This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Over the period of two years author has devoted the intervals between official duties to collecting and collating materials for the study of sign language. As the few publications on the general subject, possessing more than historic interest, are meager in details and vague in expression, original investigation has been necessary. The high development of communication by gesture among the tribes of North America, and its continued extensive use by many of them, naturally directed the first researches to that continent, with the result that a large body of facts procured from collaborators and by personal examination has now been gathered and classified.

Over the period of two years author has devoted the intervals between official duties to collecting and collating materials for the study of sign language. As the few publications on the general subject, possessing more than historic interest, are meager in details and vague in expression, original investigation has been necessary. The high development of communication by gesture among the tribes of North America, and its continued extensive use by many of them, naturally directed the first researches to that continent, with the result that a large body of facts procured from collaborators and by personal examination has now been gathered and classified.

Fascinating, wide-ranging study describes and illustrates signs used for specific words, phrases, sentences, and even dialogues. Scores of diagrams show precise movements of body and hands for signing.

In 'Pictographs of the North American Indians' by Garrick Mallery, readers are presented with a comprehensive study of the prehistoric rock writings and drawings of various Native American tribes. Mallery meticulously examines the art of pictographs, decoding their meanings and cultural significance, providing valuable insights into the history and artistic expressions of these indigenous communities. The book showcases a combination of Mallery's meticulous research and his deep appreciation for the artistic traditions of the diverse Native American cultures, making it a valuable resource for scholars and enthusiasts alike. Mallery's writing style is both scholarly and accessible, making this book an engaging read for anyone interested in Native American art and history. Through his exploration of pictographs, Mallery sheds light on the rich cultural tapestry of the North American indigenous peoples, highlighting the importance of preserving and understanding these ancient forms of expression.

Learn to communicate without words with these authentic signs. Learn over 525 signs, developed by the Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and others. Book also contains 290 pictographs of the Sioux and Ojibway tribes.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, writers and anthropologists believed that the world’s primitive races were on the brink of extinction. They also believed that films, photographs, and phonographic recordings—modern media in their technological infancy—could capture lasting relics of primitive life before it vanished into obscurity. For many Americans, the promise of media and the problem of race were inextricably linked. While professional ethnologists tried out early recording machines to preserve the sounds of authentic indigenous cultures, photographers and filmmakers hauled newfangled equipment into remote corners of the globe to document rituals and scenes that seemed destined to vanish forever. In Savage Preservation, Brian Hochman shows how widespread interest in recording vanishing races and disappearing cultures influenced audiovisual innovation, experimentation, and use in the United States. Drawing extensively on seldom-seen archival sources—from phonetic alphabets and sign language drawings to wax cylinder recordings and early color photographs—Hochman uncovers the parallel histories of ethnography and technology in the turn-of-the-century period. While conventional wisdom suggests that media technologies work mostly to produce ideas about race, Savage Preservation reveals that the reverse has also been true. During this period, popular conceptions of race constructed the authority of new media technologies as reliable archives of the real. Brimming with nuanced critical insights and unexpected historical connections, Savage Preservation offers a new model for thinking about race and media in the American context—and a fresh take on a period of accelerated technological change that closely resembles our own.

"The information that is to be gathered ... respecting the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost." In 1906, J. P. Morgan provided Edward Curtis with $75,000 to produce a series on Native Americans and he recorded tribal lore and history, and he described traditional foods, housing, garments, recreation, ceremonies, and funeral customs. Curtis's goal was to photograph and to document as much of Native American traditional life as possible before that way of life disappears. Contents: The Apache Historical Sketch Homeland and Life Mythology - Creation Myth Medicine and Medicine-men The Messiah Craze Puberty Rite Dance of the Gods The Jicarillas Home and General Customs Mythology - Creation Myth Miracle Performers Origin of Fire The Navaho Home Life, Arts, and Beliefs History Mythology - Creation Myth Miracle Performers Legend of the Happiness Chant Legend of the Night Chant Ceremonies—the Night Chant Maturity Ceremony Marriage Southern Athapascan Comparative Vocabulary

Who, and what are the medicine-men (or medicine-women), of the American Indians? What powers do they possess in time of peace or war? How is this power obtained, how renewed, how exercised? What is the character of the remedies employed? Are they pharmaceutical, as we employ the term, or are they the superstitious efforts of empirics and charlatans, seeking to deceive and to misguide by pretended consultations with spiritual powers and by reliance upon mysterious and occult influences? Such a discussion will be attempted in this book, which will be restricted to a description of the personality of the medicine-men, the regalia worn, and the powers possessed and claimed. To go farther, and enter into a treatment of the religious ideas, the superstitions, omens, and prayers of these spiritual leaders, would be to open a road without end.

The myths given in this book are part of a large body of material collected among the Cherokee, chiefly in successive field seasons from 1887 to 1890, inclusive, and comprising more or less extensive notes, together with original Cherokee manuscripts, relating to the history, archeology, geographic nomenclature, personal names, botany, medicine, arts, home life, religion, songs, ceremonies, and language of the tribe. Contents: Historical Sketch of the Cherokee Stories and Story-tellers The Myths Cosmogonic Myths Quadruped Myths Bird Myths Snake, Fish, and Insect Myths Wonder Stories Historical Traditions Miscellaneous Myths and Legends