Insights

Signs Across the Prairies: An Introduction to Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL)

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Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), also known as Hand Talk, is one of the first original documented forms of sign language in North America. In their article, “Plains Indian Sign Language,” Sam Noble Museum authors write, “Plains Indian Sign Language, also known as Hand Talk, is a lingua franca used pre-contact by peoples across the whole central part of the continent, from the Gulf of Mexico to Calgary, Canada.” As this is the first signing seen by American plains and prairies, PISL holds a significant place in Sign Language and Deaf History in the United States.”

Utilized by Deaf and hard-of-hearing Natives, PISL was well-known by hearing tribe members alike to bridge language barrier divides, tribe to tribe and region to region. In the Sid Richardson Museum’s article “Plains Indian Sign Language and Charles Russell,” they explore uses of PISL in regular Native life, regional differentiations, and evidence of this three-dimensional language depicted in the famous artwork of explorer and painter Charles Russell. Visit here to see examples in these paintings!

With distinctions by tribe and region, Hand Talk was and continues to be used in a variety of ways from daily interactions, supporting economic development and trading, hunting, special traditions and ceremonies, as well as storytelling. Russell depicts the use of Tribal Signs and PISL in integral points of American expansion and development like that of the expedition of Lewis and Clark. It is speculated interpreters and guides for Lewis and Clark would have translated using Hand Talk, especially when traveling across multiple tribal regions.

Several resources exist today for the education of PISL, including the notable work of William Tomkins in “Indian Sign Language.” Tomkins, a non-native, wrote this collection of PISL signs and terms as a resource for learning these signs.

Preservation of Plains Indian Sign Language remains to be a great task at hand taken on by many organizations across the plains and Western United States like that of Wyoming Humanities. Visit here to learn more about their preservation project and hear first-hand testimonials of the role of PISL in Native American life. As a part of this preservation project, Shannon Smith sits down with Native American tribal leader Willie LeClair. As they reflect on the history of Hand Talk, they go on to discuss the root of its dissipation to which Willie largely accredits the fast-paced nature of younger generations and the consequential leaving behind of traditions and customs.

While unique in its origins and preservation, PISL shares the ever-connecting nature of ASL as a sign language allowing for communication across barriers of all types!

To learn more about PISL and the origins of ASL in the United States, click on the link below to view a short video!