"they fight and they fight and they fight." The result of the contest is always uncertain; either "they kill each other" and fall apart, or "one may kill the other and travel home," toward the right hand, "with his enemy's head" (Fig. 32). If, in forming Opening A, the right palmar string be taken up first, and if, when the figure is completed, the right near strings be pulled upon, then the victorious head-hunter will travel home toward the left hand. There are not many figures like this one which have definite stories attached to them. Doubtless the stories exist, but have not been told and recorded; in some instances the stories have been forgotten by the natives themselves, or have degenerated into formulæ the meanings of which are no longer known. The Fighting Head-Hunters is a good example of that simple type of figure in which most of the movements consist in passing the fingers away from you and FIG. 32. toward you, and taking up strings and loops from other fingers of the same hand. The picking up of the strings forming the sides of the central triangle is not a common movement. In the Second movement a loop is transferred from one finger to another and turned over during the transfer. In the Sixth movement we have the first example of an almost universal procedure: When two loops are on a finger the lower loop is lifted over the upper loop and off the finger to form, toward the centre of the figure, a running noose or ring upon the upper loop. If there be three loops on a finger the lower one may be lifted over the upper two, or the lower two over the upper one, but in all cases the principle is the same, namely, to thread the upper loop, which originally belonged to another finger, through the lower loop, which is usually the original loop of the finger. As we shall see further on, this movement is executed in different ways: with the teeth, with the thumb and index of the other hand, by the aid of another finger of the same hand, or merely by twisting the finger itself. It is so general in the Navaho Indian figures that, following Dr. Haddon, in conversation we often speak of it as the "Navaho movement," or, coining a new verb, direct that the loops on a finger shall be "Navahoed." A SUNSET The "Sunset" is closely related to the preceding "Fighting Head-Hunters." It was obtained by Dr. Haddon in Torres Straits (see Rivers and Haddon, p. 150, FIG. 33. Fig. 4). In Murray Island it is known as Lem baraigida = a Setting Sun; in Mabuiag as Dògai = a Star. First, Second, Third, Fourth: Similar to the first four movements of the Fighting Head-Hunters. Fifth Exchange the loops on the index fingers by bringing the hands together and putting the right index loop on the left index and then putting the left index loop on the right index; in this way the right index loop is passed through the left FIG. 34. index loop. You now have a single loop on each index, two loops on each thumb, and two loops on each little finger (Fig. 33). Sixth Bend each middle finger down, and put it from above through the index loop; pick up from below on the back of the finger the two far thumb strings (Fig. 34), and return the middle finger back through the index loop to its original position (Fig. 35). Release the loops from the thumbs and index fingers, and transfer the two FIG. 35. loops on each middle finger to the thumb, by putting the thumb from below into the loops and withdrawing the middle finger. Seventh: In the centre of the figure is a small triangle the base of which is on the far side and is formed by the two strings passing from one little finger to the other; each side of the triangle is formed of the two near thumb strings after they have crossed the corresponding strings from the other thumb (Fig. 36). Pick FIG. 36. up from below on the back of each index the strings forming the corresponding side of the triangle (Fig. 37), and return the index to its position. You now have two loops on each thumb, two loops on each index, and two loops on each little finger. Eighth Put each middle finger from above through the two index loops, and (as in the Sixth movement) pick up from below on the back of the middle finger the two far thumb strings (Fig. 38), and return the middle finger, through the two index loops (Fig. 39), to its former position. Ninth: Release the loops from the thumbs and index fingers, and, keeping the loops on the little fingers, extend the figure by putting each index finger into the middle finger loop to make it wider (Fig. 40). The far little finger strings drawn straight represent the horizon, the central semicircle is the sun, and the three other double strings on each side are the sun's rays. These latter may be made more apparent by transferring, on each hand, FIG. 38. FIG. 37. FIG. 40. FIG. 39. one of the middle finger loops to the index. The sun is made to set by releasing the loops held by the index and middle fingers, and drawing the hands apart. In this figure we have as a new movement the exchange of loops between opposite fingers. We also see the method of transferring a loop from one finger to another finger of the same hand, without turning the loop over in the transfer. The loop of course could be simply lifted from finger to finger by the fingers of the other hand, but that apparently is rarely, if ever, done; it would require two separate movements, whereas by the method given in the Sixth movement of this figure, the two hands move synchronously. All the way through these string figures we constantly meet with the fundamental principle that the two hands shall execute the same movements at the same time; in some cases to accomplish this result the movements appear involved and indirect. You will also notice that the Eighth movement is a repetition of the Sixth movement; this occurs not infrequently in other figures and the repetition may cover not only one but several movements. OSAGE DIAMONDS This figure was shown me by an Osage Indian, Charles Michelle from Pawhuska, Oklahoma, at the St. Louis Exposition, in September, 1904. FIG. 41. name for it. In the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art there are two finished patterns collected by Mr. Stewart Culin; both are from the Hawaiian Islands. No. 21447 is called Ma-ka-lii-lii, and No. 21514, Pu-kau-la (see Culin, 1, p. 222). It is known among Indians, sometimes as "Jacob's Ladder," and also to the Irish, under the names of the "Ladder" or the "Fence." First: Opening A. Second: Release the loops from the thumbs, and separate the hands (Fig. 41). Third: Pass each thumb away from you under all the strings, and take up from below with the back of the thumb the far little finger string, and return the thumb to its former position without touching the other strings (Fig. 42). Fourth: Pass each thumb away from you over the near index string, and take up, from below, with the back of the thumb the far index string and return the thumb to its former position (Fig. 43). Fifth Release the loops from the little fingers and separate the hands. |