Show HERALDRY OF THE INDIANS Marks on Face to Denote Honors Ancestry An-cestry Tribe and Condition People in general have been content to look upon the Indians adornment of his head with eagle feathers and his face with paint as marks of personal decora lion Inspired by vanity and L savage taste different only In degree from what Is sometimes witnessed among highly dy lllzod peoples But the fact Is that in preference to the latter custom for Instance In-stance every paint mark on an Indian face has a sort of heraldic meaning Implying Im-plying iiat only the honors won by the brave in person but representing also tho claims of his family and race to distinction distinc-tion In other words What is shown among more cultured communities by coals of arms orders and decorations Is depleted by l the Indian on his face by means of pigments Scientists are now engaged among olh cr novel Investigations concerning the Norht American Indian In compiling a record of the armorial or rather facial bearings of certain celebrated chiefs and it Is saId to be fascinating work One renoncd warrior for instance will have his Up painted K copper red This Is found to Indicate that his tribe was oncd In possession of huge mines of copper Another Individual will have his forehead fore-head adorned with a painting of a CT taln fish thus Implying that he or his people arc renowned for prowess In catching fish The same distinguished person per-son sometimes wears a disk of pearl In addition lo his paint mask This by Its shimmering radiance nnd Its form Implies Im-plies that he Is descended from the moon in the sense that thc goddess of night Is one of his ancestors The fact that the Indian has no conception concep-tion of perspective seriously handicaps the success of his efforts at pictorial art Indeed the Indian limner nicrelv alms to show the most characteristic portion of the object ho nltempts to depict unless he bo a man of great attainment In which case he divides or dissects the subject of his picture and represents lie whole bIts > b-Its parts the latter being arranged entirely en-tirely Irrespective of the natural sequence Tho features of lie Indian arc sometimes some-times Incorporated Into thc renrescnta t6n of thc animal which forms his heraldic heral-dic bearing Should time beaver for ox Jamplc bo thc object to bo depicted It Is not attempted to design the whole form of the animal but only its distinctive and typical parts as for Instance Its peculiar pe-culiar tall which Is painted in crisscross lines extending from thc chin to tho nose ns though standing upright The chin Itself It-self does service as the beavers body The arbitrary methods of thc Indian artist art-ist render it dllllculU if not impossible for any but an expert to Interpret the meanings of the pictorial representation Thus an animals ears are Invarlablv depicted de-picted above tIme eyes on thc human sub lect thc ears of the beivcr being Just above lie eyebrows On the cheeks arc painted the paws in a position as though they were raided to the mouth In the manner conventional In Indian carvings The dopllsh painted In led on Ihe face designates time members of nn entire tribe On the foreheads of the members of this trIbe is painted the long thin snout thc gills are represented by two curved lines below the eyes while Iho tall Is shown as cut In two nnd hanging from each nostril Only one or two parts of an animal an-imal pulnled on nn Indians face Indicates thai he Is of Inferior poalllon the entire symbol no mailer in what form presented present-ed Is significant of lolly station and high honors The facial heraldry of thc Indian maybe may-be said to be unique not alone In tho method of representation employed but In time subjects selected These latter Include In-clude Jlsh ilesh and fowl of all descriptions descrip-tions dog salmon devilfish starllsh woodpeckers raven eagles bears wolves frogs are comprised In time ur morlal gallery Every object represented has Us own particular ignlflcami and one of tho most ppcujhu phases of face paInting rc hates lo Iho employment of lorms oilier than animal tools Implements of lie chase or of war denoting the occupation of time Individual or his irlbe Washington Washing-ton Times |