HIT-Assignment1

Samuel Burgess

History of Information Technology

Major Sook Ha

02/10/2016

 

History of Information Technology Writing Assignment 1: Native American (Arapaho) Use of Smoke Signal Communication

 

The Arapaho Native American tribe ingenuously adopted and personalized the smoke signal medium of communication. The Arapaho’s use of smoke signals represents the tribe’s evolution of communication in response to their environment. The Arapaho’s use of smoke signals streamlined the communications process in the Plains region of the United States and allowed diverse Native American tribes to communicate with each other on a basic level. Although the Arapaho variant of smoke signaling was never the primary mode of communication at the time of its use (it worked alongside sign language), it still exists today as Boy Scouts of America groups across the United States use the method of communication.

Before the proliferated use of smoke signaling in the Plains region of the United States, Native American Tribes faced the dangers and inadequacies of alternative long-distance communications methods. For instance, Plains Indians would set up an elaborate chain of messengers on foot, or even send message carriers on Horseback (once the animal was introduced to the country) (Telecommunications History Group). Although this posited one form of long-distance communication, sending messengers over long distances often led to certain dangers, such as having the messenger (and subsequently the message) intercepted, having the message never reach the intended destination, or at the very least having the communication time lag with the length of the journey (Telecommunications History Group).

Alternatively, there was another mode of communication at the time, sign language, which was used prolifically and even understood across many diverse Native American tribes (Pacific Standard, 2013). Sign language could communicate many messages across tribe-lines and likely contributed greatly to the relationships between neighboring tribes in the Plains region. However, there was one large problem in the use of sign-language, which became a strength in the advocacy of smoke signaling during this time: Sign-language was largely understood on a general level and there was no mistaking the intended words produced (Telecommunications History Group). In other words, if one Arapaho were to signal at some distance that their tribe was planning an attack on a neighboring tribe and someone from the neighboring tribe were to see it, there would be no mistaking the intentions of the Arapaho’s. Therefore, the lack in opportunity in being able to code messages through sign language truly hurt the strategic advantages of the tribe.

Conversely, the introduction of smoke signals allowed both basic general communications throughout those in the Arapaho tribe and coded signals for messages that contained sensitive information (Pacific Standard 2013). For example, if two communicators needed to pass on general information, such as “Attention (one puff),” “All is well (two puffs),”  or “danger, trouble, or need help! (three puffs of smoke, or three fires in a row)” then this message could be generally understood and passed on quickly across long distances (Telecommunications History Group). Additionally, coded messages could be passed on between communicators, in which sensitive information could be transmitted without the enemy becoming alert to the intentions of Arapaho tribe members (Indians.org). Therefore, in smoke signaling communication, “there is no general code (predominantly) or standard meanings for the different shapes, numbers, and types of smoke puffs” (Indians.org). Therefore, the messages would be predetermined by the sender and the receiver of the smoke signal in order to contain an element of security and secrecy (Indians.org). Consequently, those who would use smoke signaling throughout the Plains region would have an edge on neighboring tribes who resorted to sign language alone (non-users).

In modern times, smoke signaling has predominantly obsolete as a mode of communication as other forms of communication took its place (the standardization of the English language, telephones, etc.). However, there are still some groups that use smoke signaling in cases of emergency as a part of wilderness training, such as the Boy and Girl Scouts (Pacific Standard 2013). As the Pacific Standard Magazine reports, “the Arapaho standards made it into the 1911 Boy Scout Manual, which advised lost Scouts to lost adjacent fires.” Therefore, the lessons and practices of the Arapaho Indians lives on in the practices of young wilderness adventurers in the United States.

 

Works Cited

 

Herman, Marc. “A Brief History of Smoke Signals.” Pacific Standard Magazine. 12 March 2013. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.

“Smoke Signals.” Indians.org. The American Indian Hertiage Foundation, n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.

“Smoke Signals.” The Telecommunications History Group, Inc., n.d., Web. 08 Feb. 2016.