SEVENTH ANNUAL
REPORT
OF THE
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.
By J. W. Powell, Director.
INTRODUCTION.
The prosecution of ethnologic researches among the North American Indians, in accordance with act of Congress, was continued during the fiscal year 1885–’86.
The general plan upon which the work has been prosecuted in former years, and which has been explained in earlier reports, was continued in operation.
General lines of investigation were indicated by the Director, and the details intrusted to selected persons trained in their several pursuits, the results of whose labors are published from time to time in the manner provided for by law. A brief statement of the work upon which each of these special students was engaged during the year, with its condensed result, is presented below. This, however, does not specify in detail all of the studies undertaken or services rendered by them, as particular lines of research have been temporarily suspended in order to accomplish immediately objects regarded as of superior importance. From this cause the publication of several treatises and monographs has been delayed, although in some instances they have been heretofore reported as substantially completed, and, indeed, as partly in type.
The present opportunity is used to invite and urge again the assistance of explorers, writers, and students, who are not and XVI may not desire to be officially connected with this Bureau. Their contributions, whether in the shape of suggestion or of extended communications, will be gratefully acknowledged and carefully considered. If published in whole or in part, either in the series of reports or in monographs or bulletins, as the liberality of Congress may in future allow, the contributors will always receive proper credit.
The items which form the subject of the present report are presented in two principal divisions. The first relates to the work prosecuted in the field, and the second to the office work, which consists largely of the preparation for publication of the results of the field work, complemented and extended by study of the literature of the several subjects and by correspondence relating to them.
FIELD WORK.
This heading may be divided into, first, Mound Explorations; second, Explorations in Stone Villages; and, third, General Field Studies, among which those upon mythology, linguistics, and customs have been during the year the most prominent.
MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
WORK OF PROF. CYRUS THOMAS.
The work of the mound-exploring division, under the charge of Prof. Cyrus Thomas, was carried on during the fiscal year with the same success that had attended its earlier operations.
It is proper to explain that the title given above to the division does not fully indicate the extent of its work. The simple exploration of mounds is but a part of its scope, which embraces, as contemplated in its organization, a careful examination and study of the archeologic remains in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. The limitation of the force engaged on this work renders it necessary that the investigations should be conducted along but one or two selected lines at a time.
Before and even during some portion of the year now XVII reported upon attention had been devoted almost exclusively to the exploration of individual mounds, with a view of ascertaining the different types of tumuli, as regards form, construction, and other particulars and the vestiges of art and human remains found in them. The study of these works in their relation to each other and their segregation into groups, and of the mural works, inclosures, and works of defense, is important in the attempt to obtain indications of the social life and customs of the builders. This plan of study had not received the attention desirable and involved the necessity of careful surveys. It was thought best to make a commencement this year in this branch of investigation.
During the summer of 1885 Prof. Thomas was in Wisconsin, engaged in investigating and studying the effigy mounds and other ancient works of that section.
Messrs. James D. Middleton, John P. Rogan, and John W. Emmert were permanent assistants during the year; Mr. Charles M. Smith, Rev. S. D. Peet, and Mr. H. L. Reynolds were employed for short periods as temporary assistants.
During the summer and autumn of 1885 Messrs. Middleton and Emmert were at work on the mounds and ancient monuments of southwestern Wisconsin, the former surveying the groups of effigy mounds and the latter exploring the conical tumuli. When the weather became too cold for operations in that section they were transferred to east Tennessee, where Mr. Emmert continued at work throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.
When it had been decided to commence the preparation of a report on the field work of the division, in the hope of its early publication, Mr. Middleton was called to the office to assist in that preparation, where he remained, preparing maps and plats and making a catalogue of the collections, until the latter part of April, 1886, when he again entered upon field work in the southern part of Illinois, among the graves of that neighborhood.
Mr. Rogan was in charge of the office work from the 1st of July until the latter part of August, during which time Prof. Thomas was in the field, as before mentioned. He was engaged XVIII during the remainder of the year in exploring the mounds of northern Georgia and east Tennessee.
Rev. S. D. Peet was employed for a few months in preparing a preliminary map showing the localities of the antiquarian remains of Wisconsin and the areas formerly occupied by the several Indian tribes which are known to have inhabited that region. In addition he prepared for use in the report notes on the distribution and character of the mounds and other ancient works of Wisconsin.
Mr. Smith was engaged during the month of June, 1886, in exploring mounds and investigating the ancient works in southwestern Pennsylvania; and Mr. Reynolds, during the same time, in tracing and exploring the monumental remains of western New York.
Notwithstanding the details necessary for office work in the preparation of maps and plats for the report, and cataloguing the collection, the amount of field work accomplished was equal to that done in previous years. Although, as before stated, one of the assistants, Mr. Middleton, was chiefly engaged, while in the field, in surveying, about 3,500 specimens were collected and a large number of drawings obtained illustrating the different modes of construction of the mounds.
EXPLORATIONS IN STONE VILLAGES.
WORK OF DIRECTOR J. W. POWELL.
During the summer of 1885 the Director, accompanied by Mr. James Stevenson, revisited portions of Arizona and New Mexico in which many structures are found which have greatly interested travelers and anthropologists, and about which various theories have grown. The results of the investigation have been so much more distinct and comprehensive than any before obtained that they require to be reported with some detail.
On the plain to the west of the Little Colorado River and north of the San Francisco Mountain there are many scattered ruins, usually having one, two, or three rooms each, all of which are built of basaltic cinders and blocks. Through the plain a valley runs to the north, and then east to the Little Colorado. XIX Down the midst of the valley there is a wash, through which, in seasons of great rainfall, a stream courses. Along this stream there are extensive ruins built of sandstone and limestone. At one place a village site was discovered, in which several hundred people once found shelter. To the north of this and about twenty-five miles from the summit of San Francisco Peak there is a volcanic cone of cinder and basalt. This small cone had been used as the site of a village, a pueblo having been built around the crater. The materials of construction were derived from a great sandstone quarry near by, and the pit from which they were taken was many feet in depth and extended over two or three acres of ground. The cone rises on the west in a precipitous cliff from the valley of an intermittent creek. The pueblo was built on that side at the summit of the cliff, and extending on the north and south sides along the summit of steep slopes, was inclosed on the east, so that the plaza was entered by a covered way. The court, or plaza, was about one-third of an acre in area. The little pueblo contained perhaps sixty or seventy rooms. Southward of San Francisco Mountain many other ruins were found.
East of the San Francisco Peak, at a distance of about twelve miles, another cinder cone was found. Here the cinders are soft and friable, and the cone is a prettily shaped dome. On the southern slope there are excavations into the indurated and coherent cinder mass, constituting chambers, often ten or twelve feet in diameter and six to ten feet in height. The chambers are of irregular shape, and occasionally a larger central chamber forms a kind of vestibule to several smaller ones gathered about it. The smaller chambers are sometimes at the same altitude as the central or principal one, and sometimes at a lower altitude. About one hundred and fifty of these chambers have been excavated. Most of them are now partly filled by the caving in of the walls and ceilings, but some of them are yet in a good state of preservation. In these chambers, and about them on the summit and sides of the cinder cone, many stone implements were found, especially metates. Some bone implements also were discovered. At the very summit of the little cone there is a plaza, inclosed by a rude wall made XX of volcanic cinders, the floor of which was carefully leveled. The plaza is about forty-five by seventy-five feet in area. Here the people lived in underground houses—chambers hewn from the friable volcanic cinders. Before them, to the south, west, and north, stretched beautiful valleys, beyond which volcanic cones are seen rising amid pine forests. The people probably cultivated patches of ground in the low valleys.
About eighteen miles still farther to the east of San Francisco Mountain another ruined village was discovered, built about the crater of a volcanic cone. This volcanic peak is of much greater magnitude. The crater opens to the eastward. On the south many stone dwellings have been built of the basaltic and cinder-like rocks. Between the ridge on the south and another on the northwest there is a low saddle in which other buildings have been erected, and in which a great plaza was found, much like the one previously described. But the most interesting part of this village was on the cliff which rose on the northwest side of the crater. In this cliff are many natural caves, and the caves themselves were utilized as dwellings by inclosing them in front with walls made of volcanic rocks and cinders. These cliff dwellings are placed tier above tier, in a very irregular way. In many cases natural caves were thus utilized; in other cases cavate chambers were made; that is, chambers have been excavated in the friable cinders. On the very summit of the ridge stone buildings were erected, so that this village was in part a cliff village, in part cavate, and in part the ordinary stone pueblo. The valley below, especially to the southward, was probably occupied by their gardens. In the chambers among the overhanging cliffs a great many interesting relics were found, of stone, bone, and wood, and many potsherds.
About eight miles southeast of Flagstaff, a little town on the southern slope of San Francisco Mountain, Oak Creek enters a canyon, which runs to the eastward and then southward for a distance of about ten miles. The gorge is a precipitous box canyon for the greater part of this distance. It is cut through carboniferous rocks—sandstones and limestones—which are here nearly horizontal. The softer sandstones rapidly disintegrate, XXI and the harder sandstones and limestones remain. Thus broad shelves are formed on the sides of the cliffs, and these shelves, or the deep recesses between them, were utilized, so that here is a village of cliff dwellings. There are several hundred rooms altogether. The rooms are of sandstone, pretty carefully worked and laid in mortar, and the interior of the rooms was plastered. The opening for the chimney was usually by the side of the entrance, and the ceilings of the rooms are still blackened with soot and smoke. Around this village, on the terrace of the canyon, great numbers of potsherds, stone implements, and implements of bone, horn, and wood were found; and here, as in all of the other ruins mentioned, corncobs in great abundance were discovered.
In addition to the four principal ruins thus described many others are found, most of them being of the ordinary pueblo type. From the evidence presented it would seem that they had all been occupied at a comparatively late date. They were certainly not abandoned more than three or four centuries ago.
Later in the season the Director visited the Supai Indians of Cataract Canyon, and was informed by them that their present home had been taken up not many generations ago, and that their ancestors occupied the ruins which have been described; and they gave such a circumstantial account of the occupation and of their expulsion by the Spaniards, that no doubt can be entertained of the truth of their traditions in this respect. The Indians of Cataract Canyon doubtless lived on the north, east, and south of San Francisco Mountain at the time this country was discovered by the Spaniards, and they subsequently left their cliff and cavate dwellings and moved into Cataract Canyon, where they now live. It is thus seen that these cliff and cavate dwellings are not of an ancient prehistoric time, but that they were occupied by a people still existing, who also built pueblos of the common type.
Later in the season the party visited the cavate ruins near Santa Clara, previously explored by Mr. Stevenson. Here, on the western side of the Rio Grande del Norte, was found a system of volcanic peaks, constituting what is known as the XXII Valley Range. To the east of these peaks, stretching far beyond the present channel of the Rio Grande, there was once a great Tertiary lake, which was gradually filled with the sands washed into it on every hand and by the ashes blown out of the adjacent volcanoes. This great lake formation is in some places a thousand feet in thickness. When the lake was filled the Rio Grande cut its channel through the midst to a depth of many hundreds of feet. The volcanic mountains to the westward send to the Rio Grande a number of minor streams, which in a general way are parallel with one another. The Rio Grande itself, and all of these lateral streams, have cut deep gorges and canyons, so that there are long, irregular table-lands, or mesas, extending from the Rio Grande back to the Valley Mountains, each mesa being severed from the adjacent one by a canyon or canyon valley; and each of these long mesas rises with a precipitous cliff from the valley below. The cliffs themselves are built of volcanic sands and ashes, and many of the strata are exceedingly light and friable. The specific gravity of some of these rocks is so low that they will float on water. Into the faces of these cliffs, in the friable and easily worked rock, many chambers have been excavated; for mile after mile the cliffs are studded with them, so that altogether there are many thousands. Sometimes a chamber or series of chambers is entered from a terrace, but usually they were excavated many feet above any landing or terrace below, so that they could be reached only by ladders. In other places artificial terraces were built by constructing retaining walls and filling the interior next to the cliff with loose rock and sand. Very often steps were cut into the face of a cliff and a rude stairway formed by which chambers could be reached. The chambers were very irregularly arranged and very irregular in size and structure. In many cases there is a central chamber, which seems to have been a general living room for the people, back of which two, three, or more chambers somewhat smaller are found. The chambers occupied by one family are sometimes connected with those occupied by another family, so that two or three or four sets of chambers have interior communication. Usually, however, the communication from one system of XXIII chambers to another was by the outside. Many of the chambers had evidently been occupied as dwellings. They still contained fireplaces and evidences of fire; there were little caverns or shelves in which various vessels were placed, and many evidences of the handicraft of the people were left in stone, bone, horn, and wood, and in the chambers and about the sides of the cliffs potsherds are abundant. On more careful survey it was found that many chambers had been used as stables for asses, goats, and sheep. Sometimes they had been filled a few inches, or even two or three feet, with the excrement of these animals. Ears of corn and corncobs were also found in many places. Some of the chambers were evidently constructed to be used as storehouses or caches for grain. Altogether it is very evident that the cliff houses have been used in comparatively modern times; at any rate since the people owned asses, goats, and sheep. The rock is of such a friable nature that it will not stand atmospheric degradation very long, and there is abundant evidence of this character testifying to the recent occupancy of these cavate dwellings.
Above the cliffs, on the mesas, which have already been described, evidences of more ancient ruins were found. These were pueblos built of cut stone rudely dressed. Every mesa had at least one ancient pueblo upon it, evidently far more ancient than the cavate dwellings found in the face of the cliffs. It is, then, very plain that the cavate dwellings are not of great age; that they have been occupied since the advent of the white man, and that on the summit of the cliffs there are ruins of more ancient pueblos.
Now, the pottery of Santa Clara had been previously studied by Mr. Stevenson, who made a large collection there two or three years ago, and it was at once noticed that the potsherds of these cliff dwellings are, both in shape and material, like those now made by the Santa Clara Indians. The peculiar pottery of Santa Clara is readily distinguished, as may be seen by examining the collection now in the National Museum. While encamped in the valley below, the party met a Santa Clara Indian and engaged him in conversation. From him the history of the cliff dwellings was soon obtained. His statement was that originally his people lived in six pueblos, built of cut stone, XXIV upon the summit of the mesas; that there came a time when they were at war with the Apaches and Navajos, when they abandoned their stone pueblos above and for greater protection excavated the chambers in the cliffs below; that when this war ended part of them returned to the pueblos above, which were rebuilt; that there afterward came another war, with the Comanche Indians, and they once more resorted to cliff dwellings. At the close of this war they built a pueblo in the valley of the Rio Grande, but at the time of the invasion of the Spaniards their people refused to be baptized, and a Spanish army was sent against them, when they abandoned the valley below and once more inhabited the cliff dwellings above. Here they lived many years, until at last a wise and good priest brought them peace, and persuaded them to build the pueblo which they now occupy—the village of Santa Clara. The ruin of the pueblo which they occupied previous to the invasion of the Spaniards is still to be seen about a mile distant from the present pueblo.
The history thus briefly given was repeated by the governor and by other persons, all substantially to the same effect. It is therefore evident that the cavate dwellings of the Santa Clara region belong to a people still extant; that they are not of great antiquity, and do not give evidence of a prehistoric and now extinct race.
Plans and measurements were made of some of the villages with sufficient accuracy to prepare models. Photographic views and sketches were also procured with which to illustrate a detailed report of the subject to be published by the Bureau.
WORK OF MR. JAMES STEVENSON.
After the investigations made in company with the Director, as mentioned above, Mr. Stevenson proceeded with a party to the ancient province of Tusayan, in Arizona, to study the characteristics of the Moki tribes, its inhabitants, and to make collections of such implements and utensils as illustrate their arts and industries. Several months were spent among the villages, resulting in a large collection of rare objects, all of which were selected with special reference to their anthropologic XXV importance. This collection contains many articles novel in character and with uses differing from any heretofore obtained, and forms an important addition to the collections in the National Museum.
A study of their religious ceremonials and mythology was made, of which full notes were taken. Sketches were made of their masks and other objects which could not be obtained for the collection.
Mrs. Stevenson was also enabled to obtain a minute description of the celebrated dance, or medicine ceremony, of the Navajos, called the Yéibit-cai. She made complete sketches of the sand altars, masks, and other objects employed in this ceremonial.
WORK OF MESSRS. VICTOR MINDELEFF AND COSMOS MINDELEFF.
Mr. Victor Mindeleff, who had been engaged for several years in investigating the architecture of the pueblos and the ruins of the southwest, was at the beginning of the fiscal year at work among the Moki towns in Arizona, in charge of a party. Mr. Cosmos Mindeleff left Washington on July 6 for the same locality. He was placed in charge of the surveying necessary in the Stone Village region, and the result of his work is included in the general report of that division.
Visits were paid to the Moki villages in succession, obtaining drawings of some constructional details, and also traditions bearing on the ruins in that vicinity. The main camp was established near Mashongnavi, one of the Moki villages. A large ruined pueblo, formerly occupied by the Mashongnavi, was here surveyed. No standing walls are found at the present time, and many portions of the plan are entirely obliterated. Typical fragments of pottery were collected.
Following this work, four other ruined pueblos were surveyed, and such portions of them as clearly indicated dividing walls were drawn on the ground plans.
Many of the ruins in this vicinity, according to the traditions of the Mokis, have been occupied in comparatively recent times—-a number of them having been abandoned since the Spanish conquest of the country. In several cases the villages XXVI now occupied are not upon the same sites as those first visited by the Spaniards, although retaining the same names.
While the work of surveying was in progress, in charge of Mr. Cosmos Mindeleff, Mr. Victor Mindeleff made a visit of several days at Keam Canyon, there to meet a number of the Navajo Indians to explain the purpose of the work and allay the suspicions of these Indians, a necessary precaution, as some of the proposed work was laid out in Canyon de Chelly, in the heart of their reservation. Recent restrictions to which they had been subjected, as a consequence of new surveys of the reservation line, had made them especially distrustful of parties equipped with instruments for surveying. Incidental to explanations of the purpose of the work, an opportunity was afforded of obtaining a number of mythologic notes, and also interesting data regarding the construction of their “hogans,” with the rules prescribing the arrangement of each part of the frame and other particulars. A number of ceremonial songs are sung at the building of these houses, but of these only one could be secured, which was obtained in the original and translated. Whenever opportunity occurred, during the progress of the work, photographs and diagrams of construction of “hogans” were procured.
On August 17 the ceremony of the snake-dance took place at Mashongnavi, similar in every detail to that performed at Walpi, and differing only in the number of participants. Several instantaneous negatives of the various phases of the dance were secured. On the following day the same ceremony was performed on a larger scale at Walpi, the easternmost of the Moki villages.
Mr. Cosmos Mindeleff assisted in collecting from the present inhabitants of the region legendary information bearing upon ruins and in observing the snake-dances, a description of which was prepared for publication.
While the surveys of the ruins were in progress many detailed studies were made of special features in the modern villages, particularly among the “kivas” or religious chambers. In several instances the large roofing timbers of the “kiva” were found to be the old beams from the Spanish churches, XXVII hewn square, and decorated with the characteristic rude carving of the old Spanish work. A number of legends connected with the ruined pueblos were recorded.
On closing this work in the vicinity of the Moki villages, late in August, the party moved into Keam Canyon, en route for Canyon de Chelly. A day was devoted to the survey of a small pueblo of irregular elliptical outline, situated about eighteen miles northeast from Keam Canyon. This ruin is in excellent state of preservation and exhibits in the masonry some stones of remarkably large size. The early part of September was employed in making a close survey of the Mummy Cave group of ruins in Canyon de la Muerte, this work including a five-foot contour map of the ground and the rocky ledge over which the houses were distributed. Detailed drawings of a number of special features were made here, particularly in connection with the circular ceremonial chambers. The latter were so buried under the accumulated debris of fallen walls that much excavation was required to lay bare the details of internal arrangement. A high class of workmanship is here exhibited, both in the execution of the constructional features and in the interior decoration of these chambers. Later the White House group, in the Canyon de Chelly, comprising a village and cliff houses, was examined and platted in the same manner.
The drawings and plans were supplemented with a series of photographs. Some negatives of Navajo houses were also made.
On closing this work the party went into Fort Defiance, en route for Zuñi, and thence to Ojo Caliente, a modern farming pueblo of the Zuñi, about twelve miles south of the principal village. Here two ruins of villages, thought to belong to the ancient Cibola group, were platted. One of these villages had been provided with a circular reservoir of large size, partially walled in with masonry. Here, also, the well preserved walls of a stone church can be seen. The other contains the remains of a large church, built of adobe. A series of widely scattered house-clusters, occurring two miles west of Ojo Caliente, was also examined, but the earth had drifted over the fallen walls XXVIII and so covered them that the arrangement of rooms could scarcely be traced at all.
The modern village of Ojo Caliente was also surveyed and diagrams and photographs made.
Towards the end of September camp was moved to the vicinity of Zuñi. Here four other villages of the Cibola group and the old villages on the mesa of Ta-ai-ya-lo-ne were examined. Camp was then moved to Nutria, a farming pueblo of Zuñi. From this camp Nutria was surveyed and photographed, and also the village of Pescado, which is occupied only during the farming season. Both of these modern farming pueblos appear to be built on the ruins of more ancient villages, the remains of which were especially noticeable in the case of Pescado, where the very carefully executed masonry, characteristic of the ancient methods of construction, could be seen outcropping at many points.
WORK OF MR. E. W. NELSON.
Following the return of the main party to Washington, some preliminary exploration was carried on by Mr. E. W. Nelson, who made an examination of the headwaters of the South Fork of Salt River, but did not find any ruins. Thence the Blue Ridge was crossed, and the valley of the Blue Fork of the San Francisco River visited. Here ruins were frequently increasing in number toward the south. Farther south three sets of cliff ruins were also located.
GENERAL FIELD STUDIES.
WORK OF DR. H. C. YARROW.
During the summer and fall of 1885, Dr. H. C. Yarrow, acting assistant surgeon U.S. Army, examined points in Arizona and Utah. In the vicinity of Springerville, Apache County, Arizona, in company with Mr. E. W. Nelson, he visited a number of ancient pueblos and discovered that the people formerly occupying the towns had followed the custom of burying their dead immediately outside the walls of their habitations, marking the places of sepulcher with circles of stones. XXIX The graves were four or five feet in depth, and various household utensils had been deposited with the dead. Mr. Nelson, who had made a careful search for these cemeteries, informed him of the locality of hundreds. Unfortunately for anthropometric science, most of the bones are too much decayed to be of practical value. The places of burial selected at these pueblos are similar to the burial places discovered in 1874 near the large ruined pueblo of Abiquiu, in the valley of the Chama, New Mexico.
Dr. Yarrow also visited the Moki pueblos in Arizona, and obtained from one of the principal men a clear and succinct account of their burial customs. While there he witnessed the famous snake dance, which occurs every two years, and is supposed to have the effect of producing rain. From his knowledge of the reptilian fauna of the country he was able to identify the species of serpents used in the dance, and from personal examination satisfied himself that the fangs had not been extracted from the poisonous varieties. He thinks, however, that the reptiles are somewhat tamed by handling during the four days that they are kept in the estufas and possibly are made to eject the greater part of the venom contained in the sacs at the roots of the teeth, by being teased and forced to strike at different objects held near them. He does not think that a vegetable decoction in which they are washed has a stupefying effect, as has been supposed by some. He also obtained from a Moki high priest a full account of the ceremonies attending the dance. Through the assistance of Mr. Thomas V. Keam, of Keam Canyon, Arizona, and Mr. A. M. Stephen, he was able to procure from a noted Navajo wise man an exact account of the burial customs of his people, as well as valuable information regarding their medical practices, especially such as relate to obstetrics.
From Arizona Dr. Yarrow proceeded to Utah, and made an examination of an old rock cemetery near Farmington, finding it similar to the one he discovered in 1872 near the town of Fillmore. The bodies had been carried far up the side of the mountain; cavities had been prepared in a rock slide, and the bodies placed therein. Branches of cottonwood were then laid XXX over and large boulders piled on top. In several of these graves the skeletons were in a fair state of preservation, and were removed, as well as the articles found with them.
Through the kindness of Mr. William Young, of Grantsville, a skeleton of a Gosiute, in excellent preservation, was obtained, and has been presented to the Army Medical Museum. It may be stated that the examination of the rock cemetery at Farmington showed that the inhabitants of the eastern slope of the Wahsatch Range, in Great Salt Lake Valley, followed the mode of rock sepulture from this, the most northern point visited, to below Parowan, a distance of at least two hundred miles southward, and it seems that these people occupied the valley long subsequent to those living near the water courses who constructed the small mounds on top of which were the rude adobe dwellings, and in some instances used these huts for burial purposes.
WORK OF MR. J. C. PILLING.
In the spring of 1886 Mr. James C. Pilling made a trip to Europe in the interest of his work on the Bibliography of the Languages of the North American Indians, and spent many days in the library of the British Museum, the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, and several extensive private libraries in England and France. The results of this trip are highly satisfactory and valuable.
WORK OF MR. JEREMIAH CURTIN.
Mr. Jeremiah Curtin continued to collect vocabularies and myths in California. The whole number of myths obtained in California and Oregon was over three hundred. The number of vocabularies was eight, being the Yana, Atsugëi (Hat Creek), Wasco, Miléblama (Warm Springs), Pai Ute, Shasta, Maidu, and Wintu. Texts were also obtained in Yana, Wasco, Warm Spring, and Shasta.
OFFICE WORK.
Prof. Cyrus Thomas was engaged during the year, except the few weeks he was in the field, in the preparation of his general report and in correspondence relating to the archeology XXXI of the district before specified. He also finished a paper published in the Sixth Annual Report of this Bureau under the title, “Aids to the study of the Maya Codices,” and a special report on the “Burial mounds of the northern sections of the United States.” The latter has appeared in the Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau.
Mrs. V. L. Thomas, in addition to her duties as clerk, has been employed in preparing a catalogue of the ancient works in that part of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. This catalogue, now nearly complete, is intended to give the localities and character of all the antiquities in the region mentioned, including discoveries which have been noted in publications, as well as those mentioned in the reports of work done under the Bureau.
Mr. James C. Pilling continued to give a large share of his time and attention throughout the year to the “Bibliography of the languages of the North American Indians,” which has been adverted to in previous reports. The advance “proofsheets” of this work, printed in the last fiscal year, were distributed to collaborators and have been the means of obtaining the active cooperation of many persons throughout this and other countries who are interested in linguistic and bibliographic science. They have thus elicited a large number of additions, corrections, suggestions, and criticisms, all of which have received careful consideration.
Mr. Frank H. Cushing was engaged in the preparation, from the large amount of Zuñi material collected by him during several years, of papers upon the language, mythology, and institutions of that people.
Mrs. Erminnie A. Smith continued her study of the Iroquoian languages. The first part of her final contribution on the subject was intended to be a Tuscarora grammar and dictionary. The first portion of the dictionary was completed, and had been forwarded to the Bureau when her sudden and lamented death occurred on June 9, 1886, at her home in Jersey City. Her former assistant, Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, of Tuscarora descent, has been engaged to complete the work she so successfully began, and it is expected that the results of her long labors in the field will be published without delay.
XXXIIMr. Charles C. Royce resigned his connection with the Bureau in the early part of the year, thereby delaying the completion of the work upon the primal title of the Indian tribes to lands within the United States and the methods of procuring their relinquishment, the scope and value of which have before been explained. Mr. Royce, before his departure from Washington, completed a paper on the “Cherokee Nation of Indians,” which has appeared in the Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau.
Dr. H. C. Yarrow was still engaged in preparing the material for the final volume upon the mortuary customs of the North American Indians, in the prosecution of which the large amount of information received and obtained from various sources has been carefully classified and arranged under proper divisions, so that the manuscript is now being rapidly put into shape for publication.
Dr. Washington Matthews, U.S. Army, continued to prepare for publication the copious notes obtained by him during former years in the Navajo country, his chief work being upon a grammar and dictionary of the Navajo language. He also wrote several papers, one of which, a “Chant upon the Mountains,” has been published in the Fifth Annual Report.
Mr. W. H. Holmes continued his work in the office during the year, superintending the illustration of the various publications of the Bureau. His scientific studies have been confined principally to the field of American archeologic art. Two fully illustrated papers have been finished and have appeared in the Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau. They are upon “Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia,” and “A study of the textile art in its relations to the development of form and ornament.” Mr. Holmes has, in addition, continued his duties as curator of aboriginal pottery in the National Museum.
Mr. Victor Mindeleff, when not in the field, prepared reports on the Tusayan and Cibola architectural groups. These, when completed, are to be fully illustrated by a series of plans and drawings now being prepared from the field-notes and other material. In this work it is proposed to discuss the architecture XXXIII in detail, particularly in the case of the modern pueblos, where many of the constructional devices of the old builders still survive. The examination of these details will be found to throw light on obscure features of many ruined pueblos whose state of preservation is such as to exhibit but little detail in themselves.
In connection with the classification and arrangement of new material from Canyon de Chelly, a paper was prepared on the cliff ruins of that region.
Mr. Cosmos Mindeleff has been in charge of the modeling room during the last year. Upon his return from the field a series of models to illustrate the Chaco ruins, architecturally the most important in the Southwest, was commenced. Two of these, viz, the ruin of Wejegi and that of a small pueblo near Pueblo Alto, have been finished and duplicates have been deposited in the National Museum. The third, a large model of Peñasco Blanco, is still uncompleted. All of these models are made from entirely new surveys made in the summer of 1884. The scale used in the previous series—the inhabited pueblos and the cliff ruins—though larger than usually adopted for this class of work, has shown so much more detail and has proved generally so satisfactory, that it has been continued in the Chaco Ruin group, bringing the entire series of models made by the Bureau to a uniform scale of 1:60, or one inch to five feet. In addition to this the work of duplicating the existing models of the Bureau for purposes of exchange was commenced. Three of these have been completed, and two others are about half finished.
Mr. E. W. Nelson was engaged upon a report of his investigations among the Eskimo tribes of Alaska. A part of this report, consisting of an English-Eskimo dictionary, he has already forwarded.
As hereinafter explained, the year was principally devoted to the synonymy of the Indian tribes, the special studies of several officers of the Bureau being suspended so that their whole time might be employed in that direction. In the year XXXIV 1885, however, and at subsequent intervals, their work was as follows:
Col. Garrick Mallery, U.S. Army, continued the study, by researches and correspondence, of sign language and pictography. A comprehensive, though preliminary, paper on the latter subject has been printed, with copious illustrations, in the Fourth Annual Report.
Mr. H. W. Henshaw was engaged during the year in work upon the synonymy of Indian tribes, as specified below.
Mr. Albert S. Gatschet continued to revise and perfect his grammar and dictionary of the Klamath language, a large part of which work is in print. He also took down vocabularies from Indian delegates present in this city on tribal business, and thus succeeded in incorporating into the collections of the Bureau of Ethnology linguistic material from the Alibamu, Hitchiti, Muskoki, and Seneca languages.
Rev. J. Owen Dorsey pursued his work on the Ȼegiha language. Having the aid of a Winnebago Indian for some time he enlarged his vocabulary of that language and recorded grammatical notes. He also reported upon works submitted to his examination upon the Tuscarora, Micmac, and Cherokee languages.
Mr. James Mooney, who had been officially connected with the Bureau since the early part of the fiscal year, was also engaged upon linguistic work.
SYNONYMY OF INDIAN TRIBES.
The Director has before reported in general terms that the most serious source of perplexity to the student of the history of the North American Indians is the confusion existing among their tribal names. The causes of this confusion are various. The Indian names for themselves have been understood and recorded in diverse ways by the earlier authors, and have been variously transmitted by the latter. Nicknames arising from trivial causes, and often without apparent cause, have been imposed upon many tribes. Names borne by one tribe at some period of its history have been transferred to another, or to several other distinct tribes. Typographical errors, and improved XXXV spelling on assumed phonetic grounds, have swelled the number of synonyms until the investigator of a special tribe often finds himself in a maze of nomenclatural perplexity.
It has long been the intention of the Director to prepare a work on tribal names, which so far as possible should refer their confusing titles to a correct and systematic standard. Delay has been occasioned chiefly by the fundamental necessity of defining linguistic stocks or families into which all tribes must be primarily divided; and to accomplish this, long journeys and laborious field and office investigations have been required during the whole time since the establishment of the Bureau. Though a few points still remained in an unsatisfactory condition, it was considered that a sufficient degree of accuracy had been attained to allow of the publication for the benefit of students of a volume devoted to the subject. The preparation of the plan of such a volume was intrusted to Mr. H. W. Henshaw, late in the spring of 1885, and in June of that year the work was energetically begun in accordance with the plans submitted. The preparation of this work, which to a great extent underlies and is the foundation for every field of ethnologic investigation among Indians, was considered of such prime importance that nearly all the available force of the Bureau was placed upon it, to the suspension of the particular investigations in which the several officers had been engaged.
In addition to the general charge of the whole work, Mr. Henshaw gave special attention to the families of the northwest coast from Oregon northward, including the Eskimo, and also several in California. To Mr. Albert S. Gatschet the tribes of the southeastern United States, together with the Pueblo and Yuman tribes, were assigned. The Algonkian family in all its branches—by far the most important part of the whole, so far as the great bulk of literature relating to it is concerned—was intrusted to Col. Garrick Mallery and Mr. James Mooney. They also took charge of the Iroquoian family. Rev. J. O. Dorsey’s intimate acquaintance with the tribes of the Siouan and Caddoan families peculiarly fitted him to cope with that part of the work, and he also undertook the Athapascan tribes. XXXVI Dr. W. J. Hoffman worked upon the Shoshonean tribes, aided by the Director’s personal supervision. Mr. Jeremiah Curtin, to whom was assigned the California tribes, also gave assistance in other sections.
Each of the gentlemen named has been able to contribute largely to the results by his personal experience and investigations in the field, there being numerous regions concerning which published accounts are meager and unsatisfactory. The main source of the material to be dealt with has, however, been necessarily derived from books. A vast amount of the current literature pertaining to the North American Indians has been examined, amounting to over one thousand volumes, with a view to the extraction of the tribal names and the historical data necessary to fix their precise application.
The work at the present time is well advanced toward completion. The examination of literature for the collation of synonyms may be regarded as practically done. The tables of synonymy and the accounts of the tribes have been completed for more than one-half the number of linguistic families.
ACCOMPANYING PAPERS.
LINGUISTIC FAMILIES OF NORTH AMERICA.
In harmony with custom, three scientific papers accompany this report, designed to illustrate the nature, methods and spirit of the researches conducted by the Bureau. The first is on the “Classification of the North American Languages.” It is by no means a final paper on the subject, but is intended rather to give an account of the present status of the subject, and to place before the workers in this field of scholarship the data now existing and the conclusions already reached, so as to constitute a point of departure for new work. With this end in view Mr. Pilling is engaged upon the bibliography of the subject and is rapidly publishing the same, and Mr. Henshaw is employed on the tribal synonymy. Altogether it is hoped that this work will inaugurate a new era in the investigation of the subject by making available the vast body of XXXVII material scattered broadcast through the literature relating to the North American Indians.
In the course of these ethnic researches an interesting field of facts has been brought to view relating to the superstitions of the Indians. Already a very large body of mythology has been collected—stories from a great number of tongues which embody the rude philosophy of tribal thought. Such philosophy or opinion finds its expression not only in the mythic tales, but in the organization of the people into society, in their daily life and in their habits and customs. There is a realm of anthropology in this lower state of mankind which we call savagery, that is hard to understand from the standpoint of modern civilization, where science, theology, religion, medicine and the esthetic arts are developed as more or less discrete subjects. In savagery these great subjects are blended in one, as they are interwoven into a vast plexus of thought and action, for mythology is the basis of philosophy, religion, medicine, and art. In savagery the observed facts of the universe, relating alike to physical nature and to the humanities, are explained mythologically, and these mythic conceptions give rise to a great variety of practices. The acts of life are born of the opinions held as explanations of the environing world. Thus it is that philosophy finds expression in a complex system of superstitions, ceremonies and practices, which together constitute the religion of the people. The purpose of these practices is to avert calamity and to secure prosperity in the present life. It is astonishing to find how little the condition of a life to come is involved. The future beyond the grave is scarcely heeded, or when recognized it seems not to affect the daily life of the people to any appreciable degree. That which occupies the attention of the savage mind relates to the pleasures and pains, the joys and sorrows of present existence.
Perhaps the chief motive is derived from the consideration of health and disease, as the pleasures and pains arising therefrom are forever present to the experience or observation. Good and evil are also involved in those gifts of nature to man by which his biotic life is sustained, his food, drink, clothing XXXVIII and shelter. These bounties come not in a never-changing stream, but are apparently fitful and capricious. Seasons of plenty are accented by seasons of scarcity, and thus prosperity and adversity are strangely commingled in the history of the people. To secure this prosperity and avert this adversity seems to be the second great motive in the development of the superstitious practices of the people. A third occasion for the development of this primitive religion inheres in the social organization of mankind, primarily expressed in the love of man and woman for each other, but finally expressed in all the relations of kin and kith and in the relations of tribe with tribe. This gives rise to a very important development of primitive religion, for the savage man seeks to discover by occult agencies the power of controlling the love and good will of his kind and the power of averting the effect of enmity. To attain these ends he invents a vast system of devices, from love philters to war dances. A fourth region of exploitation in the realm of the esoteric relates to the origin of life itself, as many of their practices are designed to secure perpetuity of life by frequent births and less painful throes.
It will thus be seen that life, health, prosperity, and peace are the ends sought in all this region of human activity as they are presented in the study of savage life. The opinions held by the people on these subjects are primarily expressed in speech and organized into tales, which constitute mythology, and they are expressed in acts, as ceremonies and observances, which constitute their religion, their medicine, and their esthetic arts. These arts consist of sculpture and painting, by which their mythic beings are represented, and they also consist of dancing, by which religious fervor is produced, and they give rise to music, romance, poetry, and drama. Thus it is that the esthetic arts have their origin in mythology. The epic poem and the symphony are lineal descendants of the dance, and the dance arises as the first form of worship, born of the mythic conception of the powers of nature.
XXXIXTHE MIDĒ´WIWIN, OR GRAND MEDICINE SOCIETY OF THE OJIBWA, BY W. J. HOFFMAN, AND THE SACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEES, BY JAMES MOONEY.
Mr. Hoffman presents a paper on the “Midē´wiwin, or Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibwa,” and sets forth the vestiges of a once powerful organization existing among these people. Mr. Mooney has made a study of the Cherokee with the same end in view. In the opinion of the Director they are important contributions to this subject. The same lines of investigation have been carried on by other members of the Bureau with other tribes where societies and practices have been but little modified by the contact of the white man, and where the subject is therefore much more plainly arrayed. In due time these additional researches will be published.
In Mr. Hoffman’s paper it is seen that two and a half centuries of association with the white man has not only served to break down this organization to some extent, but has also inculcated in the minds of the Ojibwa a clearer conception of a Great Spirit and a future life than is normal to the savage mind. Mr. Mooney, whose paper largely deals with the use of plants by the Indians for the healing of disease, naïvely compares the pharmacopoeia of savagery with that of civilization, assuming that the latter is a standard of scientific truth. Perchance scientific men will make one step in advance of this position, and will be interested in discovering the extent to which savage philosophy is still represented in civilized materia medica as expressed in officinal formulas.
A word in relation to the dramatis personæ of Indian mythology. In all those mythologies which have been studied with any degree of care up to the present time zoic deities greatly prevail, the progenitors and prototypes of the animals of the land, air, and water; yet there are other deities. Chief among these are the sun, moon, stars, fire, and the spirits of mountains and other geographical and natural phenomena. Yet these beings are largely zoomorphic, being considered rather as mythic animals than as mythic men; but it must be understood that the line of demarcation between man and the lower animals is not so clearly presented to the savage mind XL as to the civilized mind. In speaking of the theology of the North American Indians as being zoomorphic it must therefore be understood to mean that such is its chief characteristic, but not its exclusive characteristic; and further, it must be understood that it contains by survival many elements from an earlier condition in which hecastotheism prevailed, that is, that the form of philosophy known as animism was generally accepted, and that psychic life, with feeling, thought, and will, was attributed to inanimate things. But more than this, zootheism is not a permanent state of philosophy, but only a stepping-stone to something higher. That something higher may be denominated physitheism, or the worship of the powers and more obtrusive phenomena of nature. In this higher state the sun, the planets, the stars, the winds, the storms, the rainbow, and fire take the leading part. The beginnings of this higher state are to be observed in many of the mythologies of North America. It is worthy of remark that a mythology with its religion subject to the influences of an overwhelming civilization yields first in its zoomorphic elements. Zoic mythology soon degenerates into folk tales of beasts, to be recited by crones to children or told by garrulous old men as amusing stories inherited from past generations; while physitheism is more often incorporated into the compound of paganism and Christianity now held by the more advanced tribes. Notwithstanding this general tendency, zootheism is often, though not to so great an extent, compounded in the same way. The study of this stage of mythology, and of the arts and customs arising therefrom, as they are exhibited among the North American Indians, will ultimately throw a flood of light upon that later stage known as physitheism, or nature worship, now the subject of investigation by an army of Aryan scholars.
XLIFINANCIAL STATEMENT.
Table showing amounts appropriated and expended for North American ethnology for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886.
Expenses. | Amount expended. |
Amount appropriated. |
---|---|---|
Services | $31,287.93 | |
Traveling expenses | 2,070.71 | |
Transportation of property | 478.91 | |
Field subsistence | 284.99 | |
Field expenses and supplies | 360.32 | |
Field material | 163.61 | |
Modeling material | 63.11 | |
Photographic material | 34.44 | |
Books and maps | 469.69 | |
Stationery and drawing material | 169.44 | |
Illustrations for reports | 289.65 | |
Goods for distribution to Indians |
767.82 | |
Office furniture | 12.00 | |
Office supplies and repairs | 63.56 | |
Correspondence | 13.87 | |
Specimens | 800.00 | |
Bonded railroad accounts forwarded to Treasury for settlement |
103.84 | |
Balance on hand to meet outstanding liabilities |
2,566.11 | |
Total | 40,000.00 | $40,000.00 |
ACCOMPANYING PAPERS.
INDIAN LINGUISTIC FAMILIES OF AMERICA
NORTH OF MEXICO.
BY
J. W. POWELL.
CONTENTS.
Page | |
Nomenclature of linguistic families | 7 |
Literature relating to the classification of Indian languages |
12 |
Linguistic map | 25 |
Indian tribes sedentary | 30 |
Population | 33 |
Tribal land | 40 |
Village sites | 40 |
Agricultural land | 41 |
Hunting claims | 42 |
Summary of deductions | 44 |
Linguistic families | 45 |
Adaizan family | 45 |
Algonquian family | 47 |
Algonquian area | 47 |
Principal Algonquian tribes | 48 |
Population | 48 |
Athapascan family | 51 |
Boundaries | 52 |
Northern group | 53 |
Pacific group | 53 |
Southern group | 54 |
Principal tribes | 55 |
Population | 55 |
Attacapan family | 56 |
Beothuakan family | 57 |
Geographic distribution | 58 |
Caddoan family | 58 |
Northern group | 60 |
Middle group | 60 |
Southern group | 60 |
Principal tribes | 61 |
Population | 62 |
Chimakuan family | 62 |
Principal tribes | 63 |
Chimarikan family | 63 |
Principal tribes | 63 |
Chimmesyan family | 63 |
Principal tribes or villages | 64 |
Population | 64 |
Chinookan family | 65 |
Principal tribes | 66 |
Population | 66 |
4 Chitimachan family | 66 |
Chumashan family | 67 |
Population | 68 |
Coahuiltecan family | 68 |
Principal tribes | 69 |
Copehan family | 69 |
Geographic distribution | 69 |
Principal tribes | 70 |
Costanoan family | 70 |
Geographic distribution | 71 |
Population | 71 |
Eskimauan family | 71 |
Geographic distribution | 72 |
Principal tribes and villages | 74 |
Population | 74 |
Esselenian family | 75 |
Iroquoian family | 76 |
Geographic distribution | 77 |
Principal tribes | 79 |
Population | 79 |
Kalapooian family | 81 |
Principal tribes | 82 |
Population | 82 |
Karankawan family | 82 |
Keresan family | 83 |
Villages | 83 |
Population | 83 |
Kiowan family | 84 |
Population | 84 |
Kitunahan family | 85 |
Tribes | 85 |
Population | 85 |
Koluschan family | 85 |
Tribes | 87 |
Population | 87 |
Kulanapan family | 87 |
Geographic distribution | 88 |
Tribes | 88 |
Kusan family | 89 |
Tribes | 89 |
Population | 89 |
Lutuamian family | 89 |
Tribes | 90 |
Population | 90 |
Mariposan family | 90 |
Geographic distribution | 91 |
Tribes | 91 |
Population | 91 |
Moquelumnan family | 92 |
Geographic distribution | 93 |
Principal tribes | 93 |
Population | 93 |
5 Muskhogean family | 94 |
Geographic distribution | 94 |
Principal tribes | 95 |
Population | 95 |
Natchesan family | 95 |
Principal tribes | 97 |
Population | 97 |
Palaihnihan family | 97 |
Geographic distribution | 98 |
Principal tribes | 98 |
Piman family | 98 |
Principal tribes | 99 |
Population | 99 |
Pujunan family | 99 |
Geographic distribution | 100 |
Principal tribes | 100 |
Quoratean family | 100 |
Geographic distribution | 101 |
Tribes | 101 |
Population | 101 |
Salinan family | 101 |
Population | 102 |
Salishan family | 102 |
Geographic distribution | 104 |
Principal tribes | 104 |
Population | 105 |
Sastean family | 105 |
Geographic distribution | 106 |
Shahaptian family | 106 |
Geographic distribution | 107 |
Principal tribes and population | 107 |
Shoshonean family | 108 |
Geographic distribution | 109 |
Principal tribes and population | 110 |
Siouan family | 111 |
Geographic distribution | 112 |
Principal tribes | 114 |
Population | 116 |
Skittagetan family | 118 |
Geographic distribution | 120 |
Principal tribes | 120 |
Population | 121 |
Takilman family | 121 |
Geographic distribution | 121 |
Tañoan family | 121 |
Geographic distribution | 122 |
Population | 123 |
Timuquanan family | 123 |
Geographic distribution | 123 |
Principal tribes | 124 |
Tonikan family | 125 |
Geographic distribution | 125 |
6 Tonkawan family | 125 |
Geographic distribution | 126 |
Uchean family | 126 |
Geographic distribution | 126 |
Population | 127 |
Waiilatpuan family | 127 |
Geographic distribution | 127 |
Principal tribes | 127 |
Population | 128 |
Wakashan family | 128 |
Geographic distribution | 130 |
Principal Aht tribes | 130 |
Population | 130 |
Principal Haeltzuk tribes | 131 |
Population | 131 |
Washoan family | 131 |
Weitspekan family | 131 |
Geographic distribution | 132 |
Tribes | 132 |
Wishoskan family | 132 |
Geographic distribution | 133 |
Tribes | 133 |
Yakonan family | 133 |
Geographic distribution | 134 |
Tribes | 134 |
Population | 135 |
Yanan family | 135 |
Geographic distribution | 135 |
Yukian family | 135 |
Geographic distribution | 136 |
Yuman family | 136 |
Geographic distribution | 137 |
Principal tribes | 138 |
Population | 138 |
Zuñian family | 138 |
Geographic distribution | 139 |
Population | 139 |
Concluding remarks | 139 |
ILLUSTRATION
Plate I. Map. Linguistic stocks of North America north of Mexico. In pocket at end of volume
small format: 615×732 pixel
(about 9×11 in / 23×28 cm, 168K)
large format: 1521×1818 pixel
(about 22×27 in / 56×70 cm, 1MB)
This map is also available in very high resolution, zoomable form at the Library of Congress (link valid at time of posting).
7
INDIAN LINGUISTIC FAMILIES.
By J. W. Powell.
NOMENCLATURE OF LINGUISTIC FAMILIES.
The languages spoken by the pre-Columbian tribes of North America were many and diverse. Into the regions occupied by these tribes travelers, traders, and missionaries have penetrated in advance of civilization, and civilization itself has marched across the continent at a rapid rate. Under these conditions the languages of the various tribes have received much study. Many extensive works have been published, embracing grammars and dictionaries; but a far greater number of minor vocabularies have been collected and very many have been published. In addition to these, the Bible, in whole or in part, and various religious books and school books, have been translated into Indian tongues to be used for purposes of instruction; and newspapers have been published in the Indian languages. Altogether the literature of these languages and that relating to them are of vast extent.
While the materials seem thus to be abundant, the student of Indian languages finds the subject to be one requiring most thoughtful consideration, difficulties arising from the following conditions:
(1) A great number of linguistic stocks or families are discovered.
(2) The boundaries between the different stocks of languages are not immediately apparent, from the fact that many tribes of diverse stocks have had more or less association, and to some extent linguistic materials have been borrowed, and thus have passed out of the exclusive possession of cognate peoples.
(3) Where many peoples, each few in number, are thrown together, an intertribal language is developed. To a large extent this is gesture speech; but to a limited extent useful and important words are adopted by various tribes, and out of this material an intertribal “jargon” is established. Travelers and all others who do not thoroughly study a language are far more likely to acquire this jargon speech than the real speech of the people; and the tendency to base relationship upon such jargons has led to confusion.
8 (4) This tendency to the establishment of intertribal jargons was greatly accelerated on the advent of the white man, for thereby many tribes were pushed from their ancestral homes and tribes were mixed with tribes. As a result, new relations and new industries, especially of trade, were established, and the new associations of tribe with tribe and of the Indians with Europeans led very often to the development of quite elaborate jargon languages. All of these have a tendency to complicate the study of the Indian tongues by comparative methods.
The difficulties inherent in the study of languages, together with the imperfect material and the complicating conditions that have arisen by the spread of civilization over the country, combine to make the problem one not readily solved.
In view of the amount of material on hand, the comparative study of the languages of North America has been strangely neglected, though perhaps this is explained by reason of the difficulties which have been pointed out. And the attempts which have been made to classify them has given rise to much confusion, for the following reasons: First, later authors have not properly recognized the work of earlier laborers in the field. Second, the attempt has more frequently been made to establish an ethnic classification than a linguistic classification, and linguistic characteristics have been confused with biotic peculiarities, arts, habits, customs, and other human activities, so that radical differences of language have often been ignored and slight differences have been held to be of primary value.
The attempts at a classification of these languages and a corresponding classification of races have led to the development of a complex, mixed, and inconsistent synonymy, which must first be unraveled and a selection of standard names made therefrom according to fixed principles.
It is manifest that until proper rules are recognized by scholars the establishment of a determinate nomenclature is impossible. It will therefore be well to set forth the rules that have here been adopted, together with brief reasons for the same, with the hope that they will commend themselves to the judgment of other persons engaged in researches relating to the languages of North America.
A fixed nomenclature in biology has been found not only to be advantageous, but to be a prerequisite to progress in research, as the vast multiplicity of facts, still ever accumulating, would otherwise overwhelm the scholar. In philological classification fixity of nomenclature is of corresponding importance; and while the analogies between linguistic and biotic classification are quite limited, many of the principles of nomenclature which biologists have adopted having no application in philology, still in some important particulars the requirements of all scientific classifications are alike, 9 and though many of the nomenclatural points met with in biology will not occur in philology, some of them do occur and may be governed by the same rules.
Perhaps an ideal nomenclature in biology may some time be established, as attempts have been made to establish such a system in chemistry; and possibly such an ideal system may eventually be established in philology. Be that as it may, the time has not yet come even for its suggestion. What is now needed is a rule of some kind leading scholars to use the same terms for the same things, and it would seem to matter little in the case of linguistic stocks what the nomenclature is, provided it becomes denotive and universal.
In treating of the languages of North America it has been suggested that the names adopted should be the names by which the people recognize themselves, but this is a rule of impossible application, for where the branches of a stock diverge very greatly no common name for the people can be found. Again, it has been suggested that names which are to go permanently into science should be simple and euphonic. This also is impossible of application, for simplicity and euphony are largely questions of personal taste, and he who has studied many languages loses speedily his idiosyncrasies of likes and dislikes and learns that words foreign to his vocabulary are not necessarily barbaric.
Biologists have decided that he who first distinctly characterizes and names a species or other group shall thereby cause the name thus used to become permanently affixed, but under certain conditions adapted to a growing science which is continually revising its classifications. This law of priority may well be adopted by philologists.
By the application of the law of priority it will occasionally happen that a name must be taken which is not wholly unobjectionable or which could be much improved. But if names may be modified for any reason, the extent of change that may be wrought in this manner is unlimited, and such modifications would ultimately become equivalent to the introduction of new names, and a fixed nomenclature would thereby be overthrown. The rule of priority has therefore been adopted.
Permanent biologic nomenclature dates from the time of Linnæus simply because this great naturalist established the binominal system and placed scientific classification upon a sound and enduring basis. As Linnæus is to be regarded as the founder of biologic classification, so Gallatin may be considered the founder of systematic philology relating to the North American Indians. Before his time much linguistic work had been accomplished, and scholars owe a lasting debt of gratitude to Barton, Adelung, Pickering, and others. But Gallatin’s work marks an era in American linguistic science from the fact that he so thoroughly introduced comparative methods, and because he circumscribed the boundaries of many 10 families, so that a large part of his work remains and is still to be considered sound. There is no safe resting place anterior to Gallatin, because no scholar prior to his time had properly adopted comparative methods of research, and because no scholar was privileged to work with so large a body of material. It must further be said of Gallatin that he had a very clear conception of the task he was performing, and brought to it both learning and wisdom. Gallatin’s work has therefore been taken as the starting point, back of which we may not go in the historic consideration of the systematic philology of North America. The point of departure therefore is the year 1836, when Gallatin’s “Synopsis of Indian Tribes” appeared in vol. 2 of the Transactions of the American Antiquarian Society.
It is believed that a name should be simply a denotive word, and that no advantage can accrue from a descriptive or connotive title. It is therefore desirable to have the names as simple as possible, consistent with other and more important considerations. For this reason it has been found impracticable to recognize as family names designations based on several distinct terms, such as descriptive phrases, and words compounded from two or more geographic names. Such phrases and compound words have been rejected.
There are many linguistic families in North America, and in a number of them there are many tribes speaking diverse languages. It is important, therefore, that some form should be given to the family name by which it may be distinguished from the name of a single tribe or language. In many cases some one language within a stock has been taken as the type and its name given to the entire family; so that the name of a language and that of the stock to which it belongs are identical. This is inconvenient and leads to confusion. For such reasons it has been decided to give each family name the termination “an” or “ian.”
Conforming to the principles thus enunciated, the following rules have been formulated:
I. The law of priority relating to the nomenclature of the systematic philology of the North American tribes shall not extend to authors whose works are of date anterior to the year 1836.
II. The name originally given by the founder of a linguistic group to designate it as a family or stock of languages shall be permanently retained to the exclusion of all others.
III. No family name shall be recognized if composed of more than one word.
IV. A family name once established shall not be canceled in any subsequent division of the group, but shall be retained in a restricted sense for one of its constituent portions.
V. Family names shall be distinguished as such by the termination “an” or “ian.”
11VI. No name shall be accepted for a linguistic family unless used to designate a tribe or group of tribes as a linguistic stock.
VII. No family name shall be accepted unless there is given the habitat of tribe or tribes to which it is applied.
VIII. The original orthography of a name shall be rigidly preserved except as provided for in rule III, and unless a typographical error is evident.
The terms “family” and “stock” are here applied interchangeably to a group of languages that are supposed to be cognate.
A single language is called a stock or family when it is not found to be cognate with any other language. Languages are said to be cognate when such relations between them are found that they are supposed to have descended from a common ancestral speech. The evidence of cognation is derived exclusively from the vocabulary. Grammatic similarities are not supposed to furnish evidence of cognation, but to be phenomena, in part relating to stage of culture and in part adventitious. It must be remembered that extreme peculiarities of grammar, like the vocal mutations of the Hebrew or the monosyllabic separation of the Chinese, have not been discovered among Indian tongues. It therefore becomes necessary in the classification of Indian languages into families to neglect grammatic structure, and to consider lexical elements only. But this statement must be clearly understood. It is postulated that in the growth of languages new words are formed by combination, and that these new words change by attrition to secure economy of utterance, and also by assimilation (analogy) for economy of thought. In the comparison of languages for the purposes of systematic philology it often becomes necessary to dismember compounded words for the purpose of comparing the more primitive forms thus obtained. The paradigmatic words considered in grammatic treatises may often be the very words which should be dissected to discover in their elements primary affinities. But the comparison is still lexic, not grammatic.
