STRING FIGURES
'LIGHTNING.1
STRING FIGURES
r " *"'
A STUDY OF v> "' CAT'S-CRADLE IN MANY LANDS
BY
CAROLINE FURNESS JAYNE
WITH AN ETHNOLOGICAL INTRODUCTION
BY
ALFRED C. HADDON
M.A., Sc.DM F.R.S., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., M.R.I.A. Cambridge, England
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1906
COPYRIGHT, 1906, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Published, February, 1906
6W
TROW DIRECTORY
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY NEW YORK
PREFACE
THIS book may be regarded as an introduction to the study of String /figures — games which are widespread among primitive peoples, and played by weaving on the hands a single loop of string in order to produce intricate patterns supposed to represent certain familiar objects. I have gathered together the facts already known concerning these games, and, adding my own studies and the unpublished records of other observers, I have here described and illustrated the methods whereby about one hundred string figures are made., My purpose has been twofold : to interest other students in the subject, in order that additional figures and their methods may be collected among various tribes and races; and to reach a still larger public, that more people may share in the fas- cinations of the games themselves. The games are certainly fascinating, appealing as they do to young and to old, and to those debarred from all pastimes demand- ing physical exertion. Moreover, they are not unduly difficult; and, capable as they are of infinite variations, their charm ought to be inexhaustible.
It gives me great pleasure to express my thanks to Dr. Alfred C. Haddon, of Cambridge, England, who first interested me in the subject by teaching me the games he had collected, for the permission to use his photographs and unpublished notes; to my brother, Dr. William Henry Furness, 3rd, for the string figures from the Caroline Islands, for the finished patterns from the Marshall Islands, for photo- graphs, and for aid in collecting new figures; to Mr. S. Chapman Simms, of the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, for assistance in studying the games of the North American Indians and the African Pygmies at the St. Louis Exposition, and for photographs of natives under his charge; to Dr. William P. Wilson, Director of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, for the opportunity of collect- ing games on the Philippine Reservation at St. Louis; to Dr. George B. Gordon, Curator in the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art, for the Eskimo
vi PREFACE
and Indian games which he secured for me during his recent trip to Alaska; to Mr. John Lyman Cox, of Philadelphia, for figures collected at the Indian School at Hampton, Virginia; and to Mrs. Morris Cotgrave Betts, for her skill and accuracy in the drawings.
Without constant aid and encouragement from my husband, Dr. Horace Jayne, I should never have written this book.
CAROLINE FURNESS JAYNE.
PHILADELPHIA, October, 1905.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION. By Dr. Alfred C. Haddon xi
CHAPTER I
Distribution of String Figures — Native Names — Methods First Recorded — Ethnolog- ical Value of String Games — Relations of Finished Patterns Made by Different Races — Relations of Native Methods — How String Figures are Made — Different Openings — Nomenclature Adopted — Typical Movements Described — Explana- tion of the Descriptions and the Drawings . i
CHAPTER II
Opening Movements, Known as First Position and Opening A — Figures Begin- ning with Opening A — An Apache Door — Fighting Head-Hunters — A Sunset — Osage Diamonds — Osage Two Diamonds— Dressing a Skin — A Fish-Spear — A Sea-Snake — A Kingnsh — Bagobo Diamonds — Bagobo Two Diamonds . . 10
CHAPTER III
Figures Beginning with Opening A (Continued) — Many Stars — An Owl — A Second Owl— A Third Owl— Seven Stars— Two-Horned Star— Two Coyotes— Big Star —North Star— Carrying Wood— Owl's Net— Two Elks— A Rabbit— The Sun . 48
CHAPTER IV
Figures Beginning with Opening A (Continued) — A Well — Fence Around a Well — A Crab — A Trigger Fish — Rattlesnake and a Boy — Two Skunks — Two Foxes — Two Squirrels — Leashing of Lochiel's Dogs — Two Hogans — A Cariboo — A Circle — Two Stars — Casting the Fish-Spear — An Arrow — A Porcupine .... 85
CHAPTER V
Figures Beginning with Opening A (Continued) — A Caroline Islands Catch — Circles and Triangles— Ten Men— A Variation of Ten Men— Caroline Islands Triangles —Carrying Money— House of the Bios-Bird— Three Stars— No Name— Coral— A Man— Two Chiefs— A Man and a Bed— A Palm Tree— A Canoe with Two Masts — A House— Figures Beginning with a Modification of Opening A— W—M . . 142
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
Figures which Do Not Begin with Opening A — A Bow — Lightning — A Butterfly — A Worm — Twin Stars — A Lizard — Little Fishes — Storm Clouds — One Hogan — An Apache Teepee — Tallow Dips — One Chief — Caroline Islands Diamonds — A Turtle— Ten Times 212
CHAPTER VII
Figures which Do Not Begin with Opening A (Continued) — Pigmy Diamonds — A Mouth — Two Little Boys Running Away — A Little Fish that Hides in the Mud — A Little Boy Carrying Wood — A Second Worm — A Brush House — A Six-Pointed Star— The Breastbone and Ribs— A Bird's-Nest— Two Boys Fighting for an Arrow— Flint and Steel— The Real Cat's-Cradle 276
CHAPTER VIII
Tricks and Catches — A Torres Straits Lizard — Hanging — The Mouse — A Dravidian Trick— A Finger Catch— A Fly on the Nose— A Thumb Catch— Will You have a Yam? — Threading a Closed Loop — A Saw Mill 337
CHAPTER IX
A Few Eskimo and Indian Games from Alaska — Figures Known only from the Finished Patterns — Nauru Figures — Eskimo Figures — Hawaiian Figures — A Zuni Figure — Australian Figures . 358
CHAPTER X
Geographical Distribution of String Figures — A Few Invented Figures — The Scarab — The Lozenge — The Square — Variation of Coral — Two Dolphins — Variation of the Crab — Second Variation of Ten Men 386
BIBLIOGRAPHY 396
INDEX
ILLUSTRATIONS
" Lightning" Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Lena Smith, a Jicarilla Apache 12
Pasi, a Mamoose, or Chief, of Dauar, Torres Straits 16
Charles Michelle, an Osage Indian of Pawhuska, Oklahoma 24
Waria, a Mamoose, or Chief, of Mabuiag, Torres Straits 40
Zah Tso, an Arizona Navaho of Gallup, New Mexico 54
Two Natives of Murray Island, Torres Straits . 86
Stone Money of Uap, Western Caroline Islands 160
Dakofel, a Uap Girl 168
Lemet, a Uap Woman 176
A Native of Port Moresby, New Guinea 234
Darcia Tafoya, a Jicarilla Apache 246
Uap Children Playing " The Turtle'' 266
Ottobang, a Cannibal Pygmy, Kasai Valley, Congo, Africa 276
Chief Zaroff, an Alaskan Eskimo 282
Two Uap Boys 320
Two Natives of Murray Island, Torres Straits 338
YJ-
INTRODUCTION
IN Ethnology, as in other sciences, nothing is too insignificant to receive atten- tion. Indeed it is a matter of common experience among scientific men that apparently trivial objects or operations have an interest and importance that are by no means commensurate with the estimation in which they are ordinarily held.
To the casual observer few amusements offer, at first sight, a less promising field for research than does the simple cat's-cradle of our childhood; and, indeed, it is only when the comparative method is applied to it that we begin to discover that it, too, has a place in the culture history of man.
As a child I had played cat's-cradle and had seen various string tricks, but it was not until the year 1888 that I saw in Torres Straits some of those elaborate string figures of savage peoples that put our humble efforts to shame. I found that a couple of natives do not play together as we do, "taking off" from each other, but that each plays separately, though in exceptional cases two players may be required to construct a particular figure. They can make much more intricate devices than ours and the manipulation is correspondingly complicated, toes and teeth being at times pressed into service; on the other hand, although many figures pass through elaborate phases in the making, the final result may be simple.
Travellers in various parts of the world have had a similar experience. We are informed that these figures are much more complicated than are ours, and they represent various natural and artificial objects in a state of rest or motion.
Occasionally a list has been published of some of the figures made by a par- ticular people, and in rare instances with illustrations of the completed figure. So far as my information goes, Dr. Franz Boas (i, p. 229)* was the first to publish a descriptive account of the method employed by a primitive people in making any of these figures; unfortunately he gives descriptions of but two of the five Eskimo
* For the full title of a work referred to in parentheses after an author's name consult the bibliogra- phy at the end of this volume. Other references are to pages of this book.
xi
xii INTRODUCTION
figures he illustrates. Mr. Harlan I. Smith (p. 282, Fig. 270) has published sketches illustrating the various stages in the making of two string figures of the Salish Indians of Thompson River, British Columbia.
It became evident to me that no progress could be made in the comparative study of string figures and tricks until a definite nomenclature had been devised which would indicate with precision all the stages involved in making a figure. A second visit to Torres Straits afforded me the requisite opportunity, and Dr. W. H. R. Rivers and I (p. 146) managed to devise a method of recording string figures and tricks which enabled us to write down some thirty Papuan examples. Since then the nomenclature has been adopted for the recording of the string figures of other peoples, and now my friend Mrs. Jayne has simplified our procedure and has produced this elaborate volume, w*hich will enable any one to indulge in this fasci- nating amusement. Not only has she added a new joy to life, but this book will undoubtedly be the means of considerably increasing our knowledge of the forms of the game and their distribution, and therefrom we may hope for more light upon the various problems that await solution.
On making a general survey of string figures, or, to adopt the English colloquial term, "cat's-cradles," it seems that they fall into two main groups; but as our knowl- edge increases we may find that this generalization will have to be somewhat modified. In the European and Asiatic type two strings pass around the back of each hand, and the crossing loops are taken up by the middle fingers. In the Oceanic and American type there are no strings at the back of the hand, and the crossing loops are taken up by the indices. The former invariably requires two players, while one person suffices for the usual figures of the latter type. I propose to designate these two types as the Asiatic and the Oceanic respectively.
ASIATIC TYPE
In Korea, according to Culin (2, p. 30), " cat's-cradle is usually played by girls. The figures, which are the same as in our own children's play, are named as follows : i, Cover for hearse; 2, chess-board; 3, chop-sticks; 4, cow's eyeball; 5, rice-mill pestle." The game is called "woof-taking."
My friend Dr. H. H. Weir informs me that "the Koreans play cat's-cradle almost as in England, but there are two actions with which I am not familiar. The first six figures are as in England, but 6 (cat's-eye) is made into a new figure which reverts to 3 (candles)."
INTRODUCTION xiii
"In Japan," according to Culin (2, p. 30), " cat's-cradle is called aya ito tori, 'woof pattern string- taking.' The figures are identical with those in Korea, but receive different names: i, Unknown; 2, a mountain cat into which a domestic cat is supposed to transform itself; 3, a musical instrument, or the two pieces of wood under the sole of clogs; 4, horse-eye; 5, a musical instrument."
Culin (2, p. 30) states that in southern China cat's-cradle is called "well-rope." It is spoken of as an amusement of girls, but is known to most Cantonese labor- ers ; they make the same figures as those of Korea and Japan. Miss Fielde (p. 87) says that the children of Swatow play cat's-cradle precisely as do the chil- dren in America and Europe; but the Chinese call it "sawing wood," in allusion to the final act in the performance.
This last statement evidently refers to a figure which is made thus: make the "manger," or "inverted cradle"; the other player picks up one of the straight strings in the middle, passes it under the other, and holding the latter in the middle, draws these two strings as far apart as possible; the first player releases all the strings except those on the little fingers ; the two players make sawing movements with the strings. I have an impression that this figure is played in England.
"Sawing Wood" was taught to me by Zia Uddin Ahmad of Trinity College, Cambridge, who said it was known in Delhi and Lucknow under the name of Qainchij " scissors." It is made thus : Opening A (cf. p. 1 1), the other player passing his left hand over all the strings, pulls the straight little-finger string toward the original player, and with his right hand, under the remaining strings, pulls the straight thumb string toward himself; the first player releases all but the index loops ; the sawing movement can then be made. This figure and the trick described on p. 345, and one very similar to "The Lizard" (p. 337), which Dr. S. Levinstein taught me, are all the string games that I have yet heard of from India. A Scottish method of making this figure is described by Maclagan (p. 190), the two opera- tors chant alternately:
"See saw, Johnnie Maw, See san, Johnnie man."
East Indian Archipelago. A. R. Wallace (p. 183) tells us: "One wet day in a Dyak house [Borneo], when a number of boys and young men were about me, I thought to amuse them with something new, and showed them how to make ' cat's-cradle ' with a piece of string. Greatly to my surprise, they knew all about it, and more than I did ; for, after I and Charles had gone through all the changes we
xiv INTRODUCTION
could make, one of the boys took it off my hand and made several new figures, which quite puzzled me. They then showed me a number of other tricks with pieces of string, which seemed a favorite amusement with them." De Crespigny (p. 344) writes of the Dusuns of Borneo: "Near me were two children playing at cat's-cradle exactly as I remember to have played it in my childhood." This precisely coincides with my own experience in the same island.
When I visited the Philippine Reservation at the St. Louis Exposition, in 1904, I played cat's-cradle with some of the natives, and I found they played in the same manner as we do. My time was too limited to learn the names of the figures or to see what others they knew. Mrs. Jayne was more diligent, and she learned a few new figures from some of the natives. It will be noticed that the Bagobo Diamonds (pp. 43, 46) begin with Opening A. Schmeltz (p. 230) says girls are skilled at this game in Soerabaja in Java, and he states that Matthes records it as a very favorite child's game among the Macassarese and Bugis of South Celebes. It is called toekd-toekd, "the ladder game," derived from to$kd, "steps." We have no indication whether this is the Asiatic or the Oceanic type.
Europe. So far as I am aware no description of the British form of cat's- cradle has been published sufficiently explicit to enable one to play the game thor- oughly. Mrs. Gomme in her excellent monograph (p. 61) gives illustrations of the figures, and states they are produced seriatim as follows: i, Cradle; 2, soldier's bed; 3, candles; 4, cradle in versed or manger ; 5, soldier's bed again or diamonds; 6, diamonds orcat's-eye; 7, fish in dish; cradle as at first. Other English names are barn-doors, bowling-green, hour-glass, pound, net, fish-pond, the lady's bed, fiddle ; but it is not clear to what figures all these names refer. Three or four figures are described and figured by E. Nister (p. 73), but he does not describe the whole series, neither does he give names to any of the figures.
I have heard of cat's-cradle from Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Netherlands, but details are lacking.
My friend, Miss B. Freire-Marreco, informs me that a Dane of her acquaint- ance does exactly the same as in the English cat's-cradle though giving different names to the various figures; they are as follows, the English name preceding the Danish: i, Cradle, cradle; 2, church- window, unknown; 3, pound of candles, mirror; 4, cradle, cradle; 5, soldier's bed, hour-glass; 6 [7, ?], fish in dish, whale.
De Cock and Teirlinck record Afpakken: Dradenspel (' Taking off: String- game') from Molenbeek-Briissel; they give three figures illustrating the method of making the cradle and three figures from Mrs. Gomme. They add the following
INTRODUCTION xv
information : " In Germany it is also known under the name of Abheben (' Taking off '), Faden-abheben (' Taking-off strings '), and Fadenspiel (' String-game '). The figures are variously named; in Brabant they are known as Wasser ('Water'), die Schere ('Scissors'), die Geige ('Fiddle'), die Wiege ('Cradle'), (cf. Georgens, Sp. fur Knaben, bl. 263). Andree (Braunschw. Volkskunde) calls it Hexenspiel (' Witch's game '), and Auf- und abnehmen (' picking- up and taking-off ') . In the neighborhood of the town of Nantes it is known as la scie (' Saw ') ; the best known figures are called: le berceau ('Cradle'), les chandelles ('Candles'), les carreaux (' Squares'), les ciseaux (' Scissors '), etc. (R. des Trad. pop. XIII, 15.) "
OCEANIC TYPE
There is no need to give all the references by travellers of the occurrence of cat's-cradle over this vast area, but the following will suffice to indicate its universal occurrence :
Australia. Eyre (p. 227) refers to the "varied and singular figures" made by the Australians and remarks that "our juvenile attempts in this way are very meagre and uninteresting compared to them." Bunce (p. 75) says: "Some were playing with a puzzle made of string, 'Cudgi Cudgick.' This puzzle was played between two individuals and required two pairs of hands, in the same manner as the juvenile game of 'cat's-cradle' common to our own country." It is not clear from this description whether they played as we do or whether, as elsewhere in Australia, two people are required to make some figures.
Roth (p. 10) has paid more attention to this subject than any one else in Aus- tralia. He states : " With any fair length of twine, adult women and young children, of both sexes, will often amuse themselves for hours at a time. It is thus used in the form of an endless string to play the game known to us Europeans as ' cratch- cradle.' Thus played with, it is met with everywhere throughout North Queens- land. In some districts it is even indulged in by adult men; it is the women and children, however, who are most partial to it. Some of the figures are extremely complicated, passing through at least eight or nine stages before completion. During the process of manufacture such a one requires not only the hands, but even the mouth, knees, etc., to make the different loops, twists, and turns. In addition to variations in complexity, certain of the figures may be made with two endless strings, while to complete others again it may be necessary to have one or even two assistants. Strange to say, similar figures may be met with at distances extremely remote, with
xvi INTRODUCTION
and without similar interpretations. Occasionally the endless string may be arranged on the flat, or on the ear." Dr. Roth has given careful drawings of seventy- four North Queensland cat's-cradles and to most he has added a small figure to illustrate the original object which is copied, but unfortunately he does not give any indication of how they are made. My friend, Mr. W. Innes Pocock, has, however, been able to discover ways in which many of these figures can be constructed; these I hope will be published by the Anthropological Institute of London in Man. One (pi. V, Fig. 6), which is called a "Duck in Flight," is the same as the Torres Straits "Casting the Fish-spear" (p. 131).
New Guinea. Turner (p. 483) was the first to record cat's-cradle from New Guinea, where he found it played by the Motu children of Port Moresby. Later, Finsch (1891, p. 33) found it as a child's game in Bentley Bay, and I have seen it played by children at Hula, Port Moresby, Delena, and on Kiwai Island. Thilenius (p. 20) hazards the suggestion that the figures made in this game may even have had an influence upon the decorative art and wood carving of the Papuans. I have more than once (i, p. 361; 2, p. 224; 3, pp. 38, 175, 201) alluded to its occurrence among the Papuans of Torres Straits. The general name for the game among the Western Islanders is Womer, and by the Eastern Islanders it is called Kamut. In 1888 I transferred on to cardboard a few figures that were made for me by a native of the Western Islands ; three of these have been published by Edge-Par- tington & Heape (pi. 341, 1-3), they are Gud, mouth, Umai, dog, and Ger, sea-snake (cf. p. 34). Several examples from this region have been published by Dr. Rivers and myself, a few more will be found in this book, and some additional ones will be published in Vol. IV of our Reports. The thirty-four figures we wrote down fall into Mrs. Jayne's three groups (cf. p. 4). Of the patterns, 16 were figures at rest and n figures in motion; there were 6 tricks and i catch, and we know of the occurrence of many others; altogether the figures in motion appear to be as numer- ous as those at rest. More than one-third represent animals. Two of the fish, besides being well known as fish, are the subjects of a very popular folk- tale of the Murray Islands. One figure which represents boys playing is subsequently con- verted into two rings, which represent two of the sacred grounds of Mer (Murray Island), in which the very important initiation ceremonies into the Malu fraternity were held ; and another is supposed to represent the passing of the stone-headed clubs from hand to hand during one of the Malu dances, as is described in Vol. VI of the Reports. With these exceptions there does not appear to be anything of a religious nature in the game as played in Torres Straits, and I think that these
INTRODUCTION xvii
figures have no such significance. Words are said or sentences muttered while most of the figures are being made, but it is difficult to make sense of some of these, and it is quite impossible to understand others. In Murray Island these are called Kamut wed, " Kamut songs."
