRIMITIVE ART 
On an Arapaho moccasin (Case 20/1), a wide stripe embroidered 
on the instep represents the path on which the wearer travels. 
The two pieces of the transverse stripe, which duplicate in minia- 
ture a part of the main stripe, are insects 
or worms which the wearer desires to avoid, 
and which, for this reason, are placed by the 
side of his path. The upper portion of the 
large stripe is light blue, which signifies, 
as in many other cases, haze. The red and 
dark-blue bands that edge the white por- 
tion of the stripe represent day and night. 
The winged triangle, which appears twice, 
signifies sunrise, and also the passage over a 
mountain. 
The explanation of painted designs of the Arapaho is quite 
similar to that of beaded designs. Thus, on one hide bag (Case 
19 c) three wide blue stripes represent rivers, both form and color 
being symbolic. The red rectangles in them are islands, and 
the white border around these is sand. The triangles are 
bears’ feet; the red portions of the triangles represent the 
bare skin of the sole of the foot; the projections at the 
base of the triangles are the 
claws. The unpainted back- 
ground represents the prairie; 
the black spots in them are 
coyotes. Blue lines enclosing 
the whole design are buffalo- 
paths; the white lines between 
them, antelope-paths; the yel- 
low line is an elk-path; and red 
lines are deer-paths. 
It will thus be seen that the 
interpretation of the designs 
given by the Arapaho is partly 
realistic, while a part of the de- 
signs express abstract ideas. 
The morning star, the life symbol, the path of life and other 
concepts which are intimately associated with the religious ideas 
