Illustration Of The Method Of Recording Indian Languages
James Owen Dorsey
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NOTES.
NOTES.
581 , 1. Mactciñge, the Rabbit, or Si¢e-makaⁿ (meaning uncertain), is the hero of numerous myths of several tribes. He is the deliverer of mankind from different tyrants. One of his opponents is Ictinike, the maker of this world, according to the Iowas. The Rabbit's grandmother is Mother Earth, who calls mankind her children. 581 , 7. a¢ai te aⁿ. The conclusion of this sentence seems odd to the collector, but its translation given with this myth is that furnished by the Indian informant. 581 , 1
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TRANSLATION.
TRANSLATION.
Once upon a time the Rabbit dwelt in a lodge with no one but his grandmother. And it was his custom to go hunting very early in the morning. No matter how early in the morning he went, a person with very long feet had been along, leaving a trail. And he (the Rabbit), wished to know him. "Now," thought he, "I will go in advance of the person." Having arisen very early in the morning, he departed. Again it happened that the person had been along, leaving a trail. Then he (the Rabbit) went home. Sa
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NOTES.
NOTES.
583 , 1. shuákia does not mean to " call on somebody " generally, but only " to call on the conjurer or medicine man". 583 , 2. wán stands for wánam nī'l: the fur or skin of a red or silver fox; kaníta pî'sh stands for kanítana látchash m'nálam: "outside of his lodge or cabin". The meaning of the sentence is: they raise their voices to call him out. Conjurers are in the habit of fastening a fox-skin outside of their lodges, as a business sign, and to let it dangle from a rod stuck out in an obli
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NOTES.
NOTES.
585 , 1. náyäns hissuáksas: another man than the conjurers of the tribe. The objective case shows that mā'shitk has to be regarded here as the participle of an impersonal verb: mā'sha núsh, and mā'sha nú, it ails me, I am sick. 585 , 2. yá-uks is remedy in general, spiritual as well as material. Here a tamánuash song is meant by it, which, when sung by the conjurer, will furnish him the certainty if his patient is a relapse or not. There are several of these medicine-songs, but all of them (nánu
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NOTES.
NOTES.
No Klamath or Modoc sweat-lodge can be properly called a sweat- house , as is the custom throughout the West. One kind of these lodges, intended for the use of mourners only, are solid structures, almost underground; three of them are now in existence, all believed to be the gift of the principal national deity. Sudatories of the other kind are found near every Indian lodge, and consist of a few willow-rods stuck into the ground, both ends being bent over. The process gone through while sweating
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NOTES.
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588 , 24. This word "hduze" means to take or hold one's own; and is most commonly applied to a man's taking a wife, or a woman a husband. Here it may mean either that one who starts in a wicked course consorts with others "more wicked than himself," or that he himself grows in the bad and takes hold of the greater forms of evil— marries himself to the wicked one. It will be noted from this specimen of Dakota that there are some particles in the language which cannot be represented in a translati
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TRANSLATION.
TRANSLATION.
There was a dog; and there was an old woman who had a pack of dried meat laid away. This the dog knew; and, when he supposed the old woman was asleep, he went there at night. But the old woman was aware of his coming and so kept watch, and, as the dog thrust his head under the tent, she struck him across the face and made a great gash, which swelled greatly. The next morning a companion dog came and attempted to talk with him. But the dog was sullen and silent. The visitor said: "Tell me what ma
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