Nageg upi seker dike, abele lar upige seker dike.
Nageg tail comb* it is here, that fish on the tail comb it is there.
Le sik, le sik, sik erapei, le sikge, le sikge, uteidi
Man bed, man bed, bed breaks, man on a bed, man on a bed, asleep lies,
uteidi. sik erapei.
lies asleep, bed breaks.
Mbnan patibili Peibri-em enau aroem.
Monan rolls to Peibri enau fruit t for eating.
Tup igoli umi Waierge, Waier kesge, Waierge Water kesge.
Tup swim round to Waier, Waier in the channel, to Waier Waier channel.
Pageia mai nagedim upi etauerida kai amarem pekem. Sea-snake you to where tail strikes I to side.
The natives of Torres Straits do not know how to play the Asiatic form of cat's-cradle.
Melanesia. "It was interesting to me," writes Finsch (1888, p. 143), "that the taking off of a thread stretched between the fingers is also found in New Ireland; fairly large lads occupied themselves with it. They were able to make very beautiful figures and in so doing sang a not unpleasant melody." Codrington (p. 341) records that "cat's-cradle, in Lepers' Island Lelegaro, in Florida Honggo, with many figures, is common throughout the islands." He also says (p. 30) that the people of Florida are grouped into six exogamous divisions, or Kema. The names of two of these are Honggo-kama and Honggo-kiki, respectively the "Great" and the "Little Cat's- cradle." Buchner (p. 269) records the game from Fiji, and he makes the im- probable suggestion that the natives had been taught it by the missionaries.
* This has reference to the series of small spines at the base of the tail of the Nageg fish, i. e. "trigger fish" or "leather jacket" (Monocanthus); in the folk-tale Nageg is the mother of Geigi. t The Wangai "plum" (Mimusops Kaukii).
xviii INTRODUCTION
Polynesia. The knowledge of this pastime was certainly common to the mem- bers of the Polynesian stock before they separated off into different groups, as we find it played from the Hawaiian Islands in the north to New Zealand in the south, and as far east as the Hervey group.
Culin (i, p. 222) figures sixteen examples from Hawaii and refers elsewhere (3, p. 106) to three more, but says, "many others are said to be known." They are known as Hei, "net." Elmer E. Brown (p. 163) refers to the unpublished investigations of Mr. J. S. Emerson into the folk-lore of the Hawaiian Islands. "With reference to the Hawaiian cat's-cradle," says Mr. Emerson, "I have collected most carefully a considerable amount of valuable information, which I propose to publish as soon as I can get at it. The last bit of information with regard to the subject I came upon almost unexpectedly this morning at South Cape (Ka Lae). It was the last resting-place (in stone) of the famous rat that saved the human family from starvation when the god Makalii hung up the food in a net to a cloud in the heavens. Thus, little by little, scrap by scrap, all over the islands, I gather the detached materials of a most strangely interesting structure that requires all my patience and ingenuity to dovetail together. There is no native now living who knows enough to give a full and connected story of this remark- able Hei, Koko or Makalii. Part of it comes from lole, the home of the rat in Kohala. Part must be looked for in Waioli, Kanai, where the net was hung up to the cloud. And at last I have stumbled unawares upon the stars (Pleiades), the home of Makalii, his net, and the rat, all in the rock at South Cape." Mr. Brown goes on to say: "I think Mr. Emerson has fully established its connection with superstitious rites and beliefs in the Hawaiian Islands."
Two early travellers give us the following account of the game as played in New Zealand. Dieffenbach (p. 32) writes: "In the game of Maul they are great proficients. This is a game like that called cat's-cradle in Europe, and consists of very complicated and perplexing puzzles with a cord tied together at the ends. It seems to be intimately connected with their ancient traditions, and in the different figures which the cord is made to assume, whilst held on both hands, the outlines of their different varieties of houses, canoes, or figures of men and women are im- agined to be represented. Maui, the Adam of New Zealand, left this amusement to them as an inheritance." Taylor (p. 172) says: "He what, or maui, the 'cat's- cradle,' is a game very similar to our own, but the cord is made to assume many more forms, and these are said to be different scenes in their mythology, such as Hine-nui-te-po, Mother Night bringing forth her progeny, Maru and the gods, and
INTRODUCTION
xix
Maui fishing up the land. Men, canoes, houses, etc., are also represented. Some state that Maui invented this game." Tregear (i, p. 115; 2, p. 58) calls the game Whai, huhi or mam, and says sometimes a whole drama was played by means of the changing shapes. Two of the favorites were the ascent of Tawhaki, the Light- ning God, to heaven and the fishing up of the land by the hero Maui. There were proper songs chanted as accompaniments to the movements of the players' hands. Gill (p. 65) informs us that in the Hervey group " cat's-cradle (Ai) was a great delight of old and young. Teeth were called into play to help the fingers. One complication, in which the cord in the centre is twisted into a long slender stem, and therefore called 'the coco-nut tree,' I have never known a European to unravel."
America. Several authors have recorded the occurrence of cat's-cradle among the Eskimo (Hall, i, p. 316; 2, p. 129). Klutschak (pp. 136-139) found even old men of King William Land playing it with reindeer sinews. They showed him 139 named figures; of these he gives 3 illustrations, Tuktuk (Reindeer), Amau (Wolf), and Kakbik (Pig). Andree very truly points out that there is no pig in this region, but his suggestion that the natives learned the game from Europeans ("Nordmen") is untenable. Tenicheff (p. 153) copies the first two of the figures, but does not say what they are meant to represent nor where he obtained them. As previously mentioned, Boas (i, p. 229) has published a few figures, and elsewhere (4, pp. 151, 161) he gives the observations of Capt. G. Comer that in Iglulik, "While the sun is going south in the fall, the game of cat's-cradle is played, to catch the sun in the meshes of the string, and to prevent his disappearance" (p. 151). Also on the west coast of Hudson Bay, "boys must not play cat's-cradle, because in later life their fingers might become entangled in the harpoon-line. They are allowed to play this game when they become adults. Two cases were told of hunters who lost their fingers, in which the cause was believed to be their having played cat's-cradle when young. Such youths are thought to be particularly liable to lose their fingers in hunting ground-seal" (p. 161).
According to Murdoch (p. 383), "the [Point Barrow] women are very fond of playing cat's-cradle whenever they have leisure. One favorite figure is a very clever representation of a reindeer, which is made, by moving the fingers, to run down-hill from one hand to the other." Nelson (p. 332) was amused for an hour or more by an old man at Cape Darby, near Behring Strait, who "made a constant succession of patterns with his sinew cord, forming outlines of various birds and other animals of the region."
xx INTRODUCTION
In a criticism of Andree's statement (2, p. 214, subsequently repeated, 3, p. 96) with regard to the distribution of cat's-cradle, that its occurrence among the Eskimo is quite isolated and probably due to European influence, Boas (2, p. 85) affirms that the game is known to all the eastern Eskimo peoples and the figures made by them are very numerous, although it appears each has only a limited range. Thus the Cumberland Sound Eskimo did not know the figures given by Klutschak. The game is known on the Mackenzie, and it is probably played all along the whole coast of arctic America. Boas also states that it is known along the north-west coast of America and, as among the Eskimo, is played only by one person at a time. The Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Kwakiutl all play it ; the most south- erly point at which Boas saw it played was at Comox, on Vancouver Island. He goes on to say : "The way in which the game is played is very interesting. While the figure is being made, the player sings the song belonging to it, which de- scribes what the figure illustrates. Many of these figures illustrate actions. The Eskimo have a figure which illustrates two reindeer fighting, the Tsimshians have dancing shamans, the Comox (Catloltq) a mink which runs along the sea-shore. The game is also known to the Salish tribes of upper Frazer River and Thomp- son River."
Cat's-cradle has been recorded from various North-west tribes as well as among the Cherokee, Omaha, Pawnee, Navaho (Haddon, 5), and Pueblo Indians; indeed, it seems to be spread over the whole of North America.
So far as I am aware records are lacking of its occurrence in Central America. It does occur in South America, for Ehrenreich (p. 30) states that the game of cat's- cradle representing animal figures is played by the Karaya of the Rio Araguaya (Goyaz), and quite recently I have heard of string games amongst the Chaco Indians of Paraguay, but details are not forthcoming.
As in so many other subjects, E. B. Tylor (p. 26) was the first to draw the attention of students to this game and to treat it from a comparative point of view. He states quite correctly that it is evident the Dayaks and Polynesians did not learn these string games from Europeans "and," he continues, "though cat's-cradle is now known over all Western Europe, I find no record of it at all ancient in our part of the world. It is known in South-east Asia, and the most plausible explanation seems to be that this is its centre of origin, whence it mi- grated westward into Europe, and eastward and southward through Polynesia and into Australia."
INTRODUCTION xxi
I, too, can find no early mention of this game in Europe, and as our method is precisely similar to that of Eastern Asia I can only conclude that, like the kite, it was introduced directly into Europe from that part of the world. At present it is impossible to say more exactly where it arose, whether in Korea, China, or Indo- China; presumably it passed from the main-land to the Asiatic Islands.
We should expect to find the overlap of the Asiatic and Oceanic types of the game in the East Indian Archipelago, and therefore we need not feel surprised that Mrs. Jayne has discovered the latter form (p. 43) among the Filipinos. My friend, Miss A. Kingston, has worked out a method by means of which the ordinary Asiatic opening can be converted to the Oceanic Opening A, but I do not know that it is actually practised. Her method is as follows : Cat's-cradle opening. With little fingers take up the ulnar (far) middle-finger strings below the point where they cross. Pass the straight string from the radial (near) side of the indices to the ulnar (far) side of the little fingers. Press thumbs against the indices to hold the radial (near) index string firm. Bring the straight ulnar (far) string that passes over the back of the hand over the tips of all fingers and thumbs. Transfer middle-finger loops to indices. Result, Oceanic Opening A.
So far as I am aware the only figure in Europe which begins with the Oceanic Opening A is that known as "The Leashing of LochiePs Dogs " (p. 116). I am unable to explain the significance of this anomaly.
It is a highly significant fact that the American cat's-cradles belong to the Oceanic type, and that nowhere in this whole region, so far as is yet known, does the Asiatic type occur. This type must be extremely ancient, otherwise it would not occur among such widely different races as the Australians, Melanesians, Polynes- ians, Eskimo, and North American Indians.
It is surprising what an enormous number of figures can be made from an endless loop of string, and there are very numerous varieties in every place where the Oceanic type of the game is played. No surprise, therefore, need be felt if similar figures occur in various places; at all events if they are of simple construction, a complex figure or one with difficult manipulation is not so likely to be often in- vented independently.
So far as our knowledge goes the figure known as "The Leashing of Lochiel's Dogs," "Crow's Feet," etc. (p. 116), is the most widely spread of all, as versions of it occur in North Queensland (Roth), East Africa, North America, and the British Islands. Mr. W. Innes Pocock has discovered that it can be made by a dozen different methods.
xxii INTRODUCTION
The " Fish-spear," which is a simple figure, has also a wide distribution. It is found in Torres Straits ("Fish-spear"). H. I. Smith described it from the Salish of Thompson River, B. C. ("Pitching a tent"). I found it played by the Clayoquaht Indians, Nootka tribe, Vancouver Island, at the St. Louis Exposition ("Sea-egg [Echinus] spear"), and there is a Zuni, N. M., example in the Philadelphia Museum.
No cat's-cradles or string tricks have hitherto been recorded from Africa. I have for some time been aware of the sparse occurrence of one or two string tricks from that continent, but very recently my friend, Dr. C. W. Cunnington, has col- lected fifteen patterns and three tricks from various tribes in East Africa, mainly in the neighborhood of Lake Tanganyika ; these will, I hope, be published by the Anthropological Institute of London. Three of these begin with Opening A, the rest have varied beginnings. In four cases the final patterns are similar, but the construction differs in each case. Three figures possess movement. The pattern known as Umuzwa, " a wooden spoon " made by the Ulungu, of the south end of Tanganyika, is " practically the same in result as the Cherokee figure, ' Crow's Feet.' " One string trick from Wajiji " is precisely the same as Kebe mokeis, ' the mouse,' from Murray Island, Torres Straits, a trick also known to the Omaha Indians." Several patterns are known to widely separated tribes, but under differ- ent names. Mrs. Jayne's discovery of a Batwa Pygmy pattern is of great interest, and it will be noticed that, like the majority of those since known from Africa, it has an original opening.
It may seem a superfluous question to some to ask, Why is this game played ? But the Ethnologist is bound to do so, for he knows from experience that practi- cally everything man does has a meaning, and it is his business to endeavor to find out whether there is any reason for the performance of any action, and if so to discover its significance.
The Asiatic type, so far as our present knowledge goes, does not appear to possess much interest; but two facts seem to be significant with regard to the Oceanic type. These are: (i) The widely spread accompaniment of words or chants, and (2) The frequent representation of persons, incidents, or objects connected with religion or mythology. These facts are interesting and suggest that we have here to do with some symbolism that has in course of time become obscured. On the other hand, it may merely be a pastime, and the figures and designs may be nothing more than casual illustrations of mythology, as they are of innumerable natural objects.
INTRODUCTION xxiii
The Eskimo evidence proves that cat's-cradle may, jn part, have a magical significance and suggests a line for future inquiry, for we know that all over the world strings, cords, and knots enter largely into magical practices. The informa- tion at present available is too scanty for us to discuss these questions with profit.
ALFRED C. H ADDON. CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, July, 1905.
STRING FIGURES
CHAPTER I
DISTRIBUTION OF STRING FIGURES — NATIVE NAMES — METHODS FIRST RECORDED — ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE OF STRING GAMES — RELATIONS BETWEEN FINISHED PATTERNS MADE BY DIFFERENT RACES — RELA- TIONS BETWEEN NATIVE METHODS— HOW STRING FIGURES ARE MADE — DIFFERENT OPENINGS — NOMENCLATURE ADOPTED — TYPICAL MOVEMENTS DESCRIBED — EXPLANATION OF THE DESCRIPTIONS AND THE DRAWINGS.
IN our childhood we have all doubtless enjoyed the fascination of the game of Cat's-Cradle, and experienced a sense of being hopelessly baffled, when, after completing the series of familiar movements, we were at the end of our knowl- edge, and all our attempts to go on further ended in a complete tangle of the string. We did not know that the game, as we then played it, is one of a host of similar games played with a loop of string by savage or primitive people all over the world, and that, while our childish game is also known in many and widely separated lands, it is possibly only a survival of others now lost, and crude enough com- pared with the intricate and beautiful patterns devised by savage races.
For many years travellers have been calling attention to the fact that a game resembling our Cat's-Cradle is played in various parts of the world; hence we now have some idea of its geographical distribution.
We know that certain simple patterns are common in Great Britain, Europe, and the United States (in addition to the Indian games), and have been reported from India, Japan and Korea (Culin, 2, p. 30 and Weir) and China (Culin, 2, p. 30; Fielde, p. 87). Ehrenreich (p. 30) tells us that string games are played in South America, and I have found a few figures among the Batwa pygmies from Africa. Reports of their occurrence come chiefly, however, from explorers of the various islands of the Pacific Ocean^and from observers of the North American Indians.
Thus we learn of string figures in Java from ScEmeltz JpT^o) ; in Borneo from Wallace (p. 183), Haddon, and Furness; in Celebes from Matthes (p. 129); in the Philippines from my own studies at the St. Louis Exposition; in Australia from Bunce (p. 75), Smyth (Vol. I, p. 178), Eyre (II, p. 227), and Roth (p. 10); in New Guinea from Finsch (1891, p. 33), Rivers and Haddon (p. 151), and Turner (p. 483) ; in Torres Straits from Rivers and Haddon (p. 146); in New Ireland from Finsch (1888, p. 143); in the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides from Codrington
2 STRING FIGURES
(p. 341); in the Loyalty Islands from Rivers and Haddon (p. 148); in the Fijis from Buchner (p. 269) ; in New Zealand from Dieffenbach (Vol. II, p. 32), Taylor (p. 172), and Tregear (i, p. 115; 2, p. 58); in the Hervey group from Gill (p. 65); in the Hawaiian Islands from Culin (i, p. 223) and Brown (p. 163); in the Caroline Islands from Furness; and in the Marshall Islands from Stephen. In America we learn of their prevalence among the Eskimos from Boas (i, p. 229; 2, p. 85; 3, p. 569; 4, pp. 151, 161), Hall (i, p. 316; 2, p. 129), Klutschak (p. 138), Murdoch (p. 383), Nelson (p. 332), and Tenicheff (p. 153) ; among the Salish from Smith (p. 281); the Tlingits, Tsimshians, and Kwakiutls, from Boas (2, p. 85); the Clayo- quahts from Haddon; the Tewas and Zufiis from Culin; the Pawnees, Omahas, and Cherokees from Haddon (5, p. 217); and among the Navahos from Haddon (5, p. 219) and Culin. Mr. John L. Cox has gathered games for me from the Kla- maths, Tewas, Omahas, and Onondagas, and I collected string figures from the Navahos, Osages, Chippewas and Apaches at the St. Louis Exposition.
Of the name " cat's-cradle," which is confined, of course, to the English game, no satisfactory derivation has ever been given (see Murray, N.E.D.). Comparatively few of the native names have been recorded. The Eskimos of Cumberland Sound call it ajararpoq ; the Navahos, na-ash-klo, "continuous weaving"; the Japanese, aya-ito-tori, "woof-pattern string-taking"; the Caroline Islanders, gagai (the word also employed for the pointed stick used to open coco-nuts) ; the Hawaiians, hei, or "net"; the New Zealanders, he-whai, huhi, or maul; the natives of Lepers' Island in the New Hebrides, lelagaro, and of Florida in the Solomon Islands, honggo. In the eastern islands of Torres Straits it is known as kamut, in the western islands as wormer. The Bugis and Makassars of the Celebes call it toekd-toekd, from toekd, "a ladder." In some places in Australia it is named cudgi-cudgick. In North Queensland the various tribes of blacks have different names for it. The Koko- yimidir of Cape Bedford call it kdpan (used also for "words, letters, writing," etc.); the Ngaikungo and Ngatchan of Atherton, etc., morkuru; the Nggerkudi of the Pennefather and Batavia rivers, ane-inga; the Kungganji of Cape Grafton, man- jing; the Koko-lama-lama of the Hinterland and coast of Princess Charlotte Bay, yirma; the Koko-rarmul of the same, mianman; the Koko-wara of the same, andai- ibi; the Mallanpara of the lower Tully River, kumai or kamai.
Although the existence of the game has been known for years, no one had described how the figures are made until Dr. Boas, in 1888, recorded the methods employed in two Eskimo games. In 1900 Mr. Harlan I. Smith figured certain stages of two games played by the Salish Indians of British Columbia. To Dr. W. H. R. Rivers and Dr. Alfred C. Haddon, however, must be attributed the real impetus given to the study of string games: their paper, published in 1902, gives us the first plan whereby all these intricate and difficult figures may be described so that anyone can repeat them; their simple and accurate nomenclature now makes it possible to record all future discoveries. A second paper, in 1903, by D^. Haddon (5) on the string games of the American Indians, and a paper, in 1903,
ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE 3
by the Rev. John Gray on several Scotch cat's-cradles, include, probably, all the descriptive records on the subject.
