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Show i9oo] GREAT PLAINS INDIANS 145 most of them have sprung up societies or organizations of a military and religious character which are often secret, require formal initiation, and play a most important part particularly in the ceremonial life of the tribes. In many of them there are regular degrees through which a member passes after fulfilling the necessary requirements, in much the same way as obtains in similar orders among civilized peoples. It is quite possible that this institution and the rather elaborate religious ceremonials which have been spoken of may not be of indigenous growth but are a degenerate, extension from Mexico and the southwest. Another interesting achievement of the plains Indians is the so- called " sign language." lNYThe unstable character of their residences and the frequency with which they came into contact with groups speaking unintelligible dialects made some common means of communication necessary, and the result was a combination of gesture and grimace of remarkable efficiency. It became developed to an extraordinary degree, and while doubtless in its origin it was largely descriptive, with the meaning evident in the sign, it became through generations of use conventional to such a degree that no one unacquainted with it could understand more than a fraction of the gestures current over the enormous territory in which it was used. 1 Mallery, Introduction to Study of Sign Language among North American Indians; Collection of Gesture Signs, etc. VOL. 11.- 10 |