ALDERMAN

STACKS
E

51

N45
v.10.
no.7

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

EDITED By F. W. Hopcr

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A WOODEN

WEN TITCI VW
KRENTUCK Y

NEW YORK

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HEYE FOUNDATION

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were aINDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

EDITED BY F. W. HODGE

 

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

A WOODEN IMAGI
RENTUCK Y

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NEW YORK

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MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

192]A WOODEN IMAGE FROM
KENTUCKY

BY

GEORGE H. PEPPERPEPPER — KENTUCKY IMAGE

 

FRONT VIEW OF THE KENTUCKY IMAGEA WOODEN IMAGE FROM
KENTUCKY

By GEORGE H. PEPPER

 

REHISTORIC wooden images

of human form from. the

 

 

eastern and central parts of

 

 

the United States are practi-
cally unknown in the collections of
|American museums. Salts cave and
Mammoth cave in Kentucky, wherein so
many perishable objects of Indian manu-
facture have been found, have yielded
no examples of an art that must have been
widespread and highly developed before
the discovery of America.

The Key Marco culture of the Gulf
coast of Florida has furnished a number
of carved wooden figures, but no general
deductions can be drawn from the scat-
tered objects that have survived and
which give us but a faint idea of what

   
   
   
      
     
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

 

INDIAN NOTESKENTUCKY IMAGE

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 

this particular phase of Indian art must
have been when at its zenith.

The late Col. Bennett H. Young, of
Louisville, was fortunate in obtaining a
wooden image of human form that had
been found in his own state. In his
Prehistoric Men of Kentucky" he states:

“Tt is the only prehistoric image in Kentucky
of wood that has been thoroughly preserved,
and the manner of its making gives evidence that
it had been executed by artists who antedated
the historic period. Its form resembles the
stone images, as it is in a sitting posture with a
flat base and was built so it would stand alone,
and the pose of the arms is very much like that
found in the images.”

In 1874, Lewis Collins, in his History
of Kentucky,? published what is probably
the first description. of this image.
He says:

“In the winter of 1869, L. Farmer, of Pine-
ville, was hunting a fox (that had caught his
turkey) among the cliffs that surround Pine-
ville, and found a wooden image of a man,
about two feet high, in a sitting posture, with no
legs. It looked as though it might have been
made by the Indians centuries ago. It isa
good imitation of a man, and is made of yellow

 

 
   

 

 

INDIAN NOTESCARVED IN WOOD,

 

pine. Some of the features, part of its nose and
ears, are obliterated by time, although found ina
place where it was kept entirely dry. One ear
is visible, with a hole pierced in it as though once
ornamented with jewelry. It is a great curiosity
to travellers. The oldest inhabitants can tell
nothing about it.”’

This specimen is now the property of
the Museum of the American Indian,
Heye Foundation, and an idea of its
form may be gained from the accom-
panying illustrations. Whether found in
a cave or in a rock-shelter, the image
must have been protected from the
elements, as its form is well preserved,
although the surface has deteriorated
through weathering, and the features
and other more delicate parts of the
carving have suffered in consequence.
From the primitive point of view, the
treatment is masterful, but the sculptor
failed to represent the lower part of the
body, the hips and legs being depicted
by an angular block which forms the
supporting base. Owing to the fact
that no similar figures in wood are
available for comparison, it is impossible

 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

 

AND MONOGRAPHS66

 

   

KENTUCKY IMAGE

 

to state whether this particular treat-
ment was commonly employed, but
judging from the modeling of similar
figures in pottery and stone, the carvings
in wood no doubt reflected similar
individual peculiarities and taste.
Fortunate indeed is the student in the
possession of this striking example of
the early art of woodcarving among the
aborigines of America, but it is unfor-
tunate that the features have suffered to
such an extent in the general surface de-
composition. The eyes, nose, and mouth
of theless destructible figures mentioned
show such a-range of featural variance
that the inability to determine these
features in the wooden image precludes
the possibility of adequate comparison.
The loss of the original surface has also
obliterated all tool marks, making it
impossible also to determine whether
stone or metal implements were used in
its production: thus one of the most
tangible evidences of age has vanished.
The figure is probably of yellow pine,
as Collins states, and is 251% inches in

~

 

 
   

 

 

 

INDIAN] NOTESie ones

PEPPER — KENTUCKY IMAGE PL. il

 