My brother, Dr. William Henry Furness, 3rd, in his recent trip among the Caroline Islands, by following Drs. Rivers and Haddon's directions and nomen- clature, was able to record fifteen new and extremely interesting string figures ; and at Dr. Haddon's suggestion I visited the St. Louis Exposition several times in 1904, and was fortunate enough to secure thirty-one additional games from natives of the various races and tribes there congregated. Of the ninety-seven figures set forth on the following pages seventy-one are now described for the first time. To this list have been added drawings of a number of finished patterns obtained by other observers who did not record, however, the methods by which they were made.
Just what value the study of the string games of different races will have to the ethnologist, it is difficult to say at this time. That evidences of racial or tribal relationship, or of migration, may be found in them, is not unlikely; that they bring us in closer touch with the folk-lore of savage people is already clear. While games in general of native races, and their connection with folk-lore, have by no means been neglected, string figures have appeared so difficult and require rela- tively so much time and such intimate relations for their collection, that, as yet, few careful observations have been made. Gradually, however, we are learning more about them; we know that many are closely connected with racial history and mythology, with traditional tales and fortune-telling; some are accompanied by muttered chants or songs; in others a consecutive story follows from move- ment to movement, or perhaps a touch or a word is associated with a certain turn or twist of the string.
Concerning the relations, which the finished patterns produced in the string games of different countries, bear to one another, we know that a few simple figures are practically universal, that several others are formed by widely separated races, but that the great majority are peculiar to definite localities. We cannot suppose that the natives set to work deliberately to form figures of familiar objects, but rather that of the many patterns — formed by chance, in sheer idleness or from an inventive turn, whether under tropical suns or in ice huts during long arctic winters — only those were kept up and named which bore resemblances, however slight, to something connected with their daily life or prominent in their thought. How far tradition has preserved the figures unchanged, or time and constant repeti- tion have altered their original form, of course it is impossible to tell. In the fin- ished patterns we find, among all races, representations of men and women, parts of the body, articles of dress, of commerce, and of warfare ; and of stars, and natural phenomena — such as storms, darkness, and lightning. Animals and plants are fre- quently reproduced, the names of course being conditioned by the fauna and flora of the locality, as, for example, the coral of the Pacific Islands, the cariboo of the Eskimos, and the owl, snake, and coyote of the American Indians.
The methods employed by different races in making the figures and a com-
4 STRING FIGURES
parison of these methods, are more interesting, and of more importance, than the study of the relations between the finished patterns. At present we can venture to express only the belief that, while many of the methods must be the same the world over, some of them will exhibit, in every region sufficiently isolated, marked pecu- liarities which, if enough figures are available, will enable us with certainty to recognize their locality. Thus the methods of Caroline Islands figures cannot be mistaken for those of the Navaho Indians, or the New Guinea methods for those of the other two.
These string games may be roughly classified into those figures whereof the purpose is to form final patterns, supposed to represent definite objects ; those which are tricks, wherein, after much complex manipulation of the strings, the entire loop is suddenly drawn from the hand by some simple movement ; and those which are catches, wherein, when certain strings are pulled, the hand or some of the fingers may be unexpectedly caught in a running noose. Of course, there is no hard and fast
rule of classification; several very pretty patterns may be converted into catches.
String figures are made with a piece of string about six feet long, the ends of which must be tied to- gether to form a single loop about three feet long. In some races a thong of skin is used ; in the islands of the Pacific a cord made of cocoa-
FIG. l. / I nut fibre, or of human hair finely
plaited, serves as a string. A woven
cord which does not kink as easily as a twisted cord will prove most satisfactory; unfortunately it cannot be spliced, the ends therefore must be knotted in a small square knot or laid together and bound round with thread.
All string games begin with an opening, the object of which is to get the orig- inal loop so arranged on the hands that a number of secondary loops shall cross from the fingers of one hand to the fingers of the other, when the hands are held in what is called their usual position, namely, with the palms facing each other, and the fingers directed upward (Fig. i).
The ninety-seven figures described on the following pages show many different openings, but fifty-seven of them begin with the same opening.
In arranging the figures, those with a common opening, and otherwise closely related, are gathered in one series, instead of being distributed into race groups; and in each series, as far as possible, simple figures are placed first.
Every finger loop has, of course, two strings, and as a rule both these strings pass between the hands to form the strings of finger loops on the opposite hand; but sometimes one or both strings of a finger loop, before crossing to the other hand,
NOMENCLATURE 5
pass across the palm of the hand or around other fingers and is a string, or strings, common to two finger loops of the same hand (Fig. 2). When you have arranged loops on the fingers, and the hands are held in the usual position, the loops are
FIG. 2
named from the fingers on which they are placed; thus, right index loop, left little finger loop, and so on; whenever a loop or string is changed to another finger, of course its name is changed to that of the new finger on which it is placed.
The strings of the finger loops which leave the finger from the side nearest you are called near strings, and the strings which leave the finger from the side of the finger furthest away from you are called jar strings; hence we have a right near middle finger string or a le}t jar thumb string, etc. A finger may have two loops on it, in which case they are called upper and lower loops; and we have upper and lower near strings and upper and lower far strings. A string crossing the palm is a palmar string (Fig. 2).
FIG. 3.
The movements whicn are necessary to form a final pattern are many, and in some cases most complex. They consist of a series of manipulations of the loops and strings which have been put on the fingers by the opening movement. Loops and strings are drawn over other loops and strings (Fig. 3), or under them; or are
6 STRING FIGURES
dropped and new ones formed by drawing out a straight string on one hand by a finger of the other hand (Fig. 4) ; loops are threaded through other loops (Fig. 5), or twisted, or the loop on the finger of one hand is exchanged for a loop from a
FIG. 4.
finger of the other hand (Fig. 6); and strings crossing between the hands, or in the centre of the growing pattern, are picked up by the fingers of one or of both hands (Fig. 7).
It should be remembered that the object is to form the pattern on the hands, and, as far as possible, that the loops on the fingers of one hand shall be ar- ranged by the fingers of that hand ; the hands working together simultaneously. Of course, at times it is necessary for the fingers of one hand (usually the index and thumb) to arrange loops on the other hand (Fig. 8). A loop or a string on the hand is arranged by a finger of the same hand as follows : pass each index
FIG. 5.
THE DESCRIPTIONS
7
toward you, over the upper far thumb string, and pick up from below on the back of the index the lower far thumb string, and draw it up and away from you by returning the index to its usual position (Fig. 9). When you pass a finger down and under a string to pick it up, as in this example, you must naturally pick
FIG. 6.
8
STRING FIGURES
it up on the back of the finger; but if you pass a finger over a string to pick it up, you must pick it up on the ball of the finger, or in the bend of its first joint (Fig. 5). In some figures the hands alone are not sufficient to carry out the necessary steps, and certain strings or loops must be held by the teeth (Fig. 10), or on the finger of a second person. Almost all of the string figures here recorded are solitary games, only a few need two persons and only one two persons and two loops of string.*
I have divided the description of each figure into a number of movements, every one of which represents a step toward the completed pattern; in this way it is easy
to remember the order of the steps, and it enables reference to be made to one or more steps in a figure without the necessity of further description, for some figures are mere variations of others, and a few are made by com- bining movements of several figures with one or two new ones. The de- scriptions have been prepared with the utmost care, and have been tested on people who knew nothing of the game. There is, therefore, a reason for every direction which 'is given; some may seem superfluous, but these mark the points where experience has shown FIG. 10. that a pupil is liable to make a mis-
take. None of the figures is very
difficult, the really difficult ones are yet to be recorded, as we can see by examin- ing the finished patterns from the Marshall Islands given at the end of the book.
No trouble has been found in teaching string games to children of the kinder- garten age, and the games can be made as interesting to all children as to adults,
* Drs. Rivers and Haddon's nomenclature is as follows:
"A string passed over a digit is termed a loop. A loop consists of two strings. Anatomically, any thing on the thumb aspect of the hand is termed 'radial' and anything on the little-finger side is called ' ulnar* ; thus every loop is composed of a radial string and an ulnar string. By employing the terms thumb, index, middle-finger, ring-finger, little finger, and right and left, it is possible tc designate any one of the twenty strings that may extend between the two hands. A string lying across the front of the hand is a palmar string, and one lying across the back of the hand a dorsal string. Sometimes there are two loops on a digit, one of which is nearer the finger tip than the other. Anatomically, that which is nearer to the point of attachment is 'proximal,' that which is nearer the free end is 'distal.' Thus, of two loops on a digit, the one which is nearer the hand is the proximal loop, that which is nearer the tip of the digit is the distal loop; similarly, we can speak of a proximal string and a distal string. * * * A digit may be inserted into a loop from the proximal or distal side, and in passing to a given loop the digit may pass to the distal or proximal side of other loops."
I
THE DRAWINGS 9
and at the same time aid materially in cultivating manual dexterity and a nice co- ordination of brain and hand.
Moreover, two persons can play string games together, the right hand of one and the left hand of the other forming one figure while the other hands are forming an entirely different figure ; in the same way many persons can play together.
It should be remembered that the following descriptions follow exactly the methods used by the natives; doubtless other ways of forming the same figures exist, or can be devised, but I have not deemed it right, on the ethnological grounds given above, to change the methods shown to me at first hand or recorded by others.
The invention of new figures is a fascinating diversion, and is of value because thereby a student becomes more expert and therefore better trained to observe and record native games. One pretty figure I invented, as I flattered myself, only to find out later that it is common among the natives of the Caroline Islands. A few of these invented games have been added at the end of the book merely as examples of what may be done.
In the illustrations which accompany the descriptions we have the first serious attempt to show the successive steps in string games by pictures of the fingers picking up and arranging the strings and of the result produced by each move- ment. Heretofore, as a rule, only finished patterns have been drawn, or stretched out on cards for exhibition in a museum. Moreover, the illustrations represent the various steps as they are seen by the person making the figure. We have observed great care to have the strings and the loops, and their manner of crossing one another, accurately drawn. In a few figures only, where the strings run into small twists or knots in the centre between the hands, it has not been possible to trace individual strings throughout their entire course, but wherever this has been possible, even in* the most complex figures, I think the artist has been unusually successful and has rendered faithfully the effects of strain and of deflection pro- duced by crosses, knots, and twists. In illustrating a step which requires that each hand shall perform, independently, the same movement at the same time, in order to reduce the number of drawings without sacrificing any important stages in the process, one drawing, as a rule, serves to show two stages: one hand, usually the left, being represented as beginning the movement, the other hand as completing it (see Fig. 9).
CHAPTER II
MOVEMENTS KNOWN AS FIRST POSITION AND OPENING A — FIGURES BEGINNING WITH OPENING A — AN
APACHE DOOR — FIGHTING HEAD-HUNTERS — A SUNSET — OSAGE DIAMONDS OSAGE TWO DIAMONDS
— DRESSING A SKIN — A FISH-SPEAR — A SEA-SNAKE — A KING FISH — BAGOBO DIAMONDS — BAGOBO TWO DIAMONDS
FIRST POSITION
THE following movements put the loop on the hands in what for conven- ience may be called the First Position. Very many string games begin in this way; and the movements should be learned now, as we shall not repeat the description with every figure.
First : Put the little fingers into the loop of string, and separate the hands.
You now have a single loop on each little finger passing directly and uncrossed to the opposite little finger.
Second : Turning the hands with the palms away from you, put each thumb into the little finger loop from below, and pick up on the back of the thumb the near little finger string; then, allowing the far little finger string to remain on the
FIG. 11.
little finger, turn the hands with the palms facing each other, return the thumbs to their extended position, and draw the strings tight (Fig. n).
In the First Position, therefore, there is, on each hand, a string which crosses the palm, and passing behind the thumb runs to the other hand to form the near thumb string of the figure, and passing behind the little finger runs to the other hand to form the far little finger string.
10
OPENING A
ii
It is not essential that the loop shall be put on the hands by the movements just described ; any method will answer, so long as the proper position of the string is secured. This method, however, has been found to be as easy as any other. The First Position is, of course, absurdly simple, yet it not infrequently puzzles the beginner, largely because it is the reverse of the first steps in the ordinary English Cat's- Cradle known to every child.
OPENING A
More than half of the string figures described in this book open in the same way ; to avoid constant repetition therefore, we may follow Drs. Rivers and Haddon (p.
FIG. 12.
FIG. 13.
148), and call this very general method of beginning Opening A. It should be learned now, because in the descriptions of the figures in which it occurs, the first movement will be simply noted as Opening A. It is formed by three movements.
First : Put the loop on the hands in the First Position.
Second : Bring the hands together, and put the right index up under the string which crosses the left palm (Fig. 12), and draw the loop out on the back of the finger by separating the hands.
Third : Bring the hands together again, and put the left index up under that part of the string crossing the palm of the right hand which is between the strings on the right index (Fig. 13), and draw the loop out on the back of the left index by separating the hands.
12
STRING FIGURES
You now have a loop on each thumb, index, and little finger (Fig. 14). There is a near thumb string and a far little finger string passing directly from one hand to the other, and two crosses formed between them by the near little finger string of one hand becoming the far index string of the other hand, and the far thumb string of one hand becoming the near index string of the other hand.
In forming many of the figures beginning with Opening A it is absolutely necessary to follow the order just given, and take up, first, the left palmar string with the right index, and then the right palmar string with the left index; it will save trouble, therefore, if this order be always followed, even if it make no difference in
the result. If the reverse of this order is ever required, of course it will be noted in the description.
AN APACHE DOOR
This figure was taught to me by an Apache girl, Lena Smith, from Jicarilla, New Mexico, at the St. Louis Exposition in September, 1904. Lena spoke very little English and touched a door to signify the name of the figure. I could not get from her the Apache name. She was much amused at my blunders. A Navaho girl told me that all Indians know this figure. In the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art, there are four examples of the finished figure collected by Mr. Stewart Culin and preserved on cards: (i) Li-sis = a Poncho, 22722, Navaho, from St. Michael's Mission, Arizona; (2) Pi-cho-wai-nai, 22604, Zuni, New Mexico; (3) Pi-cho-wai, a-tslo-no-no-nai = a Sling, 22610, Zuni, New Mexico, and (4), 22729, from Isleta, New Mexico.
First: Opening A.
Second: With the right thumb and index pick up the left near index string close to the left index, and lift the loop entirely off the left index; then put the loop over the left hand and let it drop down on the left wrist. With the left thumb and index pick up the right near index string close to the right index, and lift the loop entirely off the right index; then put the loop over the right hand and let it drop down
LENA SMITH, A JICARILLA APACHE. (Courtesy of Mr. S. C. Simms.)
AN APACHE DOOR 13
on the right wrist. Separate the hands and draw the strings tight. You now have a loop on each thumb, a loop on each little finger, and a loop on each wrist
(Fig. 15).
Third : With the right thumb and index pick up the left near little finger string (not the whole loop) close to the left little finger, and, drawing it toward you,
FIG. 15.
pass it between the left index and thumb, and release it. With the right thumb and index pick up the left far thumb string close to the left thumb, and, drawing it away from you, pass it between the left ring and little fingers, and release it.
With the left thumb and index pick up the right near little finger string close to the right little finger, and, drawing it toward you, pass it between the right index and thumb, and release it. With the left thumb and index pick up the right far
FIG. 16.
thumb string close to the right thumb, and, drawing it away from you, pass it between the right ring and little fingers, and release it.
You now have a loop on each wrist, and two strings crossing each palm in the First Position (Fig. 16).
STRING FIGURES
FIG. 17.
Fourth : Keeping all the loops in position on both hands, with the left hand
grasp tightly all the strings where they cross in the centre of the figure, and pass
this collection of strings from left to right between the right thumb and index, that is, from the palmar side to the back of the hand, and let them lie on the back of the hand midway between the thumb and index finger (Fig. 17). Then with the left thumb and index take hold of the two loops already on the right thumb, and, without pulling them out, draw them over the tip of the right thumb (Fig. 1 8). Now, still holding the loops, let the col- lection of strings lying low down between the right index and thumb, slip over the right thumb to the palmar side. The right thumb is now entirely free. Without untwisting the two original right thumb loops, which you are still holding with the left thumb and index, replace these loops on the right thumb exactly as they were before the collected strings were placed between the right index and thumb (Fig. 19). Separate the hands, and draw the
strings tight. Now repeat exactly the same movement on the left hand as follows : Keeping all the loops in position on both hands, with the right hand grasp
tightly all the strings where they cross in the centre of the figure, and pass this
collection of strings from right to left between the left index and thumb, that is,
from the palmar side to the back of
the hand, and let them lie on the
back of the hand midway between
the index and thumb; then with the
right thumb and index take hold of
the two loops already on the left
thumb and, without pulling them
out, draw them over the tip of the
left thumb. Now, still holding these
loops, let the collection of strings
lying low down between the left in- dex and thumb, slip over the left
thumb to the palmar side. The FIG. 18.
left thumb is now entirely free.
Without untwisting the two original left thumb loops, which you are still holding
with the right thumb and index, replace these loops on the left thumb exactly as
they were before the collected strings were placed between the left index and thumb.
Separate the hands, and draw the strings tight.
PASI, A MAMOOSE, OR CHIEF, OF DAUAR, TORRES STRAITS.
See Haddon's Head Hunters : Black, White and Brown.
(Courtesy of Dr. A. C. Haddon.)
AN APACHE DOOR 15
You now have a loop on each wrist, two twisted loops on each thumb, and two
twisted loops on each little finger (Fig. 20).
Fifth : With the right thumb and index lift the left wrist loop from the back of
the left wrist up over the tips of
all the left fingers, and let it fall
on the palmar side. With the
left thumb and index lift the
right wrist loop from the back
of the right wrist up over the
tips of all the right fingers, and
let it fall on the palmar side. Sixth : Retaining the loops
on the thumbs and little fingers,
rub the palms of the hands togeth- er; then separate the hands, and FIG. 19.
draw the figure tight (Fig. 21).
This is a beautiful figure, and not at all difficult. Moreover it retains its shape
no matter how tight you may pull it. It contains several interesting movements:
In the Second, the method of transfer- ring the index loops to the wrists is unusual; as we shall see further on, a more complicated method is almost al- ways employed. In the Third move-J ment the changing of a string from one finger to another by means of thei thumb and index of the other hand is a process not often observed. Indeed one may easily believe that the meiL- ods given in these two movements are
20. I short cuts peculiar to the individual
who taught me the figure, and that,
some day, other Indians will be seen doing these movements in the usual elab- orate style, whereby the
strings on either hand
are shifted and arranged
by the fingers of that
hand only. As far as I
know, the Fourth move- ment has not been ob- served in any other string
figure. The rubbing of
the hands together in the " ^ ' FIG. 21.
i6
STRING FIGURES
Sixth movement is, of course, only for effect; it has no bearing on the success of the figure. The manner of showing the finished pattern, what we call its "extension," is of the most simple type; indeed the figure practically extends itself when the hands are drawn apart.
FIGHTING HEAD-HUNTERS
This figure was taught to me by Dr. Haddon in August, 1904. He obtained it when on the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits; it is de- scribed by Rivers and Haddon (p. 150). In Mer (Murray Island), Torres Straits, it is called Ares = Murray and Dauar men fighting. One twisted loop of the finished figure represents the Murray man, who always carries off the Dauar man's head.
First: Opening A.
Second : Bend each little finger toward you over all the strings except the near thumb string, and then down into the thumb loop, and pick up on the back of the
FIG. 22.
little finger the near thumb string (Fig. 22), and return the little finger to its original position, taking the thumb loop entirely off the thumb. You now have a single loop on each index and two loops on each little finger (Fig. 23).
