Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/20

12 tions are found mainly in the East. Now to the West of America, and to the East of Asia, is the Pacific Ocean; and may we not assume that at least the Blues and Greens are used for West and East, in America and Asia respectively, in reference to this? All the American tribes for which an explicit color-system is given, who use Blue or Green for the West, are situated in the southwestern part of the United States and Mexico, where, if they have not themselves seen the Western ocean, they have at least heard of its existence. There is perhaps one exception to this,—namely, the Dakota; but here it would seem probable that the existence of a Western ocean was known to the people also. In Asia the same general conditions hold true. It is precisely among those peoples who abut on the Pacific, and among no others, that East is symbolized by Green or Blue. May we make even a broader equation, and say Blue=Green=Black? That is, can we say that the existence of a large body of water, West of America and East of Asia, determined the selection of a dark color for these points? Such a theory offers, it is to be feared, a too temptingly simple explanation of the matter; for Black may be ascribed to the West for other reasons, as will be pointed out later. The equation Blue=Green may also be questioned, as in America Green is attributed to the West only in Mexico, and there West was, according to some authors, connected with grass and fertility.

As for the other cases where geographic position has apparently influenced the selection of colors, I must confess that the grounds are much weaker. In the symbolism of the Creeks, the Hopi, the Navaho, and in Mexico (following Acosta), South is represented by Blue; and the same point is symbolized by the same color in Thibet and in the Buddhist symbolism of India and Ceylon. In one sense all these peoples have the sea to the south of them, and it is possible that here, too, we have the influence of the sea on the colors chosen for the cardinal points. But this suggestion must be regarded as merely a suggestion, and it is advanced only because no other explanation seemed to be forthcoming. If we include Green as a sea color, we should add to this list the Apache, Ojibwa, and Winnebago; but with the latter two at least, and probably with the former as well, it seems fully as likely that the Green may be connected with vegetation.

The third factor suggested as possibly influencing the selection of colors was climate, and this shows most clearly in regard to the colors for North and South. In a little less than half the cases we find Red used as symbolic of the South; and, with the exception of the Northern Athabascans, all these cases are found among Southern peoples or tribes. In the general symbolism of many peoples, Red is symbolic of heat or fire; and the presumption is strong that, on