PROFILE VIEW OF THE KENTUCKY IMAGERAT VoRN

 

height. The base is angular, and on

it is 9 inches broad at the front, and is
rounded to the back portion, which is
6% inches wide; the height of the base
in front is 444 inches, and 3% inches in
the rear. The trunk is squared, and
at the base is 444 inches broad and 34
inches thick. The mammez are not
represented, but the chest is rounded
and is made prominent by a flattening
of the abdominal region that begins 7%
inches from the upper part of the base.
The neck is practic: “*’ cylindrical and

the shoulder to the lower part of the ear
being 3% inches. The head is dolico-
cephalic in form, and the face is not
flattened, as is the case with certain
stone figures of the same general type.
There remains but a suggestion of the
leyes, nose, and mouth, not enough to
determine what the features had been.
Portions of the ears remain, that of the
right one showing the general form and

size. This evidently is the one that

 

is 3 inches in diameter, the space from]

the front and the sides is uncarved:;:|

|

 

 

 

AND MONOGRAPHSKEN We hey

 

IMAGE

 

 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

was complete and perforated when the
figure was found, as mentioned in
Collins’ account, above quoted. The
back of the trunk has a very pronounced
ridge extending from a point a few
inches below the neck to the base piece,
this of course being an accentuation of
the vertebral column. At the bottom of
the back part of the base-block the
surface has been roughly carved and
was probably intended for the median
line and rounded portions of the buttocks.
The arms are carved in relief and are
well formed; the shoulders are gracefully
rounded, and the bend of the elbow, as
well as the proportionate size of the
upper and lower parts of the arms, were
given thoughtful consideration by the
carver. The hands, with extended fingers,
rest upon the sides of the base, which
approximates the thighs. The fingers
are carved in high relief and the right
hand is well preserved.

Although there remain but few pre-
historic wooden images, either large or
small, the early narratives contain de-

 

      

 

 

INDIAN “NOTESPEPPER KENTUCKY IMAGE PL. Ill

 

 

REAR VIEW OF THE KENTUCKY IMAGEBA REY DESC RT ELTON

 

scriptions that prove their existence and
use. From these accounts it would seem
that they were employed in many ways
by the natives of the eastern and southern
parts of the United States.

One of the earliest references to images
or idols of wood is that given in 1590
in Hariot’s Narrative.2 Inthe description

of ‘‘Ther Idol Kiwasa,’’ which was kept
in the sacred house of the village of Secotan
on Pamlico river, North Carolina, it states

that—

“The people of this cuntrie haue an Idol,
which they call Krwasa: yt is carued of woode
in lengthe 4. foote whose heade is like the heades
of the people of Florida, the face is of a flesh
colour, the brest white, the rest is all blacke, the
thighes are also spottet with whitte. He hath
a chayne abowt his necke of white beades, be-
tweene which are other Rownde beades of copper
which they esteeme more then golde or siluer.
This Idol is placed in the temple of the towne of
Secotam, as the keper of the kings dead corpses.
Somtyme they haue two of thes idoles in theyr
churches, and sometime 3, but neuer aboue,
which they place in a darke corner wher they
shew terrible.”

In Hariot’s plate Xvi, under the

  
   
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
   
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

 

AND MONOGRAPHSKENTUCKY

   

IMAGE

   

 

 
 
  
  
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
     
 
 
  
 

caption ‘‘Their danses which they use
att their hyghe feastes,’’ there are repre-

sented

than

head carved at the upper end, from which
the post tapers to the point where it

the dancers. Each has a human

enters

equidistant and form a circle, the faces
directed toward the center.

In 1624, Captain John Smith? spoke of
the images of the Virginia Indians as
follows:

‘“They thinke that all the gods are of humane
shape, and therefore represent them by Images
in the formes of men; which they call KEwa-
SOWOK; one alone is called KEwasa; them they
place in their Temples, where they worship, pray,
sing, and make many offerings. The common
sort thinke them also gods.”