Third: Pass each thumb away from you under the index loop, and take up from below on the back of the thumb the two near little finger strings, and return the thumb to its position (Fig. 24). Release the loops from the little fingers.
Fourth : Bend each little finger toward you over the index loop, and take up from below on the back of the finger the two far thumb strings (Fig. 25, Left hand),
FIGHTING HEAD-HUNTERS
FIG. 23.
FIG. 25.
STRING FIGURES
26
and return the little finger to its position, retaining the loops on the thumb (Fig. 25,
Right hand).
Fifth : In the centre of the figure there is now a distinct triangle formed of
double strings (Fig. 26).
Insert the tip of each index from below into this triangle, and, pulling out
the sides of the triangle on the backs of the index fingers (Fig. 27), separate the hands. You should now have two loops on each thumb, two loops on each little finger, and three loops on each index, one at the base of the finger and two together near the tip (Fig. 28).
Sixth: Keeping all the strings securely on the right
hand, with the right thumb and index lift the lower left single index loop over the
two upper left index loops (Fig. 29), and over the tip of the left index, and let it
FIG. 28.
FIGHTING HEAD-HUNTERS
fall on the palmar side. In doing this movement be careful not to let the loops slip off the right fingers. In like manner with the left thumb and index remove the lower right index loop from the right index. Release the loops from the thumbs. The two loops which are now on each index and little finger are bound together not far from the palm (Fig. 30).
Seventh : Twist tightly the two loops on each index finger about three times, by rotating the index away from you (or by dropping the loops from the index and twisting them with the thumb and index).
Eighth : The loops should now be FIG. 29.
dropped from the index (if this has not
been already done to twist them with the thumb and index) and the figure turned so that these twisted index loops shall hang down. With the left little finger pull
FIG. 30.
gently on the left near little finger strings, which will cause the right twisted hanging loops (one head-hunter) to move toward the other hanging loops (the other head- hunter) (Fig. 31); then they meet, and by jerking the left hand strings slightly
FIG. 31,
20
STRING FIGURES
"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 victo- rious 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 de- generated into formulae 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 A SUNSET
21
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 Dbgai — 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),
22 STRING FIGURES
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
A SUNSET 23
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. 37.
24 STRING FIGURES
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 con- stantly 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 Paw- huska, Oklahoma, at the St. Louis Exposition, in September, 1904. He had no
name for it. In the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art there are two finished patterns col- lected by Mr. Stewart Culin; both are from the Hawaiian Islands. No. 21447 is called Ma-ka-Ui-lii, and No. 21514, Pu-kau-la (see Culin, i, p. 222). It is known among In- dians, sometimes as " Jacob's Lad- der," and also to the Irish, under the names of the "Ladder" or the FIG. 41. "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.
Sixth : Pass each little finger toward you over the near index string and take
CHART, ES MICHELLE, AN OSAGE INDIAN OF PAWHUSKA, OKLAHOMA. (Courtesy of Mr. S. C. Simms.)
OSAGE DIAMONDS 25
up from below on the back of the little finger the far thumb string (Fig. 44, Left hand), and return the little finger to its former position (Fig. 44, Right hand).
FIG. 42.
FIG. 43.
FIG. 44.
26
STRING FIGURES
FIG. 45.
Seventh: Release the loops from the thumbs (Fig. 45). Eighth: Pass each thumb away from you over the index loop, and take up, from below, with the back of the thumb the near little finger string and return
the thumb to its posi- tion (Fig. 46).
Ninth: With the right thumb and index pick up the left near index string (close to the left index and above ' the left palmar string)
and put it over the left thumb (Fig. 47). With the left thumb and in- dex pick up the right near index string (close
to the right index and above the right palmar string) and put it over the right thumb. Separate the hands (Fig. 48).
Tenth : Bending each thumb toward the other hand and then up toward you, slip the lower near thumb string off the thumb, without disturbing the upper thumb loop (Fig. 49, Left hand).
Eleventh : Insert each index from above into the small triangle formed by the palmar string twisting around the thumb loop (Fig. 49, Right hand), and, turning the palms down, release the loop from the little fingers ; then sep- arate the hands, turn the palms away from you, and the finished figure will appear (Fig. 50).
This figure is extremely sim- ple; the majority of the move- ments are most direct. The Ninth movement appears to be rather a clumsy way of taking an additional loop on the thumb, but if you try the usual Indian way of putting each thumb
simultaneously up into the index loop between the palmar string and the index, and then separating the thumbs from the index fingers, you will find it rather difficult.
In the Tenth movement we see a new way of slipping the lower thumb loop over the upper loop and off the thumb. The turning of the palms away from you to form the finished figure is a movement we shall meet with repeatedly ; in this figure
FIG. 46.
OSAGE DIAMONDS
27
FIG. 48
FIG. 47.
it is not essential to the success of the pattern, but in many other figures the final pattern will not appear unless the far strings are drawn tight by turning the palms away from you.
28
STRING FIGURES
OSAGE TWO DIAMONDS
The Osage Indian who taught me the preceding game gave me this one also; he had no name for it. There is a Hawaiian example done with a single string
loop preserved in the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art. It was collected by Mr. Stewart Culin, is numbered 21448 and called Pa-pi-o-ma-ka-nu- i-nu-i (see Culin, i, pi. xiv, a).
First: Opening A, with the string doubled and used throughout as if it were a single string (Fig. 51).
Second : Release the loops from the thumbs.
Third : Pass each thumb away from you over the index loops and the near
little finger strings, and take up, from below, on the back of the thumb the far little finger strings and return the thumb to its former position (Fig. 52).
Fourth : Insert each thumb from below into the index loops, close to the index, between the finger and the strings which cross the palm and return the thumb to its position (Fig. 53).
Fifth : Turn each thumb down toward the other thumb (Fig. 54, Left hand),
OSAGE TWO DIAMONDS
29
FIG. 54.
FIG. 55.
and, letting the lower loops slip off the thumb, turn the thumb up toward you (Fig. 54, Right hand).
Sixth : Insert each index from above into the triangle formed between the thumb and index by the palmar strings looping around the strings of the thumb loops (Fig. 55), then, while turning the palms downward and then away from you,
STRING FIGURES
release the loops from the little fingers, and separate the index fingers widely from the thumbs to extend the figure (Fig. 56).
This is a slightly different and abbreviated form of the Osage Diamonds.
Of course it can be done also with a single string loop, but the final pattern is not so effective and closely resembles the final figure of the Navaho "Twin Stars."
DRESSING A SKIN
Dr. Haddon learned " Dressing a Skin" from Mr. Harlan I. Smith of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, who found it among the Salish Indians of Thompson River, British Columbia, when on the Jessup North Pacific Expedition. (See Smith p. 282, fig. 270, a, 1-7 and Haddon 5, p. 217.)
First : Opening A.
Second : Release the loops from the little fingers, but do not separate the hands J let the long loop hang down (Fig. 57).
Third : Toss this long loop toward you over all the other strings and let it hang down on the near side (Fig. 58).
Fourth : Bend each thumb down into its own loop, over that part of the string of the hanging loop which crosses over the thumb loop (Fig. 59 Left hand), and let the original thumb loop slip over the knuckle and off the thumb (Fig. 59, Right hand).
DRESSING A SKIN
FIG. 57.
FIG. 58.
FIG. 59.
32 STRING FIGURES
i
Then turn the hands with the palms away from you and, drawing the strings tight, extend the figure between the thumbs and index fingers (Fig. 60).
The object of the Third movement is to get each far index finger string into a
convenient position for drawing it through the thumb loop. This movement may be done by drawing each far index string toward you on the thumb and then re- leasing the little finger loops and the original thumb loops.
A FISH-SPEAR
FIG. 61.
This little figure comes from Murray Island, Torres Straits, where it is known as Baur = a Fish- spear (see Rivers and Haddon, p. 149, Fig. i). It is identical with "Pitching a Tent," of the Salish Indians, British Columbia, obtained by Mr. Harlan I. Smith, when he secured "Dressing a Skin." Sev- eral stages of " Pitching a Tent " are illustrated by Mr. Smith (p. 282, Fig. 270, &, 1-4) and the game itself is described by Dr. Haddon (5, p. 217). Dr. Haddon has since found it played by the Clayoquaht Indians, Nootka tribe, Vancouver Island, at the St. Louis Exposition under the name "Sea-Egg (Echinus) Spear." There is a finished pattern in the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art, No. 22608 from Zufii, New Mexico, collected by Mr. Stewart Culin.
First : Put the loop of string on both hands in the First Position.
Second : Insert the right index, from above, be-
A FISH-SPEAR
33
hind the string crossing the left palm, and draw out the loop to the right, twisting it several times by rotating the right index.
FIG. 62.
Third: With the left index pick up from below the string crossing the right palm, being sure to pick it up between the strings of the right index loop and near
FIG. 63.
the right index where the loop is not twisted (Fig. 61). Separate the hands and draw the strings tight (Fig. 62).
Fourth : Release the loops from the right thumb and little finger, and sepa- rate the hands. The points of the spear will be on the thumb, index, and little finger of the left hand, and the handle will be held by the index of the right hand (Fig. 63).
34
STRING FIGURES
A SEA-SNAKE
The " Sea-snake " is played by the natives of Murray Island, Torres Straits, they call it Pagi — a Sea-snake. It is described by Rivers and Haddon (p. 152, Fig. 9). Partington (pi. 341, 3) gives a drawing of a finished pattern from Torres Straits, preserved in the British Museum (A. C. Haddon Collection) and labelled " cat's-cradle in the form of a water Snake (gare)."
First : Opening A. (The left palmar string must be taken up first.) Second : Keeping all the loops securely on the fingers, turn the hands with the palms down and the fingers pointing toward one another. Move the right hand
FIG. 65.
toward you, then to the left, and carry it up and away from you over and past the left hand (Fig. 64) ; turn the hands with the fingers pointing upward and draw the strings tight (Fig. 65). This movement brings all the strings from the palm of the left hand around the base of the left thumb over the back of the left hand and then to the right hand from the far side of the left hand.
Third : Put the entire left hand, from above, into the loop on the right index (Fig. 66), and move it away from you over the right little finger loop, and release the loop from the right index as it slips down on the left wrist (Fig. 67). Now carry the right hand around the left hand, by moving it away from you, to the left, and toward you over the left hand (Fig. 68), thus unwinding the strings. Separate the hands and draw the strings tight (Fig. 69).
A SEA-SNAKE
35
FIG. 69.
36 STRING FIGURES
Fourth : Release the loop from the left index and draw the strings tight (Fig. 70). The string on the right hand is now in the First Position.
Fifth : With the back of the left index take up, from below, the string on the right palm, as in Opening A, and separate the hands (Fig 71).
Sixth : With the right thumb and index pick up the string on the back of the
FIG. 70.
left wrist (Fig. 72), lift it over the tips of all the left fingers, and let it drop on the palmar side; separate the hands (Fig. 73).
Seventh : Release the loop from the left thumb.
Eighth: Put the left thumb, from below, into the left index loop and with-
FIG. 71.
draw the left index (Fig. 74), in order to transfer the loop to the left thumb (Fig. 75, Left hand).
Ninth : Turning the palms away from you, bend each index over the near little finger string (Fig. 75, Right hand), and pick up on the tip of the finger the far little
A SEA-SNAKE
37
FIG. 73.
FIG. 74.
FIG. 75.
38 STRING FIGURES
finger string (Fig. 76) ; holding these index strings high, release very gently the loop from the left thumb, and the snake will be seen winding about the two parallel strings of the figure (Fig. 77).
FIG. 76.
To make the snake swim to the right, draw the strings slowly to the left, allow- ing them to slip through the fingers of the right hand.
This figure is interesting because the Second and Third movements are unlike
anything we find in other figures, and also because the majority of the movements are done on the left hand only, instead of being done simultaneously on both hands. Of course the final figure must be unsymmetrical.
A KING FISH
39
A KING FISH (Also a Catch)
This is another of the games obtained by Dr. Haddon in Torres Straits. In Murray Island it is known as Geigi — King Fish, and in Mabuiag as Dangal = the Dugong, or Sea-cow (Rivers and Haddon, p. 151, Fig. 7).
First : Opening A. (The left palmar string must be taken up first.)
FIG. 78.
Second : Release the loop from the right index. Separate the hands and draw the strings tight (Fig. 78).
Third : Bend the left index down between the two index strings and hold firmly in the bend of the finger, the string which passes across the left palm and over the
FIG. 79.
index strings (Fig. 79). Turn the left hand with the palm down and the fingers pointing to the right, and let all the strings slip off the left hand except the loop
40 STRING FIGURES
held in the bend of the left index by which the strings can now be pulled tight (Fig. 80).
Fourth : Arrange the loop held by the left index on the left hand in the First Position across the palm and behind the thumb and little finger.
Fifth : Bring the palms together, point the left index downward, and put it,
FIG. 80.
from above, behind the string crossing the right palm; with the left index still pointing downward pull the string away from the palm (Fig. 81), and, while turning the left index first toward you and then upward (Fig. 82), separate the hands. This movement puts a twisted loop on the left index.
Sixth : Bend the right index down into the right thumb loop (Fig. 83), and
FIG. 81. FIG. 82.
then, turning the palm away from you, put the right index, carrying the right far thumb string, down into the little finger loop (Fig. 84) and pick up with its tip the right near little finger string (Fig. 85). As you return the index to its original
WARIA, A MAMOOSE, OR CHIEF, OF MABUIAG, TORRES STRAITS.
An intelligent and literary Papuan. See Haddon's Head Hunters : Black, White and Broivn.
(Courtesy of Dr. A, C. Haddon.)
A KING FISH 41
position, of course, the string which was the right far thumb string slips off the index finger. This movement, which appears so complicated, is nothing more than the index finger pulling the near little finger string through the thumb loop.
FIG. 83.
You now have on the left hand a string across the palm and a twisted loop on the index; and on the right hand a near thumb string and a far little finger string;
the near little finger string is looped around the tip of the index after passing under the far thumb string and pulling it over to the centre of the palm.
FIG. 85.
42 STRING FIGURES
Seventh : Bend the left little finger down into the left index loop (Fig. 86, Left hand) close to the index, and pull down and hold securely the left far index string.
Eighth : Bend down the right little finger over the right far thumb string (Fig. 86, Right hand) where it forms the lower string of a triangle, whereof the other
FIG. 86.
two sides are formed by the original near little finger string held up by the tip of the right index. Pull down this far thumb string in the bend of the right little finger.
Ninth : Let the loops slip off the thumbs and extend the figure between the index and little finger of each hand (Fig. 87). The strings on the index fingers must be kept well up toward the tips; if the figure does not come properly it can be
FIG. 87.
worked into shape, by pushing toward the centre of the figure with the thumb the straight string running, on each hand, from the index to the little finger.
Tenth : If a second person put his hand through the middle diamond of the figure his wrist will be caught in a double loop when the strings are dropped from the left hand and pulled tight with the right; his wrist will not be caught if the strings be dropped from the right hand and pulled with the left hand toward the left.
BAGOBO DIAMONDS
43
This is an interesting example of a figure which starts unsymmetrically, and then, after a series of very different movements by each hand comes out almost per- fectly symmetrical at the end. You will notice that there is a twist at the right end
of the right lozenge and a simple loop at the left end of the left lozenge. If the right palmar string be taken up first in the formation of Opening A, and then the move- ments of the hands reversed, the wrist will be caught in a double loop when the right-hand strings are dropped. By forming the figure first one way and then the other you can add to the perplexity of the observer.
BAGOBO DIAMONDS
I was taught this figure by a young man of the Bagobo Tribe in the Philippine Reservation at the St. Louis Exposition in August, 1904. He had no name for it. I found that it was also known to the Philippine Linao Moros.
First : Opening A. (The left palmar string must be taken up first.)
Second: Release the loops from the little fin- gers. There is now a loop on each thumb and a loop on each index (Fig. 88).
Third: Transfer the
thumb loops to the index fingers by taking up from below with the back of each index the far thumb string (Fig. 89, Right hand). You now have on each index, two loops, an upper and a lower (Fig. 89, Left hand).
44
STRING FIGURES
Fourth : Pass each thumb away from you over the lower near index string, and with the back of the thumb pick up, from below, the lower far index string, and return the thumb to the original position (Fig. 90).
Fifth : Pass each thumb away from you over the upper near index string, and
FIG. 90
FIG. 91.
FIG. 92.
BAGOBO DIAMONDS
45
with the back of the thumb pick up, from below, the upper far index string, and re- turn the thumb to the original position. By these move- ments the far strings of the t w o i n d e x loops are crossed over their corres- ponding near strings,
and pass around the backs of the thumbs to be- come lower and upper near thumb strings (Fig. 91).
Sixth: Pass each ring finger over the upper near index string and pick up, from below, on the back of the ring finger the lower near index string (Fig. 92), and return the ring fingers to their posi- tions (Fig. 93).
Seventh: Pick up with the teeth, close to the back of the thumb, the right lower near thumb string, and lift it over the tip of the thumb, and drop it on the palmar side, being careful not to disturb the upper near thumb string. Repeat this move- ment on the left hand by picking up with the teeth the left lower near thumb string, lift it over the tip of the thumb, and drop it on the palmar side.
Eighth : Keeping the strings drawn tight, swing the left hand down, and turn it palm up with the fingers pointing away from you ; turn the right-hand palm down with the fingers pointing toward you and the completed figure appears (Fig. 94).
In this figure the Fourth and Fifth movements are unlike anything observed in the preceding fig- ures. The interesting point, however, lies in the fact that while both hands do the same movements throughout the figure, the finished pattern will not appear unless one hand is revolved through half a circle. Moreover, when the pattern does appear, it is not perfectly symmetrical.
FIG. 94.
STRING FIGURES
BAGOBO TWO DIAMONDS
This figure was shown me by the same young Bagobo who taught me the pre- ceding Diamonds. He had no name for it.
First : Opening A.
Second : Release the loops on the thumbs.
Third: Turning the palms away from you, bend each index away from you over the far index string, and pick up from below on the back of the finger the near
FIG
little finger string; straighten the index and turn the palms facing each other (Fig. 95, Right hand); then release the loop from each little finger (Fig. 95, Left hand) and draw the strings tight. You now have two loops on each index, an upper loop with a straight far string and a lower loop with a near straight string. The right
FIG. 96.
lower far index string crosses on the near side of the left lower far index string; in the Bagobo Diamonds, the left lower near index string crosses on the near side of the right lower near index string.
BAGOBO TWO DIAMONDS 47
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh : The same as the corresponding movements of the Bagobo Diamonds.
The finished pattern appears on the completion of the Seventh movement (Fig. 96).
This figure closely resembles the preceding figure, but in the Second and Third movements it is the little finger loops which are transferred to the index fingers. The final figure is symmetrical, and does not require any rotation of the hand to produce it.
CHAPTER III
FIGURES BEGINNING WITH OPENING A (CONTINUED) — MANY STARS — AN OWL — A SECOND OWL — A THIRD OWL — SEVEN STARS — TWO - HORNED STAR — TWO COYOTES — BIG STAR — NORTH STAR — CARRYING WOOD — OWL'S NET — TWO ELKS — A RABBIT — THE SUN.
****
MANY STARS
DR. HAD DON showed me this figure in August, 1904. He obtained it in Chicago in 1901 from two old Navaho men, and has published a description of it (5, p. 222, pi. xv, Fig. 3). I also saw it done by the two Navaho girls who taught me other Navaho figures. It is called Son-tlani by the Navahos. Mr. Stewart Culin has preserved two examples of this pattern in the
Philadelphia Free Mu- seum of Science and Art, one (22731) from Isleta, New Mexico ; the other (22714) from St. Michael's Mission, Ari- zona.
