- "How" the settlers communicated....

We've all seen it on TV and in films and some of us have even read it in books... 

The cowboy and the American Indian ride up to each other and each raises his right hand, palm outwards, and says "How".

It was like a universal greeting that seemed to work all over the west no matter who used it or what tribe was involved.

But was it true?  Did that hand sign exist and is that what it meant?

The Prairie Traveler book was written in 1858 as a guide for people heading into the west in covered wagons.  It's full of information that prospective settlers in the west needed to know.

One of the things it teaches is sign language for meeting American Indians for the first time.

"On approaching strangers these people put their horses at full speed, and persons not familiar with their peculiarities and habits might interpret this as an act of hostility; but it is their custom with friends as well as enemies, and should not occasion groundless alarm".

This kind of mock challenge during a first meeting is ethnographically common around the world. Particularly in Polynesia, where new visitors are always treated to an invitation to do battle as part of the welcoming ceremony.

For the Great Plains People, a fine charging display of horsemanship probably communicated a lot about their values and interests.

"When a party is discovered approaching thus, and are near enough to distinguish signals, all that is necessary in order to ascertain their disposition is to raise the right hand with the palm in front and gradually push it forward and back several times".

The classic "How" moment just like the TV, books and films depict!

"They all understand this to be a command to halt, and if they are not hostile it will at once be obeyed".

Alas, there is no "How" moment.  A right hand raised with palm outwards meant exactly what it means today... Stop.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Other hand signs in use included:

Who are you?..

"the right hand is raised again as before, and slowly moved to the right and left"

Are you friends?..

"they may be asked if they are friends by raising both hands grasped in the manner of shaking hands, or by locking the two fore-fingers firmly while the hands are held up"

Anger...

"give the signal of anger by closing the hand, placing it against the forehead, and turning it back and forth while in that position"

The American Indians could also communicate their tribal names in sign language.

Comanche:

"represented by making with the hand a waving motion in imitation of the crawling of a snake"

Cheyenne:

"by drawing the hand across the arm, to imitate cutting it with a knife"

Arapaho:

"by seizing the nose with thumb and fore-finger"

Sioux:

"by drawing the hand across the throat"

Pawnee:

"by placing a hand on each side of the forehead, with two fingers pointing to the front, to represent the narrow, sharp ears of the wolf"

 Crow:

"by imitating the flapping of the bird's wings with the palms of the hands"

The U.S. Army officer who wrote the Prairie Traveler had more than ten years of experience working in the western United States in the mid-1800's and he met and worked with many American Indians, so this list of hand signs is probably quite authoritative.

For those who are great fans of the kind of Western story that features cowboys and Indians Howing each other whenever they meet, we can pull one part of that legend out of the fire.

It's the word "How".  Or more correctly "Hau".  From the Lakota/Dakota Sioux language.  It means hello.  Just like the stories say it should. 

Further information about how the pioneers and settlers lived can be found at the Pioneer Handbooks library.

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