Some of the early writers assert that the
images had nothing to do with religious
observances, but were statues of great

men

upper Creeks in 177

mal

carved human statue of wood, to which, however,

or

never heard that our North American
Indians had images of any kind. There is a

seven posts, which are higher

the ground. They are placed

heroes. Adair, writing of the

5,° says:

‘

 

 

 
   

 

 

INDIAN NODESSTENT ETIGCAN CE

 

 

they pay no religious homage. It belongs to
the head war-town of the Upper Muskohge
country, and seems to have been originally
designed to perpetuate the memory of some
distinguished hero, who deserved well of his
country; for, when their Cusseena, or bitter
black, drink is about to be drank in the
synedrion, they frequently, on common occasions,
will bring it there, and honour it with the
first conch-shell-full, by the hand of the chief
religious attendant; and then they return it to
its former place. It is observable, that the
same beloved waiter, or holy attendant, and
his co-adjutant, equally observe the same
ceremony to every person of reputed merit,
in that quadrangular place. When I past that
way, circumstances did not allow me to view
this singular figure; but I am assured by
several of the traders, who have frequently seen
it, that the carving is modest, and very neatly
finished, not unworthy of a modern civilized
artist.”’

Charles C. Jones® writes:

read of wooden images of birds; but, so far as
we now remember, no account is given of a single
idol or object of adoration among the aborigines.
At TALOMECO [a former Creek town near Savan-
nah river, South Carolina], De Soto found a
large temple or mausoleum, at whose entrance

AND MONOGRAPHS

 

 

 

 

 

“‘Elsewhere in the Spanish narratives do we}

|KENTUCKY IMAGE

   

 

 

 

were gigantic statues of wood, carved with
considerable skill, the largest of which was
twelve feet high. They were armed with various
weapons and ‘stood in threatening attitudes,
with ferocious looks.’ The interior of the
temple was decorated with statues of various
shapes and sizes. There was also a great
profusion of conchs and different kinds of sea
and river shells. It does not appear, however,
that these images were objects of religious vener-
ation or positive worship. Like the ‘carved
human statue of wood’ in the head war-town of
the upper Muskohge country, described by
Adair, they seem rather to have been effigies of
heroes, the embodiments of brave memories,
the symbols of tribal pomp and power.”

The same writer’ also says:

“Of all the Southern tribes, however, the
Natchez were probably most addicted to the
worship of idols. Pére le Petit (Letters Ed. et
Cur., IV, 261, quoted by Dr. Brinton, in the
Historical Magazine, vol. IX, p. 300) says:
‘The Natchez have a temple filled with idols.
These idols are different figures of men and women
for. which they have the deepest veneration.’
In another passage he is more explicit: ‘Their
idols are images of men and women made of stone
and baked clay, heads and tails of extraordinary
serpents, stuffed owls, pieces of crystal and the

yo

jaw-bones of great fishes.

 

 

INDEAN NOLESIMAGES..OF STONE

 

It is therefore evident that the Indians
comprising the ancient Southern tribes
used the idols of stone and pottery in
their temples, and, no doubt, in con-
nection with similar idols carved from
wood. Dr Joseph Jones,® in his general
conclusions concerning the antiquities of
Tennessee, states:

“Tt is impossible to establish, by authentic
history, the relations of the stone-grave race of
Tennessee with the Natchez, and we do not assert
that they were one and the same people, but only
that they were most probably closely related
in their origin, and may, at some former time,
have been subjected to the same form of govern-
ment, and practised the same or similar rites.”

To what extent and in what numbers
wooden idols in human form were used
by the prehistoric Indians can never
be ascertained, but from the _ great
number of similar figures in stone and
pottery that, through their ability to
withstand the elements, have been pre-
served, it is highly probable that a great
many were employed by the natives,
both in their sacred houses and in their
general ceremonies. As early as 1807

 

AND MONOGRAPHSKEN TU CRY,

   

IMAGE

 

 

 

two such stone idols were described as

havin
In wr

“But is is not alone in Georgia that these
images are found. Tennessee, above all her
sister states, seems to be most prolific of them.

In the
was p

were

excavating along the bank of the Cumberland

River,

British Register, vol. xxiv, part 1, for 1807,
Pp. 74).

form e
figures

lineam

peculiar to the copper-colored aboriginal inhabi-

tants

| materi

 

 

that they have been cut with a chisel or sharp

instru!

have been moulded or shaped of a soft composi-

tion,
is extr

whether they are idols or only images of dis-
tinguished men. It will be an interesting object
of research for antiquarians to discover who were

the an
execut
head,

g been presented to Mr Jefferson.
iting of these idols, C. C. Jones? says:

beginning of this century, Mr. Jefferson
resented with two ‘Indian busts’ which
unearthed by some laborers who were

near Palmyra (Monthly Magazine, or

They are described thus: ‘The human
xtends to the middle of the body, and the
are nearly of the natural size. The
ents are strongly marked, and such as are

of America. It is not known of what
als they are made: some are of opinion

nent out of stone: others think that they

and afterward baked. The substance
emely hard. It has not been ascertained

cestors of the present Indians capable of
ing such a good resemblance of the human
face, neck, and shoulders.’”"’

