View sign 'chief'

chief

Image

Description

(meaning: elevated; rising above others and looking down at them)

Hold right hand back to right, index finger extended and pointing upwards, others and thumb closed, in front of, higher than, and little to right of right shoulder (hand about on line with front of face); raise the hand some little distance higher than head, and as hand is being raised, carry it over in front of face; when had reaches highest point, turn index finger so as to bring it vertical, pointing downwards.


Synonyms: distinguished, famous, great, headman, leader, partisan, renowned

Notes

This is Tomkins position 1 hand.

Clark notes that the index finger is raised, turned and lowered about as an arrow fired straight up in the air would go. The Blackfeet, Flatheads, Crows, and some other raise the index vertically, pointing upwards after the described sign. This movement properly means the head-chief of a tribe.

I have seen the signs made for the man who wears the medal to denote the chief, but this is only by Indians who were not conversant with gesture speech. Any officer, civil or military, is called a chief; non-commissioned officers are represented as small chiefs, or by marking lines on arm to denote chevrons. Some Indians claim the conception of this sign to be, "Rising above all others and standing solidly on the ground."