Page:Natalie Curtis - The Indians' Book.djvu/28

 DRAWINGS

All drawings in this book are by Indians, and were made free-hand without rule or measure, except that in some instances an inverted basket was used to form a circle. Nearly all represent first efforts to draw on paper with the white man's brush, and many were first attempts at drawing of any kind.

The lettering on the title-pages is by Angel De Cora (Hinook Mahiwi Kilinaka), of the Winnebago tribe.

The cover-design is taken from a parfleche (satchel of dressed hide), painted by Wihunahe (Chief Woman), of the Cheyenne tribe. The parfleches were used by the prairie tribes to hold and carry their belongings, especially the dried buffalo-meat that was their sustenance. The idea in choosing this design is that the cover of the book is in itself a parfleche to keep those possessions of the Indian which he must carry ever with him—the songs and legends of his race. A Dakota Indian suggested as title for the book the word Ozula, "All Filled."

The title-page, by Angel De Cora (Hinook Mahiwi Kilinaka), has for the motive of its design an adaptation of an old Indian design which represents in highly conventionalized form the Eagle, and the Eagle's Song. The soaring eagle is seen in the green figure whose points are the two out-spread wings, with the tail in the centre. The yellow spot at the top of the figure is the eagle's head; from the beak rises the song—waving lines which broaden out as the song floats on the air. The whole symbol is used in decorative form throughout the page, two eagles being joined together by the tips of wings and tails to form a symmetrical design. In the centre of the page, at the top and bottom, and at the sides, is seen the eagle-symbol, while the page is framed, as it were, in the symbol of the song. The eagle is loved and revered by the Indians. He is strongest of all birds. He soars aloft, and he may look upon the sun, the giver of life, the celestial emblem of divine force. Therefore has the symbol of the Eagle and the Eagle's Song been chosen for the title-page of "The Indians' Book."