 

 

INDILAN NODESIMAGES OF FO DL ERY

 

Most of the pottery idols are relatively
small, but some of those made of stone
exceed two feet in height, and many of
these closely approximate the form of
the wooden idol from Kentucky.

Gen. Gates P. Thruston™” describes
and illustrates three stone idols in the
collection of the Tennessee Historical
Society. One of these, from Trousdale
county, in general appearance is similar
to the wooden figure under consideration,
the base being squared and the arms
resting at the sides. One arm is missing,
but the central portion of the remaining
one is carved in the round. Most of
the stone idols of this type have an oval
face, but the second or central one of
the group referred to by Thruston has
an elongate face, with a pronounced
pointed chin. This one is from William-
son county, the third idol is from Smith
county, Tennessee. The arms are ex-
tended at the sides, with the forearms
thrown forward and the hands flattened
upon the knees, palms down, with fingers
extended. The chest portion is raised,

 

 

AND MONOGRAPHSKENTUCKY IMAGE

 

 

 
  
 
  
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
   
 
  
 
 
 
  
   
 
 
 
  
 
 

the abdominal region being thereby
depressed, but having a rounded central
area. These images are all from “the
general section occupied by the Stone
Grave race in middle Tennessee.”’

In 1886 a stone idol was found near
the Etowah group of mounds at Carters-
ville, Georgia. It is twenty-one inches
in height and represents a seated human
figure with crossed legs. The body is
squared and is not unlike that of our
wooden image from Kentucky. The
treatment of the arms is the same, the
shoulders being rounded and the elbows
bent; the hands rest upon the knees,
and the fingers are extended. The ears
are carved in relief, and, judging by the
remaining portion of the right ear of the
wooden figure, are of the same form.
The face is more rounded, but in its
entirety the idol shows that both figures
might well have come from the same
source.!!

Another stone idol, from the same
place, was figured and described by

>

C. C. Jones in 1873.12 It is 1534 inches

 

 
   

 

 

INDIAN NODES[IMAGES Of PO te RY

 

in height, and represents the figure of a
seated woman with a garment covering
the hips and legs. The trunk is squared,
and the breasts are in high relief and
well carved. One arm is missing, but
the other is separated from the body by a
broad space, and the closed hand rests
against the hip. The ears are well
defined and are pierced for the attach-
ment of ornaments. This figure is much
more realistic than any other that had
been noted, as the clavicles, breasts, and
navel are indicated and the kilt-like
dress is ornamented both on the sides
and the back; it is, however, not so well
proportioned as the one found in 1886.

In the final analysis of his investiga-
tions as to the use of human images by
the early tribes of Georgia and the
adjacent country, Jones thus summarizes
his conclusions:!8

“Without further pursuing this inquiry
into the recorded observations of the early
writers who have endeavored to inform us with
regard to the religion of the Southern Indians,
it will be perceived that, while we have thus

       
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
  

 

AND MONOGRAPHSKENTUCKY IMAGE

 

 

far failed to note any emphatic account declaring
the existence of idol-worship among the Georgia
tribes, we are certified of the fact that idols were
seen in the possession of coterminous nations,
and that they were held in superstitious venera-
tion and regard, in some measure at least, as
objects of devotion. It does appear, however,
that they occupied, in the esteem of the natives,
a position far inferior to that conceded to the
sun or to the Great Spirit, and that they con-
stituted only a sort of religious machinery in the
hands of kings, priests, conjurers, and old men,
with which to dignify temples, supplement
certain sacred festivals, and operate upon the fears
and credulity of the more ignorant and unthinking
masses. One is tempted to regard them rather
as conjurers’ images, as the private property of
priests, as the likenesses of famous dead, and as
the potent charms of medicine-men, than as the
generally acknowledged embodiments of the
person and presence of unseen yet recognized
divinities. Although Bolzius, Bartram, Adair,
and others, deny either positively or inferentially
the existence of idols or images within the limits
then occupied by the Georgia Indians, subsequent
investigations prove by the discovered presence
of images themselves, that at some time or
other idol-worship of some sort was here practiced.
The ornamented posts, the wooden images, and
the questionable figures of men, birds, and ani-
mals sketched upon the white walls of the Creek

 

 
  

 

 

 

INDIAN

    

NOTESGCOIVECLUSTIONS

 

 

houses—if any religious significance they pos-
sessed—have long since perished.”’

