. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. fVu/fije/j/j T/jomaj Jojep/> /Vepfi/Of Common Spo//?/. J/art Malecite Canoe Details and Decorations. with the rounded side down and just touching one another at the top, having a small circle in the center of each, represents "clouds passing over the ; A similar series of half-circles without the center circles might mean the canoe was launched during a new moon; the number of half-circles shown would indicate the month. Yet there is not full agreement among Indians about the meaning of decorative forms; the crooked or zigz
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. fVu/fije/j/j T/jomaj Jojep/> /Vepfi/Of Common Spo//?/. J/art Malecite Canoe Details and Decorations. with the rounded side down and just touching one another at the top, having a small circle in the center of each, represents "clouds passing over the ; A similar series of half-circles without the center circles might mean the canoe was launched during a new moon; the number of half-circles shown would indicate the month. Yet there is not full agreement among Indians about the meaning of decorative forms; the crooked or zigzag line might also mean camps or the crooked score stick used in a Malecite game. The circle could mean sun or moon or month. A half-moon form might also be "a woman's earring," or a new moon. A circle with a very small one inside might be a "brooch," as well as "; Right triangles, in a closely spaced series along the gunwales, appar- ently meant "door cloth," or tent door ("what you lift with your hand"). Shown on pages 84 and 85 are some Indian marks on the wulegessis, based upon the statements of old Malecites or upon their sketches. After the Malecite had become Roman Catholic, a fish on the middle panel of a canoe meant that it had been launched on Friday. Pictures on a canoe sometimes indicated a mythological story; a picture of a rabbit sitting and smoking a pipe on one side of the canoe and a lynx on the other would be such a case. In Malecite mythology the rabbit was the ancestor of the tribe. He was also a great magi- cian. The was the mortal enemy of the rabbit, but in the mythological tales he was always overcome and defeated by the rabbit's magic. Hence, the idea conveyed is that "though the lynx is near, the rabbit sits calmly smoking his pipe and as he knows he can overcome his enemy," or, in short, "; The Indian's mark on his canoe or weapons is not a signature to b
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Keywords: ., bookauthorun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectscience
