adjectives, which modern usage permits being applied, although often
improperly applied, to inanimate objects, they as well as a few other
adjectives, form exceptions to the use of number. Whether we say a
good man or a bad man, good men or bad men, the words minno and
mudjee, remain the same. But all the declinable and coalescing
adjectives--adjectives which join on, and, as it were, melt into the
body of the substantive, take the usual plural inflections, and are
governed by the same rules in regard to their use, as the substantive,
personal adjectives requiring personal plurals, &c.
Adjectives Animate.
_Singular._
Onishishewe mishemin, Good apple.
Kwonaudjewe eekwae, Handsome woman.
Songedaeae inine, Brave man.
Bishegaindaugoozzi peenasee, Beautiful bird.
Ozahwizzi ahmo, Yellow bee.
_Plural._
Onishishewe-wug mishemin-ug, Good apples.
Kwonaudjewe-wug eekwae-wug, Handsome women.
Songedaeae-wug inine-wug, Brave men.
Bishegaindaugoozzi-wug peenasee-wug, Beautiful birds.
Ozahwizzi-wug ahm-oeg, Yellow bees.
Adjectives Inanimate.
_Singular._
Onishishin mittig, Good tree.
Kwonaudj tshemaun, Handsome canoe.
Monaudud ishkoda, Bad fire.
Weeshkobun aidetaig, Sweet fruit.
_Plural._
Onishishin-oen mittig-oen, Good trees.
Kwonaudjewun-oen tshemaun-un, Handsome canoes.
Monaudud-oen ishkod-aen, Bad fires.
Weeshkobun-oen aidetaig-in, Sweet fruits.
Peculiar circumstances are supposed to exist, in order to render the use
of the adjective, in this connexion with the noun, necessary and proper.
But in ordinary instances, as the narration of events, the noun would
precede the adjective, and oftentimes, particularly where a second
allusion to objects previously named became necessary, the compound
expressions would be used. Thus instead of saying the yellow bee,
waeyzahwizzid, would distinctly convey the idea of that insect, _had the
species been before named_. Under similar circumstances kainwaukoozzid,
agausheid soengaunemud, mushkowaunemud, would respectively signify, a
tall tree, a small fly, a strong wind, a hard wind. And these terms
would become plural in _jig_, which, as before mentioned, is a mere
modification of _ig_, one of the five general animate plural inflections
of the language.
Kaegat wahwinaudj abbenoejeeug, is an expression indicating _they are very
handsome children_. Bubbeeweezheewug monetoesug, denotes _small insects_.
Minno neewugizzi, is good tempered, he is good tempered.
Mawshininewugizzi, is bad tempered, both having their plural in _wug_.
Nin nuneenahwaindum, I am lonesome. Nin nuneenahwaindaumin, we
(excluding you) are lonesome. Waweea, is a term generally used to
express the adjective sense of _round_. Kwy, is the scalp. (_Weenikwy_
his scalp.) Hence Weewukwon, hat; Wayweewukwonid, a wearer of the hat;
and its plural Wayeewukwonidjig, wearers of the hats--the usual term
applied to Europeans, or white men generally. These examples go to
prove, that under every form in which the adjective can be traced,
whether in its simplest or most compound state, it is susceptible of
number.
The numerals of the language are converted into adverbs, by the
inflection _ing_, making _one_, _once_, &c. The unit exists in
duplicate.
Paezhik, One, general unit } Aubeding, Once.
Ingoot, One, numerical unit}
Neesh, Two. Neeshing, Twice.
Niswee, Three. Nissing, Thrice.
Neewin, Four. Neewing, Four-times.
Naunun, Five. Nauning, Five-times.
N'goodwaswae, Six. N'goodwautshing, Six-times.
Neeshwauswae, Seven. Neeshwautshing, Seven-times.
Shwauswe, Eight. Shwautshing, Eight-times.
Shongusswe, Nine. Shongutshing, Nine-times.
Meetauswee, Ten. Meetaushing, Ten-times.
These inflections can be carried as high as they can compute numbers.
They count decimally. After reaching ten, they repeat, ten and one, ten
and two, &c. to twenty. Twenty is a compound signifying two tens,
thirty, three tens, &c., a mode which is carried up to one hundred
_n'goodwak_. Wak, then becomes the word of denomination, combining with
the names of the digits, until they reach a thousand, _meetauswauk_,
literally, _ten hundred_. Here a new compound term is introduced made by
prefixing twenty to the last denomination, neshtonnah duswak, which
doubles the last term, thirty triples it, forty quadruples it, &c., till
the computation reaches to ten thousand, n'goodwak dushing n'goodwak,
_one hundred times one hundred_. This is the probable extent of all
certain computation. The term _Gitshee_, (great,) prefixed to the last
denomination, leaves the number indefinite.
There is no form of the numerals corresponding to second, third, fourth,
&c. They can only further say, _nittum_ first, and _ishkwaudj_, last.
LECTURE IV.
Nature and principles of the pronoun--Its distinction
into preformative and subformative classes--Personal
pronouns--The distinction of an inclusive and exclusive
form in the number of the first person
plural--Modifications of the personal pronouns to imply
existence, individuality, possession, ownership, position
and other accidents--Declension of pronouns to answer the
purpose of the auxiliary verbs--Subformatives, how
employed, to mark the persons--Relative pronouns
considered--Their application to the causative
verbs--Demonstrative pronouns--their separation into two
classes, animates and inanimates--Example of their use.
Pronouns are buried, if we may so say, in the structure of the verb. In
tracing them back to their primitive forms, through the almost infinite
variety of modifications which they assume, in connexion with the verb,
substantive and adjective, it will facilitate analysis, to group them
into preformative and subformative, which include the pronominal
prefixes and suffixes, and which admit of the further distinction of
separable and inseparable. By separable is intended those forms, which
have a meaning by themselves, and are thus distinguished from the
inflective and subformative pronouns, and pronominal particles
significant only, in connection with another word.
1. Of the first class, are the personal pronouns Neen (I,) Keen (thou,)
and Ween or O (he or she.) They are declined to form the plural persons
in the following manner:
I, Neen. We Keen owind (in.)
We Neen owind (ex.)
Thou, Keen. Ye Keen owau.
He or She, Ween or O. They Ween owau.
Here the plural persons are formed by a numerical inflection of the
singular. The double plural of the first person, of which both the rule
and examples have been incidentally given in the remarks on the
substantive, is one of those peculiarities of the language, which may,
perhaps, serve to aid in a comparison of it, with other dialects,
kindred and foreign. As a mere conventional agreement, for denoting
whether the person addressed, be included, or excluded, it may be
regarded as an advantage to the language. It enables the speaker, by the
change of a single consonant, to make a full and clear discrimination,
and relieves the narration from doubts and ambiguity, where doubts and
ambiguity would otherwise often exist. On the other hand, by
accumulating distinctions, it loads the memory with grammatical forms,
and opens a door for improprieties of speech. We are not aware of any
inconveniencies in the use of a general plural. But in the Indian it
would produce confusion. And it is perhaps to that cautious desire of
personal discrimination, which is so apparent in the structure of the
language, that we should look for the reason of the duplicate forms of
this word. Once established, however, and both the distinction, and the
necessity of a constant and strict attention to it, are very obvious and
striking. How shall he address the Deity? If he say--"_Our father who
art in heaven_," the inclusive form of "our" makes the Almighty one of
the suppliants, or family. If he use the exclusive form, it throws him
out of the family, and may embrace every living being but the Deity.
Yet, neither of these forms can be used well in prayer, as they cannot
be applied directly _to_ the object addressed. It is only when speaking
_of_ the Deity, under the name of father, to other persons, that the
inclusive and exclusive forms of the word "our" can be used. The dilemma
may be obviated, by the use of a compound descriptive phrase--Wae oe se
mig o yun, signifying--THOU WHO ART THE FATHER OF ALL. Or, universal
father.
In practice, however, the question is cut short, by those persons who
have embraced Christianity. It has seemed to them, that by the use of
either of the foregoing terms, the Deity would be thrown into too remote
a relation to them, and I have observed, that, in prayer, they
invariably address Him, by the term used by children for the father of a
family, that is, NOSA, my father.
The other personal pronouns undergo some peculiar changes, when employed
as preformatives before nouns and verbs, which it is important to
remark. Thus neen, is sometimes rendered ne or _nin_, and sometimes
_nim_. Keen, is rendered ke or _kin_. In compound words the mere signs
of the first and second pronouns, N and K, are employed. The use of
_ween_ is limited; and the third person, singular and plural, is
generally indicated by the sign, O.
The particle _suh_ added to the complete forms of the disjunctive
pronouns, imparts a verbal sense to them; and appears in this instance,
to be a succedaneum for the substantive verb. Thus Neen, I, becomes
Neensuh, it is I. Keen, thou, becomes Keensuh, it is thou, and Ween, he
or she, Weensuh, it is he or she. This particle may also be added to the
plural forms.
Keenowind suh. It is we (in.)
Neenowind suh. It is we (ex.)
Keenowa suh. It is ye, or you.
Weenowau suh. It is they.
If the word _aittah_ be substituted for suh, a set of adverbial phrases
are formed.
Neen aittah, I only. Neen aittah wind, We &c. (ex.)
Keen aittah wind, We &c. (in.)
Keen aittah, Thou only. Keen aittah wau, You &c.
Ween aittah, He or she only. Ween aittah wau, They &c.
In like manner _nittum_ first, and _ishkwaudj_ last, give rise to the
following arrangement of the pronoun:
Neen nittum, I first.
Keen nittum, You or thou first.
Ween nittum, He or she first.
Keen nittum ewind, We first. (in.)
Neen nittum ewind, We first. (ex.)
Keen nittum ewau, Ye or you first.
Ween nittum ewau, They first.
ISHKWAUDJ.
Neen ishkwaudj, I last.
Keen ishkwaudj, Thou last.
Ween ishkwandj, He or she last.
Keenowind ishkwaudj, We last (in.)
Neenowind ishkwaudj, We last (ex.)
Keenowau ishkwaudj, Ye or you last.
Weenowau ishkwaudj, They last.
The disjunctive forms of the pronoun are also sometimes preserved before
verbs and adjectives.
NEEZHIKA. Alone. (_an._)
Neen neezhika, I alone.
Keen neezhika, Thou alone.
Ween neezhika, He or she alone.
Keenowind neezhika, We alone (in.)
Neenowind neezhika, We alone (ex.)
Keenowau neezhika, Ye or you alone.
Weenowau neezhika, They alone.
To give these expressions a verbal form, the substantive verb, with its
pronominal modifications, must be superadded. For instance, I _am_
alone, &c., is thus rendered:
Neen neezhika nindyau, I am alone, [Symbol: X] aumin.
Keen neezhika keedyau, Thou art alone, [Symbol: X] aum.
Ween neezhika Iyau, He or she is alone, &c. [Symbol: X] wug.
In the subjoined examples the noun ow, body, is changed to a verb, by
the permutation of the vowel, changing ow to auw, which last takes the
letter d before it, when the pronoun is prefixed.
I am a man, Neen nin dauw.
Thou art a man, Keen ke dauw.
He is a man, Ween ah weeh.
We are men, (in.) Ke dauw we min.
We are men, (ex.) Ne dauw we min.
Ye are men, Ke dauw min.
They are men, Weenowau ah weeh wug.
In the translation of these expressions "man" is used as synonymous with
person. If the specific term _inine_, had been introduced in the
original, the meaning thereby conveyed would be, in this particular
connexion, I am a man with respect to _courage_ &c., in opposition to
effeminacy. It would not be simply declarative of _corporeal existence_,
but of existence in a _particular state or condition_.
In the following phrases, the modified forms, or the signs only, of the
pronouns are used:
N' debaindaun, I own it.
Ke debaindaun, Thou ownest it.
O debaindaun, He or she owns it.
N' debaindaun-in, We own it (ex.)
Ke debaindaun-in, We own it (in.)
Ke debaindaun-ewau, Ye own it.
O debaindaun-ewau, They own it.
These examples are cited as exhibiting the manner in which the prefixed
and preformative pronouns are employed, both in their full and
contracted forms. To denote possession, nouns specifying the things
possessed, are required; and, what would not be anticipated, had not
full examples of this species of declension been given in another place,
the purposes of distinction are not effected by a simple change of the
pronoun, as _I_ to _mine_, &c., but by a subformative inflection of the
_noun_, which is thus made to have a reflective operation upon the
pronoun-speaker. It is believed that sufficient examples of this rule,
in all the modifications of inflection, have been given under the head
of the substantive. But as the substantives employed to elicit these
modifications were exclusively _specific_ in their meaning, it may be
proper here, in further illustration of an important principle, to
present a generic substantive under their compound forms.
I have selected for this purpose one of the primitives. IE-AU, is the
abstract term for existing matter. It is in the animate form and
declarative. Its inanimate correspondent is IE-EE. These are two
important roots. And they are found in combination, in a very great
number of derivative words. It will be sufficient here, to show their
connexion with the pronoun, in the production of a class of terms in
very general use.
Animate Forms.
_Singular._ _Plural._
{Nin dye aum, Mine. Nin dye auminaun, Ours. (ex.)
Poss. { Ke dye auminaun, Ours. (in.)
{Ke dye aum, Thine. Ke dye aumewau, Yours.
Obj. O dye aum-un, His or Hers. O dye aumewaun, Theirs.
Inanimate Forms.
_Singular._ _Plural._
{Nin dye eem, Mine. Nin dye eeminaun, Ours. (ex.)
Poss. { Ke dye eeminaun, Ours. (in.)
{Ke dye eem, Thine. Ke dye eemewau, Yours.
Obj. O dye eem-un, His or Hers. O dye eemewaun, Theirs. _Poss. in._
In these forms the noun is singular throughout. To render it plural, as
well as the pronoun, the appropriate general plurals _ug_ and _un_ or
_ig_ and _in_, must be superadded. But it must be borne in mind, in
making these additions, "that the plural inflection to inanimate nouns
(which have no objective case,) forms the objective case to animates,
which have no number in the third person," [p. 30.] The particle _un_,
therefore, which is the appropriate plural for the inanimate nouns in
these examples, is only the objective mark of the animate.
The plural of I, is _naun_, the plural of thou and he, _wau_. But as
these inflections would not coalesce smoothly with the possessive
inflections, the connective vowels i. and e. are prefixed, making the
plural of I, _inaun_, and of thou, &c. _ewau_.
If we strike from these declensions the root IE, leaving its animate and
inanimate forms AU, and EE, and adding the plural of the noun, we shall
then,--taking the _animate_ declension as an instance, have the
following formula of the pronominal declensions.
Column headings--
A: Place of the Noun.
B: Possessive inflection.
C: Obj. inflec. to the noun sing.
D: Connect. vowel.
E: Plu inflec. of the pronoun.
F: Obj. inflect. n. plu.
G: Plural of the Noun.
________________________________________________________
| | | | | | | | |
| Pron. | | | | | | | |
| Sing. | [A] | [B] | [C] | [D] | [E] | [F] | [G] |
|_______|_____|_____|_____|_______|________|_____|_______|
| | | | | | | | |
| Ne | | aum | | - i - | - naun | | - ig. |
| Ke | | aum | | - e - | - wau | | - g. |
| O | | aum | un | | | | |
| O | | aum | | - e - | - wau | - n | |
|_______|_____|_____|_____|_______|________|_____|_______|
To render this formula of general use, six variations, (five in
addition to the above) of the possessive inflection, are required,
corresponding to the six classes of substantives, whereby aum would be
changed to am, eem, im, oem, and oom, conformably to the examples
heretofore given in treating of the substantive. The objective
inflection, would also be sometimes changed to _een_ and sometimes to
_oan_.
Having thus indicated the mode of distinguishing the person, number,
relation, and gender--or what is deemed its technical equivalent, the
mutation words undergo, not to mark the distinctions of _sex_, but the
presence or absence of _vitality_, I shall now advert to the inflections
which the pronouns take for _tense_, or rather, to form the auxiliary
verbs, have, had, shall, will, may, &c. A very curious and important
principle, and one, which clearly demonstrates that no part of speech
has escaped the transforming genius of the language. Not only are the
three great modifications of time accurately marked in the verbal forms
of the Chippewas, but by the inflection of the pronoun they are enabled
to indicate some of the oblique tenses, and thereby to conjugate their
verbs with accuracy and precision.
The particle _gee_ added to the first, second, and third persons
singular of the present tense, changes them to the perfect past,
rendering I, thou, He, I did--have--or had. Thou didst,--hast--or hadst,
He, or she did--have, or had. If _gah_, be substituted for _gee_, the
first future tense is formed, and the perfect past added to the first
future, forms the conditional future. As the eye may prove an auxiliary
in the comprehension of forms, which are not familiar, the following
tabular arrangement of them, is presented.
_First Person, I._
Nin gee, I did--have--had.
Nin gah, I shall--will.
Nin gah gee, I shall have--will have.
_Second Person, Thou._
Ke gee, Thou didst--hast--hadst.
Ke gah, Thou shalt--wilt.
Ke gah gee, Thou shall have--wilt have.
_Third Person, He, or She._
O gee, He or she did--has--had.
O gah, He or she did--has--had.
O gah gee, He or she shall have--will have.
The present and imperfect tense of the potential mood, is formed by
_dau_, and the perfect by _gee_, suffixed as in other instances.
_First Person, I._
Nin dau, I may--can, &c.
Nin dau gee, I may have--can have, &c.
_Second Person, Thou._
Ke dau, Thou mayst--canst, &c.
Ke dau gee, Thou mayst have--canst have, &c.
_Third Person, He, or She._
O dau, He or she may--can, &c.
O dau gee, He or she may have--can have, &c.
In conjugating the verbs through the plural persons, the singular terms
for the pronoun remain, and they are rendered plural by a retrospective
action of the pronominal inflections of the verb. In this manner the
pronoun-verb auxiliary, has a general application, and the necessity of
double forms is avoided.
The preceding observations are confined to the formative or _prefixed_
pronouns. The inseparable suffixed or subformative are as follows--
Yaun, My.
Yun, Thy.
Id, or d, His, or hers.
Yaung, Our. (ex.)
Yung, Our. (in.)
Yaig, Your.
Waud, Their.
These pronouns are exclusively employed as suffixes,--and as suffixes to
the descriptive compound substantives, adjectives and verbs. Both the
rule and examples have been stated under the head of the substantive, p.
43. and adjective, p. 81. Their application to the verb will be shown,
as we proceed.
2. Relative Pronouns. In a language which provides for the distinctions
of person by particles prefixed or suffixed to the verb, it will
scarcely be expected, that separate and independent relative pronouns
should exist, or if such are to be found, their use, as separate parts
of speech, must, it will have been anticipated, be quite
limited--limited to simple interrogatory forms of expression, and not
applicable to the indicative, or declaratory. Such will be found to be
the fact in the language under review; and it will be perceived, from
the subjoined examples, that in all instances, requiring the relative
pronoun _who_, other than the simple interrogatory forms, this relation
is indicated by the inflections of the verb, or adjective, &c. Nor does
there appear to be any declension of the separate pronoun, corresponding
to _whose_, and _whom_.
* * * * *
The word Ahwaynain, may be said to be uniformly employed in the sense of
_who_, under the limitations we have mentioned. For instance.
Who is there? Ahwaynain e-mah ai-aud?
Who spoke? Ahwaynain kau keegoedood?
Who told you? Ahwaynain kau ween dumoak?
Who are you? Ahwaynain iau we yun?
Who sent you? Ahwaynain waynoenik?
Who is your father? Ahwaynain koes?
Who did it? Ahwaynain kau toedung?
Whose dog is it? Ahwaynain way dyid?
Whose pipe is that? Ahwaynain doepwaugunid en-eu?
Whose lodge is it? Ahwaynain way weegewomid?
Whom do you seek? Ahwaynain nain dau wau bumud?
Whom have you here? Ahwaynain oh omau ai auwaud?
Not the slightest variation is made in these phrases, between who,
whose, and whom.
Should we wish to change the interrogative, and to say, he who is there;
he who spoke; he who told you, &c., the separable personal pronoun ween
(he) must be used in lieu of the relative, and the following forms will
be elicited.
Ween, kau unnoenik, He (who) sent you.
Ween, kau geedood, He (who) spoke.
Ween, ai-aud e-mah, He (who) is there.
Ween, kau weendumoak, He (who) told you.
Ween, kau toe dung, He (who) did it, &c.
If we object that, that in these forms, there is no longer the relative
pronoun _who_, the sense being simply, he sent you, he spoke, &c., it is
replied that if it be intended only to say, he sent you, &c., and not he
_who_ sent you, &c., the following forms are used.
Ke gee unnoenig. He (sent) you.
Ainnoezhid, He (sent) me.
Ainnoenaud, He (sent) him, &c.
Iau e-mau, He is there.
Ke geedo, He (spoke.)
Kegeeweendumaug, He (told) you.
Ke to dum, He did it.
We reply, to this answer of the native speaker, that the particle _kau_
prefixed to a verb denotes the past tense,--that in the former series of
terms, in which this particle appears, the verbs are in the perfect
indicative,--and in the latter, they are in the present indicative,
marking the difference only between _sent_ and _send_, _spoke_ and
_speak_, &c. And that there is absolutely no relative pronoun, in either
series of terms. We further observe, that the personal pronoun ween,
prefixed to the first set of terms, may be prefixed with equal
propriety, to the second set, and that its use or disuse, is perfectly
optional with the speaker, as he may wish to give additional energy or
emphasis to the expression. To these positions, after reflection,
discussion and examination, we receive an assent, and thus the
uncertainty is terminated.
We now wish to apply the principle thus elicited to verbs causative, and
other compound terms--to the adjective verbs, for instance--and to the
other verbal compound expressions, in which the objective and the
nominative persons, are incorporated as a part of the verb, and are not
prefixes to it. This may be shown in the causative verb, _To make
Happy_.
Mainwaindumeid, He (who) makes _me_ happy.
Mainwaindumeik, He (who) makes _thee_ happy.
Mainwaindumeaud, He (who) makes _him_ happy.
Mainwaindumeinung, He (who) makes _us_ happy. (inclusive.)
Mainwaindumeyaug, He (who) makes _us_ happy. (exclusive.)
Mainwaindumeinnaig, He (who) makes _ye_ or _you_ happy.
Mainwaindumeigowaud, He (who) makes _them_ happy.
And so the forms might be continued, throughout all the objective
persons.--
Mainwaindumeyun, Thou (who) makest me happy, &c.
The basis of these compounds is _minno_, good, and _aindum_, the mind.
Hence minwaindum, he happy. The adjective in this connexion, cannot be
translated "good," but its effect upon the noun, is to denote that state
of the mind, which is at rest with itself. The first change from this
simple compound, is to give the adjective a verbal form; and this is
effected by a permutation of the vowels of the first syllable--a rule of
very extensive application--and by which, in the present instance, the
phrase _he happy_, is changed to _he makes happy_, (mainwaindum.) The
next step is to add the suffix personal pronouns, id, ik, aud, &c.,
rendering the expressions, he makes _me_ happy, &c. But in adding these
increments, the vowel e, is thrown between the adjective-verb, and the
pronoun suffixed, making the expression, not mainwaindum-yun, but
mainwaindumeyun. Generally the vowel e in this situation, is a
connective, or introduced merely for the sake of euphony. And those who
maintain that it is here employed as a personal pronoun, and that the
relative _who_, is implied by the final inflection; overlook the
inevitable inference, that if the marked e, stands for _me_ in the first
phrase, it must stand for _thee_ in the second, _he_ in the third, _us_
in the fourth, &c. As to the meaning and office of the final inflections
id, ik, &c.--whatever they may, in an involuted sense _imply_, it is
quite clear, by turning to the list of _suffixed personal pronouns_ and
_animate plurals_, that they mark the persons, I, thou, he, &c., we, ye,
they, &c.