A lexic comparison is between vocal elements; a grammatic comparison is between grammatic methods, such, for example, as gender systems. The classes into which things are relegated by distinction of gender may be animate and inanimate, and the animate may subsequently be divided into male and female, and these two classes may ultimately absorb, in part at least, inanimate things. The growth of a system of genders may take another course. The animate and inanimate may be subdivided into the standing, the sitting, and the lying, or into the moving, the erect and the reclined; or, still further, the superposed classification may be based upon the supposed constitution of things, as the fleshy, the woody, the rocky, the earthy, the watery. Thus the number of genders may increase, while further on in the history of a language the genders may 12 decrease so as almost to disappear. All of these characteristics are in part adventitious, but to a large extent the gender is a phenomenon of growth, indicating the stage to which the language has attained. A proper case system may not have been established in a language by the fixing of case particles, or, having been established, it may change by the increase or diminution of the number of cases. A tense system also has a beginning, a growth, and a decadence. A mode system is variable in the various stages of the history of a language. In like manner a pronominal system undergoes changes. Particles may be prefixed, infixed, or affixed in compounded words, and which one of these methods will finally prevail can be determined only in the later stage of growth. All of these things are held to belong to the grammar of a language and to be grammatic methods, distinct from lexical elements.
With terms thus defined, languages are supposed to be cognate when fundamental similarities are discovered in their lexical elements. When the members of a family of languages are to be classed in subdivisions and the history of such languages investigated, grammatic characteristics become of primary importance. The words of a language change by the methods described, but the fundamental elements or roots are more enduring. Grammatic methods also change, perhaps even more rapidly than words, and the changes may go on to such an extent that primitive methods are entirely lost, there being no radical grammatic elements to be preserved. Grammatic structure is but a phase or accident of growth, and not a primordial element of language. The roots of a language are its most permanent characteristics, and while the words which are formed from them may change so as to obscure their elements or in some cases even to lose them, it seems that they are never lost from all, but can be recovered in large part. The grammatic structure or plan of a language is forever changing, and in this respect the language may become entirely transformed.
LITERATURE RELATING TO THE CLASSIFICATION OF INDIAN LANGUAGES.
While the literature relating to the languages of North America is very extensive, that which relates to their classification is much less extensive. For the benefit of future students in this line it is thought best to present a concise account of such literature, or at least so much as has been consulted in the preparation of this paper.
1836. Gallatin (Albert).
A synopsis of the Indian tribes within the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and in the British and Russian possessions in North America. In Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society (Archæologia Americana) Cambridge, 1836, vol. 2.
The larger part of the volume consists of Gallatin’s paper. A short chapter is devoted to general observations, including certain 13 historical data, and the remainder to the discussion of linguistic material and the affinities of the various tribes mentioned. Vocabularies of many of the families are appended. Twenty-eight linguistic divisions are recognized in the general table of the tribes. Some of these divisions are purely geographic, such as the tribes of Salmon River, Queen Charlotte’s Island, etc. Vocabularies from these localities were at hand, but of their linguistic relations the author was not sufficiently assured. Most of the linguistic families recognized by Gallatin were defined with much precision. Not all of his conclusions are to be accepted in the presence of the data now at hand, but usually they were sound, as is attested by the fact that they have constituted the basis for much classificatory work since his time.
The primary, or at least the ostensible, purpose of the colored map which accompanies Gallatin’s paper was, as indicated by its title, to show the distribution of the tribes, and accordingly their names appear upon it, and not the names of the linguistic families. Nevertheless, it is practically a map of the linguistic families as determined by the author, and it is believed to be the first attempted for the area represented. Only eleven of the twenty-eight families named in this table appear, and these represent the families with which he was best acquainted. As was to be expected from the early period at which the map was constructed, much of the western part of the United States was left uncolored. Altogether the map illustrates well the state of knowledge of the time.
1840. Bancroft (George).
History of the colonization of the United States, Boston. 1840, vol. 3.
In Chapter XXII of this volume the author gives a brief synopsis of the Indian tribes east of the Mississippi, under a linguistic classification, and adds a brief account of the character and methods of Indian languages. A linguistic map of the region is incorporated, which in general corresponds with the one published by Gallatin in 1836. A notable addition to the Gallatin map is the inclusion of the Uchees in their proper locality. Though considered a distinct family by Gallatin, this tribe does not appear upon his map. Moreover, the Choctaws and Muskogees, which appear as separate families upon Gallatin’s map (though believed by that author to belong to the same family), are united upon Bancroft’s map under the term Mobilian.
The linguistic families treated of are, I. Algonquin, II. Sioux or Dahcota, III. Huron-Iroquois, IV. Catawba, V. Cherokee, VI. Uchee, VII. Natchez, VIII. Mobilian.
1841. Scouler (John).
Observations of the indigenous tribes of the northwest coast of America. In Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London. London, 1841, vol. 11.
The chapter cited is short, but long enough to enable the author to construct a very curious classification of the tribes of which he 14 treats. In his account Scouler is guided chiefly, to use his own words, “by considerations founded on their physical character, manners and customs, and on the affinities of their languages.” As the linguistic considerations are mentioned last, so they appear to be the least weighty of his “considerations.”
Scouler’s definition of a family is very broad indeed, and in his “Northern Family,” which is a branch of his “Insular Group,” he includes such distinct linguistic stocks as “all the Indian tribes in the Russian territory,” the Queen Charlotte Islanders, Koloshes, Ugalentzes, Atnas, Kolchans, Kenáïes, Tun Ghaase, Haidahs, and Chimmesyans. His Nootka-Columbian family is scarcely less incongruous, and it is evident that the classification indicated is only to a comparatively slight extent linguistic.
1846. Hale (Horatio).
United States exploring expedition, during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, under the command of Charles Wilkes, U.S. Navy, vol. 6, ethnography and philology. Philadelphia, 1846.
In addition to a large amount of ethnographic data derived from the Polynesian Islands, Micronesian Islands, Australia, etc., more than one-half of this important volume is devoted to philology, a large share relating to the tribes of northwestern America.
The vocabularies collected by Hale, and the conclusions derived by him from study of them, added much to the previous knowledge of the languages of these tribes. His conclusions and classification were in the main accepted by Gallatin in his linguistic writings of 1848.
1846. Latham (Robert Gordon).
Miscellaneous contributions to the ethnography of North America. In Proceedings of the Philological Society of London. London, 1816, vol. 2.
In this article, which was read before the Philological Society, January 24, 1845, a large number of North American languages are examined and their affinities discussed in support of the two following postulates made at the beginning of the paper: First, “No American language has an isolated position when compared with the other tongues en masse rather than with the language of any particular class;” second, “The affinities between the language of the New World, as determined by their vocabularies, is not less real than that inferred from the analogies of their grammatical structure.” The author’s conclusions are that both statements are substantiated by the evidence presented. The paper contains no new family names.
1847. Prichard (James Cowles).
Researches into the physical history of mankind (third edition), vol. 5, containing researches into the history of the Oceanic and of the American nations. London, 1847.
It was the purpose of this author, as avowed by himself, to determine whether the races of men are the cooffspring of a single stock or have descended respectively from several original families. Like 15 other authors on this subject, his theory of what should constitute a race was not clearly defined. The scope of the inquiry required the consideration of a great number of subjects and led to the accumulation of a vast body of facts. In volume 5 the author treats of the American Indians, and in connection with the different tribes has something to say of their languages. No attempt at an original classification is made, and in the main the author follows Gallatin’s classification and adopts his conclusions.
1848. Gallatin (Albert).
Hale’s Indians of Northwest America, and vocabularies of North America, with an introduction. In Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, New York, 1848, vol. 2.
The introduction consists of a number of chapters, as follows: First, Geographical notices and Indian means of subsistence; second, Ancient semi-civilization of New Mexico, Rio Gila and its vicinity; third, Philology; fourth, Addenda and miscellaneous. In these are brought together much valuable information, and many important deductions are made which illustrate Mr. Gallatin’s great acumen. The classification given is an amplification of that adopted in 1836, and contains changes and additions. The latter mainly result from a consideration of the material supplied by Mr. Hale, or are simply taken from his work.
The groups additional to those contained in the Archæologia Americana are:
1. | Arrapahoes. |
2. | Jakon. |
3. | Kalapuya. |
4. | Kitunaha. |
5. | Lutuami. |
6. | Palainih. |
7. | Sahaptin. |
8. | Selish (Tsihaili-Selish). |
9. | Saste. |
10. | Waiilatpu. |
1848, Latham (Robert Gordon).
On the languages of the Oregon Territory. In Journal of the Ethnological Society of London, Edinburgh, 1848, vol. 1.
This paper was read before the Ethnological Society on the 11th of December. The languages noticed are those that lie between “Russian America and New California,” of which the author aims to give an exhaustive list. He discusses the value of the groups to which these languages have been assigned, viz, Athabascan and Nootka-Columbian, and finds that they have been given too high value, and that they are only equivalent to the primary subdivisions of stocks, like the Gothic, Celtic, and Classical, rather than to the stocks themselves. He further finds that the Athabascan, the Kolooch, the Nootka-Columbian, and the Cadiak groups are subordinate members of one large and important class—the Eskimo.
No new linguistic groups are presented.
1848. Latham (Robert Gordon).
On the ethnography of Russian America. In Journal of the Ethnological Society of London, Edinburgh, 1848, vol. 1.
16 This essay was read before the Ethnological Society February 19, 1845. Brief notices are given of the more important tribes, and the languages are classed in two groups, the Eskimaux and the Kolooch. Each of these groups is found to have affinities—
(1) With the Athabascan tongues, and perhaps equal affinities.
(2) Each has affinities with the Oregon languages, and each perhaps equally.
(3) Each has definite affinities with the languages of New California, and each perhaps equal ones.
(4) Each has miscellaneous affinities with all the other tongues of North and South America.
1848. Berghaus (Heinrich).
Physikalischer Atlas oder Sammlung von Karten, auf denen die hauptsächlichsten erscheinungen der anorganischen und organischen Natur nach ihrer geographischen Verbreitung und Vertheilung bildlich dargestellt sind. Zweiter Band, Gotha, 1848.
This, the first edition of this well known atlas, contains, among other maps, an ethnographic map of North America, made in 1845. It is based, as is stated, upon material derived from Gallatin, Humboldt, Clavigero, Hervas, Vater, and others. So far as the eastern part of the United States is concerned it is largely a duplication of Gallatin’s map of 1836, while in the western region a certain amount of new material is incorporated.
1852. In the edition of 1852 the ethnographic map bears date of 1851. Its eastern portion is substantially a copy of the earlier edition, but its western half is materially changed, chiefly in accordance with the knowledge supplied by Hall in 1848.
Map number 72 of the last edition of Berghaus by no means marks an advance upon the edition of 1852. Apparently the number of families is much reduced, but it is very difficult to interpret the meaning of the author, who has attempted on the same map to indicate linguistic divisions and tribal habitats with the result that confusion is made worse confounded.
1853. Gallatin (Albert).
Classification of the Indian Languages; a letter inclosing a table of generic Indian Families of languages. In Information respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States, by Henry E. Schoolcraft. Philadelphia, 1853, vol. 3.
This short paper by Gallatin consists of a letter addressed to W. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, requesting his cooperation in an endeavor to obtain vocabularies to assist in a more complete study of the grammar and structure of the languages of the Indians of North America. It is accompanied by a “Synopsis of Indian Tribes,” giving the families and tribes so far as known. In the main the classification is a repetition of that of 1848, but it differs from that in a number of particulars. Two of the families of 1848 do not 17 appear in this paper, viz, Arapaho and Kinai. Queen Charlotte Island, employed as a family name in 1848, is placed under the Wakash family, while the Skittagete language, upon which the name Queen Charlotte Island was based in 1848, is here given as a family designation for the language spoken at “Sitka, bet. 52 and 59 lat.” The following families appear which are not contained in the list of 1848:
1. | Cumanches. |
2. | Gros Ventres. |
3. | Kaskaias. |
4. | Kiaways. |
5. | Natchitoches. |
6. | Pani, Towiacks. |
7. | Ugaljachmatzi. |
1853. Gibbs (George).
Observations on some of the Indian dialects of northern California. In Information respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States, by Henry E. Schoolcraft. Philadelphia, 1853, vol. 3.
The “Observations” are introductory to a series of vocabularies collected in northern California, and treat of the method employed in collecting them and of the difficulties encountered. They also contain notes on the tribes speaking the several languages as well as on the area covered. There is comparatively little of a classificatory nature, though in one instance the name Quoratem is proposed as a proper one for the family “should it be held one.”
1854. Latham (Robert Gordon).
On the languages of New California. In Proceedings of the Philological Society of London for 1852 and 1853. London, 1854, vol. 6.
Read before the Philological Society, May 13, 1853. A number of languages are examined in this paper for the purpose of determining the stocks to which they belong and the mutual affinities of the latter. Among the languages mentioned are the Saintskla, Umkwa, Lutuami, Paduca, Athabascan, Dieguno, and a number of the Mission languages.
1855. Lane (William Carr).
Letter on affinities of dialects in New Mexico. In Information respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States, by Henry R. Schoolcraft. Philadelphia, 1855, vol. 5.
The letter forms half a page of printed matter. The gist of the communication is in effect that the author has heard it said that the Indians of certain pueblos speak three different languages, which he has heard called, respectively, (1) Chu-cha-cas and Kes-whaw-hay; (2) E-nagh-magh; (3) Tay-waugh. This can hardly be called a classification, though the arrangement of the pueblos indicated by Lane is quoted at length by Keane in the Appendix to Stanford’s Compendium.
18 1856. Latham (Robert Gordon).
On the languages of Northern, Western, and Central America. In Transactions of the Philological Society of London, for 1856. London [1857?].
This paper was read before the Philological Society May 9, 1856, and is stated to be “a supplement to two well known contributions to American philology by the late A. Gallatin.”
So far as classification of North American languages goes, this is perhaps the most important paper of Latham’s, as in it a number of new names are proposed for linguistic groups, such as Copeh for the Sacramento River tribes, Ehnik for the Karok tribes, Mariposa Group and Mendocino Group for the Yokut and Pomo tribes respectively, Moquelumne for the Mutsun, Pujuni for the Meidoo, Weitspek for the Eurocs.
1856. Turner (William Wadden).
Report upon the Indian tribes, by Lieut. A. W. Whipple, Thomas Ewbank, esq., and Prof. William W. Turner, Washington, D.C., 1855. In Reports of Explorations and Surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Washington, 1856, vol. 3. part 3.
Chapter V of the above report is headed “Vocabularies of North American Languages,” and is by Turner, as is stated in a foot-note. Though the title page of Part III is dated 1855, the chapter by Turner was not issued till 1856, the date of the full volume, as is stated by Turner on page 84. The following are the vocabularies given, with their arrangement in families:
I. | Delaware. | Algonkin. | |
II. | Shawnee. | ||
III. | Choctaw. | ||
IV. | Kichai. | Pawnee? | |
V. | Huéco. | ||
VI. | Caddo. | ||
VII. | Comanche. | Shoshonee. | |
VIII. | Chemehuevi. | ||
IX. | Cahuillo. | ||
X. | Kioway. | ||
XI. | Navajo. | Apache. | |
XII. | Pinal Leño. | ||
XIII. | Kiwomi. | Keres. | |
XIV. | Cochitemi. | ||
XV. | Acoma. | ||
XVI. | Zuñi. | ||
XVII. | Pima. | ||
XVIII. | Cuchan. | Yuma. | |
XIX. | Coco‑Maricopa. | ||
XX. | Mojave. | ||
XXI. | Diegeno. |
Several of the family names, viz, Keres, Kiowa, Yuma, and Zuñi, have been adopted under the rules formulated above.
1858. Buschmann (Johann Carl Eduard).
Die Völker und Sprachen Neu-Mexiko’s und der Westseite des britischen Nordamerika’s, dargestellt von Hrn. Buschmann. In Abhandlungen (aus dem Jahre 1857) der königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Berlin, 1858.
This work contains a historic review of early discoveries in New Mexico and of the tribes living therein, with such vocabularies as were available at the time. On pages 315-414 the tribes of British America, from about latitude 54° to 60°, are similarly treated, the various discoveries being reviewed; also those on the North Pacific coast. Much of the material should have been inserted in the 19 volume of 1859 (which was prepared in 1854), to which cross reference is frequently made, and to which it stands in the nature of a supplement.
1859: Buschmann (Johann Carl Eduard).
Die Spuren der aztekischen Sprache im nördlichen Mexico und höheren amerikanischen Norden. Zugleich eine Musterung der Völker und Sprachen des nördlichen Mexico’s und der Westseite Nordamerika’s von Guadalaxara an bis zum Eismeer. In Abhandlungen aus dem Jahre 1854 der königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Berlin, 1859.
The above, forming a second supplemental volume of the Transactions for 1854, is an extensive compilation of much previous literature treating of the Indian tribes from the Arctic Ocean southward to Guadalajara, and bears specially upon the Aztec language and its traces in the languages of the numerous tribes scattered along the Pacific Ocean and inland to the high plains. A large number of vocabularies and a vast amount of linguistic material are here brought together and arranged in a comprehensive manner to aid in the study attempted. In his classification of the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains, Buschmann largely followed Gallatin. His treatment of those not included in Gallatin’s paper is in the main original. Many of the results obtained may have been considered bold at the time of publication, but recent philological investigations give evidence of the value of many of the author’s conclusions.
1859. Kane (Paul).
Wanderings of an artist among the Indians of North America from Canada to Vancouver’s Island and Oregon through the Hudson’s Bay Company’s territory and back again. London, 1859.
The interesting account of the author’s travels among the Indians, chiefly in the Northwest, and of their habits, is followed by a four page supplement, giving the names, locations, and census of the tribes of the Northwest coast. They are classified by language into Chymseyan, including the Nass, Chymseyans, Skeena and Sabassas Indians, of whom twenty-one tribes are given; Ha-eelb-zuk or Ballabola, including the Milbank Sound Indians, with nine tribes; Klen-ekate, including twenty tribes; Hai-dai, including the Kygargey and Queen Charlotte’s Island Indians, nineteen tribes being enumerated; and Qua-colth, with twenty-nine tribes. No statement of the origin of these tables is given, and they reappear, with no explanation, in Schoolcraft’s Indian Tribes, volume V, pp. 487-489.
In his Queen Charlotte Islands, 1870, Dawson publishes the part of this table relating to the Haida, with the statement that he received it from Dr. W. F. Tolmie. The census was made in 1836-’41 by the late Mr. John Work, who doubtless was the author of the more complete tables published by Kane and Schoolcraft.
201862. Latham (Robert Gordon).
Elements of comparative philology. London, 1862.
The object of this volume is, as the author states in his preface, “to lay before the reader the chief facts and the chief trains of reasoning in Comparative Philology.” Among the great mass of material accumulated for the purpose a share is devoted to the languages of North America. The remarks under these are often taken verbatim from the author’s earlier papers, to which reference has been made above, and the family names and classification set forth in them are substantially repeated.
1862. Hayden (Ferdinand Vandeveer).
Contributions to the ethnography and philology of the Indian tribes of the Missouri Valley. Philadelphia, 1862.
This is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the Missouri River tribes, made at a time when the information concerning them was none too precise. The tribes treated of are classified as follows:
I. | Knisteneaux, or Crees. | Algonkin Group, A. | |
II. | Blackfeet. | ||
III. | Shyennes. | ||
IV. | Arapohos. | Arapoho Group, B. | |
V. | Atsinas. | ||
VI. | Pawnees. | Pawnee Group, C. | |
VII. | Arikaras. | ||
VIII. | Dakotas. | Dakota Group, D. | |
IX. | Assiniboins. | ||
X. | Crows. | ||
XI. | Minnitarees. | ||
XII. | Mandans. | ||
XIII. | Omahas. | ||
XIV. | Iowas. |
1864. Orozco y Berra (Manuel).
Geografía de las Lenguas y Carta Etnográfica de México Precedidas de un ensayo de clasificacion de las mismas lenguas y de apuntes para las inmigraciones de las tribus. Mexico, 1864.
The work is divided into three parts. (1) Tentative classification of the languages of Mexico; (2) notes on the immigration of the tribes of Mexico; (3) geography of the languages of Mexico.
The author states that he has no knowledge whatever of the languages he treats of. All he attempts to do is to summarize the opinions of others. His authorities were (1) writers on native grammars; (2) missionaries; (3) persons who are reputed to be versed in such matters. He professes to have used his own judgment only when these authorities left him free to do so.
His stated method in compiling the ethnographic map was to place before him the map of a certain department, examine all his authorities bearing on that department, and to mark with a distinctive color all localities said to belong to a particular language. When this was done he drew a boundary line around the area of that language. Examination of the map shows that he has partly expressed on it the classification of languages as given in the first part of his text, and partly limited himself to indicating the geographic boundaries 21 of languages, without, however, giving the boundaries of all the languages mentioned in his lists.
1865. Pimentel (Francisco).
Cuadro Descriptivo y Comparativo de las Lenguas Indígenas de México. México, 1865.
According to the introduction this work is divided into three parts: (1) descriptive; (2) comparative; (3) critical.
The author divides the treatment of each language into (1) its mechanism; (2) its dictionary; (3) its grammar. By “mechanism” he means pronunciation and composition; by “dictionary” he means the commonest or most notable words.
In the case of each language he states the localities where it is spoken, giving a short sketch of its history, the explanation of its etymology, and a list of such writers on that language as he has become acquainted with. Then follows: “mechanism, dictionary, and grammar.” Next he enumerates its dialects if there are any, and compares specimens of them when he is able. He gives the Our Father when he can.
Volume I (1862) contains introduction and twelve languages. Volume II (1865) contains fourteen groups of languages, a vocabulary of the Opata language, and an appendix treating of the Comanche, the Coahuilteco, and various languages of upper California.
Volume III (announced in preface of Volume II) is to contain the “comparative part” (to be treated in the same “mixed” method as the “descriptive part”), and a scientific classification of all the languages spoken in Mexico.
In the “critical part” (apparently dispersed through the other two parts) the author intends to pass judgment on the merits of the languages of Mexico, to point out their good qualities and their defects.
1870. Dall (William Healey).
On the distribution of the native tribes of Alaska and the adjacent territory. In Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Cambridge, 1870, vol. 18.
In this important paper is presented much interesting information concerning the inhabitants of Alaska and adjacent territories. The natives are divided into two groups, the Indians of the interior, and the inhabitants of the coast, or Esquimaux. The latter are designated by the term Orarians, which are composed of three lesser groups, Eskimo, Aleutians, and Tuski. The Orarians are distinguished, first, by their language; second, by their distribution; third, by their habits; fourth, by their physical characteristics.
1870. Dall (William Healey).
Alaska and its Resources. Boston, 1870.
The classification followed is practically the same as is given in the author’s article in the Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
221877. Dall (William Healey).
Tribes of the extreme northwest. In Contributions to North American Ethnology (published by United States Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region). Washington, 1877, vol. 1.
This is an amplification of the paper published in the Proceedings of the American Association, as above cited. The author states that “numerous additions and corrections, as well as personal observations of much before taken at second hand, have placed it in my power to enlarge and improve my original arrangement.”
In this paper the Orarians are divided into “two well marked groups,” the Innuit, comprising all the so-called Eskimo and Tuskis, and the Aleuts. The paper proper is followed by an appendix by Gibbs and Dall, in which are presented a series of vocabularies from the northwest, including dialects of the Tlinkit and Haida nations, T’sim-si-ans, and others.
1877. Gibbs (George).
Tribes of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon. In Contributions to North American Ethnology. Washington, 1887, vol. 1.
This is a valuable article, and gives many interesting particulars of the tribes of which it treats. References are here and there made to the languages of the several tribes, with, however, no attempt at their classification. A table follows the report, in which is given by Dall, after Gibbs, a classification of the tribes mentioned by Gibbs. Five families are mentioned, viz: Nūtka, Sahaptin, Tinneh, Selish, and T’sinūk. The comparative vocabularies follow Part II.
1877. Powers (Stephen).
Tribes of California. In Contributions to North American Ethnology. Washington, 1877, vol. 3.
The extended paper on the Californian tribes which makes up the bulk of this volume is the most important contribution to the subject ever made. The author’s unusual opportunities for personal observation among these tribes were improved to the utmost and the result is a comparatively full and comprehensive account of their habits and character.
Here and there are allusions to the languages spoken, with reference to the families to which the tribes belong. No formal classification is presented.
1877. Powell (John Wesley).
Appendix. Linguistics edited by J. W. Powell. In Contributions to North American Ethnology. Washington, 1877, vol. 3.
This appendix consists of a series of comparative vocabularies collected by Powers, Gibbs and others, classified into linguistic families, as follows:
23 | Family. | Family. | |
1. | Ká-rok. | 8. | Mūt´-sūn. |
2. | Yú-rok. | 9. | Santa Barbara. |
3. | Chim-a-rí-ko. | 10. | Yó-kuts. |
4. | Wish-osk. | 11. | Mai´-du. |
5. | Yú-ki. | 12. | A-cho-mâ´-wi. |
6. | Pómo. | 13. | Shaś-ta. |
7. | Win-tūn´. |
1877. Gatschet (Albert Samuel).
Indian languages of the Pacific States and Territories. In Magazine of American History. New York, 1877, vol. 1.
After some remarks concerning the nature of language and of the special characteristics of Indian languages, the author gives a synopsis of the languages of the Pacific region. The families mentioned are:
1. | Shóshoni. | 11. | Pomo. | 21. | Yakon. |
2. | Yuma. | 12. | Wishosk. | 22. | Cayuse. |
3. | Pima. | 13. | Eurok. | 23. | Kalapuya. |
4. | Santa Barbara. | 14. | Weits-pek. | 24. | Chinook. |
5. | Mutsun. | 15. | Cahrok. | 25. | Sahaptin. |
6. | Yocut. | 16. | Tolewa. | 26. | Selish. |
7. | Meewoc. | 17. | Shasta. | 27. | Nootka. |
8. | Meidoo. | 18. | Pit River. | 28. | Kootenai. |
9. | Wintoon. | 19. | Klamath. | ||
10. | Yuka. | 20. | Tinné. |
This is an important paper, and contains notices of several new stocks, derived from a study of the material furnished by Powers.
The author advocates the plan of using a system of nomenclature similar in nature to that employed in zoology in the case of generic and specific names, adding after the name of the tribe the family to which it belongs; thus: Warm Springs, Sahaptin.
1878. Powell (John Wesley).
The nationality of the Pueblos. In the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian. Denver, November, 1878.
This is a half-column article, the object of which is to assign the several Pueblos to their proper stocks. A paragraph is devoted to contradicting the popular belief that the Pueblos are in some way related to the Aztecs. No vocabularies are given or cited, though the classification is stated to be a linguistic one.
1878. Keane (Augustus H).
Appendix. Ethnography and philology of America. In Stanford’s Compendium of Geography and Travel, edited and extended by H. W. Bates. London, 1878.
In the appendix are given, first, some of the more general characteristics and peculiarities of Indian languages, followed by a classification of all the tribes of North America, after which is given an 24 alphabetical list of American tribes and languages, with their habitats and the stock to which they belong.
The classification is compiled from many sources, and although it contains many errors and inconsistencies, it affords on the whole a good general idea of prevalent views on the subject.
1880. Powell (John Wesley).
Pueblo Indians. In the American Naturalist. Philadelphia, 1880, vol. 14.
This is a two-page article in which is set forth a classification of the Pueblo Indians from linguistic considerations. The Pueblos are divided into four families or stocks, viz:
1. | Shínumo. |
2. | Zunian. |
3. | Kéran. |
4. | Téwan. |
Under the several stocks is given a list of those who have collected vocabularies of these languages and a reference to their publication.
1880. Eells (Myron).
The Twana language of Washington Territory. In the American Antiquarian. Chicago, 1880-’81, vol. 3.
This is a brief article—two and a half pages—on the Twana, Clallam, and Chemakum Indians. The author finds, upon a comparison of vocabularies, that the Chemakum language has little in common with its neighbors.
1885. Dall (William Healey).
The native tribes of Alaska. In Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, thirty-fourth meeting, held at Ann Arbor, Mich., August, 1885. Salem, 1886.
This paper is a timely contribution to the subject of the Alaska tribes, and carries it from the point at which the author left it in 1869 to date, briefly summarizing the several recent additions to knowledge. It ends with a geographical classification of the Innuit and Indian tribes of Alaska, with estimates of their numbers.
1885. Bancroft (Hubert Howe).
The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol. 3: the native races, vol. 3, myths and languages. San Francisco, 1882.
Vols. 1-5 collectively are “The Native Races”; vol. 3 is Myths and Languages.
In the chapter on that subject the languages are classified by divisions which appear to correspond to groups, families, tribes, and dialects.
The classification does not, however, follow any consistent plan, and is in parts unintelligible.
1882. Gatschet (Albert Samuel).
Indian languages of the Pacific States and Territories and of the Pueblos of New Mexico. In the Magazine of American History. New York, 1882, vol. 8.
This paper is in the nature of a supplement to a previous one in the same magazine above referred to. It enlarges further on several 25 of the stocks there considered, and, as the title indicates, treats also of the Pueblo languages. The families mentioned are:
1. | Chimariko. | ||
2. | Washo. | ||
3. | Yákona. | ||
4. | Sayúskla. | ||
5. | Kúsa. | ||
6. | Takilma. | ||
7. | Rio Grande Pueblo. | ||
8. | Kera. | ||
9. | Zuñi. |
1883. Hale (Horatio).
Indian migrations, as evidenced by language. In The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal. Chicago, 1888, vol. 5.
In connection with the object of this paper—the study of Indian migrations—several linguistic stocks are mentioned, and the linguistic affinities of a number of tribes are given. The stocks mentioned are:
Huron-Cherokee. Dakota. Algonkin. Chahta-Muskoki. |
1885. Tolmie (W. Fraser) and Dawson (George M.)
Comparative vocabularies of the Indian tribes of British Columbia, with a map illustrating distribution (Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada). Montreal, 1884.
The vocabularies presented constitute an important contribution to linguistic science. They represent “one or more dialects of every Indian language spoken on the Pacific slope from the Columbia River north to the Tshilkat River, and beyond, in Alaska; and from the outermost sea-board to the main continental divide in the Rocky Mountains.” A colored map shows the area occupied by each linguistic family.
LINGUISTIC MAP.
In 1836 Gallatin conferred a great boon upon linguistic students by classifying all the existing material relating to this subject. Even in the light of the knowledge of the present day his work is found to rest upon a sound basis. The material of Gallatin’s time, however, was too scanty to permit of more than an outline of the subject. Later writers have contributed to the work, and the names of Latham, Turner, Prichard, Buschmann, Hale, Gatschet, and others are connected with important classificatory results.
The writer’s interest in linguistic work and the inception of a plan for a linguistic classification of Indian languages date back about 20 years, to a time when he was engaged in explorations in the West. Being brought into contact with many tribes, it was possible to collect a large amount of original material. Subsequently, when the Bureau of Ethnology was organized, this store was largely increased through the labors of others. Since then a very large body of literature published in Indian languages has been accumulated, and a great number of vocabularies have been gathered by the Bureau 26 assistants and by collaborators in various parts of the country. The results of a study of all this material, and of much historical data, which necessarily enters largely into work of this character, appear in the accompanying map.
The contributions to the subject during the last fifty years have been so important, and the additions to the material accessible to the student of Gallatin’s time have been so large, that much of the reproach which deservedly attached to American scholars because of the neglect of American linguistics has been removed. The field is a vast one, however, and the workers are comparatively few. Moreover, opportunities for collecting linguistic material are growing fewer day by day, as tribes are consolidated upon reservations, as they become civilized, and as the older Indians, who alone are skilled in their language, die, leaving, it may be, only a few imperfect vocabularies as a basis for future study. History has bequeathed to us the names of many tribes, which became extinct in early colonial times, of whose language not a hint is left and whose linguistic relations must ever remain unknown.
It is vain to grieve over neglected opportunities unless their contemplation stimulates us to utilize those at hand. There are yet many gaps to be filled, even in so elementary a part of the study as the classification of the tribes by language. As to the detailed study of the different linguistic families, the mastery and analysis of the languages composing them, and their comparison with one another and with the languages of other families, only a beginning has been made.
After the above statement it is hardly necessary to add that the accompanying map does not purport to represent final results. On the contrary, it is to be regarded as tentative, setting forth in visible form the results of investigation up to the present time, as a guide and aid to future effort.
Each of the colors or patterns upon the map represents a distinct linguistic family, the total number of families contained in the whole area being fifty-eight. It is believed that the families of languages represented upon the map can not have sprung from a common source; they are as distinct from one another in their vocabularies and apparently in their origin as from the Aryan or the Scythian families. Unquestionably, future and more critical study will result in the fusion of some of these families. As the means for analysis and comparison accumulate, resemblances now hidden will be brought to light, and relationships hitherto unsuspected will be shown to exist. Such a result may be anticipated with the more certainty inasmuch as the present classification has been made upon a conservative plan. Where relationships between families are suspected, but can not be demonstrated by convincing evidence, it has been deemed wiser not to unite them, but to keep 27 them apart until more material shall have accumulated and proof of a more convincing character shall have been brought forward. While some of the families indicated on the map may in future be united to other families, and the number thus be reduced, there seems to be no ground for the belief that the total of the linguistic families of this country will be materially diminished, at least under the present methods of linguistic analysis, for there is little reason to doubt that, as the result of investigation in the field, there will be discovered tribes speaking languages not classifiable under any of the present families; thus the decrease in the total by reason of consolidation may be compensated by a corresponding increase through discovery. It may even be possible that some of the similarities used in combining languages into families may, on further study, prove to be adventitious, and the number may be increased thereby. To which side the numerical balance will fall remains for the future to decide.
As stated above, all the families occupy the same basis of dissimilarity from one another—i.e., none of them are related—and consequently no two of them are either more or less alike than any other two, except in so far as mere coincidences and borrowed material may be said to constitute likeness and relationship. Coincidences in the nature of superficial word resemblances are common in all languages of the world. No matter how widely separated geographically two families of languages may be, no matter how unlike their vocabularies, how distinct their origin, some words may always be found which appear upon superficial examination to indicate relationship. There is not a single Indian linguistic family, for instance, which does not contain words similar in sound, and more rarely similar in both sound and meaning, to words in English, Chinese, Hebrew, and other languages. Not only do such resemblances exist, but they have been discovered and pointed out, not as mere adventitious similarities, but as proof of genetic relationship. Borrowed linguistic material also appears in every family, tempting the unwary investigator into making false analogies and drawing erroneous conclusions. Neither coincidences nor borrowed material, however, can be properly regarded as evidence of cognation.
While occupying the same plane of genetic dissimilarity, the families are by no means alike as regards either the extent of territory occupied, the number of tribes grouped under them respectively, or the number of languages and dialects of which they are composed. Some of them cover wide areas, whose dimensions are stated in terms of latitude and longitude rather than by miles. Others occupy so little space that the colors representing them are hardly discernible upon the map. Some of them contain but a single tribe; others are represented by scores of tribes. In the case of a few, the term “family” is commensurate with language, since there is but one 28 language and no dialects. In the case of others, their tribes spoke several languages, so distinct from one another as to be for the most part mutually unintelligible, and the languages shade into many dialects more or less diverse.
The map, designed primarily for the use of students who are engaged in investigating the Indians of the United States, was at first limited to this area; subsequently its scope was extended to include the whole of North America north of Mexico. Such an extension of its plan was, indeed, almost necessary, since a number of important families, largely represented in the United States, are yet more largely represented in the territory to the north, and no adequate conception of the size and relative importance of such families as the Algonquian, Siouan, Salishan, Athapascan, and others can be had without including extralimital territory.
To the south, also, it happens that several linguistic stocks extend beyond the boundaries of the United States. Three families are, indeed, mainly extralimital in their position, viz: Yuman, the great body of the tribes of which family inhabited the peninsula of Lower California; Piman, which has only a small representation in southern Arizona; and the Coahuiltecan, which intrudes into southwestern Texas. The Athapascan family is represented in Arizona and New Mexico by the well known Apache and Navajo, the former of whom have gained a strong foothold in northern Mexico, while the Tañoan, a Pueblo family of the upper Rio Grande, has established a few pueblos lower down the river in Mexico. For the purpose of necessary comparison, therefore, the map is made to include all of North America north of Mexico, the entire peninsula of Lower California, and so much of Mexico as is necessary to show the range of families common to that country and to the United States. It is left to a future occasion to attempt to indicate the linguistic relations of Mexico and Central America, for which, it may be remarked in passing, much material has been accumulated.
It is apparent that a single map can not be made to show the locations of the several linguistic families at different epochs; nor can a single map be made to represent the migrations of the tribes composing the linguistic families. In order to make a clear presentation of the latter subject, it would be necessary to prepare a series of maps showing the areas successively occupied by the several tribes as they were disrupted and driven from section to section under the pressure of other tribes or the vastly more potent force of European encroachment. Although the data necessary for a complete representation of tribal migration, even for the period subsequent to the advent of the European, does not exist, still a very large body of material bearing upon the subject is at hand, and exceedingly valuable results in this direction could be presented did not the amount 29 of time and labor and the large expense attendant upon such a project forbid the attempt for the present.
The map undertakes to show the habitat of the linguistic families only, and this is for but a single period in their history, viz, at the time when the tribes composing them first became known to the European, or when they first appear on recorded history. As the dates when the different tribes became known vary, it follows as a matter of course that the periods represented by the colors in one portion of the map are not synchronous with those in other portions. Thus the data for the Columbia River tribes is derived chiefly from the account of the journey of Lewis and Clarke in 1803-’05, long before which period radical changes of location had taken place among the tribes of the eastern United States. Again, not only are the periods represented by the different sections of the map not synchronous, but only in the case of a few of the linguistic families, and these usually the smaller ones, is it possible to make the coloring synchronous for different sections of the same family. Thus our data for the location of some of the northern members of the Shoshonean family goes back to 1804, a date at which absolutely no knowledge had been gained of most of the southern members of the group, our first accounts of whom began about 1850. Again, our knowledge of the eastern Algonquian tribes dates back to about 1600, while no information was had concerning the Atsina, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, and the Arapaho, the westernmost members of the family, until two centuries later.
Notwithstanding these facts, an attempt to fix upon the areas formerly occupied by the several linguistic families, and of the pristine homes of many of the tribes composing them, is by no means hopeless. For instance, concerning the position of the western tribes during the period of early contact of our colonies and its agreement with their position later when they appear in history, it may be inferred that as a rule it was stationary, though positive evidence is lacking. When changes of tribal habitat actually took place they were rarely in the nature of extensive migration, by which a portion of a linguistic family was severed from the main body, but usually in the form of encroachment by a tribe or tribes upon neighboring territory, which resulted simply in the extension of the limits of one linguistic family at the expense of another, the defeated tribes being incorporated or confined within narrower limits. If the above inference be correct, the fact that different chronologic periods are represented upon the map is of comparatively little importance, since, if the Indian tribes were in the main sedentary, and not nomadic, the changes resulting in the course of one or two centuries would not make material differences. Exactly the opposite opinion, however, has been expressed by many writers, viz, that the North 30 American Indian tribes were nomadic. The picture presented by these writers is of a medley of ever-shifting tribes, to-day here, to-morrow there, occupying new territory and founding new homes—if nomads can be said to have homes—only to abandon them. Such a picture, however, is believed to convey an erroneous idea of the former condition of our Indian tribes. As the question has significance in the present connection it must be considered somewhat at length.
INDIAN TRIBES SEDENTARY.
In the first place, the linguistic map, based as it is upon the earliest evidence obtainable, itself offers conclusive proof, not only that the Indian tribes were in the main sedentary at the time history first records their position, but that they had been sedentary for a very long period. In order that this may be made plain, it should be clearly understood, as stated above, that each of the colors or patterns upon the map indicates a distinct linguistic family. It will be noticed that the colors representing the several families are usually in single bodies, i.e., that they represent continuous areas, and that with some exceptions the same color is not scattered here and there over the map in small spots. Yet precisely this last state of things is what would be expected had the tribes representing the families been nomadic to a marked degree. If nomadic tribes occupied North America, instead of spreading out each from a common center, as the colors show that the tribes composing the several families actually did, they would have been dispersed here and there over the whole face of the country. That they are not so dispersed is considered proof that in the main they were sedentary. It has been stated above that more or less extensive migrations of some tribes over the country had taken place prior to European occupancy. This fact is disclosed by a glance at the present map. The great Athapascan family, for instance, occupying the larger part of British America, is known from linguistic evidence to have sent off colonies into Oregon (Wilopah, Tlatskanai, Coquille), California (Smith River tribes, Kenesti or Wailakki tribes, Hupa), and Arizona and New Mexico (Apache, Navajo). How long before European occupancy of this country these migrations took place can not be told, but in the case of most of them it was undoubtedly many years. By the test of language it is seen that the great Siouan family, which we have come to look upon as almost exclusively western, had one offshoot in Virginia (Tutelo), another in North and South Carolina (Catawba), and a third in Mississippi (Biloxi); and the Algonquian family, so important in the early history of this country, while occupying a nearly continuous area in the north and east, had yet secured a foothold, doubtless in very recent times, in Wyoming and Colorado. These and other 31 similar facts sufficiently prove the power of individual tribes or gentes to sunder relations with the great body of their kindred and to remove to distant homes. Tested by linguistic evidence, such instances appear to be exceptional, and the fact remains that in the great majority of cases the tribes composing linguistic families occupy continuous areas, and hence are and have been practically sedentary. Nor is the bond of a common language, strong and enduring as that bond is usually thought to be, entirely sufficient to explain the phenomenon here pointed out. When small in number the linguistic tie would undoubtedly aid in binding together the members of a tribe; but as the people speaking a common language increase in number and come to have conflicting interests, the linguistic tie has often proved to be an insufficient bond of union. In the case of our Indian tribes feuds and internecine conflicts were common between members of the same linguistic family. In fact, it is probable that a very large number of the dialects into which Indian languages are split originated as the result of internecine strife. Factions, divided and separated from the parent body, by contact, intermarriage, and incorporation with foreign tribes, developed distinct dialects or languages.
But linguistic evidence alone need not be relied upon to prove that the North American Indian was not nomadic.
Corroborative proof of the sedentary character of our Indian tribes is to be found in the curious form of kinship system, with mother-right as its chief factor, which prevails. This, as has been pointed out in another place, is not adapted to the necessities of nomadic tribes, which need to be governed by a patriarchal system, and, as well, to be possessed of flocks and herds.
There is also an abundance of historical evidence to show that, when first discovered by Europeans, the Indians of the eastern United States were found living in fixed habitations. This does not necessarily imply that the entire year was spent in one place. Agriculture not being practiced to an extent sufficient to supply the Indian with full subsistence, he was compelled to make occasional changes from his permanent home to the more or less distant waters and forests to procure supplies of food. When furnished with food and skins for clothing, the hunting parties returned to the village which constituted their true home. At longer periods, for several reasons—among which probably the chief were the hostility of stronger tribes, the failure of the fuel supply near the village, and the compulsion exercised by the ever lively superstitious fancies of the Indians—the villages were abandoned and new ones formed to constitute new homes, new focal points from which to set out on their annual hunts and to which to return when these were completed. The tribes of the eastern United States had fixed and definitely bounded habitats, and their wanderings were in the nature of temporary excursions to 32 established points resorted to from time immemorial. As, however, they had not yet entered completely into the agricultural condition, to which they were fast progressing from the hunter state, they may be said to have been nomadic to a very limited extent. The method of life thus sketched was substantially the one which the Indians were found practicing throughout the eastern part of the United States, as also, though to a less degree, in the Pacific States. Upon the Pacific coast proper the tribes were even more sedentary than upon the Atlantic, as the mild climate and the great abundance and permanent supply of fish and shellfish left no cause for a seasonal change of abode.
When, however, the interior portions of the country were first visited by Europeans, a different state of affairs was found to prevail. There the acquisition of the horse and the possession of firearms had wrought very great changes in aboriginal habits. The acquisition of the former enabled the Indian of the treeless plains to travel distances with ease and celerity which before were practically impossible, and the possession of firearms stimulated tribal aggressiveness to the utmost pitch. Firearms were everywhere doubly effective in producing changes in tribal habitats, since the somewhat gradual introduction of trade placed these deadly weapons in the hands of some tribes, and of whole congeries of tribes, long before others could obtain them. Thus the general state of tribal equilibrium which had before prevailed was rudely disturbed. Tribal warfare, which hitherto had been attended with inconsiderable loss of life and slight territorial changes, was now made terribly destructive, and the territorial possessions of whole groups of tribes were augmented at the expense of those less fortunate. The horse made wanderers of many tribes which there is sufficient evidence to show were formerly nearly sedentary. Firearms enforced migration and caused wholesale changes in the habitats of tribes, which, in the natural order of events, it would have taken many centuries to produce. The changes resulting from these combined agencies, great as they were, are, however, slight in comparison with the tremendous effects of the wholesale occupancy of Indian territory by Europeans. As the acquisition of territory by the settlers went on, a wave of migration from east to west was inaugurated which affected tribes far remote from the point of disturbance, ever forcing them within narrower and narrower bounds, and, as time went on, producing greater and greater changes throughout the entire country.
So much of the radical change in tribal habitats as took place in the area remote from European settlements, mainly west of the Mississippi, is chiefly unrecorded, save imperfectly in Indian tradition, and is chiefly to be inferred from linguistic evidence and from the few facts in our possession. As, however, the most important of these changes occurred after, and as a result of, European 33 occupancy, they are noted in history, and thus the map really gives a better idea of the pristine or prehistoric habitat of the tribes than at first might be thought possible.
Before speaking of the method of establishing the boundary lines between the linguistic families, as they appear upon the map, the nature of the Indian claim to land and the manner and extent of its occupation should be clearly set forth.
POPULATION.
As the question of the Indian population of the country has a direct bearing upon the extent to which the land was actually occupied, a few words on the subject will be introduced here, particularly as the area included in the linguistic map is so covered with color that it may convey a false impression of the density of the Indian population. As a result of an investigation of the subject of the early Indian population, Col. Mallery long ago arrived at the conclusion that their settlements were not numerous, and that the population, as compared with the enormous territory occupied, was extremely small.1
Careful examination since the publication of the above tends to corroborate the soundness of the conclusions there first formulated. The subject may be set forth as follows:
The sea shore, the borders of lakes, and the banks of rivers, where fish and shell-fish were to be obtained in large quantities, were naturally the Indians’ chief resort, and at or near such places were to be found their permanent settlements. As the settlements and lines of travel of the early colonists were along the shore, the lakes and the rivers, early estimates of the Indian population were chiefly based upon the numbers congregated along these highways, it being generally assumed that away from the routes of travel a like population existed. Again, over-estimates of population resulted from the fact that the same body of Indians visited different points during the year, and not infrequently were counted two or three times; change of permanent village sites also tended to augment estimates of population.
For these and other reasons a greatly exaggerated idea of the Indian population was obtained, and the impressions so derived have been dissipated only in comparatively recent times.
As will be stated more fully later, the Indian was dependent to no small degree upon natural products for his food supply. Could it be affirmed that the North American Indians had increased to a point where they pressed upon the food supply, it would imply a very much larger population than we are justified in assuming from other considerations. But for various reasons the Malthusian law, 34 whether applicable elsewhere or not, can not be applied to the Indians of this country. Everywhere bountiful nature had provided an unfailing and practically inexhaustible food supply. The rivers teemed with fish and mollusks, and the forests with game, while upon all sides was an abundance of nutritious roots and seeds. All of these sources were known, and to a large extent they were drawn upon by the Indian, but the practical lesson of providing in the season of plenty for the season of scarcity had been but imperfectly learned, or, when learned, was but partially applied. Even when taught by dire experience the necessity of laying up adequate stores, it was the almost universal practice to waste great quantities of food by a constant succession of feasts, in the superstitious observances of which the stores were rapidly wasted and plenty soon gave way to scarcity and even to famine.
Curiously enough, the hospitality which is so marked a trait among our North American Indians had its source in a law, the invariable practice of which has had a marked effect in retarding the acquisition by the Indian of the virtue of providence. As is well known, the basis of the Indian social organization was the kinship system. By its provisions almost all property was possessed in common by the gens or clan. Food, the most important of all, was by no means left to be exclusively enjoyed by the individual or the family obtaining it.
For instance, the distribution of game among the families of a party was variously provided for in different tribes, but the practical effect of the several customs relating thereto was the sharing of the supply. The hungry Indian had but to ask to receive and this no matter how small the supply, or how dark the future prospect. It was not only his privilege to ask, it was his right to demand. Undoubtedly what was originally a right, conferred by kinship connections, ultimately assumed broader proportions, and finally passed into the exercise of an almost indiscriminate hospitality. By reason of this custom, the poor hunter was virtually placed upon equality with the expert one, the lazy with the industrious, the improvident with the more provident. Stories of Indian life abound with instances of individual families or parties being called upon by those less fortunate or provident to share their supplies.
The effect of such a system, admirable as it was in many particulars, practically placed a premium upon idleness. Under such communal rights and privileges a potent spur to industry and thrift is wanting.
There is an obverse side to this problem, which a long and intimate acquaintance with the Indians in their villages has forced upon the writer. The communal ownership of food and the great hospitality practiced by the Indian have had a very much greater influence upon his character than that indicated in the foregoing 35 remarks. The peculiar institutions prevailing in this respect gave to each tribe or clan a profound interest in the skill, ability and industry of each member. He was the most valuable person in the community who supplied it with the most of its necessities. For this reason the successful hunter or fisherman was always held in high honor, and the woman, who gathered great store of seeds, fruits, or roots, or who cultivated a good corn-field, was one who commanded the respect and received the highest approbation of the people. The simple and rude ethics of a tribal people are very important to them, the more so because of their communal institutions; and everywhere throughout the tribes of the United States it is discovered that their rules of conduct were deeply implanted in the minds of the people. An organized system of teaching is always found, as it is the duty of certain officers of the clan to instruct the young in all the industries necessary to their rude life, and simple maxims of industry abound among the tribes and are enforced in diverse and interesting ways. The power of the elder men in the clan over its young members is always very great, and the training of the youth is constant and rigid. Besides this, a moral sentiment exists in favor of primitive virtues which is very effective in molding character. This may be illustrated in two ways.
Marriage among all Indian tribes is primarily by legal appointment, as the young woman receives a husband from some other prescribed clan or clans, and the elders of the clan, with certain exceptions, control these marriages, and personal choice has little to do with the affair. When marriages are proposed, the virtues and industry of the candidates, and more than all, their ability to properly live as married couples and to supply the clan or tribe with a due amount of subsistence, are discussed long and earnestly, and the young man or maiden who fails in this respect may fail in securing an eligible and desirable match. And these motives are constantly presented to the savage youth.
A simple democracy exists among these people, and they have a variety of tribal offices to fill. In this way the men of the tribe are graded, and they pass from grade to grade by a selection practically made by the people. And this leads to a constant discussion of the virtues and abilities of all the male members of the clan, from boyhood to old age. He is most successful in obtaining clan and tribal promotion who is most useful to the clan and the tribe. In this manner all of the ambitious are stimulated, and this incentive to industry is very great.
When brought into close contact with the Indian, and into intimate acquaintance with his language, customs, and religious ideas, there is a curious tendency observable in students to overlook aboriginal vices and to exaggerate aboriginal virtues. It seems to 36 be forgotten that after all the Indian is a savage, with the characteristics of a savage, and he is exalted even above the civilized man. The tendency is exactly the reverse of what it is in the case of those who view the Indian at a distance and with no precise knowledge of any of his characteristics. In the estimation of such persons the Indian’s vices greatly outweigh his virtues; his language is a gibberish, his methods of war cowardly, his ideas of religion utterly puerile.
The above tendencies are accentuated in the attempt to estimate the comparative worth and position of individual tribes. No being is more patriotic than the Indian. He believes himself to be the result of a special creation by a partial deity and holds that his is the one favored race. The name by which the tribes distinguish themselves from other tribes indicates the further conviction that, as the Indian is above all created things, so in like manner each particular tribe is exalted above all others. “Men of men” is the literal translation of one name; “the only men” of another, and so on through the whole category. A long residence with any one tribe frequently inoculates the student with the same patriotic spirit. Bringing to his study of a particular tribe an inadequate conception of Indian attainments and a low impression of their moral and intellectual plane, the constant recital of its virtues, the bravery and prowess of its men in war, their generosity, the chaste conduct and obedience of its women as contrasted with the opposite qualities of all other tribes, speedily tends to partisanship. He discovers many virtues and finds that the moral and intellectual attainments are higher than he supposed; but these advantages he imagines to be possessed solely, or at least to an unusual degree, by the tribe in question. Other tribes are assigned much lower rank in the scale.
The above is peculiarly true of the student of language. He who studies only one Indian language and learns its manifold curious grammatic devices, its wealth of words, its capacity of expression, is speedily convinced of its superiority to all other Indian tongues, and not infrequently to all languages by whomsoever spoken.
If like admirable characteristics are asserted for other tongues he is apt to view them but as derivatives from one original. Thus he is led to overlook the great truth that the mind of man is everywhere practically the same, and that the innumerable differences of its products are indices merely of different stages of growth or are the results of different conditions of environment. In its development the human mind is limited by no boundaries of tribe or race.
Again, a long acquaintance with many tribes in their homes leads to the belief that savage people do not lack industry so much as wisdom. They are capable of performing, and often do perform, great and continuous labor. The men and women alike toil from day to day and from year to year, engaged in those tasks that are 37 presented with the recurring seasons. In civilization, hunting and fishing are often considered sports, but in savagery they are labors, and call for endurance, patience, and sagacity. And these are exercised to a reasonable degree among all savage peoples.
It is probable that the real difficulty of purchasing quantities of food from Indians has, in most cases, not been properly understood. Unless the alien is present at a time of great abundance, when there is more on hand or easily obtainable than sufficient to supply the wants of the people, food can not be bought of the Indians. This arises from the fact that the tribal tenure is communal, and to get food by purchase requires a treaty at which all the leading members of the tribe are present and give consent.
As an illustration of the improvidence of the Indians generally, the habits of the tribes along the Columbia River may be cited. The Columbia River has often been pointed to as the probable source of a great part of the Indian population of this country, because of the enormous supply of salmon furnished by it and its tributaries. If an abundant and readily obtained supply of food was all that was necessary to insure a large population, and if population always increased up to the limit of food supply, unquestionably the theory of repeated migratory waves of surplus population from the Columbia Valley would be plausible enough. It is only necessary, however, to turn to the accounts of the earlier explorers of this region, Lewis and Clarke, for example, to refute the idea, so far at least as the Columbia Valley is concerned, although a study of the many diverse languages spread over the United States would seem sufficiently to prove that the tribes speaking them could not have originated at a common center, unless, indeed, at a period anterior to the formation of organized language.
The Indians inhabiting the Columbia Valley were divided into many tribes, belonging to several distinct linguistic families. They all were in the same culture status, however, and differed in habits and arts only in minor particulars. All of them had recourse to the salmon of the Columbia for the main part of their subsistence, and all practiced similar crude methods of curing fish and storing it away for the winter. Without exception, judging from the accounts of the above mentioned and of more recent authors, all the tribes suffered periodically more or less from insufficient food supply, although, with the exercise of due forethought and economy, even with their rude methods of catching and curing salmon, enough might here have been cured annually to suffice for the wants of the Indian population of the entire Northwest for several years.
In their ascent of the river in spring, before the salmon run, it was only with great difficulty that Lewis and Clarke were able to provide themselves by purchase with enough food to keep themselves from starving. Several parties of Indians from the vicinity of the 38 Dalles, the best fishing station on the river, were met on their way down in quest of food, their supply of dried salmon having been entirely exhausted.
Nor is there anything in the accounts of any of the early visitors to the Columbia Valley to authorize the belief that the population there was a very large one. As was the case with all fish-stocked streams, the Columbia was resorted to in the fishing season by many tribes living at considerable distance from it; but there is no evidence tending to show that the settled population of its banks or of any part of its drainage basin was or ever had been by any means excessive.
The Dalles, as stated above, was the best fishing station on the river, and the settled population there may be taken as a fair index of that of other favorable locations. The Dalles was visited by Ross in July, 1811, and the following is his statement in regard to the population:
The main camp of the Indians is situated at the head of the narrows, and may contain, during the salmon season, 3,000 souls, or more; but the constant inhabitants of the place do not exceed 100 persons, and are called Wy-am-pams; the rest are all foreigners from different tribes throughout the country, who resort hither, not for the purpose of catching salmon, but chiefly for gambling and speculation.2
And as it was on the Columbia with its enormous supply of fish, so was it elsewhere in the United States.
Even the practice of agriculture, with its result of providing a more certain and bountiful food supply, seems not to have had the effect of materially augmenting the Indian population. At all events, it is in California and Oregon, a region where agriculture was scarcely practiced at all, that the most dense aboriginal population lived. There is no reason to believe that there ever existed within the limits of the region included in the map, with the possible exception of certain areas in California, a population equal to the natural food supply. On the contrary, there is every reason for believing that the population at the time of the discovery might have been many times more than what it actually was had a wise economy been practised.
The effect of wars in decimating the people has often been greatly exaggerated. Since the advent of the white man on the continent, wars have prevailed to a degree far beyond that existing at an earlier time. From the contest which necessarily arose between the native tribes and invading nations many wars resulted, and their history is well known. Again, tribes driven from their ancestral homes often retreated to lands previously occupied by other tribes, and intertribal wars resulted therefrom. The acquisition of firearms and horses, through the agency of white men, also had its influence, and when a commercial value was given to furs and skins, the Indian abandoned 39 agriculture to pursue hunting and traffic, and sought new fields for such enterprises, and many new contests arose from this cause. Altogether the character of the Indian since the discovery of Columbus has been greatly changed, and he has become far more warlike and predatory. Prior to that time, and far away in the wilderness beyond such influence since that time, Indian tribes seem to have lived together in comparative peace and to have settled their difficulties by treaty methods. A few of the tribes had distinct organizations for purposes of war; all recognized it to a greater or less extent in their tribal organization; but from such study as has been given the subject, and from the many facts collected from time to time relating to the intercourse existing between tribes, it appears that the Indians lived in comparative peace. Their accumulations were not so great as to be tempting, and their modes of warfare were not excessively destructive. Armed with clubs and spears and bows and arrows, war could be prosecuted only by hand-to-hand conflict, and depended largely upon individual prowess, while battle for plunder, tribute, and conquest was almost unknown. Such intertribal wars as occurred originated from other causes, such as infraction of rights relating to hunting grounds and fisheries, and still oftener prejudices growing out of their superstitions.
That which kept the Indian population down sprang from another source, which has sometimes been neglected. The Indians had no reasonable or efficacious system of medicine. They believed that diseases were caused by unseen evil beings and by witchcraft, and every cough, every toothache, every headache, every chill, every fever, every boil, and every wound, in fact, all their ailments, were attributed to such cause. Their so-called medicine practice was a horrible system of sorcery, and to such superstition human life was sacrificed on an enormous scale. The sufferers were given over to priest doctors to be tormented, bedeviled, and destroyed; and a universal and profound belief in witchcraft made them suspicious, and led to the killing of all suspected and obnoxious people, and engendered blood feuds on a gigantic scale. It may be safely said that while famine, pestilence, disease, and war may have killed many, superstition killed more; in fact, a natural death in a savage tent is a comparatively rare phenomenon; but death by sorcery, medicine, and blood feud arising from a belief in witchcraft is exceedingly common.
Scanty as was the population compared with the vast area teeming with natural products capable of supporting human life, it may be safely said that at the time of the discovery, and long prior thereto, practically the whole of the area included in the present map was claimed and to some extent occupied by Indian tribes; but the possession of land by the Indian by no means implies occupancy in the modern or civilized sense of the term. In the latter sense occupation means to a great extent individual control and 40 ownership. Very different was it with the Indians. Individual ownership of land was, as a rule, a thing entirely foreign to the Indian mind, and quite unknown in the culture stage to which he belonged. All land, of whatever character or however utilized, was held in common by the tribe, or in a few instances by the clan. Apparently an exception to this broad statement is to be made in the case of the Haida of the northwest coast, who have been studied by Dawson. According to him3 the land is divided among the different families and is held as strictly personal property, with hereditary rights or possessions descending from one generation to another. “The lands may be bartered or given away. The larger salmon streams are, however, often the property jointly of a number of families.” The tendency in this case is toward personal right in land.
TRIBAL LAND.
For convenience of discussion, Indian tribal land may be divided into three classes: First, the land occupied by the villages; second, the land actually employed in agriculture; third, the land claimed by the tribe but not occupied, except as a hunting ground.
Village sites.—The amount of land taken up as village sites varied considerably in different parts of the country. It varied also in the same tribe at different times. As a rule, the North American Indians lived in communal houses of sufficient size to accommodate several families. In such cases the village consisted of a few large structures closely grouped together, so that it covered very little ground. When territory was occupied by warlike tribes, the construction of rude palisades around the villages and the necessities of defense generally tended to compel the grouping of houses, and the permanent village sites of even the more populous tribes covered only a very small area. In the case of confederated tribes and in the time of peace the tendency was for one or more families to establish more or less permanent settlements away from the main village, where a livelihood was more readily obtainable. Hence, in territory which had enjoyed a considerable interval of peace the settlements were in the nature of small agricultural communities, established at short distances from each other and extending in the aggregate over a considerable extent of country. In the case of populous tribes the villages were probably of the character of the Choctaw towns described by Adair.4 “The barrier towns, which are next to the Muskohge and Chikkasah countries, are compactly settled for social defense, according to the general method of other savage nations; but the rest, both in the center and toward the Mississippi, are only scattered plantations, as best suits a separate easy 41 way of living. A stranger might be in the middle of one of their populous, extensive towns without seeing half a dozen houses in the direct course of his path.” More closely grouped settlements are described by Wayne in American State Papers, 1793, in his account of an expedition down the Maumee Valley, where he states that “The margins of the Miamis of the Lake and the Au Glaize appear like one continuous village for a number of miles, nor have I ever beheld such immense fields of corn in any part of America from Canada to Florida.” Such a chain of villages as this was probably highly exceptional; but even under such circumstances the village sites proper formed but a very small part of the total area occupied.
From the foregoing considerations it will be seen that the amount of land occupied as village sites under any circumstances was inconsiderable.
Agricultural land.—It is practically impossible to make an accurate estimate of the relative amount of land devoted to agricultural purposes by any one tribe or by any family of tribes. None of the factors which enter into the problem are known to us with sufficient accuracy to enable reliable estimates to be made of the amount of land tilled or of the products derived from the tillage; and only in few cases have we trustworthy estimates of the population of the tribe or tribes practicing agriculture. Only a rough approximation of the truth can be reached from the scanty data available and from a general knowledge of Indian methods of subsistence.
The practice of agriculture was chiefly limited to the region south of the St. Lawrence and east of the Mississippi. In this region it was far more general and its results were far more important than is commonly supposed. To the west of the Mississippi only comparatively small areas were occupied by agricultural tribes and these lay chiefly in New Mexico and Arizona and along the Arkansas, Platte, and Missouri Rivers. The rest of that region was tenanted by non-agricultural tribes—unless indeed the slight attention paid to the cultivation of tobacco by a few of the west coast tribes, notably the Haida, may be considered agriculture. Within the first mentioned area most of the tribes, perhaps all, practiced agriculture to a greater or less extent, though unquestionably the degree of reliance placed upon it as a means of support differed much with different tribes and localities.
Among many tribes agriculture was relied upon to supply an important—and perhaps in the case of a few tribes, the most important—part of the food supply. The accounts of some of the early explorers in the southern United States, where probably agriculture was more systematized than elsewhere, mention corn fields of great extent, and later knowledge of some northern tribes, as the Iroquois and some of the Ohio Valley tribes, shows that they also raised corn in great quantities. 42 The practice of agriculture to a point where it shall prove the main and constant supply of a people, however, implies a degree of sedentariness to which our Indians as a rule had not attained and an amount of steady labor without immediate return which was peculiarly irksome to them. Moreover, the imperfect methods pursued in clearing, planting, and cultivating sufficiently prove that the Indians, though agriculturists, were in the early stages of development as such—a fact also attested by the imperfect and one-sided division of labor between the sexes, the men as a rule taking but small share of the burdensome tasks of clearing land, planting, and harvesting.
It is certain that by no tribe of the United States was agriculture pursued to such an extent as to free its members from the practice of the hunter’s or fisher’s art. Admitting the most that can be claimed for the Indian as an agriculturist, it may be stated that, whether because of the small population or because of the crude manner in which his operations were carried on, the amount of land devoted to agriculture within the area in question was infinitesimally small as compared with the total. Upon a map colored to show only the village sites and agricultural land, the colors would appear in small spots, while by far the greater part of the map would remain uncolored.
Hunting claims.—The great body of the land within the area mapped which was occupied by agricultural tribes, and all the land outside it, was held as a common hunting ground, and the tribal claim to territory, independent of village sites and corn fields, amounted practically to little else than hunting claims. The community of possession in the tribe to the hunting ground was established and practically enforced by hunting laws, which dealt with the divisions of game among the village, or among the families of the hunters actually taking part in any particular hunt. As a rule, such natural landmarks as rivers, lakes, hills, and mountain chains served to mark with sufficient accuracy the territorial tribal limits. In California, and among the Haida and perhaps other tribes of the northwest coast, the value of certain hunting and fishing claims led to their definition by artificial boundaries, as by sticks or stones.5
Such precautions imply a large population, and in such regions as California the killing of game upon the land of adjoining tribes was rigidly prohibited and sternly punished.
As stated above, every part of the vast area included in the present map is to be regarded as belonging, according to Indian ideas of land title, to one or another of the Indian tribes. To determine the several tribal possessions and to indicate the proper boundary lines between individual tribes and linguistic families is a work of great 43 difficulty. This is due more to the imperfection and scantiness of available data concerning tribal claims than to the absence of claimants or to any ambiguity in the minds of the Indians as to the boundaries of their several possessions.
Not only is precise data wanting respecting the limits of land actually held or claimed by many tribes, but there are other tribes, which disappeared early in the history of our country, the boundaries to whose habitat is to be determined only in the most general way. Concerning some of these, our information is so vague that the very linguistic family they belonged to is in doubt. In the case of probably no one family are the data sufficient in amount and accuracy to determine positively the exact areas definitely claimed or actually held by the tribes. Even in respect of the territory of many of the tribes of the eastern United States, much of whose land was ceded by actual treaty with the Government, doubt exists. The fixation of the boundary points, when these are specifically mentioned in the treaty, as was the rule, is often extremely difficult, owing to the frequent changes of geographic names and the consequent disagreement of present with ancient maps. Moreover, when the Indian’s claim to his land had been admitted by Government, and the latter sought to acquire a title through voluntary cession by actual purchase, land assumed a value to the Indian never attaching to it before.
Under these circumstances, either under plea of immemorial occupancy or of possession by right of conquest, the land was often claimed, and the claims urged with more or less plausibility by several tribes, sometimes of the same linguistic family, sometimes of different families.
It was often found by the Government to be utterly impracticable to decide between conflicting claims, and not infrequently the only way out of the difficulty lay in admitting the claim of both parties, and in paying for the land twice or thrice. It was customary for a number of different tribes to take part in such treaties, and not infrequently several linguistic families were represented. It was the rule for each tribe, through its representatives, to cede its share of a certain territory, the natural boundaries of which as a whole are usually recorded with sufficient accuracy. The main purpose of the Government in treaty-making being to obtain possession of the land, comparatively little attention was bestowed to defining the exact areas occupied by the several tribes taking part in a treaty, except in so far as the matter was pressed upon attention by disputing claimants. Hence the territory claimed by each tribe taking part in the treaty is rarely described, and occasionally not all the tribes interested in the proposed cession are even mentioned categorically. The latter statement applies more particularly to the territory west of the Mississippi, the data for determining ownership 44 to which is much less precise, and the doubt and confusion respecting tribal boundary lines correspondingly greater than in the country east of that river. Under the above circumstances, it will be readily understood that to determine tribal boundaries within accurately drawn lines is in the vast majority of cases quite impossible.
Imperfect and defective as the terms of the treaties frequently are as regards the definition of tribal boundaries, they are by far the most accurate and important of the means at our command for fixing boundary lines upon the present map. By their aid the territorial possessions of a considerable number of tribes have been determined with desirable precision, and such areas definitely established have served as checks upon the boundaries of other tribes, concerning the location and extent of whose possessions little is known.
For establishing the boundaries of such tribes as are not mentioned in treaties, and of those whose territorial possessions are not given with sufficient minuteness, early historical accounts are all important. Such accounts, of course, rarely indicate the territorial possessions of the tribes with great precision. In many cases, however, the sites of villages are accurately given. In others the source of information concerning a tribe is contained in a general statement of the occupancy of certain valleys or mountain ranges or areas at the heads of certain rivers, no limiting lines whatever being assigned. In others, still, the notice of a tribe is limited to a brief mention of the presence in a certain locality of hunting or war parties.
Data of this loose character would of course be worthless in an attempt to fix boundary lines in accordance with the ideas of the modern surveyor. The relative positions of the families and the relative size of the areas occupied by them, however, and not their exact boundaries, are the chief concern in a linguistic map, and for the purpose of establishing these, and, in a rough way, the boundaries of the territory held by the tribes composing them, these data are very important, and when compared with one another and corrected by more definite data, when such are at hand, they have usually been found to be sufficient for the purpose.
SUMMARY OF DEDUCTIONS.
In conclusion, the more important deductions derivable from the data upon which the linguistic map is based, or that are suggested by it, may be summarized as follows:
First, the North American Indian tribes, instead of speaking related dialects, originating in a single parent language, in reality speak many languages belonging to distinct families, which have no apparent unity of origin.
Second, the Indian population of North America was greatly exaggerated by early writers, and instead of being large was in reality small as compared with the vast territory occupied and the 45 abundant food supply; and furthermore, the population had nowhere augmented sufficiently, except possibly in California, to press upon the food supply.
Third, although representing a small population, the numerous tribes had overspread North America and had possessed themselves of all the territory, which, in the case of a great majority of tribes, was owned in common by the tribe.
Fourth, prior to the advent of the European, the tribes were probably nearly in a state of equilibrium, and were in the main sedentary, and those tribes which can be said with propriety to have been nomadic became so only after the advent of the European, and largely as the direct result of the acquisition of the horse and the introduction of firearms.
Fifth, while agriculture was general among the tribes of the eastern United States, and while it was spreading among western tribes, its products were nowhere sufficient wholly to emancipate the Indian from the hunter state.
LINGUISTIC FAMILIES.
Within the area covered by the map there are recognized fifty-eight distinct linguistic families.
These are enumerated in alphabetical order and each is accompanied by a table of the synonyms of the family name, together with a brief statement of the geographical area occupied by each family, so far as it is known. A list of the principal tribes of each family also is given.
ADAIZAN FAMILY.
= Adaize, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 116, 306, 1836. Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc., Lond., II, 31-59, 1846. Latham, Opuscula, 293, 1860. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, xcix, 1848. Gallatin in Schoolcraft Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853. Latham, Elements Comp. Phil., 477, 1862 (referred to as one of the most isolated languages of N.A.). Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 478, 1878 (or Adees).
= Adaizi, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 406, 1847.
= Adaise, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 77, 1848.
= Adahi, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 342, 1850. Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc., Lond., 103, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 366, 368, 1860. Latham, Elements Comp., Phil., 473, 477, 1863 (same as his Adaize above).
= Adaes, Buschmann, Spuren der aztekischen Sprache, 424, 1859.
= Adees. Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.) 478, 1878 (same as his Adaize).
= Adái, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Leg., 41, 1884.
Derivation: From a Caddo word hadai, sig. “brush wood.”
This family was based upon the language spoken by a single tribe who, according to Dr. Sibley, lived about the year 1800 near the old 46 Spanish fort or mission of Adaize, “about 40 miles from Natchitoches, below the Yattassees, on a lake called Lac Macdon, which communicates with the division of Red River that passes by Bayau Pierre.”6 A vocabulary of about two hundred and fifty words is all that remains to us of their language, which according to the collector, Dr. Sibley, “differs from all others, and is so difficult to speak or understand that no nation can speak ten words of it.”
It was from an examination of Sibley’s vocabulary that Gallatin reached the conclusion of the distinctness of this language from any other known, an opinion accepted by most later authorities. A recent comparison of this vocabulary by Mr. Gatschet, with several Caddoan dialects, has led to the discovery that a considerable percentage of the Adái words have a more or less remote affinity with Caddoan, and he regards it as a Caddoan dialect. The amount of material, however, necessary to establish its relationship to Caddoan is not at present forthcoming, and it may be doubted if it ever will be, as recent inquiry has failed to reveal the existence of a single member of the tribe, or of any individual of the tribes once surrounding the Adái who remembers a word of the language.
Mr. Gatschet found that some of the older Caddo in the Indian Territory remembered the Adái as one of the tribes formerly belonging to the Caddo Confederacy. More than this he was unable to learn from them.
Owing to their small numbers, their remoteness from lines of travel, and their unwarlike character the Adái have cut but a small figure in history, and accordingly the known facts regarding them are very meager. The first historical mention of them appears to be by Cabeça de Vaca, who in his “Naufragios,” referring to his stay in Texas, about 1530, calls them Atayos. Mention is also made of them by several of the early French explorers of the Mississippi, as d’Iberville and Joutel.
The Mission of Adayes, so called from its proximity to the home of the tribe, was established in 1715. In 1792 there was a partial emigration of the Adái to the number of fourteen families to a site south of San Antonio de Bejar, southwest Texas, where apparently they amalgamated with the surrounding Indian population and were lost sight of. (From documents preserved at the City Hall, San Antonio, and examined by Mr. Gatschet in December, 1886.) The Adái who were left in their old homes numbered one hundred in 1802, according to Baudry de Lozieres. According to Sibley, in 1809 there were only “twenty men of them remaining, but more women.” In 1820 Morse mentions only thirty survivors.
47ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.
> Algonkin-Lenape, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 23, 305, 1836. Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid, 1852.
> Algonquin, Bancroft, Hist. U. S., III, 337, 1840. Prichard Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 381, 1847 (follows Gallatin).
