Plains Indian Sign Language

Plains Indian sign language (PISL), also called Hand Talk, system of fixed hand and finger positions symbolizing ideas, the meanings of which were known to the majority of the Plains peoples. In addition to aiding communication between the deaf, PISL was used for a broad range of interactions—for hunting and other activities where silence or secrecy might be desirable and for trade between groups whose languages were not mutually intelligible as well as between Indians and Euro-Americans. It was used at all levels of society. Its occasional misinterpretation was responsible for some confusing name assignments, as in the name Gros Ventres (“Big Bellies”) assigned by French traders to both the Hidatsa and the Atsina. Footage from the U.S. National Archives made in 1930 records several varieties of PISL.