First : Opening A. Second : Pass each thumb away from you over the far thumb string and both index strings, and pick up
from below, on the back of the thumb, the near little finger string (Fig. 97, Left hand), and return the thumb to its original position (Fig. 97, Right hand).
Third : Bend each middle finger down toward you over the index strings, and take up from below, on the back of the finger, the far thumb string (Fig. 98, Left hand) and return the middle finger to its original position (Fig. 98, Right hand). Release the loops from the thumbs (Fig. 99). You now have a loop on each index, a loop on each middle finger, and a loop on each little finger.
Fourth: Turning the palms slightly away from you, pass each thumb away from you over the near index string, but under the far index string, both strings on
48
\
FIG. 97.
MANY STARS
49
the middle finger and also under both strings on the little finger; then drawing the thumb toward you, take up on the back of the thumb the far little finger string
FIG. 99
FIG. 100.
(Fig. 100, Left hand) and return the thumb to its position, bringing back with it through the index loop only the far little finger string (Fig. 100, Right hand). Re- lease the loops from the little fingers.
5°
STRING FIGURES
Fifth : Put the tips of the right thumb and index together, and put the tips of the left thumb and index together, then turning each hand slightly away from you pass these ringers over the far thumb string and the index loop and away from you under and past the two strings coming from the middle finger. Now, drawing
FIG. 101.
the thumb and index (still held together) toward you, take up on their tips the far middle finger string, and draw it toward you under the near middle finger string (Fig. 101, Left hand). Let the twisted loop slip off the middle finger, and widen out the loop held on the tips of the thumb and index by separating these fingers (Fig. 1 01, Right hand).
You now have a loop on each thumb, a loop on each index, and a loop passing around both thumb and index.
Sixth : Keeping all the loops carefully in place on the right hand, with the right thumb and index lift from the back of the left thumb the lower loop on the left
FIG. 102.
thumb up over the upper loop (which passes around both thumb and index), then entirely off the left thumb, being careful not to take off also the upper loop, and let it drop on the palmar side of the thumb (Fig. 102). With the right thumb and
MANY STARS 51
index in the same way lift the lower left index loop over the upper left index loop and off the left index.
Keeping all the loops carefully in place on the left hand, with the left thumb and index lift the lower loop on the right thumb up over the upper loop, off the right thumb, and let it drop on the palmar side. With the left thumb and index, in the
FIG. 103.
same way, lift the lower right index loop over the upper right index loop, then off the right index, and let it drop on the palmar side.
You now have on each hand a single loop passing around both thumb and index. Two other loops are held by that part of the loop passing from the back of the thumb to the back of the index (Fig. 102, Right hand).
Seventh : Put each middle finger from below up on the far side of the lower near string of the four passing around the string running from the back of the thumb
to the back of the index; bend the middle finger toward you (Fig. 103), and pull this lower near string down, of course on the near side of the other three strings, and letting the loop slip off each thumb, extend the figure between the index fingers and the middle fingers, bent on the palms (Fig. 104).
Seventh A: According to Dr. Haddon (5, p. 222) the Navahos have another way of doing this movement.
52 STRING FIGURES
Bend each thumb away from you, and pull down the lower near string of the four strings forming the two loops held out by the loop passing around the thumb and index (Fig. 105, Right hand), and extend the figure between the index fingers and thumbs, holding the palms of the hands away from you (Fig. 106).
On the completion of this figure, you will want to have the string again as a single loop, but unless you are careful it will get very much tangled. The way to
FIG. 105
prevent this is as follows : Place the completed figure on your lap, and draw apart the straight strings which form the top and bottom of the figure; then the string will pull out into a single loop. This is true for practically all string figures.
I have put "Many Stars" as the first of a series of ten Navaho figures, which are all done in much the same way, but come out in characteristic patterns in the
FIG. 106.
end. They all start with Opening A, or a modification of it; after that, however, some go on as "Many Stars," but end differently; others have a few new movements and then end with some from "Many Stars," while others begin and end as "Many Stars," but have different intermediate movements.
AN OWL
53
"Many Stars " exhibits several movements which are unlike any we have hith- erto studied. The Fifth, which appears to be a movement peculiar to these Navaho figures, is a clever way of putting the middle finger loop around the thumb and index and turning it over in the transfer.
The result of the Sixth movement is inter- esting, because when the lower loop on each thumb and on each index is slipped over the upper loop and off the finger, it cannot run down the upper loop toward the centre of the figure in the form of a noose or ring, for the upper loop is a loop common to both thumb and index, hence the two loops are merely strung on the string of this thumb- index loop which passes from the back of the thumb to the back of the index. The Seventh movement is very characteristic of the Na- vaho figures; it may occur in the middle of the figure, or more than once in the same figure.
FIG. 107.
AN OWL
This first " Owl " was obtained by Dr. Haddon from the two old Navaho men who showed him "Many Stars." (See Haddon 5, p. 222, pi. xv, Fig. 4.) It is called Nas-ja = an Owl. There is an example of the finished pattern in the Culin collection in the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art (22716),
from St. Michael's Mis- sion, Arizona.
First: First position.
Second : Put the right index from above down behind the string on the left palm (Fig. 107), draw it out and twist it by twice rotating the index toward you and then up. Separate the hands (Fig. 108).
54
FIG. 109.
STRING FIGURES
Third : Take up from below with the left index the string on the right palm, not through the right index loop as is usual, but between the near index string and the thumb (Fig. 109). Separate the hands.
Fourth: Proceed now as in "Many Stars," from the Second movement to the very end, concluding with the Seventh or the Seventh A movement. The "Owl" will then be formed (Fig. no).
The movements of the " Owl " are all the same as those of " Many Stars " except the Second and Third. The Second movement is about the only way you can put a twist and a half in the index loop, by the index itself, and restore the index to its usual position ; if you rotate the index after the usual formation of Opening A you put one twist in the index loop. The Third move- ment is peculiar to this figure.
A SECOND OWL
The two following " Owls " were taught to me by Zah Tso and her sister, Na- vahos from Gallup, New Mexico, at the St. Louis Exposition, in November, 1904.
First : Opening A.
Second : Bend each index down between the far index string and the near little finger string, and bring it toward you and up between the near index string and the far thumb string (Fig. in). The index loop, which has been kept on the finger during this movement, is thereby given a single twist.
Third : Complete the figure by doing the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh movements of "Many Stars" (Fig. 112).
ZAH TSO, AN ARIZONA NAVAHO OF GALLUP, NEW MEXICO. (Courtesy of Mr. S. C. Simms.)
A THIRD OWL
55
The movements of this figure are similar to those of " Many Stars," except for the additional Second movement which puts a twist in the index loops.
A THIRD OWL
An active imagination is required to find this Owl.
First, Second and Third : Similar to the First, Second and Third movements of "Many Stars."
Fourth : Put each thumb from below into the index loop, then bend it away from you over the far index string and under all the other strings; now, drawing
the thumb toward you, catch on its back the far little finger string, and return the thumb to its position, thus drawing the far little finger string through the index loop. Release the loops from the little fingers.
FIG. 112.
STRING FIGURES
Fifth : Complete the figure by doing the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh movements of "Many Stars" (Fig. 113).
The figure will be extended more perfectly if you give the upper index string one more turn around the tip of each index finger.
The only difference between the movements of this figure and those of "Man}
FIG. 113
Stars " is in the Fourth movement ; you draw the far little finger string back through the thumb loop from above, instead of from below.
******
SEVEN STARS
This is another of the Navaho games taught me by the two Navaho girls from Gallup, New Mexico. The native name is Dil-ye-he = the Pleiades. The Phila- delphia Free Museum of Science and Art has an example of the finished pattern,
No. 22717, collected by Mr. Culin from the Navahos at St. Michael's Mission, Arizona.
The first five movements are the same as the first five movements of "Many Stars."
Sixth : Withdraw each thumb from the
loop, passing around both thumb and index, and keep this loop high up on the index. You now have two loops on each index and a loop on each thumb.
Seventh: Pass each thumb from below through both index loops (Fig. 114); then with the right thumb and index lift the lowest (the original) left thumb loop
FIG. 114.
SEVEN STARS
57
over the upper two thumb loops (which pass around both thumb and index) and entirely off the left thumb (Fig. 115); let it drop on the palmar side. In the same way with the left thumb and index lift the lowest right loop over the upper two thumb loops and entirely off the right thumb.
Eighth: Put each middle finger from below into the thumb loop and then up on the far side of the upper straight string crossing this loop, bend the figure toward you (Fig. 116), and pull this straight string down. Release the loops from the thumbs, and extend the fig- ure between the index fingers and the middle fingers closed on the palm (Fig. 117). An extra turn around the index fingers displays the pattern better.
FIG. 115.
58 STRING FIGURES
This figure differs from "Many Stars" only in the Sixth and Seventh move- ments; each thumb loop is slipped over the two index loops, instead of both the thumb and index loops being slipped over the loop common to the thumb and index.
TWO-HORNED STAR
This pattern is known to the Navahos as Son-bi-tere. I learned it from the same source as the preceding figures. In the Culin collection in the Phila- delphia Free Museum of Science and Art a finished pattern, 22716, from St. Michael's Mission, Arizona, is labelled So-bide-hulonni = Horned Star. At Grand Canyon, Arizona, a Navaho called it " Cow's Head."
The first five movements are the same as the first five movements of "Many Stars."
Sixth: Withdraw each thumb from the loop passing around both thumb and index, and keep this loop high up on the index (Fig. 118). You now have two loops on each index and a single loop on each thumb.
Seventh : With the right thumb and index pick up from the back of the left index the left lower index loop (whereof the near string passes under the thumb
FIG. 118.
loop and nearest to the thumb), and lift it up, over the left upper index loop, en- tirely off the left index, and let it drop on the palmar side. With the left thumb and index in like manner lift the right lower index loop over the right upper index loop, entirely off the right index, and let it drop on the palmar side.
Eighth : Put each thumb from below into the index loop (Fig. 119) and, with the thumb and index of the other hand, in turn, draw the lower thumb loop over the upper thumb loop entirely off the thumb, and let it drop on the palmar side (Fig. 120).
Ninth : Put each middle finger from below between the strings forming the thumb loop, and then up on the far side of the upper straight string which passes
TWO-HORNED STAR
59
from one side to the other and forms a loop around the string running from the back of the thumb to the back of the index. Bending the middle finger toward
FIG. 119.
FIG. 120.
FIG. 121.
you over this straight string (Fig. 121), pull it down; release the loops from the thumbs, and draw the strings tight.
6o
STRING FIGURES
FIG. 122.
The figure is extended between the index fingers and the middle fingers closed on the palms (Fig. 122).
The "Two-horned Star" is a modification of "Many Stars" because in the Seventh movement the lower index loop is slipped off over the upper index loop, and in the Eighth movement the thumb loop is slipped off over the index loop.
TWO COYOTES
^^ ^n\
The Navahos, Zah Tso and her sister, taught me this game also, calling it Ma-i-at-sani-il-watli. An example (22718) in the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art, from St. Michael's Mission, Arizona, is labelled Mai-i-atlsa-yitt-
FIG. 123.
TWO COYOTES
61
FIG. 124.
aghueli = Two Coyotes Running Apart.
First, Second and
Third movements are
the same as the First,
Second and Third move- ments of "Many Stars." Fourth: Pass each
thumb from below into
the index loop, and bend
it over the far index
string; turning the palm
away from you, pass the thumb away from you under all the strings, and catch the
far little finger string on the far side with the back of the thumb (Fig. 123, Left
hand), and return the thumb to its posi- tion (Fig. 123, Right hand). Release the loops from the little fingers.
Fifth: Put the tips of the right thumb and index together and put the tips of the left thumb and index together ; now, turning the palms slightly away from you, pass these fingers over the thumb and index loops and away from you under and past the two strings of the middle finger loop. Then drawing the thumb and index (still held together)
toward you, take up on their tips the far middle finger string and draw it toward you
under the near middle finger string. Let the twisted loop slip off each middle finger
and withdraw the thumb, leav- ing the loop well up toward the
tip of the index (Fig. 124).
Sixth : Keeping all the loops
carefully on the left hand, with
the left thumb and index lift
the right lower index loop over
the right upper index loop, and
entirely off the finger (Fig. 125),
and let it drop on the palmar FIG. 126.
side, being careful not to take
off also the upper loop. In the same manner with the right thumb and index
lift the left lower index loop over the left upper index loop, and entirely off the
index (Fig. 126). Do not pull the strings tight after this movement.
FIG. 125.
62
STRING FIGURES
Seventh: Put the right thumb from below into the right index loop (Fig. 127, Right hand), and with the left thumb and index (Fig. 128) or with the teeth, lift the right near thumb string up over the tip of the thumb, without disturbing the
FIG. 127.
string which passes around both thumb and index. In like manner put the left thumb from below into the left index loop (Fig. 127, Left hand), and with the right thumb and index (Fig. 129), or with the teeth, lift the left near thumb string over
FIG. 128.
FIG. 129.
the tip of the left thumb. Do not pull the strings tight after this movement. There are now two straight strings which cross the thumb loop and form a loop around the string passing from the back of the thumb to the back of the index.
TWO COYOTES 63
Eighth : Put each middle finger from below between these straight strings, so that the lower string is on the far side of it and the upper string on the near side of it (Fig. 130) ; then bend the middle finger down toward you over the upper string and,
FIG. 130.
holding it in the bend of the finger, draw it down and away from you through the thumb loop, and release the loops from the thumbs. Closing each middle finger down on the palm, hold the index strings high on the finger tips and separate the
hands (Fig. 131). If the strings be permitted to slip around the index fingers the "coyotes" will run away from each other.
When we analyze this figure we see that it has the first four movements of the "Third Owl'," the Fifth of "Many Stars," and the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth of the " Two-horned Star."
STRING FIGURES
BIG STAR
This is still another of the figures taught me by the two Navaho girls from Gallup, New Mexico.
First: Opening A.
Second : Pass each thumb away from you over the far thumb string and the near index string and under the far index string and both strings of the little finger loop; then, drawing the thumb toward you, take up on the back of its tip the far
FIG. 132.
little finger string and bring it toward you, under the near little finger string and through the index loop, by restoring the thumb to its position (Fig. 132).
Third : Now complete the figure by doing the Third, Fourth , Fifth, Sixth and Seventh movements of "Many Stars " (Fig. 133).
This figure differs from "Many Stars" only in the second movement. In " Many Stars " it is the near little finger string that is drawn toward you over the
FIG. 133.
index loop. In this figure it is the far little finger string which is drawn toward you through the index loop — in other words, the Second movement is like the Fourth.
NORTH STAR
NORTH STAR
I obtained this figure in the same way as the preceding figure. The Phila- delphia Free Museum of Science and Art has an example of the finished pattern,
FIG. 134.
No. 22713, collected by Mr. Stewart Culin at St. Michael's Mission, Arizona, and called Tsun-tsi = Big Star.
First : Opening A.
Second: Transfer the thumb loops to the middle fingers, by bending each middle finger toward you over the index loop, and taking up from below on the back of the finger the far thumb string (Fig. 134, Left hand); withdraw each
thumb from its loop, and return the middle finger to its position (Fig. 134, Right hand).
Third : Then complete the figure by doing the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh movements of "Many Stars" (Fig. 135).
The "North Star" differs from "Many Stars" only by the omission of the Second movement.
66
STRING FIGURES
CARRYING WOOD
Dr. Haddon taught me this figure in August, 1904. He learned it in Chicago in 1901, from the two old Navaho men who showed him " Many Stars" (5, p. 221, pi. xv, Fig. 2). It is called by the Navahos, Chiz-jo-yet-H. There are two examples of the finished figure in the Culin Collection of the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art, one (22724) from the Navahos at St. Michael's Mission, Arizona,
FIG. 136.
is labelled Chizh-joyeli = Hacking the Wood, the other (22605) from Zuni, New Mexico, is called Pish-kap-po-a, pi-cho-wai-nai.
First: Opening A.
Second : Put the tips of the thumb and index of each hand together, and bind these fingers away from you over the far index string, and pick up from below the
FIG. 137.
near little finger string, and return the thumb and index to their usual positions (Fig. 136) ; then separate their tips and release the loop from the little finger. This movement transfers the little finger loop to both thumb and index (Fig. 137).
Third : Keeping all the loops carefully in place on the right hand, with the right thumb and index lift the lower loop on the left thumb up over the upper loop (the
CARRYING WOOD
67
one passing around both thumb and index), then entirely off the left thumb (Fig. 138), and let it drop on the palmar side, being careful not to take off also the upper loop. Then with the right thumb and index lift the left lower index loop over the
FIG. 138.
upper index loop (the one which passes around both thumb and index) and off the index, and let it drop on the palmar side.
In the same manner, keeping the loops in place on the left hand, with the left thumb and index lift the right lower thumb loop up over the right upper thumb loop (the one passing around both thumb and index), entirely off the thumb, and let it drop on the palmar side. Then with the left thumb and index lift the right lower index loop up over the right upper index loop (the one passing around both thumb and index), entirely off the right index, and let it drop on the palmar side.
You now have on each hand a single loop passing around both thumb and index, and on that part of this loop which passes from the back of the thumb to the
FIG. 139.
back of the index are two more loops (Fig. 139). Of the four strings forming these two loops, two are upper strings and two are lower strings when the figure is held horizontally. Of the upper strings, the far one runs obliquely away from
68
STRING FIGURES
you and passes over the far index string, but the near one passes straight across to the other side.
Fourth : Now bend each thumb away from you, and pull down this near upper string (Fig. 140), (which can always be recognized as being the only free straight
FIG. 140.
string passing across over the figure), and letting the loop slip off the thumb, extend the figure between the thumbs and index fingers, holding the palms away from you
(Fig. 141).
" The two central strings that lie side by side represent the carrying band of the Navaho; the other strings represent the wood that is being carried." (Haddon.)
The Navahos have another, more characteristic, way of doing the Fourth or final movement, as follows:
Fourth A: Put each middle finger from below up on the far side of the near upper straight string, and bending the middle finger, pull this string down, of course on the near side of the other three strings; then letting the loop slip off each thumb, extend the figure between the index and middle fingers, and at the same time turn the palms away from you.
OWL'S NET
69
"Carrying Wood" is made up of some of the simple movements of "Many Stars " and a new one, the Second.
OWL'S NET
This figure was obtained for me by Mr. John L. Cox, at Hampton, Virginia, from a Klamath Indian, Emma Jackson, from Oregon.
First : Opening A.
Second : Pass each thumb away from you over the far thumb string and the
near index string, and pick up from below on the back of the thumb the far index string, and return the thumb to its position (Fig. 142).
Third : Bend the index and middle finger of each hand down into the upper thumb loop, and then pass the index to the near side of the lower near thumb
FIG. 143.
string, and pass the middle finger through the lower thumb loop (Fig. 143). Hold- ing the lower near thumb string tightly between the index and middle fingers, draw these fingers away from you, straighten them, and by turning the palms away from
70 STRING FIGURES
you, put the lower near thumb string around the tip of each index (Fig. 144). Release the loops from the thumbs and draw the hands apart.
Fourth : Pass each thumb away from you over the near index string and under all the other strings, and, drawing the thumb toward you, catch on its back the far
FIG. 144.
little finger string (Fig. 145, Left hand) and return the thumb to its position (Fig. 145, Right hand). Release the loops from the little fingers.