Take for example, minwaindumeigowaud. He (who) makes them happy. Of this
compound, minwaindum, as before shown, signifies _he makes happy_. But
as the verb is in the singular number, it implies that but _one person_
is made happy, and the suffixed personal pronouns _singular_, mark the
distinctions between _me_, _thee_, and he, or him.
Minwaindum-e-ig is the verb plural, and implies that several persons
are made happy, and, in like manner, the suffixed personal pronouns
_plural_, mark the distinctions between we, ye, they, &c. For it is a
rule of the language, that a strict concordance must exist between the
number of the verb, and the number of the pronoun. The termination of
the verb consequently always indicates, whether there be one or many
objects, to which its energy is directed. And as animate verbs can be
applied only to animate objects, the numerical inflections of the verb,
are understood to mark the number of persons. But this number is
indiscriminate, and leaves the sense vague, until the pronominal
suffixes are superadded. Those who, therefore, contend for the sense of
the relative pronoun "who," being given in the last mentioned phrase,
and all phrases similarly formed, by a succedaneum, contend for
something like the following form of translation:--He makes them
happy--him! or Him--he (meaning who) makes them happy.
The equivalent for what, is _Waygonain_.
What do you want? Waygonain wau iauyun?
What have you lost? Waygonain kau wonetoeyun?
What do you look for? Waygonain nain dahwaubundamun?
What is this? Waygonain ewinain maundun?
What will you have? Waygonain kau iauyun?
What detained you? Waygonain kau oon dahme egoeyun?
What are you making? Waygonain wayzhetoeyun?
What have you there? Waygonain e-mau iauyun?
The use of this pronoun, like the preceding, appears to be confined to
simple interrogative forms. The word _auneen_, which sometimes supplies
its place, or is used for want of the pronoun _which_, is an adverb, and
has considerable latitude of meaning. Most commonly it may be considered
as the equivalent for _how_, in what manner, or at what time.
What do you say? Auneen akeedoeyun?
What do you call this? Auneen aizheneekaudahmun
maundun?(i.)
What ails you? Auneen aindeeyun?
What is your name? Auneen aizheekauzoyun?
Which do you mean; this or that?(an.) Auneen ah-owainud, woh-ow gaemau
ewidde?
Which do you mean; this or that?(in.) Auneen eh-eu ewaidumun oh-oo
gamau ewaidde?
Which boy do you mean? Auneen ah-ow-ainud?
By adding to this word, the particle _de_, it is converted into an
adverb of place, and may be rendered _where_.
Where do you dwell? Auneende aindauyun?
Where is your son? Auneende ke gwiss?
Where did you see him? Auneende ke waubumud?
becomes quite necessary in writing the language. And in the following
sentences, the substantive is properly employed after the pronoun.
This dog is very lean, Gitshee bukaukdoozo woh-ow annemoosh.
These dogs are very lean, Gitshee bukauddoozowug o-goo annemooshug.
Those dogs are fat, Ig-eu annemooshug ween-in-oawug.
That dog is fat, Ah-ow annemoosh ween-in-ao.
This is a handsome knife, Gagait onishishin maundun mokomahn.
These are handsome knives, Gagait wahwinaudj o-noo mokomahnun.
Those are bad knives, Monaududoen in-euwaidde mokomahnun.
Give me that spear, Meezhishin eh-eu ahnitt.
Give me those spears, Meezhishin in-eu unnewaidde ahnitteen.
That is a fine boy, Gagait kwonaudj ah-ow kweewezains.
Those are fine boys, Gagait wahwinaudj ig-euwaidde
kweewezainsug.
This boy is larger than that, Nahwudj mindiddo woh-ow kweewezains
ewaidde dush.
That is what I wanted, Meeh-eu wau iauyaumbaun.
This is the very thing I wanted, Mee-suh oh-oo wau iauyaumbaun.
In some of these expressions, the pronoun combines with an adjective, as
in the compound words, ineuwaidde, and igeuwaidde, _those yonder_, (in.)
and _those yonder_ (an.) Compounds which exhibit the full pronoun in
coalescence with the word _Ewaidde_ yonder.
CHRONOLOGY.
Columbus discovered the West Indies Oct. 12, 1492.
Americo Vespucio, discovered the coast of South America, 1497.
Cabot discovered the North American coast 1497.
De Leon discovered Florida 1512.
Cortes, enters the city of Mexico, after a siege, Aug. 13, 1521.
Verrizani, is said to have entered the bay of New York, 1524.
Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence, 1534.
Jamestown, in Virginia, is founded, 1608.
Acknowledged date of the settlement of Canada, 1608.
Hudson discovers the river bearing his name, 1609.
The Dutch build a fort near Albany, 1614.
The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Dec. 22, 1620.
New Amsterdam taken from the Dutch by the Duke of York
and Albany and named New York 1664.
La Salle discovers the Illinois in upper Louisiana 1678.
discovers Lower Louisiana, and is killed 1685.
THE ERA OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH IN THE UPPER LAKES.
KE-WA-KONS, a chief of the straits of St. Mary's, told me, during an
interview, in 1827, that but seven generations of red men had passed
away, since the French first appeared on those straits. If we take the
date of Cartier's first visit to the St. Lawrence, as the era of their
acquaintance with this nation, A. D. 1534, we should have 56 years as
the period of an Indian generation. Should we take, instead of this, the
time of La Salle's first arrival on the upper lakes, 1778, there would,
on the contrary, be but a fraction over 22 years for a generation. But
neither of these periods, can be truly said to coincide with the
probable era of the chief's historical reminiscences. The first is too
early, the last too late. An average of the two, which is required to
apply the observation properly, gives 38 years as the Indian generation.
This nearly assimilates it to the results among Europeans, leaving 8
years excess. Further data would probably reduce this; but it is a
department in which we have so little material, that we must leave it
till these be accumulated. It may be supposed that the period of Indian
longevity, before the introduction of ardent spirits, was equal,
perhaps, a little superior, to that of the European; but it did not
exceed it, we think, by 8 years.
Ke-wa-kons, whom I knew very well, was a man of shrewd sense, and
respectable powers of observation. He stated, at the same interview,
that his tribe, who were of the Odjibwa type of the Algonquins, laid
aside their Akeeks, or clay cooking-vessels, at _that time_, and adopted
in lieu of them, the light brass kettle, which was more portable and
permanent. And from that time, their skill in pottery declined, until,
in our day, it is entirely lost. It is curious to reflect, that within
the brief period of 150 years, a living branch of coarse manufacture
among them, has thus been transferred into an object of antiquarian
research. This fact, should make historians cautious in assigning very
remote periods of antiquity to the monumental evidences of by-gone
generations.
It is by such considerations that we get a glimpse of some of the
general principles which attended the early periods of discovery and
settlement, in all parts of the continent. Adventurers came to find
gold, or furs, to amass wealth, get power, or to perform mere exploits.
Nobody cared much for the native race, beyond the fact of their being
the medium to lead to these specified objects. There were none, to
record accurately, their arts, and other peculiarities, which now excite
intense interest. They died away very fast, whole tribes becoming
extinct within a generation or two. The European fabrics, then
introduced, were so much superior to their own, that they, at once,
discontinued such rude arts as they practised, at least in our northern
latitudes. New adventurers followed in the track of Columbus, Amerigo,
Cabot, and their compeers and followers, who, in the lapse of time,
picked up, from the soil, pieces of coarse pottery, pestles and such
like things, and holding them up, said,--"See these!--here are evidences
of very great skill, and very high antiquity."
It is not the intention by any means, to assert, that there were not
antiquities of a far higher era, and nobler caste, but merely to impress
upon inquirers, the necessity of discriminating the different eras in
the chronology of our antiquities. All Indian pottery, north of the
capes of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, is of, or preceding the era of
the discovery; but there is found in graves, a species of pottery, and
vitrified ware, which was introduced, in the early stages of traffic, by
Europeans. Of this transition era between the dying away of the Indian
arts, and the introduction of the European, are the rude pastes, enamel
and glass beads, and short clay pipes of coarse texture, found in Indian
cemeteries, but not in the tumuli. In place of these, our ancient
Indians used wrought and unwrought sea shells of various species, and
pipes carved out of seatites and other soft materials.
* * * * *
Mr. Anderson remarks in his biography of Catharine Brown, that "the
Cherokees are said to possess a language, which is more precise and
powerful than any into which learning has poured richness of thought, or
genius breathed the enchantments of fancy and eloquence."
David Brown, in one of his letters, in the same volume, terms his people
the Tsallakee, of which we must therefore take "Cherokee," to be a
corruption. It is seen by the Cherokee alphabet, that the sound of _r_
does not occur in that language.
FAITH.
When Chusco was converted to Christianity at the mission of
Michilinackinac, he had planted a field of potatoes on one of the
neighbouring islands in lake Huron. In the fall he went over in his
canoe, with his aged wife, to dig them--a labour which the old woman set
unceremoniously about, as soon as they got into the field. "Stop!" cried
the little old man, who had a small tenor voice and was bent nearly
double by age,--"dare you begin to dig, till we have thanked the Lord
for their growth." They then both knelt down in the field, while he
lifted up his voice, in his native language, in thanks.
SHINGABA-WOSSINS, OR IMAGE STONES.
The native tribes who occupy the borders of the great lakes, are very
ingenious in converting to the uses of superstition, such masses of
loose rock, or boulder stones, as have been fretted by the action of
water into shapes resembling the trunks of human bodies, or other
organic forms.
There appears, at all times, to have been a ready disposition to turn
such masses of rude natural sculpture, so to call them, to an idolatrous
use; as well as a most ingenious tact, in aiding the effect of the
natural resemblance, by dots or dabs of paint, to denote eyes, and other
features, or by rings of red ochre, around their circumference, by way
of ornament.
In the following figures, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, some of these masses are
represented.
[Illustration]
Number 3. was brought to the office of the Indian Agent at
Michilimackinac in 1839, and placed among objects of analagous interest
to visitors. It consisted of a portion of a vein or mass of gneiss or
granite, from which both mica and feldspar were nearly absent, existing
only in trace, while the quartzy portion predominated, and had, by its
superior hardness, resisted the elemental action. The mode of the
formation of such masses is very well known to geologists, resulting, in
almost every case, from the unequal degree of hardness of various parts
of a mass, submitted to an equal force of attrition, such as is
ordinarily given by the upheaving and rolling force of waves on a lake,
or ocean beach. To the natives, who are not prone to reason from cause
to effect, such productions appear wonderful. All that is past
comprehension, or wonderful, is attributed by them to the supernatural
agency of spirits. The hunter or warrior, who is travelling along the
coast, and finds one of these self-sculptured stones, is not sure that
it is not a direct interposition of his God, or guardian Manito, in his
favour. He is habitually a believer in the most subtle forms of
mysterious power, which he acknowledges to be often delegated to the
native priests, or necromancers. He is not staggered by the most
extraordinary stretch of fancy, in the theory of the change or
transformation of animate into inanimate objects, and vice versa. All
things, "in heaven and earth," he believes to be subject to this subtle
power of metamorphosis. But, whatever be the precise operating cause of
the respect he pays to the imitative rolled stones, which he calls
Shingaba-wossins, and also by the general phrase of Muz-in-in-a-wun, or
images, he is not at liberty to pass them without hazarding something,
in his opinion, of his chance of success in life, or the fortune of the
enterprize in hand.
If the image be small, it is generally taken with him and secreted in
the neighborhood of his lodge. If large and too heavy for this purpose,
it is set up on the shore, generally in some obscure nook, where an
offering of tobacco, or something else of less value, may be made _to_
it, or rather _through_ it, to the spirit.
In 1820 one of these stones (No. 2.) was met by an expedition of the
government sent north, that year, for the purpose of interior discovery
and observation, at the inner Thunder Bay island, in Lake Huron. It was
a massy stone, rounded, with a comparatively broad base and entablature
but not otherwise remarkable. It was set up, under a tree on the island,
which was small, with the wide and clear expanse of the lake in plain
view. The island was one of those which were regarded as desert, and was
probably but seldom stopped at. It was, indeed, little more than a few
acres of boulders and pebbles, accumulated on a limestone reef, and
bearing a few stunted trees and shrubs. The water of the lake must, in
high storms, have thrown its spray over this imaged stone. It was, in
fine, one of those private places which an Indian might be supposed to
have selected for his secret worship.
In No. 3. is figured an object of this kind, which was found in 1832, in
the final ascent to the source of the Mississippi, on the right cape, in
ascending this stream into lac Traverse--at the distance of about 1000
miles above the falls of St. Anthony. I landed at the point to see it,
having heard, from my interpreter, that such an object was set up and
dedicated to some unknown Manito there. It was a pleasant level point of
land shaded with trees, and bearing luxuriant grass and wild shrubbery
and flowers. In the middle of this natural parterre the stone was
placed, and was overtopped by this growth, and thus concealed by it. A
ring of red paint encircled it, at the first narrowed point of its
circumference, to give it the resemblance of a human neck; and there
were some rude dabs to denote other features. The Indian is not precise
in the matter of proportion, either in his drawing, or in his attempts
at statuary. He seizes upon some minute and characteristic trait, which
is at once sufficient to denote the _species_, and he is easily
satisfied about the rest. Thus a simple cross, with a strait line from
shoulder to shoulder, and a dot, or circle above, to serve for a head,
is the symbol of the human frame; and without any adjunct of feet, or
hands, it could not have been mistaken for any thing else--certainly for
any other object in the animal creation.
MNEMONIC SYMBOLS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.--SYMBOLICAL REPRESENTATIONS AND HIEROGLYPHICS, ONE
OF THE EARLIEST OBSERVED TRAITS IN THE CUSTOMS AND ARTS OF THE AMERICAN
ABORIGINES; BUT THIS ART NOT SUSPECTED TO HAVE A SYSTEMATIC FORM AMONG
THE RUDE HUNTER TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA, UNTIL THE YEAR 1820, WHEN IT
WAS DISCOVERED ON THE SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI. THIS INSTANCE GIVEN,
WITH A DRAWING; THE HINT PURSUED.
The practice of the North American tribes, of drawing figures and
pictures on skins, trees, and various other substances, has been noticed
by travellers and writers from the earliest times. Among the more
northerly tribes, these figures are often observed on that common
substitute for the ancient papyrus, among these nations, the bark of the
_betula papyracea_, or white birch: a substance possessing a smooth
surface, easily impressed, very flexible, and capable of being preserved
in rolls. Often these devices are cut, or drawn in colours on the trunks
of trees, more rarely on rocks or boulders. According to Colden and
Lafitou records of this rude character were formerly to be seen on the
blazed surface of trees, along some of the ancient paths and portages
leading from the sources of the Atlantic rivers into the interior, or in
the valley of the St. Lawrence; but these, after satisfying a transient
curiosity, have long since yielded to the general fate of these simple
and unenduring monuments. Pictures and symbols of this kind are now to
be found only on the unreclaimed borders of the great area west of the
Alleghanies and the Lakes, in the wide prairies of the west, or along
the Missouri and the upper Mississippi. It is known that such devices
were in use, to some extent, at the era of the discovery, among most of
the tribes, situated between the latitudes of the capes of Florida, and
Hudson's Bay, although they have been considered as more particularly
characteristic of the tribes of the Algonquin type. In a few instances,
these pictorial inscriptions have been found to be painted or stained on
the faces of rocks, or on loose boulders, and still more rarely, devices
were scratched or pecked into the surface, as is found to be the case
still at Dighton and Venango. Those who are intent on observations of
this kind, will find figures and rude hieroglyphics invariably at the
present time, on the grave posts which mark the places of Indian
sepulchre at the west and north. The nations who rove over the western
prairies, inscribe them on the skins of the buffalo. North of latitude
42 deg., the bark of the birch, which furnishes at once the material of
canoes, tents, boxes, water-dippers, and paper, constitutes the common
medium of their exhibition. Tablets of hard wood are confined to such
devices as are employed by their priests and prophets, and medicine-men;
and these characters uniformly assume a more mystical or sacred import.
But the recent discovery, on one of the tributaries of the Susquehanna,
of an Indian map, drawn on stone, with intermixed devices, a copy of
which appears in the 1st volume of the collections of the Historical
Committee of the American Philosophical Society, proves that stone was
also employed in that branch of inscription. This discovery was on the
area occupied by the Lenapees.
Colden, in his history of the Five Nations,[23] informs us that when, in
1696, the Count de Frontenac marched a well appointed army into the
Iroquois country, with artillery and all other means of regular military
offence, he found, on the banks of the Onondaga, now called Oswego
river, a tree, on the trunk of which the Indians had depicted the French
army, and deposited two bundles of cut rushes at its foot, consisting of
1434 pieces--an act of defiance on their part, which was intended to
inform their invaders, that they would have to encounter this number of
warriors. In speaking in another passage of the general traits of the
Five Nations, he mentions the general custom prevalent among the Mohawks
going to war, of painting, with red paint, on the trunk of a tree, such
symbols, as might serve to denote the object of their expedition. Among
the devices was a canoe pointed towards the enemies' country. On their
return, it was their practice to visit the same tree, or precinct, and
denote the result: the canoe being, in this case, drawn with its bows in
the opposite direction. Lafitou, in his account of the nations of
Canada, makes observations on this subject to which we shall more
particularly refer hereafter, which denote the general prevalence of the
custom in that quarter. Other writers, dating as far back as Smith and
de Bre, bear a passing testimony to the existence of this trait among
the northern tribes. Few have however done more than notice it, and none
are known to have furnished any amount of connected details.
A single element in the system attracted early notice. I allude to the
institution of the Totem, which has been well known among the Algonquin
tribes from the settlement of Canada. By this device, the early
missionaries observed, that the natives marked their division of a tribe
into clans, and of a clan into families, and the distinction was thus
very clearly preserved. Affinities were denoted and kept up, long after
tradition had failed in its testimony. This distinction, which is
marked with much of the certainty of heraldic bearings in the feudal
system, was seen to mark the arms, the lodge, and the trophies of the
chief and warrior. It was likewise employed to give identity to the
_clan_ of which he was a member, on his ad-je-da-teg or grave-post. This
record went but little farther; a few strokes or geometric devices were
drawn on these simple monuments, to denote the number of men he had
slain in battle.
It has not been suspected in any notices to which I have had access,
that there was a pictorial alphabet, or a series of homophonous figures,
in which, by the juxtaposition of symbols representing acts, as well as
objects of action, and by the introduction of simple adjunct signs, a
series of disjunctive, yet generally connected ideas, were denoted; or
that the most prominent incidents of life and death could be recorded so
as to be transmitted from one generation to another, as long at least as
the monument and the people endured. Above all, it was not anticipated
that there should have been found, as will be observed in the subsequent
details, a system of symbolic notation for the songs and incantations of
the Indian metas and priests, making an appeal to the memory for the
preservation of language.
Persons familiar with the state of the western tribes of this continent,
particularly in the higher northern latitudes, have long been aware that
the songs of the Indian priesthood, and wabenoes, were sung from a kind
of pictorial notation, made on bark. It is a fact which has often come
to the observation of military officers performing duties on those
frontiers, and of persons exercising occasional duties in civil life,
who have passed through their territories. But there is no class of
persons to whom the fact of such notations being made, is so well known,
as the class of Indian traders and interpreters who visit or reside a
part of the season at the Indian villages. I have never conversed with
any of this latter class of persons to whom the fact of such
inscriptions, made in various ways, was not so familiar as in their view
to excite no surprise or even demand remark.
My attention was first called to the subject in 1820. In the summer of
that year I was on an exploring journey through the lake country. At the
mouth of the small river Huron, on the banks of Lake Superior, there was
an Indian grave fenced around with saplings, and protected with much
care. At its head stood a post, or tabular stick, upon which was drawn
the figure of the animal which was the symbol of the clan to which the
deceased chief belonged. Strokes of red paint were added to denote,
either the number of war parties in which he had been engaged, or the
number of scalps which he had actually taken from the enemy. The
interpreter who accompanied us, and who was himself tinctured with
Indian blood, gave the latter, as the true import of these marks.
On quitting the river St. Louis, which flows into the head of the lake
at the Fond du Lac, to cross the summit dividing its waters from those
of the Mississippi, the way led through heavy and dense woods and
swamps and the weather proved dark and rainy, so that, for a couple of
days together, we had scarcely a glimpse of the sun.
The party consisted of sixteen persons, with two Indian guides; but the
latter, with all their adroitness in threading the maze, were completely
at fault for nearly an entire day. At night we lay down on ground
elevated but a few inches above the level of the swamp. The next morning
as we prepared to leave the camp, a small sheet of birch bark containing
devices was observed elevated on the top of a sapling, some 8 or 10 feet
high. One end of this pole was thrust firmly into the ground leaning in
the direction we were to go. On going up to this object, it was found,
with the aid of the interpreter, to be a symbolic record of the
circumstances of our crossing this summit, and of the night's encampment
at this spot. Each person was appropriately depicted, distinguishing the
soldiers from the officer in command, and the latter from the scavans of
the party. The Indians themselves were depicted without hats, this
being, as we noticed, the general symbol for a white man or European.
The entire record, of which a figure is annexed, accurately symbolized
the circumstances, and they were so clearly drawn, according to their
conventional rules, that the intelligence would be communicated thereby
to any of their people who might chance to travel or wander this way.
This was the object of the inscription.
[Illustration]
Fig. No 1. represents the subaltern officer in command of the party of
the U. S. troops. He is drawn with a sword to denote his official rank.
No. 2 denotes the person who officiated in quality of Secretary. He is
represented holding a book. No. 3 denotes the geologist and mineralogist
of the party. He is drawn with a hammer. Nos. 4 and 5 are attaches; No.
6, the interpreter.
The group of figures marked 9 represents eight infantry soldiers, each
of whom, as shown in group No. 10, was armed with a musket. No. 15
denotes that they had a separate fire, and constituted a separate mess.
Figures 7 and 8 are the two Chippewa guides, the principal of whom,
called Chamees, or the Pouncing-hawk, led the way over this dreary
summit. These are the only human figures on this unique bark letter, who
are drawn without a hat. This was the characteristic seized on, by them,
and generally employed by the tribes, to distinguish the Red from the
white race. Figures 11 and 12 represent a prairie hen, and a green
tortoise, which constituted the sum of the preceding day's chase, and
were eaten at the encampment. The inclination of the pole, was designed
to show the course pursued from that particular spot: there were three
hacks in it, below the scroll of bark, to indicate the estimated length
of this part of the journey, computing from water to water, that is to
say, from the head of the portage Aux Couteaux on the St. Louis river,
to the open shores of Sandy lake, the Ka-ma-ton-go-gom-ag of the
Odjibwas.
The story was thus briefly and simply told; and this memorial was set up
by the guides, to advertise any of their countrymen, who might chance to
wander in that direction, of the adventure--for it was evident, both
from this token, and from the dubiousness which had marked the prior
day's wanderings, that they regarded the passage in this light, and were
willing to take some credit for the successful execution of it.
Before we had penetrated quite to this summit, we came to another
evidence of their skill in this species of knowledge, consisting of one
of those contrivances which they denominate Man-i-to-wa-teg, or Manito
Poles. On reaching this our guides shouted, whether from a superstitious
impulse, or the joy of having found a spot they certainly could
recognize, we could not tell. We judged the latter. It consisted of
eight poles, of equal length, shaved smooth and round, painted with
yellow ochre, and set so as to enclose a square area. It appeared to
have been one of those rude temples, or places of incantation or
worship, known to the metas, or priests, where certain rites and
ceremonies are performed. But it was not an ordinary medicine lodge.
There had been far more care in its construction.
On reaching the village of Sandy lake, on the upper Mississippi, the
figures of animals, birds, and other devices were found, on the rude
coffins, or wrappings of their dead, which were scaffolded around the
precincts of the fort, and upon the open shores of the lake. Similar
devices were also observed, here, as at other points in this region,
upon their arms, war-clubs, canoes, and other pieces of moveable
property, as well as upon their grave posts.
In the descent of the Mississippi, we observed such devices painted on a
rock, below and near the mouth of Elk river, and at a rocky island in
the river, at the Little Falls. In the course of our descent to the
Falls at St. Anthony, we observed another bark letter, as the party now
began to call these inscriptions, suspended on a high pole, on an
elevated bank of the river, on its west shore. At this spot, where we
encamped for the night, and which is just opposite a point of highly
crystalized hornblende rock, called the Peace Rock, rising up through
the prairie, there were left standing the poles or skeletons of a great
number of Sioux lodges. It is near and a little west of the territorial
boundary of the Sioux nation; and on inspecting this scroll of bark, we
found it had reference to a negociation for bringing about a permanent
peace between the Sioux and Chippewas. A large party of the former, from
St. Peter's, headed by their chief, had proceeded thus far, in the hope
of meeting the Chippewa hunters, on their summer hunt. They had been
countenanced, or directed in this step, by Col. Leavenworth, the
commanding officer of the new post, just then about to be erected. The
inscription, which was read off at once, by the Chippewa Chief
Babesacundabee, who was with us, told all this; it gave the name of the
Chief who had led the party, and the number of his followers, and gave
that chief the first assurance he had, that his mission for the same
purpose, would be favourably received.
After our arrival at St. Anthony's Falls, it was found that this system
of picture writing was as familiar to the Dacotah, as we had found it
among the Algonquin race. At Prairie du Chien, and at Green Bay, the
same evidences were observed among the Monomonees, and the Winnebagoes,
at Chicago among the Pottowottomies, and at Michilimakinac, among the
Chippewas and Ottawas who resort, in such numbers, to that Island. While
at the latter place, on my return, I went to visit the grave of a noted
chief of the Monomonee tribe, who had been known by his French name of
Toma, i.e. Thomas. He had been buried on the hill west of the village;
and on looking at his Ad-je-da-tig or grave post, it bore a pictorial
inscription, commemorating some of the prominent achievements of his
life.
These hints served to direct my attention to the subject when I returned
to the country in 1822. The figures of a deer, a bear, a turtle, and a
crane, according to this system, stand respectively for the names of
men, and preserve the language very well, by yielding to the person
conversant with it, the corresponding words, of Addick, Muckwa,
Mickenock, and Adjeejauk. Marks, circles, or dots, of various kinds, may
symbolize the number of warlike deeds. Adjunct devices may typify or
explain adjunct acts. If the system went no farther, the record would
yield a kind of information both gratifying and useful to one of his
countrymen who had no letters and was expert in the use of symbols; and
the interpretation of it, would be easy and precise in proportion as the
signs were general, conventional, and well understood. There was
abundant evidence in my first year's observation, to denote that this
mode of communication was in vogue, and well understood by the northern
tribes; but it hardly seemed susceptible of a farther or extended use.
It was not till I had made a personal acquaintance with one of their
Medas--a man of much intelligence, and well versed in their customs,
religion, and history, that a more enlarged application of it appeared
to be practicable. I observed in the hands of this man a tabular piece
of wood, covered over on both sides, with a series of devices cut
between parallel lines, which he referred to, as if they were the notes
of his medicine and mystical songs. I heard him sing these songs, and
observed that their succession was fixed and uniform. By cultivating his
acquaintance, and by suitable attention and presents, such as the
occasion rendered proper, he consented to explain the meaning of each
figure, the object symbolized, and the words attached to each symbol. By
this revelation, which was made with closed doors, I became a member or
initiate of the Medicine Society, and also of the Wabeno Society. Care
was taken to write each sentence of the songs and chants in the Indian
language, with its appropriate devices, and to subjoin a literal
translation in English. When this had been done, and the system
considered, it was very clear that the devices were mnemonic--that any
person could sing from these devices, very accurately, what he had
previously committed to memory, and that the system revealed a curious
scheme of symbolic notation.
All the figures thus employed, as the initiatory points of study,
related exclusively to either the medicine dance, or the wabeno dance;
and each section of figures, related exclusively to one or the other.
There was no intermixture or commingling of characters, although the
class of subjects were sometimes common to each. It was perceived,
subsequently, that this classification of symbols extended to the songs
devoted to war, to hunting, and to other specific topics. The entire
inscriptive system, reaching from its first, rudimental characters, in
the ad-je-da-tig, or grave board, to the extended roll of bark covered
with the incriptions of their magicians and prophets, derived a new
interest from this feature. It was easy to perceive that much
comparative precision was imparted to interpretations in the hands of
the initiated, which before, or to others, had very little. An interest
was thus cast over it distinct from its novelty. And in truth, the
entire pictorial system was thus invested with the character of a
subject of accurate investigation, which promised both interest and
instruction.
It has been thought that a simple statement of these circumstances,
would best answer the end in view, and might well occupy the place of a
more formal or profound introduction. In bringing forward the elements
of the system, after much reflection, it is thought, however, that a few
remarks on the general character of this art may not be out of place.
For, simple as it is, we perceive in it the native succedaneum for
letters. It is not only the sole graphic mode they have for
communicating ideas, but it is the mode of communicating all classes of
ideas commonly entertained by them--such as their ideas of war, of
hunting, of religion, and of magic and necromancy. So considered, it
reveals a new and unsuspected mode of obtaining light on their opinions
of a deity, of the structure or cosmogony of the globe, of astronomy,
the various classes of natural objects, their ideas of immortality and a
future state, and the prevalent notions of the union of spiritual and
material matter. So wide and varied, indeed, is the range opened by the
subject, that we may consider the Indian system of picture writing as
the thread which ties up the scroll of the Red man's views of life and
death, reveals the true theory of his hopes and fears, and denotes the
relation he bears, in the secret chambers of his own thoughts, to his
Maker. What a stoic and suspicious temper would often hold him back from
uttering to another, and what a limited language would sometimes prevent
his fully revealing, if he wished, symbols and figures can be made to
represent and express. The Indian is not a man prone to describe his
god, but he is ready to depict him, by a symbol. He may conceal under
the figures of a serpent, a turtle, or a wolf, wisdom, strength, or
malignity, or convey under the picture of the sun, the idea of a
supreme, all-seeing intelligence. But he is not prepared to discourse
upon these things. What he believes on this head, he will not declare to
a white man or a stranger. His happiness and success in life, are
thought to depend upon the secrecy of that knowledge of the Creator and
his system in the Indian view of benign and malignant agents. To reveal
this to others, even to his own people, is, he believes, to expose
himself to the counteracting influence of other agents known to his
subtle scheme of necromancy and superstition, and to hazard success and
life itself. This conduces to make the Red man eminently a man of fear,
suspicion, and secrecy. But he cannot avoid some of these disclosures in
his pictures and figures. These figures represent ideas--whole ideas,
and their juxtaposition or relation on a roll of bark, a tree, or a
rock, discloses a continuity of ideas. This is the basis of the system.
Picture writing is indeed the literature of the Indians. It cannot be
interpreted, however rudely, without letting one know what the Red man
thinks and believes. It shadows forth the Indian intellect, it stands in
the place of letters for the Unishinaba.[24] It shows the Red man in all
periods of our history, both as he _was_, and as he _is_; for there is
nothing more true than that, save and except the comparatively few
instances where they have truly embraced experimental christianity,
there has not
FOOTNOTES:
[23] London, 1747, p. 190.
[24] A generic term denoting the common people of the Indian race.
GRAVE CREEK MOUND.
This gigantic tumulus, the largest in the Ohio valley, was opened some
four or five years ago, and found to contain some articles of high
antiquarian value, in addition to the ordinary discoveries of human
bones, &c. A rotunda was built under its centre, walled with brick, and
roofed over, and having a long gallery leading into it, at the base of
the mound. Around this circular wall, in the centre of this heavy and
damp mass of earth, with its atmosphere of peculiar and pungent
character, the skeletons and other disinterred articles, are hung up for
the gratification of visiters, the whole lighted up with candles, which
have the effect to give a strikingly sepulchral air to the whole scene.
But what adds most to this effect, is a kind of exuded flaky matter,
very white and soft, and rendered brilliant by dependent drops of water,
which hangs in rude festoons from the ceiling.
To this rotunda, it is said, a delegation of Indians paid a visit a year
or two since. In the "Wheeling Times and Advertiser" of the 30th August
1843, the following communication, respecting this visit, introducing a
short dramatic poem, was published.
"An aged Cherokee chief who, on his way to the west, visited the rotunda
excavated in this gigantic tumulus, with its skeletons and other relics
arranged around the walls, became so indignant at the desecration and
display of sepulchral secrets to the white race, that his companions and
interpreter found it difficult to restrain him from assassinating the
guide. His language assumed the tone of fury, and he brandished his
knife, as they forced him out of the passage. Soon after, he was found
prostrated, with his senses steeped in the influence of alcohol.
"'Tis not enough! that hated race
Should hunt us out, from grove and place
And consecrated shore--where long
Our fathers raised the lance and song--
Tis not enough!--that we must go
Where streams and rushing fountains flow
Whose murmurs, heard amid our fears,
Fall only on a stranger's ears--
'Tis not enough!--that with a wand,
They sweep away our pleasant land,
And bid us, as some giant-foe,
Or willing, or unwilling _go_!
But they must ope our very graves
To tell the _dead_--they too, are slaves."
NAMES OF THE AMERICAN LAKES.
Ontario, is a word from the Wyandot, or, as called by the Iroquois,
Quatoghie language. This tribe, prior to the outbreak of the war against
them, by their kindred the Iroquois, lived on a bay, near Kingston,
which was the ancient point of embarkation and debarkation, or, in other
words, at once the commencement and the terminus of the portage,
according to the point of destination for all, who passed into or out of
the lake. From such a point it was natural that a term so euphonous,
should prevail among Europeans, over the other Indian names in use. The
Mohawks and their confederates, generally, called it Cadaracqui--which
was also their name for the St. Lawrence. The Onondagas, it is believed,
knew it, in early times, by the name of Oswego.[25] Of the meaning of
Ontario, we are left in the dark by commentators on the Indian.
Philology casts some light on the subject. The first syllable, _on_, it
may be observed, appears to be the notarial increment or syllable of
Onondio, a hill. Tarak, is clearly, the same phrase, written darac, by
the French, in the Mohawk compound of Cadaracqui; and denotes rocks,
i.e. rocks standing in the water. In the final vowels _io_, we have the
same term, with the same meaning which they carry in the Seneca, or old
Mingo word Ohio.[26] It is descriptive of an extended and beautiful
water prospect, or landscape. It possesses all the properties of an
exclamation, in other languages, but according to the unique principles
of the Indian grammar, it is an exclamation-substantive. How beautiful!
[the prospect, scene present.]
Erie is the name of a tribe conquered or extinguished by the Iroquois.
We cannot stop to inquire into this fact historically, farther than to
say, that it was the policy of this people to adopt into their different
tribes of the confederacy, the remnants of nations whom they conquered,
and that it was not probable, therefore, that the Eries were
annihilated. Nor is it probable that they were a people very remote in
kindred and language from the ancient Sinondowans, or Senecas, who, it
may be supposed, by crushing them, destroyed and exterminated their name
only, while they strengthened their numbers by this inter-adoption. In
many old maps, this lake bears the name of Erie or "Oskwago."
Huron, is the _nom de guerre_ of the French, for the "Yendats," as they
are called in some old authors, or the Wyandots. Charlevoix tells us
that it is a term derived from the French word _hure_, [a wild boar,]
and was applied to this nation from the mode of wearing their hair.
"Quelles Hures!" said the first visiters, when they saw them, and hence,
according to this respectable author, the word Huron.
When this nation, with their confederates, the Algonquins, or
Adirondaks, as the Iroquois called them, were overthrown in several
decisive battles on the St. Lawrence, between Montreal and Quebec, and
compelled to fly west; they at first took shelter in this lake, and thus
transferred their name to it. With them, or at least, at the same
general era, came some others of the tribes who made a part of the
people called by the French, Algonquins, or Nipercineans, and who thus
constituted the several tribes, speaking a closely cognate language,
whose descendants are regarded by philologists, as the modern
Lake-Algonquins.
The French sometimes called this lake _Mer douce_, or the Placid sea.
The Odjibwas and some other northern tribes of that stock, call it
Ottowa lake. No term has been found for it in the Iroquois language,
unless it be that by which they distinguished its principal seat of
trade, negociation and early rendezvous, the island of Michilimackinac,
which they called Tiedonderaghie.
Michigan is a derivative from two Odjibwa-Algonquin words, signifying
large, i.e. large in relation to masses in the inorganic kingdom, and a
lake. The French called it, generally, during the earlier periods of
their transactions, the lake of the Illinese, or Illinois.
Superior, the most north-westerly, and the largest of the series, is a
term which appears to have come into general use, at a comparatively
early era, after the planting of the English colonies. The French
bestowed upon it, unsuccessfully, one or two names, the last of which
was Traci, after the French minister of this name. By the
Odjibwa-Algonquins, who at the period of the French discovery, and who
still occupy its borders, it is called Gitch-Igomee, or The Big
Sea-water; from Gitchee, great, and guma, a generic term for bodies of
water. The term IGOMA, is an abbreviated form of this, suggested for
adoption.
* * * * *
The poetry of the Indians, is the poetry of naked thought. They have
neither rhyme nor metre to adorn it.
* * * * *
Tales and traditions occupy the place of books, with the Red Race.--They
make up a kind of oral literature, which is resorted to, on long winter
evenings, for the amusement of the lodge.
* * * * *
The love of independence is so great with these tribes, that they have
never been willing to load their political system with the forms of a
regular government, for fear it might prove oppressive.
* * * * *
To be governed and to be enslaved, are ideas which have been confounded
by the Indians.
FOOTNOTES:
[25] Vide a Reminiscence of Oswego.
[26] The sound of i in this word, as in Ontario, is long e in the
Indian.
GEOGRAPHICAL TERMINOLOGY OF THE U. STATES,
DERIVED FROM THE INDIAN LANGUAGE.
_These Extracts are made from "Cyclopaedia Indiaensis" a MS. work in
preparation._
No. I.
HUDSON RIVER.--By the tribes who inhabited the area of the present
County of Dutchess, and other portions of its eastern banks, as low down
as Tappan, this river was called Shatemuc--which is believed to be a
derivative from Shata, a pelican. The Minisi, who inhabited the west
banks, below the point denoted, extending indeed over all the east half
of New Jersey, to the falls of the Raritan, where they joined their
kindred the Lenni Lenape, or Delawares proper, called it
Mohicanittuck--that is to say, River of the Mohicans. The Mohawks, and
probably the other branches of the Iroquois, called it Cahohatatea--a
term of which the interpreters who have furnished the word, do not give
an explanation. The prefixed term Caho, it may be observed, is their
name for the lower and principal falls of the Mohawk. Sometimes this
prefix was doubled, with the particle _ha_, thrown in between. Hatatea
is clearly one of those descriptive and affirmative phrases representing
objects in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, which admitted as we see,
in other instances of their compounds, a very wide range. By some of the
more westerly Iroquois, the river was called Sanataty.
ALBANY.--The name by which this place was known to the Iroquois, at an
early day, was Schenectady, a term which, as recently pronounced by a
daughter of Brant, yet living in Canada, has the still harsher sound of
Skoh-nek-ta-ti, with a stress on the first, and the accent strongly on
the second syllable, the third and fourth being pronounced rapidly and
short. The transference of this name, to its present location, by the
English, on the bestowal on the place by Col. Nichols, of a new name,
derived from the Duke of York's Scottish title, is well known, and is
stated, with some connected traditions, by Judge Benson, in his
eccentric memoir before the New York Historical Society. The meaning of
this name, as derived from the authority above quoted, is _Beyond the
Pines_, having been applied exclusively in ancient times, to the
southern end of the ancient portage path, from the Mohawk to the Hudson.
By the Minci, who did not live here, but extended, however, on the west
shore above Coxackie, and even Coeymans, it appears to have been called
Gaishtinic. The Mohegans, who long continued to occupy the present area
of Rensselear and Columbia counties, called it Pempotawuthut, that is to
say, the City or Place of the Council Fire. None of these terms appear
to have found favour with the European settlers, and, together with
their prior names of Beaverwyck and Fort Orange, they at once gave way,
in 1664, to the present name. A once noted eminence, three miles west,
on the plains, i.e. Trader's Hill, was called Isutchera, or by prefixing
the name for a hill, Yonondio Isutchera. It means the hill of oil.
Norman's Kill, which enters the Hudson a little below, the Mohawks
called Towasentha, a term which is translated by Dr. Yates, to mean, a
place of many dead.
NIAGARA.--It is not in unison, perhaps, with general expectation, to
find that the exact translation of this name does not entirely fulfil
poetic preconception. By the term O-ne-aw-ga-ra, the Mohawks and their
co-tribes described on the return of their war excursions, the neck of
water which connects lake Erie with Ontario. The term is derived from
their name for the human neck. Whether this term was designed to have,
as many of their names do, a symbolic import, and to denote the
importance of this communication in geography, as connecting the head
and heart of the country, can only be conjectured. Nor is it, in this
instance, probable. When Europeans came to see the gigantic falls which
marked the strait, it was natural that they should have supposed the
name descriptive of that particular feature, rather than the entire
river and portage. We have been assured, however, that it is not their
original name for the water-fall, although with them, as with us, it may
have absorbed this meaning.
BUFFALO.--The name of this place in the Seneca, is Te-ho-sa-ro-ro. Its
import is not stated.
DETROIT.--By the Wyandots, this place is called Teuchsagrondie; by the
Lake tribes of the Algic type, Wa-we-a-tun-ong: both terms signify the
Place of the turning or Turned Channel. It has been remarked by visiters
who reach this place at night, or in dark weather, or are otherwise
inattentive to the courses, that owing to the extraordinary involutions
of the current the sun appears to rise in the wrong place.
CHICAGO.--This name, in the Lake Algonquin dialects, to preserve the
same mode of orthography, is derived from Chicagowunzh, the wild onion
or leek. The orthography is French, as they were the discoverers and
early settlers of this part of the west. Kaug, in these dialects is a
porcupine, and She kaug a polecat. The analogies in these words are
apparent, but whether the onion was named before or after the animal,
must be judged if the _age_ of the derivation be sought for.
TUSCALOOSA, a river of Alabama. From the Chacta words _tushka_, a
warrior, and _lusa_ black.--[Gallatin.]
ARAGISKE, the Iroquois name for Virginia.
ASSARIGOA, the name of the Six Nations for the Governor of Virginia.
OWENAGUNGAS, a general name of the Iroquois for the New England Indians.
OTESEONTEO, a spring which is the head of the river Delaware.
ONTONAGON; a considerable river of lake Superior, noted from early
times, for the large mass of native copper found on its banks. This name
is said to have been derived from the following incident. It is known
that there is a small bay and dead water for some distance within its
mouth. In and out of this embayed water, the lake alternately flows,
according to the influence of the winds, and other causes, upon its
level. An Indian woman had left her wooden dish, or Onagon, on the
sands, at the shore of this little bay, where she had been engaged. On
coming back from her lodge, the outflowing current had carried off her
valued utensil. Nia Nin-do-nau-gon! she exclaimed, for it was a curious
piece of workmanship. That is to say--Alas! my dish!
CHUAH-NAH-WHAH-HAH, or Valley of the Mountains. A new pass in the Rocky
Mountains, discovered within a few years. It is supposed to be in N.
latitude about 40 deg.. The western end of the valley gap is 30 miles wide,
which narrows to 20 at its eastern termination, it then turns oblique to
the north, and the opposing sides appear to close the pass, yet there is
a narrow way quite to the foot of the mountain. On the summit there is a
large beaver pond, which has outlets both ways, but the eastern stream
dries early in the season, while there is a continuous flow of water
west. In its course, it has several beautiful, but low cascades, and
terminates in a placid and delightful stream. This pass is now used by
emigrants.
AQUIDNECK.--The Narragansett name for Rhode Island. Roger Williams
observes, that he could never obtain the meaning of it from the natives.
The Dutch, as appears by a map of Novi Belgii published at Amsterdam in
1659, called it Roode Eylant, or Red Island, from the autumnal colour of
its foliage. The present term, as is noticed, in Vol. III. of the
Collections of the R. I. Hist. Soc. is derived from this.
INCAPATCHOW, a beautiful lake in the mountains at the sources of the
river Hudson.--[Charles F. Hoffman, Esq.]
HOUSATONIC; a river originating in the south-western part of
Massachusetts, and flowing through the State of Connecticut into Long
Island Sound, at Stratford. It is a term of Mohegan origin. This tribe
on retiring eastward from the banks of the Hudson, passed over the
High-lands, into this inviting valley. We have no transmitted etymology
of the term, and must rely on the general principles of their
vocabulary. It appears to have been called the valley of the stream
beyond the Mountains, from _ou_, the notarial sign of wudjo, a mountain,
atun, a generic phrase for stream or channel, and ic, the inflection for
locality.
WEA-NUD-NEC.--The Indian name, as furnished by Mr. O'Sullivan, [D. Rev.]
for Saddle Mountain, Massachusetts. It appears to be a derivative from
Wa-we-a, round, i.e. any thing round or crooked, in the inanimate
creation.
MA-HAI-WE; The Mohegan term, as given by Mr. Bryant [N. Y. E. P.] for
Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
MASSACHUSETTS.--This was not the name of a particular tribe, but a
geographical term applied, it should seem, to that part of the shores of
the North Atlantic, which is swept by the tide setting into, and around
the peninsula of Cape Cod, and the wide range of coast trending
southerly. It became a generic word, at an early day, for the tribes who
inhabited this coast. It is said to be a word of Narragansett origin,
and to signify the Blue Hills. This is the account given of it by Roger
Williams, who was told, by the Indians, that it had its origin from the
appearance of an island off the coast. It would be more in conformity to
the general requisitions of ethnography, to denominate the language the
New England-Algonquin, for there are such great resemblances in the
vocabulary and such an identity in grammatical construction, in these
tribes, that we are constantly in danger, by partial conclusions as to
original supremacy, of doing injustice. The source of origin was
doubtless west and south-west, but we cannot stop at the Narragansetts,
who were themselves derivative from tribes still farther south. The
general meaning given by Williams seems, however, to be sustained, so
far as can now be judged. The terminations in _ett_, and _set_, as well
as those in _at_ and _ak_, denoted locality in these various tribes. We
see also, in the antipenultimate Chu, the root of Wudjo, a mountain.
TA-HA-WUS, a very commanding elevation, several thousand feet above the
sea, which has of late years, been discovered at the sources of the
Hudson, and named Mount Marcy. It signifies, he splits the
sky.--[Charles F. Hoffman, Esq.]
MONG, the name of a distinguished chief of New England, as it appears to
be recorded in the ancient pictorial inscription on the Dighton Rock, in
Massachusetts, who flourished before the country was colonized by the
English. He was both a war captain, and a prophet, and employed the arts
of the latter office, to increase his power and influence, in the
former. By patient application of his ceremonial arts, he secured the
confidence of a large body of men, who were led on, in the attack on his
enemies, by a man named Piz-hu. In this onset, it is claimed that he
killed forty men, and lost three. To the warrior who should be
successful, in this enterprize, he had promised his younger sister.
[Such are the leading events symbolized by this inscription, of which
extracts giving full details, as interpreted by an Indian chief, now
living, and read before the Am. Ethnological Society, in 1843, will be
furnished, in a subsequent number.]
TIOGA.--A stream, and a county of the State of New-York. From Teoga, a
swift current, exciting admiration.
