Plains Sign Language was a gesture language used across the Great Plains of North America, where many Native nations met through hunting bison. Its range roughly followed the bison's range, from central Canada to northern Mexico. Lewis Francis Hadley, who had a background in stenography and mapping, became fascinated with it and made flash cards and carved woodblocks to record the signs. His 1893 book Indian Sign Talk contains a vocabulary of over five hundred signs, each paired with a telegraphic English equivalent. Signs are often pantomimic: bread is shown by patting imaginary dough and a cat by pushing the nose up. The grammar drops articles and prepositions and uses present tense for verbs.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.