Column: Sign language helped diverse tribes communicate

Monday, January 28, 2013  

"The intelligence and sophistication of American Indians is nowhere better illustrated than in sign language. They were illiterate, but sign was a dazzlingly nuanced form of communication permitting members of different tribes to convey complex ideas based on boldly imaginative metaphors.

“The whites have had the power given them by the Great Spirit to read and write, and convey information in this way. He gave us the power to talk with our hands and arms, and send information with the mirror, blanket, and pony far away, and when we meet with Indians who have a different spoken language from ours, we can talk to them in signs,” said Chief Iron Hawk of the Sioux.

U.S. Cavalry Capt. William P. Clark studied sign in the 1870s and ’80s and left a treasure trove of a book about it. At some point, I might devote an entire column to the subject, but here are a few particularly pleasing examples of nonverbal words:

Bad: The movement being similar to what would naturally follow if one were to pick up what was supposed to be a rope and it should turn out to be a snake.

Bear: The conception is a rolling motion in walking."

Get the Story:
Matt Winters: The power of sign language (The Daily Astorian 1/25)