DIONDEROGA, an ancient name of the Mohawk tribe, for the site at the
mouth of the Schoharie creek, where Fort Hunter was afterwards built.
[Col. W. L. Stone.]
ALMOUCHICO, a generic name of the Indians for New England, as printed
on the Amsterdam map of 1659, in which it is stated that it was thus "by
d inwoonders genaemt." (So named by the natives.)
IROCOISIA, a name bestowed in the map, above quoted, on that portion of
the present state of Vermont, which lies west of the Green Mountains,
stretching along the eastern bank of Lake Champlain. By the application
of the word, it is perceived that the French were not alone in the use
they made of the apparently derivative term "Iroquois," which they gave
to the (then) Five Nations.
* * * * *
NAMES OF THE SEASONS.
The following are the names of the four seasons, in the Odjibwa tongue:
Pe-bon, Winter, From Kone, Snow.
Se-gwun, Spring, " Seeg, Running water.
Ne-bin, Summer, " Anib, A leaf.
Ta-gwa-gi, Autumn, " Gwag, The radix of behind &c.
By adding the letter g to these terms, they are placed in the relation
of verbs in the future tense, but a limited future, and the terms then
denote _next winter_, &c. Years, in their account of time, are counted
by winters. There is no other term, but pe-boan, for a year. The year
consists of twelve lunar months, or moons. A moon is called Geezis, or
when spoken of in contradistinction to the sun, Dibik Geezis, or
night-sun.
The cardinal points are as follows.
(_a_) North, Ke wa din-ung.
(_b_) South, O sha wan-ung.
(_c_) East, Wa bun-ung.
(_d_) West, Ka be un-ung.
_a._ Kewadin is a compound derived from Ke-wa, to return, or come home,
and nodin, the wind. _b._ Oshauw is, from a root not apparent, but which
produces also ozau, yellow, &c. _c._ Waban is from ab, or wab, light.
_d._ Kabeun, is the name of a mythological person, who is spoken of, in
their fictions, as the father of the winds. The inflection ung, or oong,
in each term, denotes course, place, or locality.
LETTERS ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE WESTERN COUNTRY,
ADDRESSED TO THE LATE WILLIAM L. STONE, EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK
COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER.
I.
WHEELING (Va.), August 19th, 1843.
I have just accomplished the passage of the Alleghany mountains, in the
direction from Baltimore to this place, and must say, that aside from
the necessary fatigue of night riding, the pass from the Cumberland
mountains and Laurel Hill is one of the easiest and most free from
danger of any known to me in this vast range. An excellent railroad now
extends from Baltimore, by Frederick and Harper's Ferry, up the Potomac
valley and its north branch quite to Cumberland, which is seated just
under the mountains, whose peaks would seem to bar all farther approach.
The national road finds its way, however, through a gorge, and winds
about where "Alps on Alps arise," till the whole vast and broad-backed
elevation is passed, and we descend west, over a smooth, well
constructed macadamized road, with a velocity which is some compensation
for the toil of winding our way up. Uniontown is the first principal
place west. The Monongahela is crossed at Brownsville, some forty miles
above Pittsburgh, whence the road, which is everywhere well made and
secured with fine stone bridges, culverts and viaducts, winds around a
succession of most enchanting hills, till it enters a valley, winds up a
few more hills, and brings the travellers out, on the banks of the Ohio,
at this town.
The entire distance from the head of the Chesapeake to the waters of the
Ohio is not essentially different from three hundred miles. We were less
than two days in passing it, twenty-six hours of which, part night and
part day, were spent in post-coaches between Cumberland and this place.
Harper's Ferry is an impressive scene, but less so than it would be to a
tourist who had not his fancy excited by injudicious descriptions. To
me, the romance was quite taken away by driving into it with a
tremendous clattering power of steam. The geological structure of this
section of country, from water to water, is not without an impressive
lesson. In rising from the Chesapeake waters the stratified rocks are
lifted up, pointing west, or towards the Alleghanies, and after crossing
the summit they point east, or directly contrary, like the two sides of
the roof of a house, and leave the inevitable conclusion that the
Alleghanies have been lifted up by a lateral rent, as it were, at the
relative point of the ridge pole. It is in this way that the granites
and their congeners have been raised up into their present elevations.
I did not see any evidence of that wave-like or undulatory structure,
which was brought forward as a theory last year, in an able paper
forwarded by Professor Rogers, and read at the meeting of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science at Manchester. No organic
remains are, of course, visible, in this particular section, at least
until we strike the coal and iron-stone formation of Pittsburgh. But I
have been renewedly impressed with the opinion, so very opposite to the
present geological theory, that less than seven thousand years is
sufficient, on scientific principles, to account for all the phenomena
of fossil plants, shells, bones and organic remains, as well as the
displacements, disruptions, subsidences and rising of strata, and other
evidences of extensive physical changes and disturbances on the earth's
surface. And I hope to live to see some American geologist build up a
theory on just philosophical and scientific principles, which shall bear
the test of truth.
But you will, perhaps, be ready to think that I have felt more interest
in the impressions of plants in stone, than is to be found in the field
of waving corn before the eye. I have, however, by no means neglected
the latter; and can assure you that the crops of corn, wheat and other
grains, throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania and Western Virginia, are
excellent. Even the highest valleys in the Alleghanies are covered with
crops of corn, or fields of stacked wheat and other grains. Generally,
the soil west of the mountains is more fertile. The influence of the
great western limestones, as one of its original materials, and of the
oxide of iron, is clearly denoted in heavier and more thrifty cornfields
along the Monongahela and Ohio valleys.
Of the Ohio River itself, one who had seen it in its full flow, in April
and May, would hardly recognize it now. Shrunk in a volume far below its
noble banks, with long spits of sand and gravel running almost across
it, and level sandy margins, once covered by water, where armies might
now manoeuvre, it is but the skeleton of itself. Steamboats of a
hundred tons burden now scarcely creep along its channel, which would
form cockboats for the floating palaces to be seen here in the days of
its vernal and autumnal glory.
Truly yours,
HENRY R. COLCRAFT
II.
GRAVE CREEK FLATS (Va.), August 23, 1843.
I have devoted several days to the examination of the antiquities of
this place and its vicinity, and find them to be of even more interest
than was anticipated. The most prominent object of curiosity is the
great tumulus, of which notices have appeared in western papers; but
this heavy structure of earth is not isolated. It is but one of a series
of mounds and other evidences of ancient occupation at this point, of
more than ordinary interest. I have visited and examined seven mounds,
situated within a short distance of each other. They occupy the summit
level of a rich alluvial plain, stretching on the left or Virginia bank
of the Ohio, between the junctions of Big and Little Grave Creeks with
that stream. They appear to have been connected by low earthen
entrenchments, of which plain traces are still visible on some parts of
the commons. They included a well, stoned up in the usual manner, which
is now filled with rubbish.
The summit of this plain is probably seventy-five feet above the present
summer level of the Ohio. It constitutes the second bench, or rise of
land, above the water. It is on this summit, and on one of the most
elevated parts of it, that the great tumulus stands. It is in the shape
of a broad cone, cut off at the apex, where it is some fifty feet
across. This area is quite level, and commands a view of the entire
plain, and of the river above and below, and the west shores of the Ohio
in front. Any public transaction on this area would be visible to
multitudes around it, and it has, in this respect, all the advantages of
the Mexican and Yucatanese teocalli. The circumference of the base has
been stated at a little under nine hundred feet; the height is
sixty-nine feet.
The most interesting object of antiquarian inquiry is a small flat
stone, inscribed with antique alphabetic characters, which was disclosed
on the opening of the large mound. These characters are in the ancient
rock alphabet of sixteen right and acute angled single stokes, used by
the Pelasgi and other early Mediterranean nations, and which is the
parent of the modern Runic as well as the Bardic. It is now some four
or five years since the completion of the excavations, so far as they
have been made, and the discovery of this relic. Several copies of it
soon got abroad, which differed from each other, and, it was supposed,
from the original. This conjecture is true; neither the print published
in the Cincinnati Gazette, in 1839, nor that in the American Pioneer, in
1843, is correct. I have terminated this uncertainty by taking copies by
a scientific process, which does not leave the lines and figures to the
uncertainty of man's pencil.
The existence of this ancient art here could hardly be admitted,
otherwise than as an insulated fact, without some corroborative
evidence, in habits and customs, which it would be reasonable to look
for in the existing ruins of ancient occupancy. It is thought some such
testimony has been found. I rode out yesterday three miles back to the
range of high hills which encompass this sub-valley, to see a rude tower
of stone standing on an elevated point, called Parr's point, which
commands a view of the whole plain, and which appears to have been
constructed as a watch-tower, or look-out, from which to descry an
approaching enemy. It is much dilapidated. About six or seven feet of
the work is still entire. It is circular, and composed of rough stones,
laid without mortar, or the mark of a hammer. A heavy mass of fallen
wall lies around, covering an area of some forty feet in diameter. Two
similar points of observation, occupied by dilapidated towers, are
represented to exist, one at the prominent summit of the Ohio and Grave
Creek hills, and another on the promontory on the opposite side of the
Ohio, in Belmont county, Ohio.
It is known to all acquainted with the warlike habits of our Indians,
that they never have evinced the foresight to post a regular sentry, and
these rude towers may be regarded as of cotemporaneous age with the
interment of the inscription.
Several polished tubes of stone have been found, in one of the lesser
mounds, the use of which is not very apparent. One of these, now on my
table, is 12 inches long, 1-1/4 wide at one end, and 1-1/2 at the other.
It is made of a fine, compact, lead blue steatite, mottled, and has been
constructed by boring, in the manner of a gun barrel. This boring is
continued to within about three-eighths of an inch of the larger end,
through which but a small aperture is left. If this small aperture be
looked through, objects at a distance are more clearly seen. Whether it
had this telescopic use, or others, the degree of art evinced in its
construction is far from rude. By inserting a wooden rod and valve, this
tube would be converted into a powerful syphon, or syringe.
I have not space to notice one or two additional traits, which serve to
awaken new interest at this ancient point of aboriginal and apparently
mixed settlement, and must omit them till my next.
III.
GRAVE CREEK FLATS, August 24, 1843.
The great mound at these flats was opened as a place of public resort
about four years ago. For this purpose a horizontal gallery to its
centre was dug and bricked up, and provided with a door. The centre was
walled round as a rotunda, of about twenty-five feet diameter, and a
shaft sunk from the top to intersect it; it was in these two excavations
that the skeletons and accompanying relics and ornaments were found. All
these articles are arranged for exhibition in this rotunda, which is
lighted up with candles. The lowermost skeleton is almost entire, and in
a good state of preservation, and is put up by means of wires, on the
walls. It has been overstretched in the process so as to measure six
feet; it should be about five feet eight inches. It exhibits a noble
frame of the human species, bearing a skull with craniological
developments of a highly favorable character. The face bones are
elongated, with a long chin and symmetrical jaw, in which a full and
fine set of teeth, above and below, are present. The skeletons in the
upper vault, where the inscription stone was found, are nearly all
destroyed.
It is a damp and gloomy repository, and exhibits in the roof and walls
of the rotunda one of the most extraordinary sepulchral displays which
the world affords. On casting the eye up to the ceiling, and the heads
of the pillars supporting it, it is found to be encrusted, or rather
festooned, with a white, soft, flaky mass of matter, which had exuded
from the mound above. This apparently animal exudation is as white as
snow. It hangs in pendent masses and globular drops; the surface is
covered with large globules of clear water, which in the reflected light
have all the brilliancy of diamonds. These drops of water trickle to the
floor, and occasionally the exuded white matter falls. The wooden
pillars are furnished with the appearance of capitals, by this
substance. That it is the result of a soil highly charged with particles
of matter, arising from the decay or incineration of human bodies, is
the only theory by which we may account for the phenomenon. Curious and
unique it certainly is, and with the faint light of a few candles it
would not require much imagination to invest the entire rotunda with
sylph-like forms of the sheeted dead.