Fifth : Put the middle, ring and little fingers of each hand from below (toward you) into the thumb loop (Fig. 146), and pull this loop down by closing these fingers on the palm; withdraw the thumbs. Transfer each upper index loop to the thumb
FIG. 145.
by putting the thumb into it from below, withdrawing the index and returning the thumb to its position.
Sixth : Keeping each middle finger still in the loop it is helping to hold to the palm, pass it toward you over the far thumb string (Fig. 147), and draw this string through the loop held to the palm (Fig. 148). Now take the ring and little fingers
OWL'S NET
FIG. 146.
FIG. 147.
FIG. 148.
72 STRING FIGURES
from the loop they have been holding and pass them toward you into the loop with the middle finger (Fig. 149).
Seventh : Put each middle finger toward you between the two strings which form a loop around the palmar string, and bending the finger over the lower string
FIG. 149.
(Fig. 150, Left hand), draw it away from you, releasing the loop held down by the ring and little fingers (Fig. 150, Right hand). Put the ring and little fingers into the loop held down by the middle finger and withdraw the middle finger (Fig. 151). Eighth : Pass each middle finger from below through the index loop (Fig. 152, Left hand), then bend it toward you under the near thumb string, then bend the index toward you down on the near thumb string, which is thus held securely between the first joints of the index and middle finger (Fig. 152, Right hand). Now draw
FIG. 150.
these two fingers away from you, allowing the index loop to slip over their tips to the palmar side, and by turning the palms away from you, put the near thumb string around the tip of the index. Release the loops from the thumbs and draw the hands apart (Fig. 153).
OWL'S NET
73
The finished pattern is practically the same as the pattern of "Many Stars," the end diamonds of the middle row, however, are not looped to the diamonds of
FIG. 151,
FIG. 152.
FIG. 153
the upper row, as in "Many Stars," but the strings merely cross each other at these points. If, in the Second movement, you pick up the near little finger string with
74
STRING FIGURES
the thumb, instead of the far index string, the "Many Stars" pattern will be formed. Apparently the methods of forming the two figures are very different, only the Fourth movement being the same in both; yet, if you examine them closely, you will notice that the Third movement of the "Owl's Net" accomplishes the turning over of the middle finger loop (originally the thumb loop) observed in the Fifth move- ment of "Many Stars"; the Fifth movement of the "Owl's Net" merely shifts the loops to other fingers; the Sixth and Eighth movements of the " Owl's Net" together produce the same results as the Sixth movement of "Many Stars"; and the Seventh movement in both figures, although done differently, twists the side strings in pre- cisely the same manner.
The methods used in the "Owl's Net" exhibit the highest type of native skill. Every movement is carried on by both hands simultaneously, and there is no arrang- ing of loops on the one hand by the fingers of the other hand.
o o
TWO ELKS
This is a Klamath Indian figure from the same source as the " Owl's Net."
First : Opening A.
Second: Pass each thumb away from you over the far thumb string, both strings of the index loop, and under both strings of the little finger loop. Now
FIG. 154.
lift up the near little finger strings temporarily on the tips of the index fingers (Fig. 154), and draw toward you on the back of the thumb the far little finger string, by returning the thumb to its usual position and dropping the near little finger strings from the tip of each index (Fig. 155).
Third: Bend the index and middle finger of each hand down through the upper thumb loop and pass the index to the near side of the lower near thumb
TWO ELKS
75
FIG. 155.
FIG. 156.
FIG. 157.
string; then pass the middle finger to the far side of the same string (Fig. 156), draw the string up between the two fingers, and put it on the tip of the index by turning the palm away from you. Release the loops from the thumbs and draw the hands apart (Fig. 157).
76
STRING FIGURES
Fourth : Transfer the upper index loops to the thumbs, by putting each thumb from below into the upper index loop, withdrawing the index and returning the thumb to its position (Fig. 158).
Fifth : Pick up, between the tips of the left thumb and index, the right near thumb string (close to the right thumb) (Fig. 159), lift the loop entirely off the right
thumb, turn it over so that its near string becomes its far string and then place the loop over the two strings of the right little finger loop (Fig. 160). Now with the left thumb and index draw the far little finger string through the original right
FIG. 159.
FIG. 160.
thumb loop (Fig. 161); put the right thumb under the far little finger string just pulled through the loop, and pick up from below on the back of the right thumb the string of the former thumb loop which you have just been holding with the
TWO ELKS
77
left thumb and index (Fig. 162) and return the thumb to its position (Fig. 163, Right hand). Repeat the same movement on the left hand as follows: Pick up, between the tips of the right thumb and index, the left near thumb string (close to
FIG. 161.
FIG. 162.
the left thumb), lift the loop entirely off the left thumb, turn it over so that its near string becomes its far string and then place the loop over the two strings of the left little finger loop; now with the right thumb and index draw the far little finger string through the original left thumb loop ; put the left thumb under the far little finger string just pulled through the loop, and pick up from below on the back of
FIG. 163.
the left thumb the string of the former thumb loop which you have been holding with the right thumb and index and return the thumb to its position (Fig. 163).
Sixth : Pick up, between the tips of the left thumb and index, the right near thumb string (close to the right thumb), lift the loop entirely off the right thumb, turn it over so that its near string becomes its far string, and then place the loop
78 STRING FIGURES
over the strings of the right little finger loop. Now, with the left thumb and index, draw the near little finger string through the original right thumb loop; put the right thumb under this near little finger string just pulled through the loop, and pick up from below on the back of the thumb the right near thumb string which you have been holding with the left thumb and index and return the thumb to its
position. Repeat the same movement on the left hand, as follows : Pick up, between the tips of the right thumb and index, the left near thumb string (close to the left thumb), lift the loop entirely off the left thumb, turn it over so that its near string becomes its far string and then place the loop over the two strings of the left little finger loop. Now, with the right thumb and index, draw the near little finger string through the original left thumb loop; put the left thumb under the near little finger string just pulled through the loop, and pick up from below on the back of
FIG. 165.
the left thumb the near string of the former thumb loop which you have been holding with the right thumb and index and return the left thumb to its position. Separate the hands (Fig. 164).
Seventh: Release the loops from the index fingers and separate the hands, drawing the strings very tight and moving the hands alternately up and down to the "Elks" appear (Fig. 165).
A RABBIT
79
The Fifth and Sixth movements of this figure exhibit what appear to be artificial methods, and yet it is difficult to see how the same results could be produced by any quicker or more simple procedure.
A RABBIT
This is another Klamath game obtained in the same way as the " Owl's Net."
First: Opening A.
Second : Bend each middle finger down toward you into the thumb loop, and
bend each index
down toward you
on the near side
of the near
thumb string
(Fig. 1 66, Left
hand), then,
holding this
string tightly be- tween these two
fingers, straight-
en the fingers FIG. 166.
and turn the
palms away from you to put the string around the tip of the index (Fig. 166,
Right hand). Release the loops from the thumbs.
Third : Pass each thumb from below into the little finger loop and draw toward
you, on the back of the thumb, the near little finger string, the upper far index string and both strings of the lower index loop (Fig. 167).
Fourth : Pass each thumb up and away from you over the upper near in- FIG. 167. dex string, and pull
8o
STRING FIGURES
this string down on the ball of the thumb, letting the other strings slip off the thumb (Fig. 168). Turn the palms away from you and, still holding down the string with the thumbs, pass each thumb away from you under the far little finger string
FIG. 168.
and draw this string toward you on the back of the thumb. The string which was held down by the thumb, of course, is released during this movement (Fig. 169).
Fifth : Insert each thumb from below (close to the index) into the small ring- like upper index loop (Fig. 1 70, Left hand) and draw the upper near index string, on the back of the thumb, down through the thumb loop, this latter loop slipping off the thumb during the movement (Fig. 170, Right hand).
Sixth: Release the upper loop from each index (Fig. 171).
Seventh : Pass the index, middle and ring fingers of each hand toward you and down into the thumb loop (Fig. 172); then gently release the loops from the little
FIG. 169.
fingers, and put each little finger toward you in the loop with the ring, middle and index fingers. Hold all four fingers of each hand down on the palm; turn the hands with the palms facing each other. Lift up the near thumb string on the tip of each
A RABBIT
81
FIG. 170.
FIG. 171.
FIG. 172.
82
STRING FIGURES
FIG. 173.
index, and withdraw the thumb. Some working of the strings is usually required to make the "Rabbit" appear (Fig. 173).
This is an interesting figure because the majority of the movements are unusual, and are met with again only in the following figure.
THE SUN Mr. Cox secured " The Sun " also from the Klamath Indian.
First and Second: The same as the First and Second movements of the "Rabbit."
Third : Pass each thumb from below up between the lower index loop and the
FIG. 174.
little finger loop and draw toward you, on the back of the thumb, both strings of the lower index loop (Fig. 174, Right hand).
Fourth : The same as the Fourth movement of the "Rabbit " (Figs. 174, Left hand; 175, 176).
Fifth : Release the loops from the little fingers.
THE SUN 83
Sixth : Insert the middle, ring and little fingers of each hand toward you (from above) into the thumb loop (Fig. 177) and withdraw the thumb.
Seventh : Pass the thumb from below into the upper index loop in order to make this loop wider. Bend each middle finger down toward you over the upper
FIG. 175.
FIG. 177.
84 STRING FIGURES
far index string and both strings of the lower index loop (Fig. 178) and draw these strings down to the palm. Withdraw the ring and little fingers of each hand from
FIG. 180.
the loop which they have been holding and bend them toward you and down over the strings held down by the middle finger.
Eighth: The "Sun" is made to appear by raising each thumb, thus lifting up the near index string which passes across its back (Fig. 179); if raised too high, the sun "sets" (Fig. 180).
CHAPTER IV
FIGURES BEGINNING WITH OPENING A (CONTINUED) A WELL — FENCE AROUND A WELL A CRAB — A
TRIGGER FISH — RATTLESNAKE AND A BOY TWO SKUNKS — TWO FOXES — TWO SQUIRRELS — LEASH- ING OF LOCHELL'S DOGS — TWO HOGANS — A CARIBOO — A CIRCLE — TWO STARS — CASTING THE FISH- SPEAR — AN ARROW A PORCUPINE.
A WELL
I OBTAINED this figure in August, 1904, from Dr. Haddon, who learned it from a native of Lifu, Loyalty Islands, who happened to be residing in Ma- buiag in Torres Straits. (See Rivers and Haddon, p. 149, Fig. 2.) In Lifu it is known as Tim, = a Well. It is precisely similar to the Torres Straits figure which in Murray Island, is called Ti Meta, = the Nest of the Ti bird, and in Mabuiag, Gul = a Canoe.
First: Opening A.
Second: Keeping the hands well separated, with the strings quite tight, and turning the palms slightly away from you, pass each index away from you over the far
FIG. 181
index string and the near little finger string and then well down into the little finger loop. Now, turning the palms gradually toward you, bend each index carrying these two strings toward you (with the tips pointed toward each palm), and then up between the near index string and the thumb (which must be kept upright), but not touching the thumb loop (Fig. 181). This movement brings the far index string and the near little finger string up toward you while the near index string slips away from you over the knuckle of the index and entirely off that finger. Now turn each
85
86
STRING FIGURES
index completely up, and straighten it (Fig. 182), when it will be seen that the original far index string and the near little finger string have both become far index strings. Release the strings passing around each little finger.
You now have two loops on each index, twisted toward the centre of the figure; and a loop on each thumb (Fig. 183).
Third : Turning the palms toward you, with the middle, ring and little fingers
FIG. 182.
of each hand pull straight down, as far as possible, the two far index strings (Fig. 184).
Fourth: Gently withdraw each thumb (Fig. 185, Right hand).
Fijth : Bend each thumb away from you into the former thumb loop (now hanging from the top straight string of the figure), and pick up, with the back of the thumb, the diagonal string passing from the near side of the index down around
FIG. 183.
the two strings at the bottom of the figure (Fig. 185, Left hand), and pull it toward you through the hanging loop.
Raise the thumbs toward you and the index fingers away from you, and keep the lower strings well down, by bending the middle, ring and little fingers around them, and the finished figure will appear (Fig. 186).
2 Q
"" "o
1 1
ta
O in
a >
5
!z;
O
H
A WELL
The well is said to be "full of water" when the inverted pyramid of the figure is made high, and to be "dry" when the base and apex of the pyramid are brought
D.
(\
\
FIG. 186.
to the same level, by letting the lower strings, held down by the fingers, come up to the same plane as the other strings.
The Second movement is a new one; its purpose is to put the little finger loop on the index, above the original index loop, and turn it over in the transfer. The original index loop gets, of course, a twist in the process. The Fifth movement is the only practicable method of drawing the index string through the thumb loop from above.
88
STRING FIGURES
FENCE AROUND A WELL
This game is a continuation of " The Well "; it is called Sihnag, = " a Fence Around a Well," in Lifu, Loyalty Islands. It was taught Drs. Rivers and Haddon by the same native who taught them "The Well " (p. 149, Fig. 3).
First: Form "The Well."
Second: Pass each thumb away from you and put it up under the two near index strings, close to the index (Fig. 187); then, with the thumb and index of the
FIG. 187.
right hand, pick up from the back of the left thumb the lower single left thumb loop, and draw it over the upper two loops and off the thumb, and drop it on the palmar side.
With the thumb and index of the left hand, in the same manner, pick up the
FIG. 188.
lower single right thumb loop, and draw it over the upper two loops, off the thumb, and drop it.
. Release the loops from the index fingers. Third : Take all the fingers of each hand out of the lower loops which they
A CRAB
89
have been holding, and let the figure hang on the thumbs (Fig. 188). Then put the four fingers of each hand toward you into the ring-like loops held by the thumb ;
FIG. 189.
remove the thumb; close the middle, ring and little fingers on the palm, and sep- arate the hands (Fig. 189).
There are few string figures in which the final pattern is extended in such a simple manner as in this one.
A CRAB
Dr. Haddon obtained the " Crab " at Saguane, Kiwai Island, near the mouth of the Fly River, British New Guinea, where it is known as Kokowa, — a Crab. (See Rivers and Haddon, p. 151, Fig. 8.)
First: Go through the movements necessary to form "The Well."
Second : Turn the palms toward you and slightly upward, and slacken a little
the strings held down by the little fingers ; then insert each little finger from below
into the thumb loop, bend it over the near thumb string, and take the loop off the
thumb (Fig. 190, Right hand), and hold it down together with the two lower strings
r\
FIG. 190.
90 STRING FIGURES
of the figure. Separate the hands. The palms now face each other again, and the middle finger and the ring finger of each hand should be slipped out of the
FIG.
FIG. 192
FIG. 193.
triangle close to the hand, and the three lower strings held down by the little finger alone (Fig. 190, Left hand).
A CRAB
Third: Turn the palms away from you, and insert each thumb away from you into the little finger loop, then, turning the palms toward you, draw toward the palm with the bent thumb the diagonal string which runs upward from the little finger and serves to separate the two triangles near the hand. Now, still
FIG. 194.
holding the string on the thumb, insert the thumb away from you behind the two strings running from the little finger to the far side of the index (Fig. 191, Right hand), and draw these strings toward you with the back of the thumb, withdrawing the little finger (Fig. 191, Left hand).
Fourth : Turn the palms toward you, and insert each little finger toward you into the two thumb loops, and remove the thumb (Fig. 192).
Fifth :. Hold the loops well down with each little finger ; pick up from below with the back of each thumb the near index string which runs directly from index to index and draw it toward you; remove each index from its loops (Fig. 193).
Sixth : Insert each index toward you into the loop held by the thumb, and with the back of the index pick up the near thumb string; return the index to its position and remove the thumb.
Seventh : Keep the index loop well up on the tip of the finger; pass each thumb away from you, and pick up on the back of the thumb, and draw toward you (Fig. 194) the horizontal string which holds the side lozenge of the central figure to the vertical string running from the little finger to the near side of the index.
Eighth : Bend each middle finger toward you
down over all the strings, and hold them down tightly while you exchange the loops on the thumbs, putting the right thumb loop from the right thumb entirely on the left thumb and the left thumb loop from the left thumb entirely on the right thumb (Fig. 195) ; being careful not to twist the loops or let the loops slip off the
FIG. 195.
92
STRING FIGURES
index fingers. Straighten the middle fingers and the index fingers, and separate the hands (Fig. 196).
Ninth : Bend each middle finger toward you over the index loop, and bring it into the thumb loop from below; and take the loop off the thumb by lifting up the
FIG. 196.
far thumb string (Fig. 197), returning the middle finger to its former position, and withdrawing the thumb (Fig. 198). Turn the palms toward you, and bend down each middle finger, and with the back of the thumb, inserted into the middle finger loop from above, take up the far middle finger string, and thus turning the loop over, restore it to the thumb by putting the thumb again in its usual position (Fig. 199, Right hand) and withdrawing the middle finger (Fig. 199, Left hand).
FIG. 197.
Tenth : Insert each thumb from below into the index loop, and with the back of the thumb catch the near index string and draw it down toward you through the thumb loop, and let the thumb loop slip off the thumb (Fig. 200). Release the loops from the index fingers and separate the hands.
A CRAB
93
FIG. 199
FIG. 200.
94
STRING FIGURES
Eleventh : Transfer each thumb loop to the index, by putting the index into it from below, removing the thumb, and returning the index to its former position (Fig. 201).
Twelfth : Holding carefully the loops on the index and little fingers, with the back of the thumbs pick up, within the small central triangle of the figure, the crossed
FIG. 201
strings which run from the little finger of one hand to the vertical string passing on the other hand from the little finger to the index (Fig. 202). Be careful to pick up these strings within the small triangle just where they cross, and in doing so keep the backs of the thumbs close together. The hands are then separated and put in their usual positions (Fig. 203).
Thirteenth : Pass each thumb away from you into the index loop from below, and with the back of the thumb draw the near index string toward you (Fig. 204,
Left hand), and completely through the two loops already on the thumb; then let these two loops slip entirely off the thumb /-J I I r\ (Fig. 204, Right hand).
/// I I I \Vv Fourteenth ; Release the loops from
/ ' u A. ^^ V) \ \\ the index fingers and draw the hands apart.
Fifteenth : Transfer each thumb loop to the index finger, by inserting the index into it from below, between the thumb and the small ring which passes around the thumb loop, withdrawing the thumb, and returning the index to its former position.
Extend the figure between the tips of the index fingers and the little fingers
closed down on the palms (Fig. 205). The two central lozenges represent the crab's body, the lines radiating therefrom are the legs, and the small rings passing around the index loops.
FIG. 202.
"pincers" are the
A CRAB
95
The crab is a long figure, but the movements are not difficult; although it is rather hard to remember the order in which they come. The finished pattern has a
FIG. 204.
FIG. 205.
greater likeness to the object it is supposed to represent than some of the string figures.
96 STRING FIGURES
^ajl fek A TRIGGER FISH
Dr. Haddon has kindly given me this unpublished figure which he collected in Torres Straits. The native name is Nageg.
First, Second and Third: The same as the first three movements of "The Well."
Fourth : Release the loop from the right thumb and let it hang down in front of the figure. Put the right thumb away from you, under the middle of the upper
FIG. 206. /
string of the figure (Fig. 206), into the upper middle triangle and with the ball of the thumb draw toward the right palm the string forming the right side of the triangle and also the far string of the former right thumb loop (Fig. 207) ; then
i
FIG. 207
pick up from the right side on the back of the thumb the right lower near index string (which runs obliquely down to the lower strings of the figure) (Fig. 208) and return the thumb to its position (Fig. 209).
A TRIGGER FISH
97
Fifth : Take the right thumb out of the loop and insert it again into the loop, but in the opposite direction away from you. Bend the right thumb down on the right palm and pick up with the back of the thumb the two right far index strings
FIG. 208.
