. Bulletin. Ethnology. 244 PICTOGRAPHS [b. a. while that of the Kiowa has a summer symbol and a winter symbol, with a picture or device representing some note- worthy event. The origin of the cal- endar, or "winter count," dates back probably only a few generations, and while the method of transcription is purely aboriginal it is to be inferred that contact with the whites had stimu- lated the inventive powers of the In- dian in this direction without prescribing its form, just as Sequoya was stimulated to the invention of the Cherokee syllabary by the observed use of writing. (I
. Bulletin. Ethnology. 244 PICTOGRAPHS [b. a. while that of the Kiowa has a summer symbol and a winter symbol, with a picture or device representing some note- worthy event. The origin of the cal- endar, or "winter count," dates back probably only a few generations, and while the method of transcription is purely aboriginal it is to be inferred that contact with the whites had stimu- lated the inventive powers of the In- dian in this direction without prescribing its form, just as Sequoya was stimulated to the invention of the Cherokee syllabary by the observed use of writing. (In addi- tion to Mallcry, consult Mooney in 17th and 19th Reports B. A. E., and see Sequoya.) Tattooing (q. v.) is a form of picture- writing more widespread than any other and perhaps more commonly practised. Originating in very ancient times, it per- sists to-day among certain classes of civi- lized peoples. Besides the permanent Dakota Pictograph; Drawn IN COLOR ON Paper, (mallery) incised, or painted; occasionally they are rendered both permanent and conspicu- ous by being first incised and then painted. They appear on sea-worn bowlders, on glacier-polished rocks, on canyon cliffs, and within caves. Mallery states that petroglyphs of the incised form are more common in the N., while colored ones are more numerous in the S., and that petroglyphs of any kind are less common in the central part of the United States. The general absence in the interior of suitable media uj^on which to inscribe glyphs doubtless explains their general absence there, but the significance of the former facts of distribution is not apparent. Our present knowledge of Indian petro- glyphs does not justify the belief that they record events of great importance, and it would seem that the oft-expressed belief that a mine of information respecting the customs, origin, and migrations of ancient peoples is locked up in these generally indecipherable symbols must be aban- doned. In the above connection it is
Size: 1690px × 1479px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectethnolo, bookyear1901