Many other authorities might be
quoted and mention made of the employ-
ment of similar objects by modern tribes,
such as the use of carved human faces,
by the Delaware Indians on the posts of
their long-houses; the use of medicine
dolls in sacred bundles; and of small
fetishes in human form, sometimes merely
the representation of a head, which may
well be a reflex of the more elaborate
images of earlier times. Such figures are
mentioned by Zeisberger,}4 who says:

“The only idol which the Indians have, and
which may properly be called an idol, is their
Wsinkhoalican, that is image. It is an image
cut in wood, representing a human head, in
miniature, which they always carry about them
either on a string around their neck or in a bag.
They often bring offerings to it. In their houses
of sacrifices they have a head of this idol as large
as life put upon a pole in the middle of the
room.”’

It is to be regretted that there are not
more of these wooden images and that
so little definite information concern-

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
    

 

 

 

AND MONOGRAPHSKENTUCKY IMAGE

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
   
  
 
   
   
 
 
 
  
   
  
 
 
 
 
  

 

ing their use has been recorded; but the
Kentucky specimen furnishes conclusive
evidence that idols of wood were carved
in the same form as were those of stone
and pottery.

Investigations made by early writers
seem to prove that images in human form
and of all three kinds of materials
referred to were used by the Indians in
their places of worship, and all of these
types have been found in Kentucky.
Among the stone figures from that state,
similar to those herein mentioned, three
are figured by Colonel Young. The
exact localities from which they came is
not known, but they no doubt had their
origin in the southern part of Kentucky,
where practically all of the human images
of pottery illustrated by Young were
unearthed. Pineville, Kentucky, where
the wooden figure was found, is in Bell
county, on the southern border, and is
only a few miles from the northern part of
Claiborne county, Tennessee. It is there-
fore probable that the wooden image
came from a locality not far from the

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

INDIAN NOTESNOES

 

  

northern boundary of the area noted for

images of this form, though of other

materials.

NOTES

1. YOUNG, BENNETT H. The Prehistoric Men
of Kentucky, Filson Club Publications,
No. 25, p- 269, ill., p. 265, Louisville, 19ro.

2. CoLLins, Lewis. History of Kentucky,
vol. 2, p. 412, Covington, Kentucky, 1874.

3. Hariot, THOMAS. A Briefe and True
Report of the New Found Land of Vir-
ginia, Frankfort, 1590; Quaritch reprint,
London, 1893.

4. SMITH, CAPTAIN JOHN. The General His-
torie of Virginia, New England, and the
Summer Isles, p. 10, London, 1624.

Apair, JAMES. The History of the American |

‘

 

Vi

Indians, pp. 19-22, London, 1775.

6. JONES, CHARLES C., JR. Antiquities of the
Southern Indians, p. 423, New York, 1873.

4. [bid., p: 427.

8. JoNES, Dr JosepH. Explorations of the
Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee, Smith-
sonian Contributions to Knowledge (Pub-
lication no. 259), p-. 147, Washington,
18706.

9. JONES, CHARLES C., JR. Op. cit., p. 436.

10. THRUSTON, GATES P. The Antiquities of
Tennessee and the Adjacent States,

 

pp. 103-104, Cincinnati, 1897.

  
 
  
 
   
   
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
  

 

 

 

 

AND MONOGRAPHSKENTUCKY IMAGE

 

MOOREHEAD, WARREN K. The Stone Ag
in North America, vol. 2, p. 28, Bostcaaamm

IQIO.

. JONES, CHARLES C., JR. Op. cit. pp. 438 s nie

435-
Ibid., pp. 429-430.
ZEISBERGER, Davip. History of the Norg

American Indians, edited by Arct

Butler Hulbert and William Nathan

Schwarze, Ohio State Archeological ag

Historical Soctety, p. 141, tr910. EF

further information on the use of carv

wooden images among the Delaware lz
dians, see Harrington, M. R., ‘Religion ary

Ceremonies of the Lenape, Indian No

and Monographs (in press).

 

 

 

 

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