FIG. 209.
FIG. 210.
(passing from index to little finger) (Fig. 210) and draw them through the thumb loop which you allow to slip off the thumb as you return the thumb to its original
98
STRING FIGURES
position (Fig. 211). Transfer the loops held by the right thumb to the right little finger by inserting the little finger toward you (from below) into the thumb
FIG. 211.
loops, and withdrawing the thumb ; close the little finger down on the palm (Fig. 212).
Sixth : Pick up from below on the back of the right thumb, close to the right index finger, the upper right near index string (which runs straight across to the
FIG. 212.
left index). Withdraw the right index from both its loops and return the right thumb to its position (Fig. 213).
Seventh : Release the loop from the left thumb and let it hang loosely. Do not draw its strings tight (Fig. 214).
Eighth: With the left thumb draw down the left lower near index string (which runs obliquely to the lower strings of the figure) (Fig. 215) until it is below these lower strings and let it hang down ; then pass the left thumb away from you
A TRIGGER FISH
99
FIG. 213.
FIG. 214.
FIG. 215
100
STRING FIGURES
over the two lower strings and pick up from below on the ball of the left thumb, to the left of the hanging thumb loop, the hanging index string (Fig. 216), and draw it to the left by putting the thumb against the left index. Draw the hands apart and the "Fish" is formed (Fig. 217). The "head" is near the right hand, the "tail" near the left hand and the "body," with the upright dorsal fin, near the
FIG. 216.
middle of the figure. If the body comes out very small, it can be made larger by keeping all the strings in place on the left hand and drawing to the left, with the left middle finger, the crossed strings which separate the "body" from the "tail" and then again extending the figure.
The only difficulty likely to be encountered in forming this very pretty figure is in the Eighth movement; if necessary, however, the left middle finger can be used
FIG. 217.
to draw the hanging near index string away from you under the two lower strings of the figure, and into a position from which it can be easily picked up on the back of the thumb.
A RATTLESNAKE AND A BOY
IOI
A RATTLESNAKE AND A BOY
This is a Klamath Indian game obtained for me by Mr. John L. Cox, at Hampton, Virginia, from Emma Jackson of Oregon.
First: Opening A.
Second: Transfer the little finger loops to the index fingers, by putting each
FIG. 218.
FIG. 219.
index from above down into the little finger loop, and picking up, from below (Fig. 218), the far little finger string, and withdrawing the little finger. You now have two loops on each index and a loop on each thumb (Fig. 219).
IO2
STRING FIGURES
Third: Pass the middle, ring and little fingers of each hand toward you over both strings of the lower index loop, and pull them down by closing these finger
on the palm (Fig. 220).
Fourth ' Pass each middle finger from below into the thumb loop (Fig. 221); straighten the finger, put it from below into the upper index loop (Fig. 222) and
FIG. 220
FIG. 221
FIG. 222.
A RATTLESNAKE AND A BOY
103
pull down on the ball of the finger the upper near index string, and draw it through the thumb loop (Fig. 223), then away from you past the lower index loop (held to the palm by the ring and little fingers). Release the loops from the ring and little
FIG. 225.
fingers (Fig. 224), and insert these fingers into the middle finger loop beside the middle finger (Fig. 225).
IO4
STRING FIGURES
Fifth : Withdraw the middle finger, and pass it toward you through the upper index loop and under the near thumb string; then, keeping the strings tight, bend the index down on the near thumb string (Fig. 226), and draw this string away
FIG. 228.
from you (holding it between the index and middle fingers) through the index loop, and put it on the tip of the index by turning the palm away from you. Release the loops from the thumbs (Fig. 227).
^Sixth : Pick up with the back of both thumbs (held close together) the two
*- a., *«>«,•/ JM.*J/ *.«n^ £ 4
<* 4
t
A RATTLESNAKE AND A BOY
105
FIG. 231.
lower index strings just where they cross at the bottom of the figure (Fig. 228) and draw these strings out by separating the hands. You now have two straight near thumb strings (Fig. 229).
Seventh: Put each thumb against the index, to hold in place the upper near index string (Fig. 230), and then throw the two near thumb strings over the tip of the index, and let them fail on the far side. Separate the hands (Fig. 231). .....
io6
STRING FIGURES
Eighth : Transfer the upper index loop to the thumb, by putting the thumb from below into it, and withdrawing the index from both its loops (Fig. 232).
Ninth : Put the index toward you, that is from above, into the thumb loop and take the loop off the thumb.
Tenth : Pass each thumb away from you through the corresponding side lozenge below the two straight transverse strings, pick these strings up on the back of the
FIG. 232.
thumb (Fig. 233) and return the thumb to its position. Release thejppps held , / down by the ring and little fingers and draw the strings tight. (Fig. 234).^*^™ Eleventh : Pass the ring and little fingers toward you (from below) into the
FIG. 233.
two thumb loops and bending the fingers over the two near strings, draw the loops down on the palm and withdraw the thumb (Fig. 235).
Twelfth : Put each thumb away from you into the loops held to the palm by the ring and middle fingers, and, drawing the single upper string of these loops toward the palm (Fig. 236, Left hand) with the back of the thumb pick up from the palmar
A RATTLESNAKE AND A BOY
107
FIG. 234.
FIG. 235
FIG. 236.
io8
STRING FIGURES
side, the string which runs down from the index to the little finger (Fig. 236, Right hand). Withdraw the ring and little fingers (Fig. 237).
Thirteenth: Bring the hands close together with the index finger and thumb of the one hand pointing toward the index finger and thumb of the other hand;
FIG. 237.
then hang the right index loop on the left index and the right thumb loop on the left thumb (Fig. 238). Take up with the right index from the right side the loop which you have just put on the left thumb, and take up with the right thumb, from the left side, the loop which was originally on the left thumb (Fig. 239) ; then with
the right thumb and index lift both loops from the left index, and put the left index toward you into the loop just hung on the left index, and put the left thumb away from you into the loop originally on the left thumb (Fig. 240). Extend the figure on the thumbs and index fingers (Fig. 241). The "rattlesnake" is at the left side of the figure, the "boy" at the right side. The snake can be made to run up and "bite the boy " by releasing the loop from the left thumb and pulling on the left index loop, at the same time quickly and alternately separat- ing and bringing together the right thumb and index (Fig. 242).
This game is the first of a series of four closely related Klamath games. The Second and Seventh movements
are peculiar to these figures, that is, as far as now known; as we discover more figures they will probably occur again. The Thirteenth movement is very much like a movement in the Navaho " Butterfly."
FIG. 238.
A RATTLESNAKE AND A BOY
109
FIG. 239.
FIG. 240.
no
STRING FIGURES
TWO SKUNKS
v
Mr. John L. Cox was taught the " Two Skunks " by the Klamath girl, Emma Jackson.
First : The first nine movements are the same as the first nine movements of the " Rattlesnake and a Boy."
Tenth : Pass the thumbs away from you under the figure and then up on the near side of the two straight transverse strings (Fig. 243), and pull these strings down
on the ball of each thumb and then up toward you on the back of the thumbs (Fig. 244).
Eleventh : Pass each index (with its loop well up at the tip of the finger) from below, into the thumb loop (Fig. 245); withdraw the thumb and pick up from
below on the back of the thumb the original index loop (Fig. 246) and withdraw the index from all the loops. Now transfer the thumb loop back to the index by
TWO SKUNKS
in
putting the index into the loop from below and withdrawing the thumb and straightening the index (Fig. 247).
You now have on each hand a loop on the index and a loop held down by the little and ring fingers. The figure consists of an upper straight string, a lower
FIG. 246.
FIG. 247
straight string and two middle straight strings, also two diagonal strings on each side, which come from a twist around the little finger loop and pass obliquely to
112
STRING FIGURES
the upper string of the figure. The lower diagonal runs downward and passes under the lower straight string before it runs up to the upper straight string.
Twelfth : Pick up from below on the back of each thumb the lower diagonal close to the twist around the little finger loop and before it passes under the lower
FIG. 248.
straight string (Fig. 248) and, holding the thumb against the index to keep in posi- tion the near index string, pass the index and the index loop (Fig. 249) from above into the thumb loop and withdrawing the thumb (Fig. 250) pick up from below on its back the index loop, thus drawing it through the thumb loop. Withdraw the
FIG. 249.
index and put it from below into the thumb loop, withdraw the thumb, and straighten the index (Fig. 251).
Thirteenth : Repeat the Twelfth movement, and draw the hands apart to extend the figure (Fig. 252).
The last four movements of this figure are all novel methods. In the Twelfth and Thirteenth, it is necessary to observe care in order to get the proper diagonals and pick them up in the right places.
TWO SKUNKS
\
FIG. 250.
251.
FIG. 252.
STRING FIGURES
TWO FOXES
This is another Klamath figure, secured in the same way as the two preceding es.
The first nine moverr " Rattlesnake and a Boy."
games.
The first nine movements are the same as the first nine movements of the
FIG. 253.
Tenth : The same as the Twelfth movement of the " Two Skunks." The figure is then extended by drawing the hands apart (Fig. 253).
TWO SQUIRRELS
This is the last of the " Rattlesnake " series of Klamath figures, obtained by Mr. John L. Cox, from Emma Jackson of Oregon.
First : Hold the string between the tips of the thumb and index of each hand, so that a short piece passes between the hands and a long loop hangs down. Make a small ring, hanging down in the short string, putting the right hand string away from you over the left hand string. Put both thumbs away from you through the small loop and both little fingers away from you through the long hanging loop (Fig. 254), and separate the hands (Fig. 255).
Second: Now go through all the movements of the "Two Foxes" including Opening A, to the very end. Remember that you have two near thumb strings; these must be considered throughout as one string (Fig. 256).
TWO SQUIRRELS 115
The heads of the " Squirrels " are directed toward the hands ; the tails are the loops on the index fingers. The pattern should be held vertically.
FIG. 254.
FIG. 255.
FIG. 256.
n6 STRING FIGURES
To hang up the " Squirrels," pick up on each thumb the straight string crossing the figure (Fig. 257). Release the index loops and separate the hands (Fig. 258).
FIG. 258.
The opening movements are interesting modifications of Opening A, and occur, so far as I know, in no other figure.
THE LEASHING OF LOCHIEL'S DOGS
This game is well known in Scotland, Ireland, and England. It has been described by the Rev. John Gray (p. 118, Fig. 4) from the Island of Eriskay, Outer Hebrides ; it is also called " Tying Dogs' Feet." In some parts of Ireland, it is known as "Duck's Feet." It is the same as the Cherokee Indian " Crow's Feet." (See Haddon, 5, p. 217.) Dr. W. H. Furness has found it among the Kabyles of Algeria, introduced from France under the name of "Cock's Feet." It is known to the Ulungu of Africa as Umuzwa=a, Wooden Spoon. Roth gives a similar pat- tern from Australia (pi. xii, i). It closely resembles the "Two Hogans" of the Navaho Indians, just before the completion of that figure.
THE LEASHING OF LOCHIEL'S DOGS
117
First: Opening A.
Second : Turn the palms toward you, draw the strings tight and close the four fingers over all the strings except the near thumb string (Fig. 259, Left hand);
FIG. 259.
FIG. 260.
FIG. 261.
turn each hand down and then up toward you (Fig. 259, Right hand) under the near thumb string, to put this string around the four fingers (Fig. 260).
Third : With the thumb and index of the right hand lift the loop from the left index and place it on the left thumb (Fig. 261). With the thumb and index of the
n8
STRING FIGURES
left hand lift the loop from the right index and place it on the right thumb. This movement can also be made by putting each thumb from below into the index loop and withdrawing the index.
Fourth : With the thumb and index of the right hand pick up the string on the back of the left hand, and put the loop on the left middle finger only (Fig. 262).
With the thumb and index of the left hand pick up the string on the back of the right hand, and put the loop on the right middle finger only. Separate the hands.
Fifth: Turning the palms slightly toward you, bend each little finger down over the far middle finger string, and take up from below on the back of the finger the near little finger string (Fig. 263), and return the little finger to its former position, being careful not to allow the far little finger string to slip off the little finger. After this movement you have on each hand a loop on the thumb and a loop on the middle finger, and two far little finger strings forming a loop around the far middle finger string between the little finger and the ring finger (Fig. 264).
Sixth : With the thumb and index of the
right hand pick up the lower left far little finger string (the one which runs straight across to the right little finger), and, drawing it over the tip of the left little finger, let it fall on the palmar side (Fig. 265), being careful not to disturb
FIG. 262.
the upper far little finger string (the one that crosses over to the far side of the right thumb). With the thumb and index of the left hand, in the same way pick up the lower right far little finger string, lift it over the tip of the right little finger, and drop it on the palmar side. Separate the hands (Fig. 266).
THE LEASHING OF LOCHIEL'S DOGS
119
FIG. 264.
FIG. 265.
FIG. 266.
This movement may also be made by bending each little finger down over the upper far little finger string, and picking up from below on the back of the finger the lower far string, which will slip to the palmar side as the little finger is straightened.
120
STRING FIGURES
Seventh : Release the loops from the thumbs and separate the hands, when it will be observed that the middle and little fingers of each hand, "the dogs," are leashed by loops to two central straight strings (Fig. 267).
The transfer of a loop from a finger to the wrist, or around the backs of the four fingers, of the same hand is quite a common movement in string figures. In the "Apache Door" we saw a very simple method of changing a finger loop to the wrist, and now, in the second movement of this figure, we have a neat method of putting the thumb loop on the back of the four fingers. A similar movement occurs in the Caroline Islands "Coral" and in the Navaho "Man."
On examining more closely the "Leashing of Lochiel's Dogs," one cannot fail to be struck by the rather crude way in which many of the movements are carried out ; except in the Fifth movement, there appears to be lacking that expert use of both hands at the same time which characterizes the figures made by savage
FIG. 267.
races. It is interesting to observe that Dr. Haddon's description of the Cherokee "Crow's Feet" differs from our description of the British figure; his description, in my own words, is as follows:
First : Opening A; but the palmar strings are taken up with the middle fingers instead of with the index fingers.
Second : Close together the four fingers of each hand, and insert them from above into the thumb loop, then take this loop off the thumb ; thus turning it over in the transfer. Separate the hands.
Third : Pass each thumb into the middle finger loop from below, then with- draw the middle finger and return the thumb to its position, thereby transferring the middle finger loop to the thumb.
Fourth : Transfer the loop on the back of each hand to its respective middle finger.
Fifth : Pass each near little finger string from below through the middle finger loop and replace it on the far side of the little finger.
Sixth : Transfer each far little finger string over the little finger to the near side of that finger.
TWO HOGANS
121
Seventh : Release the loops from the thumbs and draw the strings tight. "Crow's Feet" was taught to Dr. Haddon by a Pullman porter of European, negro and Cherokee parentage, which may account for the absence of what, for lack of a better term, we may call "savage characters."
From the figure shown to Mr. John L. Cox by an Onondaga Indian, Charles Doxon, we know that " Crow's Feet " is done by the Indians in the typical Indian way. This method differs from " The Leashing of Lochiel's Dogs " only in the Third and Fourth movements:
Third : Insert each thumb from above into the index loop, and pick up from below the far index string; return the thumb to its position, and withdraw the index.
Fourth : Turning the hands toward you and closing the fingers on the palms, let the far wrist string slip toward you along the fist until it comes to the index finger, when the whole wrist loop can be readily transferred to the middle finger.
TWO HOGANS
Hogan is the Navaho name for a tent ; two tents are Naki-hogan or Atl-sa-hogan. This game was taught to Dr. Haddon, in 1901, by the two old Navahos in Chicago. (Haddon, 5, p. 221, pi. xv, Fig. i.) An example of the finished pattern is preserved
\
FIG. 268.
in the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Arts; No. 22723, collected by Mr. Culin, from the Navahos at St. Michael's Mission, Arizona.
First : Opening A.
Second : With the mouth, take up, from the centre of the figure, the four crossed strings, and draw them toward you and hold them firmly (Fig. 268).
Third : Release the loops from the thumbs and index fingers, and let them hang down ; the index loops form two short hanging loops, the thumb loops form one long hanging loop. ^ v
122
STRING FIGURES
Fourth : Put each hand up from below completely through the loops held by the little finger (Fig. 269); bend the hands down away from you, with the palms facing each other and the fingers pointing downward, and pick up from the near side
with the backs of both little fingers the long hanging loop, drawing it out away from you under and past the far wrist string. Turn the hands with the fingers pointing upward (Fig. 270). You now have a lower loop held by the mouth and passing around both wrists to become the lower far string of the figure; and a triangle produced by a string on each side passing from the mouth and running between the ring and little finger to become the upper far string of the figure. The original index loops hang down from the mouth.
FlG 269 Fifth : Still holding the strings in
the mouth, and keeping the loops se- curely on the little fingers, turn the palms slightly toward you, and, bending each little finger down over the near little finger string, pick up from below on the
FIG. 270.
FIG. 271.
back of the finger the diagonal string running from the mouth to the little finger, and return the little finger to its usual position, drawing the diagonal string upward and outward through the little finger loop (Fig. 271).
TWO HOGANS
123
Sixth : Release the strings held by the mouth and separate the hands (Fig. 272).
Seventh : Take up with the mouth the middle of the two strings passing between the knots in the figure, and turn the hands with their palms up and the fingers
\
FIG. 272
directed away from you; in this way a hogan, or tent, is formed on each hand by the wrist and little finger loops (Fig. 273).
"Two Hogans" is interesting because the loops are held by the teeth almost throughout the entire figure. It is not unusual for one or more loops to be taken up by the teeth, but, as a rule, it is done merely through one or two movements, in order
FIG. 273.
to bring the strings into a position from which they can be conveniently taken up by the fingers. The figure produced by the Sixth movement is similar to the finished figure of the "Leashing of Lochiel's Dogs"; the loops, however, being held on the wrists and little fingers instead of on the middle fingers and little fingers.
124 STRING FIGURES
A CARIBOO
The " Cariboo " is described and the finished pattern is illustrated by Dr. F. Boas (i, p. 229, Fig. i, 3, p. 570, Fig. 525a). It is described, but not figured, by Dr. Haddon (5, p. 216).
It is given by Dr. Boas as coming from the Eskimos of Cumberland Sound, Baffin Land, where it is known as Tuktuqdjung = a Cariboo.
First : Opening A. (The left palmar string must be taken up first.) Second : Bend the right index away from you over the right far index string and over both strings of the right little finger loop and down on the far side of the right far
FIG. 275.
little finger string (Fig. 274); then draw toward you on the near side of the right index both right little finger strings and the right far index string, allowing the right
A CARIBOO
12
near index string to slip over the knuckle of the index and to the far side of the finger. Now put the right index (still bent and holding the strings on its near side) from below into the thumb loop, by pressing the near side of the bent index toward you against the right far thumb string, and putting the tip down toward you over and on the near side of the right near thumb string (Fig. 275). Pick up, on the far side
FIG. 276.
of the bent right index, this right near thumb string, and lift it and the former near index string up by turning the index away from you and up to its usual position (Fig. 276).
Third: Release the loop from the right thumb (Fig. 277).
Fourth : Give the loops on the right index a twist by rotating the index
away from you, down on the near side of the little finger loop and then up toward you.
Fifth : Put the right thumb from below into the two loops on the right index, and draw the thumb away from the index in order to enlarge the loops.
126
STRING FIGURES
Sixth: With the left thumb and index take the loop from the left index, and pass it from above and away from you through the two loops passing around the right thumb and index (Fig. 278), without twisting the loop or touching the right little finger loop, and put it back on the left index (Fig. 279).