An old Cherokee chief, who visited this scene, recently, with his
companions, on his way to the West, was so excited and indignant at the
desecration of the tumulus, by this display of bones and relics to the
gaze of the white race, that he became furious and unmanageable; his
friends and interpreters had to force him out, to prevent his
assassinating the guide; and soon after he drowned his senses in
alcohol.
That this spot was a very ancient point of settlement by the hunter
race in the Ohio valley, and that it was inhabited by the present red
race of North American Indians, on the arrival of whites west of the
Alleghanies, are both admitted facts; nor would the historian and
antiquary ever have busied themselves farther in the matter had not the
inscribed stone come to light, in the year 1839. I was informed,
yesterday, that another inscription stone had been found in one of the
smaller mounds on these flats, about five years ago, and have obtained
data sufficient as to its present location to put the Ethnological
Society on its trace. If, indeed, these inscriptions shall lead us to
admit that the continent was visited by Europeans prior to the era of
Columbus, it is a question of very high antiquarian interest to
determine who the visitors were, and what they have actually left on
record in these antique tablets.
I have only time to add a single additional fact. Among the articles
found in this cluster of mounds, the greater part are commonplace, in
our western mounds and town ruins. I have noticed but one which bears
the character of that unique type of architecture found by Mr. Stephens
and Mr. Catherwood in Central America and Yucatan. With the valuable
monumental standards of comparison furnished by these gentlemen before
me, it is impossible not to recognize, in an ornamental stone, found in
one of the lesser mounds here, a specimen of similar workmanship. It is
in the style of the heavy feather-sculptured ornaments of Yucatan--the
material being a wax yellow sand-stone, darkened by time. I have taken
such notes and drawings of the objects above referred to, as will enable
me, I trust, in due time, to give a connected account of them to our
incipient society.
IV.
MASSILLON, Ohio, August 27th, 1843.
Since my last letter I have traversed the State of Ohio, by stage, to
this place. In coming up the Virginia banks of the Ohio from
Moundsville, I passed a monument, of simple construction, erected to the
memory of a Captain Furman and twenty-one men, who were killed by the
Indians, in 1777, at that spot. They had been out, from the fort at
Wheeling, on a scouting party, and were waylaid at a pass called the
narrows. The Indians had dropped a pipe and some trinkets in the path,
knowing that the white men would pick them up, and look at them, and
while the latter were grouped together in this act, they fired and
killed every man. The Indians certainly fought hard for the possession
of this valley, aiming, at all times, to make up by stratagem what they
lacked in numbers. I doubt whether there is in the history of the
spread of civilisation over the world a theatre so rife with partisan
adventure, massacre and murder, as the valley of the Ohio and the
country west of the Alleghany generally presented between the breaking
out of the American revolution, in '76, and the close of the Black Hawk
war in 1832. The true era, in fact, begins with the French war, in 1744,
and terminates with the Florida war, the present year. A work on this
subject, drawn from authentic sources, and written with spirit and
talent, would be read with avidity and possess a permanent interest.
The face of the country, from the Ohio opposite Wheeling to the waters
of the Tuscarawas, the north fork of the Muskingum, is a series of high
rolling ridges and knolls, up and down which the stage travels slowly.
Yet this section is fertile and well cultivated in wheat and corn,
particularly the latter, which looks well. This land cannot be purchased
under forty or fifty dollars an acre. Much of it was originally bought
for seventy-five cents per acre. It was over this high, wavy land, that
the old Moravian missionary road to Gnadenhutten ran, and I pursued it
to within six miles of the latter place. You will recollect this
locality as the scene of the infamous murder, by Williamson and his
party, of the non-resisting Christian Delawares under the ministry of
Heckewelder and Ziesberger.
On the Stillwater, a branch of the Tuscarawas, we first come to level
lands. This stream was noted, in early days, for its beaver and other
furs. The last beaver seen here was shot on its banks twelve years ago.
It had three legs, one having probably been caught in a trap or been
bitten off. It is known that not only the beaver, but the otter, wolf
and fox, will bite off a foot, to escape the iron jaws of a trap. It has
been said, but I know not on what good authority, that the hare will do
the same.
We first struck the Ohio canal at Dover. It is in every respect a well
constructed work, with substantial locks, culverts and viaducts. It is
fifty feet wide at the top, and is more than adequate for all present
purposes. It pursues the valley of the Tuscarawas up to the summit, by
which it is connected with the Cuyahuga, whose outlet is at Cleveland.
Towns and villages have sprung up along its banks, where before there
was a wilderness. Nothing among them impressed me more than the town of
Zoar, which is exclusively settled by Germans. There seems something of
the principles of association--one of the fallacies of the age--in its
large and single town store, hotel, &c., but I do not know how far they
may extend. Individual property is held. The evidences of thrift and
skill, in cultivation and mechanical and mill work, are most striking.
Every dwelling here is surrounded with fruit and fruit trees. The
botanical garden and hot-house are on a large scale, and exhibit a
favorable specimen of the present state of horticulture. One of the
assistants very kindly plucked for me some fine fruit, and voluntarily
offered it. Zoar is quite a place of resort as a ride for the
neighboring towns. I may remark, _en passant_, that there is a large
proportion of German population throughout Ohio. They are orderly,
thrifty and industrious, and fall readily into our political system and
habits. Numbers of them are well educated in the German. They embrace
Lutherans as well as Roman Catholics, the latter predominating.
Among the towns which have recently sprung up on the line of the canal;
not the least is the one from which I date this letter. The name of the
noted French divine (Massillon) was affixed to an uncultivated spot, by
some Boston gentlemen, some twelve or fourteen years ago. It is now one
of the most thriving, city-looking, business places in the interior of
Ohio. In the style of its stores, mills and architecture, it reminds the
visitor of that extraordinary growth and spirit which marked the early
years of the building of Rochester. It numbers churches for
Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians, and also
Lutherans and Romanists. About three hundred barrels of flour can be
turned out per diem, by its mills. It is in the greatest wheat-growing
county in Ohio (Stark), but is not the county-seat, which is at Canton.
V.
DETROIT, Sept. 15th, 1843.
In passing from the interior of Ohio toward Lake Erie, the face of the
country exhibits, in the increased size and number of its boulder
stones, evidences of the approach of the traveller toward those
localities of sienites and other crystalline rocks, from which these
erratic blocks and water-worn masses appear to have been, in a remote
age of our planet, removed. The soil in this section has a freer mixture
of the broken down slates, of which portions are still in place on the
shores of Lake Erie. The result is a clayey soil, less favorable to
wheat and Indian corn. We came down the cultivated valley of the
Cuyahoga, and reached the banks of the lake at the fine town of
Cleveland, which is elevated a hundred feet, or more, above it, and
commands a very extensive view of the lake, the harbor and its ever-busy
shipping. A day was employed, by stage, in this section of my tour, and
the next carried me, by steamboat, to this ancient French capital.
Detroit has many interesting historical associations, and appears
destined, when its railroad is finished, to be the chief thoroughfare
for travellers to Chicago and the Mississippi valley. As my attention
has, however, been more taken up, on my way, with the past than the
present and future condition of the West, the chief interest which the
route has excited must necessarily arise from the same source.
Michigan connects itself in its antiquarian features with that character
of pseudo-civilisation, or modified barbarianism, of which the works and
mounds and circumvallations at Grave Creek Flats, at Marietta, at
Circleville and other well known points, are evidences. That this
improved condition of the hunter state had an ancient but partial
connection with the early civilisation of Europe, appears now to be a
fair inference, from the inscribed stone of Grave Creek, and other
traces of European arts, discovered of late. It is also evident that the
central American type of the civilisation, or rather advance to
civilisation, of the red race, reached this length, and finally went
down, with its gross idolatry and horrid rites, and was merged in the
better known and still existing form of the hunter state which was
found, respectively, by Cabot, Cartier, Verrezani, Hudson, and others,
who first dropped anchor on our coasts.
There is strong evidence furnished by a survey of the western country
that the teocalli type of the Indian civilisation, so to call it,
developed itself from the banks of the Ohio, in Tennessee and Virginia,
west and north-westwardly across the sources of the Wabash, the
Muskingum and other streams, toward Lake Michigan and the borders of
Wisconsin territory. The chief evidences of it, in Michigan and Indiana,
consist of a remarkable series of curious garden beds, or accurately
furrowed fields, the perfect outlines of which have been preserved by
the grass of the oak openings and prairies, and even among the heaviest
forests. These remains of an ancient cultivation have attracted much
attention from observing settlers on the Elkhart, the St. Joseph's, the
Kalamazoo and Grand river of Michigan. I possess some drawings of these
anomalous remains of by-gone industry in the hunter race, taken in
former years, which are quite remarkable. It is worthy of remark, too,
that no large tumuli, or teocalli, exist in this particular portion of
the West, the ancient population of which may therefore be supposed to
have been borderers, or frontier bands, who resorted to the Ohio valley
as their capital, or place of annual visitation. All the mounds
scattered through Northern Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, are mere barrows,
or repositories of the dead, and would seem to have been erected
posterior to the fall or decay of the gross idol worship and the offer
of human sacrifice. I have, within a day or two, received a singular
implement or ornament of stone, of a crescent shape, from Oakland, in
this State, which connects the scattered and out-lying remains of the
smaller mounds, and traces of ancient agricultural labor, with the
antiquities of Grave Creek Flats.
VI.
DETROIT, Sept. 16th, 1843.
The antiquities of Western America are to be judged of by isolated and
disjointed discoveries, which are often made at widely distant points
and spread over a very extensive area. The labor of comparison and
discrimination of the several eras which the objects of these
discoveries establish, is increased by this diffusion, and disconnection
of the times and places of their occurrence, and is, more than all,
perhaps, hindered and put back by the eventual carelessness of the
discoverers, and the final loss or mutilation of the articles disclosed.
To remedy this evil, every discovery made, however apparently
unimportant, should in this era of the diurnal and periodical press be
put on record, and the objects themselves be either carefully kept, or
given to some public scientific institution.
An Indian chief called the Black Eagle, of river Au Sables (Michigan),
discovered a curious antique pipe of Etruscan ware, a few years ago, at
Thunder Bay. This pipe, which is now in my possession, is as remarkable
for its form as for the character of the earthen-ware from which it is
made, differing as it does so entirely from the coarse earthen pots and
vessels, the remains of which are scattered so generally throughout
North America. The form is semi-circular or horn-shaped, with a
quadrangular bowl, and having impressed in the ware ornaments at each
angle. I have never before, indeed, seen any pipes of Indian manufacture
of baked clay, or earthen-ware, such articles being generally carved out
of steatite, indurated clays, or other soft mineral substances. It is a
peculiarity of this pipe that it was smoked from the small end, which is
rounded for the purpose of putting it between the lips, without the
intervention of a stem.
The discoverer told me that he had taken it from a very antique grave. A
large hemlock tree, he said, had been blown down on the banks of the
river, tearing up, by its roots, a large mass of earth. At the bottom of
the excavation thus made he discovered a grave, which contained a vase,
out of which he took the pipe with some other articles. The vase, he
said, was broken, so that he did not deem it worth bringing away. The
other articles he described as bones.
Some time since I accompanied the chief Kewakonce, to get an ancient
clay pot, such as the Indians used when the Europeans arrived on the
continent. He said that he had discovered two such pots, in an entire
state, in a cave, or crevice, on one of the rocky islets extending north
of Point Tessalon, which is the northern cape of the entrance of the
Straits of St. Mary's into Lake Huron. From this locality he had removed
one of them, and concealed it at a distant point. We travelled in
canoes. We landed on the northern shore of the large island of St.
Joseph, which occupies the jaws of those expanded straits. He led me up
an elevated ridge, covered with forest, and along a winding narrow path,
conducting to some old Indian cornfields. All at once he stopped in this
path. "We are now very near it," he said, and stood still, looking
toward the spot where he had concealed it, beneath a decayed trunk. He
did not, at last, appear to be willing to risk his luck in life--such is
Indian superstition--by being the actual discoverer of this object of
veneration to a white man, but allowed me to make, or rather complete,
the re-discovery.