Left hand flattened and held back upward, thumb inward in front of and a few inches from the breast. Right hand slightly clasped, forefinger more extended than the others, and passed suddenly under the left hand, the latter being at the same time gently moved toward the breast. (_Cheyenne_ II.) "Gone under."
Both hands horizontal in front of body, backs outward, index of each hand alone extended, the right index is passed under the left with a downward, outward and then upward and inward curved motion at the same time that the left is moved inward toward the body two or three inches, the movements being ended on the same level as begun. "Upset, keeled over." For _many deaths_ repeat the sign many times. The sign of (_Cheyenne_ II) expresses "gone under," but is not used in the sense of _death, dead_, but _going under a cover_, as entering a lodge, under a table, &c. (_Dakota_ I.)
Make the sign for ALIVE, viz.: The right hand, back upward, is to be at the height of the elbow and forward, the index extended and pointing forward, the other fingers closed, thumb against middle finger; then, while rotating the hand outward, move it to a position about four inches in front of the face, the back looking forward and the index pointing upward; then the sign for No. (_Dakota_ IV.)
Another: Hold the left hand pointing toward the right, palm obliquely downward and backward, about a foot in front of the lower part of the chest, and pass the right hand pointing toward the left, palm downward, from behind forward underneath it. Or from an upright position in front of the face, back forward, index extended and other fingers closed, carry the right hand downward and forward underneath the left and about four inches beyond it, gradually turning the right hand until its back is upward and its index points toward the left. An Arapaho sign. Gone under or buried. (_Dakota_ IV.)
Hold the left hand slightly bent with the palm down, before the breast, then pass the extended right hand, pointing toward the left, forward under and beyond the left. (_Dakota_ VI, VII.)
Hold the right hand, flat, palm downward, before the body; then throw it over on its back to the right, making a curve of about fifteen inches. (_Dakota_ VI; _Hidatsa_ I; _Arikara_ I.) The gesture of reversal in this and other instances may be compared with picture-writings in which the reversed character for the name or totem of a person signifies his death. One of these is given in Fig. 249, taken from Schoolcraft's _Hist. Am. Tribes_, I, p. 356, showing the cedar burial post or _adjedatig_ of Wabojeeg, an Ojibwa war chief, who died on Lake Superior about 1793. He belonged to the deer clan of his tribe and the animal is drawn reversed on the post.