Seventh : Release the loop from the left thumb, and release the loops passing around the right thumb and index, and draw the hands apart; putting the left thumb into
the left little finger loop, withdrawing the little finger, and putting the right thumb
and index into the right little finger loop, withdrawing the right little finger.
Extend the figure between the widely separated thumbs and index fingers (Fig. 280). The finished figure is curious and unsymmetrical, and bears some resemblance
to a cariboo with the head and horns directed to the left. The Second and Third
movements are peculiar to this figure.
FIG. 278.
FIG. 280
THE CIRCLE
127
THE CIRCLE
Dr. Boas has described and illustrated (i, p. 230, Fig. 5) a game known to the Eskimos of Cumberland Sound, Baffin Land, as Ussuqdjung. I have called it the "Circle."
First : Put the loop on the hands in the First Position.
Second : Pass the right index, middle, ring and little fingers from below, behind the left palmar string, and draw the loop out. Pass the left index, middle, ring and
little fingers, from below, behind the right palmar strings; draw the loop out and separate the hands. This movement, which is like Opening A, puts each palmar string on the back of the opposite hand (Fig. 281).
Third : Release the loops from the thumbs and separate the hands.
FIG. 282
Fourth : Bend each thumb over the string which passes between the hands and then between the thumb and index of each hand, and pick up from below, on the back of the thumb, the near little finger string (Fig. 282), and return the thumb to its position.
128
STRING FIGURES
Fifth : Pick up the palmar strings with the index fingers as in Opening A (Fig. 283).
Sixth : With the thumb and index of the right hand pick up the string on the back of the left hand, lift it over the tips of the left fingers, and let it drop on the
FIG. 283.
palmar side. With the thumb and index of the left hand pick up the string on the back of the right hand, lift it over the tips of the right fingers, and let it drop on the palmar side.
Seventh : Draw the hands apart and the central circle will appear (Fig. 284).
FIG. 284.
This is not an interesting figure, and appears more like a figure in process of development than one worked out to the end. The Second movement is the direct way of putting the loop on the backs of the four fingers.
TWO STARS
129
TWO STARS
I learned this figure at the St. Louis Exposition, in November, 1904, from the two Navaho girls, from Gallup, New Mexico, who taught me the other Navaho figures.
First: Opening A.
Second : Transfer the index loops to the thumbs, by putting each thumb from below into the index loop, with- drawing the index, and return- ing the thumb to its position.
Third: Transfer the little finger loops to the thumbs, by bending each thumb away from you over the far thumb strings, and taking up from below on the back of the thumb the near little finger string; and then withdrawing the little finger, return the thumb to its position.
You now have three loops on each thumb (Fig. 285). Keep
them well separated on the thumb : the original loop down at the base, the loop taken from the index half-way up, and the loop taken from the little finger near the tip.
FIG. 285.
FIG. 286.
Fourth : Put each ring finger from below through the two lower thumb loops, and, pushing the two lower far strings away from you with the back of this finger (Fig. 286), bend the ring finger toward you over the upper far thumb string (the
1 3o
STRING FIGURES
far string which passes directly from thumb to thumb), draw it down, and hold it by closing the ring and little fingers over it on the palm (Fig. 287).
Fifth : Turn the hands so that the thumbs, index fingers and middle fingers point away from you; then bending the index and middle finger pass the middle
finger toward you through the thumb loops, and pass the index toward you into the two upper thumb loops and then between the two upper near thumb strings and the lower near thumb string (the near string which passes directly from thumb
to thumb) (Fig. 288). Now, holding this lower near thumb string between the index and middle finger, draw these fingers away from you, and, by turning the index down and then away from you, take the string up on the tip of the finger.
FIG. 289
CASTING THE FISH-SPEAR
Sixth : Release the loops from the thumbs, and, turning the palms away from you, extend the figure between the index fingers and the ring and little fingers closed on the palm (Fig. 289).
So far as I know, this figure is the only one in which, after Opening A, three loops are arranged on both thumbs.
CASTING THE FISH-SPEAR
Dr. Haddon has given me this unpublished Torres Straits figure.
First : Opening A. (The left palmar string must be taken up first.) Second: Exchange the index loops so that they will catch, by bringing the hands together (with the fingers pointed toward one another) and putting with the left index the left index loop on the right index over the right index loop, and down to the base of the finger; then lift off with the left in- dex the original right index loop, and sep- arate the hands. In this way the right in- dex loop is drawn
through the left in- \\ \ I / /
dex loop (Fig. 290). \ // I '
Third: Release the loop from the right index. You
now have a loop on each thumb and little finger and a loop on the left index; the loops on the left hand form the fish-spear, which is brought out more plainly by closing all the fingers of the right hand down on the palm, and letting the strings
of the little finger loop come out between the index and middle finger (Fig. 291).
FIG. 290.
FIG. 291.
132
STRING FIGURES
Fourth : The spear is "cast" from the left hand to the right hand, by putting the right index down between the right far thumb string and the right near little
FIG. 292.
finger string, and then from below into the left index loop (Fig. 292), and drawing the loop joining the left hand loops out to the right on the back of the right index.
FIG. 293.
Then release the loop from the left index and close the fingers of the left hand down on the palm (Fig. 293).
The only point of interest in this figure is the fact that the finished pattern is formed first on one hand, and then may be transferred to the other hand.
The Second movement occurs again only in the next two figures.
AN ARROW AN ARROW
133
This very pretty figure was shown to me by the two girls from whom I learned the other Navaho figures, at the St. Louis Exposition, in November, 1 904. The native name is Ka — an Arrow.
First : Opening A. (The left palmar string must be taken up first.) Second : The same as the Second movement of " Casting the Fish-Spear."
FIG. 294.
Third : Pass the right thumb away from you over the right far thumb string and under all the other strings, and, as you begin to return the thumb, catch on its
FIG. 295.
back the right far little finger string, and draw It back under the right near little finger string and the strings of the right index loop (Fig. 294, Right hand).
Fourth : With the teeth pick up from the right thumb this right far little finger string, which you have just drawn toward you, remove the right thumb (Fig. 295),
134
STRING FIGURES
and moving the hands away from you, release the loops from the little fingers and draw the strings tight.
You now have a loop on each thumb and a loop on the left index. The loop held by the teeth makes one twist near the mouth, and then the right string passes to the far side of the right index, around that finger and to the centre of the figure,
while the left string goes at once to the centre of the figure and then to the far side of the left index, to form the left index loop.
Fifth : Turn the hands with the palms toward you and close the middle, ring and little fingers of the left hand down on the palm, over the thumb and index loops ; and close the middle, ring and little fingers of the right hand down on the palm, over the near index string and the thumb loop (Fig. 296). Now put the tip of the right thumb against the tip of the right index, and the tip of the left thumb against the tip of the left index, and turning the hands with the knuckles toward one another,
FIG. 297.
and the palms down, put the thumb and index (still held together) of each hand down between the two strings of the loop held by the mouth, below (to the far side of) the twist in the loop (Fig. 297). The middle, ring and little fingers must be kept closed on the palms throughout the following movement.
By lifting the elbows and bending the hands down at the wrists, direct the thumb
AN ARROW 135
and index (still held together) of the right hand toward the right, under the right string of the loop held by the teeth; and direct the thumb and index (still held to- gether) of the left hand toward the left, under the left string of the loop held by
FIG. 298.
the teeth. Now, if both hands be moved up toward the chin and turned at the wrist toward you and upward, while you drop, your elbows, each string of the loop can be caught around the thumb and index of the hand of the same side, and when the hands are put in the usual position each string will pass from the teeth to the far side of the index finger, between the index and middle fingers to the back of the hand, and
then toward you across the backs of the thumb and index, around the thumb to the palm, and again between the index and middle fingers (Fig. 298).
Sixth: Release the loop held by the teeth; separate the hands, and draw the strings tight (Fig. 299).
You now have on each hand : A single lower loop on the thumb, a single lower loop on the index, and an upper loop which passes around both thumb and index.
Seventh : With the thumb and index (or with the teeth) lift the lower loop off the thumb, and lift the lower loop off the index of each hand in turn, passing the
136
STRING FIGURES
loop over the loop which goes around both thumb and index, but permitting that loop to remain around these fingers. The single loops which you have slipped from each thumb and each index are now looped around the string passing from the back of the thumb to the back of the index (Fig. 300). One of the four strings
of these loops, the upper near one, passes straight across the figure and above the other three strings.
Eighth : Put the middle finger of each hand from below between the strings forming the thumb loop, and then on the far side of this upper straight near string passing directly across the figure, and bending the middle finger toward you over this string (Fig. 301), pull it down; then release the loop from each thumb and draw the
FIG. 301.
strings tight. The figure is extended between the index fingers and the middle fingers closed on the palms (Fig. 302).
The head of the " Arrow" is near the left hand; the feathered end near the right hand. By pushing together with the thumb the loops forming the point of the "Arrow," the head can be rendered very distinct; in the same way the feathered end can be made perfectly symmetrical.
The "Arrow" begins, practically, with an unsymmetrical movement, and although the subsequent movements are done with both hands the figure does not
A PORCUPINE 137
again become entirely symmetrical. The First and Second movements are similar to the same movements in " Casting the Fish-Spear." The object of the Third,
FIG. 302.
Fourth and Fifth movements is to wrap the far index strings (which usually form the little finger loops) around both the index and thumb. The Seventh and Eighth movements are characteristic Navaho movements.
A PORCUPINE
The " Porcupine " is a Klamath Indian game obtained by Mr. John L. Cox, at Hampton, Virginia, from Emma Jackson, of Oregon.
First : Opening A. (The left palmar string must be taken up first.) Second: The same as the Second movement of "Casting the Fish-Spear." With the right thumb and index pull in turn the left near thumb string and the left
far little finger to the right, in order to bring central crossings of the strings near the left hand (Fig. 303). ?»'•-
STRING FIGURES
Third : Transfer the left index loop to the left thumb, by putting the thumb from below into the index loop, withdrawing the index, and returning the thumb to its position.
Fourth : Transfer the left little finger loop to the left thumb, by bending the thumb away from you over the far thumb strings and taking up from below on the
back of the thumb the near little finger string; then withdrawing the little finger, return the left thumb to its position. Keep the three loops on the right thumb well separated (Fig. 304).
Fifth : Put the left ring finger from below through the two lower loops on the left thumb, and, pushing the two lower far strings away from you with the back of the finger (Fig. 305), bend the ring finger toward you over the upper far thumb string (the far string which passes directly from the left thumb to the right little
FIG. 305.
finger) and draw it down and hold it by closing the ring finger over it on the palm (Fig. 306).
Sixth : Turn the left hand so that the thumb, index and middle fingers point away from you; then bending the left index and middle fingers, pass the middle finger toward you through all the left thumb loops and pass the left index toward you into the two upper left thumb loops and then between the two upper near thumb
A PORCUPINE 139
strings and the lower near thumb string (the near string which passes directly from thumb to thumb) (Fig. 307). Now, holding this lower near thumb string between
FIG. 308.
the index and middle finger, draw these fingers away from you, and by turning the index down and then away from you take the string up on the tip of that finger. Release the left thumb (Fig. 308).
140
STRING FIGURES
Seventh : Put the left thumb under the two right lower strings of the lozenge now formed near the left hand (Fig. 309) and pick them up on the back of the thumb. Return the thumb to its position (Fig. 310).
Eighth : Put the left index finger with its loop from above through the left thumb loops, withdraw the thumb and straighten the finger (Fig. 311); transfer
311
A PORCUPINE
141
the original left index loop to the thumb by picking up from below the near index string and withdrawing the index from all its loops (Fig. 312). Transfer the left
FIG. 312.
thumb loop to the index, by pulling the index into it from below and withdrawing the thumb.
Ninth : Release the loops from the right thumb and little finger and draw the hands apart and the porcupine is formed near the left hand (Fig. 313).
This is a very easy figure because the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth move-
FIG. 313.
ments are the same as tne Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth movements of the "Two Stars," but carried out on the left hand only. The Seventh and Eighth movements are new ones.
The " Porcupine " appears to be really an Eskimo figure, and one very widely distributed; it is found in Alaska under the name of "Wolf " or "Wolverine" (p. 361), and, as a " Fox," is one of the six patterns from Smith Sound given by A. L. Kroeber in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, XII, 1899, p. 298.
CHAPTER V
FIGURES BEGINNING WITH OPENING A (CONTINUED) — A CAROLINE ISLANDS CATCH — CIRCLES AND TRIANGLES — TEN MEN — A VARIATION OF TEN MEN — CAROLINE ISLANDS TRIANGLES — CARRYING MONEY — HOUSE
OF THE BLOS-BIRD — THREE STARS — NO NAME CORAL — A MAN — TWO CHIEFS — A MAN AND A BED
— A PALM TREE — A CANOE WITH TWO MASTS — A HOUSE — FIGURES BEGINNING WITH A MODIFICATION OF OPENING A — W — M.
A CAROLINE ISLANDS CATCH
THIS catch was shown to Dr. W. H. Furness in 1902 by a Natik woman, "Emily," who was returning to the Caroline Islands, on the steamer Oceana, from Australia, where she had gone from Ponape as a nurse in an English family. Natik (or Ngatik) is a small island south of Ponape, with a population of about one hundred and fifty. It has twice been swept by tidal waves and almost all of the inhabitants killed. The natives speak a strange dialect
of Ponape intermingled with English words. They are chiefly the descend- ants of an African negro from a whaling vessel and a native woman from Ponape.
First : Opening A. (Taking up the right palmar string first.)
Second : Take the left hand out of all the loops, and let them hang straight down from the right hand held palm down with the fingers pointing to the left. Third: Put the tips of the left thumb and little finger together and in- sert them from the left side into the right index loop (Fig. 314); then separate the FIG. 314. left thumb and little finger, and, taking
the loop off the right index, draw the
hands apart (Fig. 315). This movement arranges the string on the left hand in the "First Position," and on the right hand puts a twisted loop on the thumb, a twisted loop on the little finger and a string across the palm.
Fourth : With the left index take up from below (as in Opening A) the string on the right palm (Fig. 316) and separate the hands (Fig. 317).
142
A CAROLINE ISLANDS CATCH
FIG. 316.
FIG. 317.
144
STRING FIGURES
Fifth : Bend the left thumb away from you over the left near index string, and take up from below on the back of the thumb the left far index string (Fig. 318, Left hand), and return the thumb to its former position.
Sixth : Bend the right thumb away from you over the right far thumb string, and take up from below on the back of the thumb the right near little finger string (Fig. 318, Right hand), and return the thumb to its position.
Seventh : Bend the left index down, and pick up from below on the back of its tip the left near index string (Fig. 319, Left hand) and return the index to its position.
Eighth : Bend the right index down, and pick up from below on the back of its tip the right far thumb string (not the string passing across the palm) (Fig. 319, Right hand), and return the index to its position.
Ninth : Keep the strings on the index fingers well up at the tips by pressing the thumb against the index, and bend each little finger over the far little finger string and all three fingers down on the palm to hold down the little finger string (Fig. 320). Then with the teeth pull the lower left thumb loop (the one whose far string
FIG. 319
crosses the palm) up over the left upper thumb loop, over the tip of the thumb, and let it drop on the palmar side. In the same way with the teeth pull the right lower thumb loop off the right thumb. In each case be careful not to disturb the upper thumb loop (Fig. 321).
Tenth : Release the loops from the little fingers, and extend the figure between
A CAROLINE ISLANDS CATCH 145
the thumbs and the tips of the index fingers. It is not absolutely necessary to turn the palms away from you (Fig. 322). If the figure fails to appear after this last
FIG. 320.
FIG. 321
FIG. 322.
movement, it is because the right thumb loops have become disarranged; it is essential that the right far thumb string form a cross between the right thumb and index.
146
STRING FIGURES
If a second person put his hand through the middle diamond of the figure, his wrist will be caught in a loop if the strings be dropped from the left hand, and the right hand strings pulled to the right. His wrist will not be caught if the strings be dropped from the right hand and the left hand strings pulled to the left.
This figure is closely related to the Torres Straits catch, the "King Fish." The result produced by the first four movements of the " King Fish " differs from the result of the first four movements of this catch merely in the twist in the left index loop. The opening movements of this figure are very neat, and, so far as I know, are not found in any other string figure. Of course the same result can be obtained, if after Opening A you release the right index loop and give the right thumb and index loops a single twist.
All these catches, whether of wrist or finger, as well as the tricks in which the string is unexpectedly drawn from the hand or neck, possess a great attraction to all natives; it is truly delightful to witness their pleasure when they are successful, and their gratification at the observer's astonishment which it will amply repay him to make very evident.
CIRCLES AND TRIANGLES
Dr. Furness obtained this figure from the same woman who taught him the preceding catch. The native name is Bur-bur-ani jau, which has some reference
FIG. 323
to a dog. I have called it "Circles and Triangles" until the translation of the native name can be made.
First : Opening A.
Second : Pass each thumb away from you over the far thumb string and the index loop, and pick up from below on the back of the thumb both strings of the little finger loop (Fig. 323, Left hand), and return the thumb to its position (Fig. 323, Right hand).
Third : Bend each index finger well down into the original thumb loop, the strings of which pass toward the centre of the figure, and move the index away
CIRCLES AND TRIANGLES 147
from you (Fig. 324), by turning the palm away from you, and then straighten the index, which thus takes upon its back both strings of the index loop and also the far thumb string (Fig. 325). Slip the thumbs from their loops, and turn the hands
FIG. 324.
with the palms facing each other (Fig. 326). You now have a loop on each little finger with its strings passing across the palm to the index; and on each index there
I48 STRING FIGURES
are three near strings ; an upper far string passing from side to side, and two strings which may be called lower far index strings; together they come through a tight loop around the base of the index.
Fourth : Pass each thumb away from you over these two far index strings and under all the other strings, and with the tip of the middle finger press down the
FIG. 327.
upper straight far index string until it is over the back of the thumb, then catch it on the thumb and bring it back toward you as you return the thumb to its position
(Fig. 327).
Fifth : Turn each index down and away from you, and let the upper three near index strings slip over its tip; this leaves one loop on the index. Separate the hands
(Fig. 328). There is now a loop on each thumb, a loop on each little finger and a loop on each index.
Sixth : Transfer the thumb loops to the index fingers by putting each index from below into the thumb loop, and withdrawing the thumb and returning the index to its position (Fig. 329).
Seventh : Put each thumb from below into the lower index loop, and with the tip of the middle finger press down the upper far index string until it is over the back
CIRCLES AND TRIANGLES
149
of the thumb, when you can catch it on the thumb and draw it toward you (Fig. 330, Left hand) as you return the thumb to its position (Fig. 330, Right hand).
FIG. 330.
Eighth: Withdraw the index fingers from their loops, turn the hands with the fingers pointing away from you, and extend the figure loosely (Fig. 331). If the strings be drawn tight the pattern cannot be seen.
i5o STRING FIGURES
This is a most interesting and novel figure. The First and Second movements are unlike anything occurring in other figures. In the Fourth and Seventh movement, the use of the middle finger to assist the thumb in catching the string is not a native practice; I have put it in to make these movements easier. The finished pattern differs from the usual finished pattern, because it runs down to form a twisted cord if the strings be pulled too tight; moreover it is not extended in the characteristic Caroline Islands fashion.
TEN MEN
This is another Natik, Caroline Islands, figure collected in the same way as the two preceding figures. Roth gives a drawing (pi. VI., Fig. 7) of an Australian
FIG. 332.
finished pattern called a "Turtle," which appears to be the same as the fi