> Algonkins, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848. Gallatin in Schoolcraft Ind. Tribes, III, 401, 1853.
> Algonkin, Turner in Pac. R. R. Rept., III, pt. 3, 55, 1856 (gives Delaware and Shawnee vocabs.). Hayden, Cont. Eth. and Phil. Missouri Inds., 232, 1862 (treats only of Crees, Blackfeet, Shyennes). Hale in Am. Antiq., 112, April, 1883 (treated with reference to migration).
< Algonkin, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc., Lond., 1856 (adds to Gallatin’s list of 1836 the Bethuck, Shyenne, Blackfoot, and Arrapaho). Latham, Opuscula, 327, 1860 (as in preceding). Latham, Elements Comp. Phil, 447, 1862.
< Algonquin, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp., (Cent. and S. Am.), 460, 465, 1878 (list includes the Maquas, an Iroquois tribe).
> Saskatschawiner, Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848 (probably designates the Arapaho).
> Arapahoes, Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852.
X Algonkin und Beothuk, Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887.
Derivation: Contracted from Algomequin, an Algonkin word, signifying “those on the other side of the river,” i.e., the St. Lawrence River.
ALGONQUIAN AREA.
The area formerly occupied by the Algonquian family was more extensive than that of any other linguistic stock in North America, their territory reaching from Labrador to the Rocky Mountains, and from Churchill River of Hudson Bay as far south at least as Pamlico Sound of North Carolina. In the eastern part of this territory was an area occupied by Iroquoian tribes, surrounded on almost all sides by their Algonquian neighbors. On the south the Algonquian tribes were bordered by those of Iroquoian and Siouan (Catawba) stock, on the southwest and west by the Muskhogean and Siouan tribes, and on the northwest by the Kitunahan and the great Athapascan families, while along the coast of Labrador and the eastern shore of Hudson Bay they came in contact with the Eskimo, who were gradually retreating before them to the north. In Newfoundland they encountered the Beothukan family, consisting of but a single tribe. A portion of the Shawnee at some early period had separated from the main body of the tribe in central Tennessee and pushed their way down to the Savannah River in South Carolina, where, known as Savannahs, they carried on destructive wars with the surrounding tribes until about the beginning of the eighteenth century they were finally driven out and joined the Delaware in the north. Soon afterwards the rest of the tribe was expelled by the Cherokee and Chicasa, who thenceforward claimed all the country stretching north to the Ohio River.
48 The Cheyenne and Arapaho, two allied tribes of this stock, had become separated from their kindred on the north and had forced their way through hostile tribes across the Missouri to the Black Hills country of South Dakota, and more recently into Wyoming and Colorado, thus forming the advance guard of the Algonquian stock in that direction, having the Siouan tribes behind them and those of the Shoshonean family in front.
PRINCIPAL ALGONQUINIAN TRIBES.
Abnaki. Algonquin. Arapaho. Cheyenne. Conoy. Cree. Delaware. Fox. Illinois. Kickapoo. Mahican. Massachuset. |
Menominee. Miami. Micmac. Mohegan. Montagnais. Montauk. Munsee. Nanticoke. Narraganset. Nauset. Nipmuc. Ojibwa. |
Ottawa. Pamlico. Pennacook. Pequot. Piankishaw. Pottawotomi. Powhatan. Sac. Shawnee. Siksika. Wampanoag. Wappinger. |
Population.—The present number of the Algonquian stock is about 95,600, of whom about 60,000 are in Canada and the remainder in the United States. Below is given the population of the tribes officially recognized, compiled chiefly from the United States Indian Commissioner’s report for 1889 and the Canadian Indian report for 1888. It is impossible to give exact figures, owing to the fact that in many instances two or more tribes are enumerated together, while many individuals are living with other tribes or amongst the whites:
ATHAPASCAN FAMILY.
> Athapascas, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 16, 305, 1836. Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 375, 1847. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848. Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852. Turner in “Literary World,” 281, April 17, 1852 (refers Apache and Navajo to this family on linguistic evidence).
> Athapaccas, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 401, 1853. (Evident misprint.)
> Athapascan, Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 84, 1856. (Mere mention of family; Apaches and congeners belong to this family, as shown by him in “Literary World.” Hoopah also asserted to be Athapascan.)
> Athabaskans, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 302, 1850. (Under Northern Athabaskans, includes Chippewyans Proper, Beaver Indians, Daho-dinnis, Strong Bows, Hare Indians, Dog-ribs, Yellow Knives, Carriers. Under Southern Athabaskans, includes (p. 308) Kwalioqwa, Tlatskanai, Umkwa.)
= Athabaskan, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 65, 96, 1856. Buschmann (1854), Der athapaskische Sprachstamm, 250, 1856 (Hoopahs, Apaches, and Navajoes included). Latham, Opuscula, 333, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 388, 1862. Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., II, 31-50, 1846 (indicates the coalescence of Athabascan family with Esquimaux). Latham (1844), in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., I, 161, 1848 (Nagail and Taculli referred to Athabascan). Scouler (1846), in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., I, 230, 1848. Latham, Opuscula, 257, 259, 276, 1860. Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 463, 1878.
> Kinai, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 14, 305, 1836 (Kinai and Ugaljachmutzi; considered to form a distinct family, though affirmed to have affinities with western Esquimaux and with Athapascas). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 440-448, 1847 (follows Gallatin; also affirms a relationship to Aztec). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 77, 1848.
> Kenay, Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., II, 32-34, 1846. Latham, Opuscula, 275, 1860. Latham, Elements Comp. Phil., 389, 1862 (referred to Esquimaux stock).
> Kinætzi, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 441, 1847 (same as his Kinai above).
> Kenai, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, xcix, 1848 (see Kinai above). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 695, 1856 (refers it to Athapaskan).
X Northern, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 218, 1841. (Includes Atnas, Kolchans, and Kenáïes of present family.)
X Haidah, Scouler, ibid., 224 (same as his Northern family).
> Chepeyans, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 375, 1847 (same as Athapascas above).
> Tahkali-Umkwa, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 198, 201, 569, 1846 (“a branch of the great Chippewyan, or Athapascan, stock;” includes Carriers, Qualioguas, Tlatskanies, Umguas). Gallatin, after Hale in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 9, 1848.
> Digothi, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Digothi, Loucheux, ibid. 1852.
> Lipans, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 349, 1850 (Lipans (Sipans) between Rio Arkansas and Rio Grande).
52 > Tototune, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 325, 1850 (seacoast south of the Saintskla).
> Ugaljachmutzi, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (“perhaps Athapascas”).
> Umkwa, Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., VI, 72, 1854 (a single tribe). Latham, Opuscula, 300, 1860.
> Tahlewah. Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 422, 1853 (a single tribe). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 76, 1856 (a single tribe). Latham. Opuscula, 342, 1860.
> Tolewa, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 163, 1877 (vocab. from Smith River, Oregon; affirmed to be distinct from any neighboring tongue). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Miscellany, 438, 1877.
> Hoo-pah, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 422, 1853 (tribe on Lower Trinity, California).
> Hoopa, Powers in Overland Monthly, 135, August, 1872.
> Hú-pâ, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 72, 1877 (affirmed to be Athapascan).
= Tinneh, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass. A. S., XVIII, 269, 1869 (chiefly Alaskan tribes). Dall, Alaska and its Resources, 428, 1870. Dall in Cont. N.A. Eth., I, 24, 1877. Bancroft, Native Races, III, 562, 583, 603, 1882.
= Tinné, Gatschet in Mag. Am, Hist., 165, 1877 (special mention of Hoopa, Rogue River, Umpqua.) Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 440, 1877. Gatschet in Geog. Surv. W. 100th M., VII, 406, 1879. Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 62, 1884. Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887.
= Tinney, Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 463, 1878.
X Klamath, Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 475, 1878; or Lutuami, (Lototens and Tolewahs of his list belong here.)
Derivation: From the lake of the same name; signifying, according to Lacombe, “place of hay and reeds.”
As defined by Gallatin, the area occupied by this great family is included in a line drawn from the mouth of the Churchill or Missinippi River to its source; thence along the ridge which separates the north branch of the Saskatchewan from those of the Athapascas to the Rocky Mountains; and thence northwardly till within a hundred miles of the Pacific Ocean, in latitude 52° 30'.
The only tribe within the above area excepted by Gallatin as of probably a different stock was the Quarrelers or Loucheux, living at the mouth of Mackenzie River. This tribe, however, has since been ascertained to be Athapascan.
The Athapascan family thus occupied almost the whole of British Columbia and of Alaska, and was, with the exception of the Eskimo, by whom they were cut off on nearly all sides from the ocean, the most northern family in North America.
Since Gallatin’s time the history of this family has been further elucidated by the discovery on the part of Hale and Turner that isolated branches of the stock have become established in Oregon, California, and along the southern border of the United States.
The boundaries of the Athapascan family, as now understood, are best given under three primary groups—Northern, Pacific, and Southern.
53 Northern group.—This includes all the Athapascan tribes of British North America and Alaska. In the former region the Athapascans occupy most of the western interior, being bounded on the north by the Arctic Eskimo, who inhabit a narrow strip of coast; on the east by the Eskimo of Hudson’s Bay as far south as Churchill River, south of which river the country is occupied by Algonquian tribes. On the south the Athapascan tribes extended to the main ridge between the Athapasca and Saskatchewan Rivers, where they met Algonquian tribes; west of this area they were bounded on the south by Salishan tribes, the limits of whose territory on Fraser River and its tributaries appear on Tolmie and Dawson’s map of 1884. On the west, in British Columbia, the Athapascan tribes nowhere reach the coast, being cut off by the Wakashan, Salishan, and Chimmesyan families.
The interior of Alaska is chiefly occupied by tribes of this family. Eskimo tribes have encroached somewhat upon the interior along the Yukon, Kuskokwim, Kowak, and Noatak Rivers, reaching on the Yukon to somewhat below Shageluk Island,7 and on the Kuskokwim nearly or quite to Kolmakoff Redoubt.8 Upon the two latter they reach quite to their heads.9 A few Kutchin tribes are (or have been) north of the Porcupine and Yukon Rivers, but until recently it has not been known that they extended north beyond the Yukon and Romanzoff Mountains. Explorations of Lieutenant Stoney, in 1885, establish the fact that the region to the north of those mountains is occupied by Athapascan tribes, and the map is colored accordingly. Only in two places in Alaska do the Athapascan tribes reach the coast—the K’naia-khotana, on Cook’s Inlet, and the Ahtena, of Copper River.
Pacific group.—Unlike the tribes of the Northern group, most of those of the Pacific group have removed from their priscan habitats since the advent of the white race. The Pacific group embraces the following: Kwalhioqua, formerly on Willopah River, Washington, near the Lower Chinook;10 Owilapsh, formerly between Shoalwater Bay and the heads of the Chehalis River, Washington, the territory of these two tribes being practically continuous; Tlatscanai, formerly on a small stream on the northwest side of Wapatoo Island.11 Gibbs was informed by an old Indian that this tribe “formerly owned the prairies on the Tsihalis at the mouth of the Skukumchuck, but, on the failure of game, left the country, crossed the Columbia River, and occupied the mountains to the 54 south”—a statement of too uncertain character to be depended upon; the Athapascan tribes now on the Grande Ronde and Siletz Reservations, Oregon,12 whose villages on and near the coast extended from Coquille River southward to the California line, including, among others, the Upper Coquille, Sixes, Euchre, Creek, Joshua, Tutu tûnnĕ, and other “Rogue River” or “Tou-touten bands,” Chasta Costa, Galice Creek, Naltunne tûnnĕ and Chetco villages;13 the Athapascan villages formerly on Smith River and tributaries, California;14 those villages extending southward from Smith River along the California coast to the mouth of Klamath River;15 the Hupâ villages or “clans” formerly on Lower Trinity River, California;16 the Kenesti or Wailakki (2), located as follows: “They live along the western slope of the Shasta Mountains, from North Eel River, above Round Valley, to Hay Fork; along Eel and Mad Rivers, extending down the latter about to Low Gap; also on Dobbins and Larrabie Creeks;”17 and Saiaz, who “formerly occupied the tongue of land jutting down between Eel River and Van Dusen’s Fork.”18
Southern group.—Includes the Navajo, Apache, and Lipan. Engineer José Cortez, one of the earliest authorities on these tribes, writing in 1799, defines the boundaries of the Lipan and Apache as extending north and south from 29° N. to 36° N., and east and west from 99° W. to 114° W.; in other words from central Texas nearly to the Colorado River in Arizona, where they met tribes of the Yuman stock. The Lipan occupied the eastern part of the above territory, extending in Texas from the Comanche country (about Red River) south to the Rio Grande.19 More recently both Lipan and Apache have gradually moved southward into Mexico where they extend as far as Durango.20
The Navajo, since first known to history, have occupied the country on and south of the San Juan River in northern New Mexico and Arizona and extending into Colorado and Utah. They were surrounded on all sides by the cognate Apache except upon the north, where they meet Shoshonean tribes.
55PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
A. Northern group: | ||
Ah-tena. Kaiyuh-khotana. Kcaltana. K’naia-khotana. Koyukukhotana. |
Kutchin. Montagnais. Montagnards. Nagailer. Slave. |
Sluacus-tinneh. Taculli. Tahl-tan (1). Unakhotana. |
B. Pacific group: | ||
Ătaăkût. Chasta Costa. Chetco. Dakube tede (on Applegate Creek). Euchre Creek.Hupâ. Kălts’erea tûnnĕ. Kenesti or Wailakki. |
Kwalhioqua. Kwaʇami. Micikqwûtme tûnnĕ. Mikono tûnnĕ. Owilapsh. Qwinctûnnetûn. Saiaz. Taltûctun tûde (on Galice Creek). |
Tcêmê (Joshuas). Tcĕtlĕstcan tûnnĕ. Terwar. Tlatscanai. Tolowa. Tutu tûnnĕ. |
C. Southern group: | ||
Arivaipa. Chiricahua. Coyotero. Faraone. Gileño. Jicarilla. |
Lipan. Llanero. Mescalero. Mimbreño. Mogollon. Na-isha. |
Navajo. Pinal Coyotero. Tchĕkûn. Tchishi. |
Population.—The present number of the Athapascan family is about 32,899, of whom about 8,595, constituting the Northern group, are in Alaska and British North America, according to Dall, Dawson, and the Canadian Indian-Report for 1888; about 895, comprising the Pacific group, are in Washington, Oregon, and California; and about 23,409, belonging to the Southern group, are in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Indian Territory. Besides these are the Lipan and some refugee Apache, who are in Mexico. These have not been included in the above enumeration, as there are no means of ascertaining their number.
Northern group.—This may be said to consist of the following:
To the Pacific Group may be assigned the following:
Hupa Indians, on Hoopa Valley Reservation, California |
468 | |
Rogue River Indians at Grande Ronde Reservation, Oregon |
47 | |
Siletz Reservation, Oregon (about one-half the Indians thereon) |
300? | |
Umpqua at Grande Ronde Reservation, Oregon |
80 | |
895? |
Southern Group, consisting of Apache, Lipan, and Navajo:
Apache children at Carlisle, Pennsylvania |
142 | |
Apache prisoners at Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama |
356 | |
Coyotero Apache (San Carlos Reservation) |
733? | |
Jicarilla Apache (Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado) |
808 | |
Lipan with Tonkaway on Oakland Reserve, Indian Territory |
15? | |
Mescalero Apache (Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico) |
513 | |
Na-isha Apache (Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita Reservation, Indian Territory) |
326 | |
Navajo (most on Navajo Reservation, Arizona and New Mexico; 4 at Carlisle, Pennsylvania) |
17,208 | |
San Carlos Apache (San Carlos Reservation, Arizona) |
1,352? | |
White Mountain Apache (San Carlos Reservation, Arizona) |
36 | |
White Mountain Apache (under military at Camp Apache, Arizona) |
1,920 | |
23,409? |
ATTACAPAN FAMILY.
= Attacapas, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 116, 306, 1836. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II. pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848. Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 343, 1850 (includes Attacapas and Carankuas). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853. Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 426, 1859.
= Attacapa, Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., II, 31-50, 1846. Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 406, 1847 (or “Men eaters”). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 105, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 293, 1860.
57 = Attakapa, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 103, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 366, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 477, 1862 (referred to as one of the two most isolated languages of N.A.).
= Atákapa, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Leg., I, 45, 1884. Gatschet in Science, 414, Apr. 29, 1887.
Derivation: From a Choctaw word meaning “man-eater.”
Little is known of the tribe, the language of which forms the basis of the present family. The sole knowledge possessed by Gallatin was derived from a vocabulary and some scanty information furnished by Dr. John Sibley, who collected his material in the year 1805. Gallatin states that the tribe was reduced to 50 men. According to Dr. Sibley the Attacapa language was spoken also by another tribe, the “Carankouas,” who lived on the coast of Texas, and who conversed in their own language besides. In 1885 Mr. Gatschet visited the section formerly inhabited by the Attacapa and after much search discovered one man and two women at Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, and another woman living 10 miles to the south; he also heard of five other women then scattered in western Texas; these are thought to be the only survivors of the tribe. Mr. Gatschet collected some two thousand words and a considerable body of text. His vocabulary differs considerably from the one furnished by Dr. Sibley and published by Gallatin, and indicates that the language of the western branch of the tribe was dialectically distinct from that of their brethren farther to the east.
The above material seems to show that the Attacapa language is distinct from all others, except possibly the Chitimachan.
BEOTHUKAN FAMILY.
= Bethuck, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 58, 1856 (stated to be “Algonkin rather than aught else”). Latham, Opuscula, 327, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 453, 1862.
= Beothuk, Gatschet in Proc. Am. Philosoph. Soc., 408, Oct., 1885. Gatschet, ibid., 411, July, 1886 (language affirmed to represent a distinct linguistic family). Gatschet, ibid., 1, Jan-June, 1890.
Derivation: Beothuk signifies “Indian” or “red Indian.”
The position of the language spoken by the aborigines of Newfoundland must be considered to be doubtful.
In 1846 Latham examined the material then accessible, and was led to the somewhat ambiguous statement that the language “was akin to those of the ordinary American Indians rather than to the Eskimo; further investigation showing that, of the ordinary American languages, it was Algonkin rather than aught else.”
Since then Mr. Gatschet has been able to examine a much larger and more satisfactory body of material, and although neither in amount nor quality is the material sufficient to permit final and 58 satisfactory deductions, yet so far as it goes it shows that the language is quite distinct from any of the Algonquian dialects, and in fact from any other American tongue.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
It seems highly probable that the whole of Newfoundland at the time of its discovery by Cabot in 1497 was inhabited by Beothuk Indians.
In 1534 Cartier met with Indians inhabiting the southeastern part of the island, who, very likely, were of this people, though the description is too vague to permit certain identification. A century later the southern portion of the island appears to have been abandoned by these Indians, whoever they were, on account of European settlements, and only the northern and eastern parts of the island were occupied by them. About the beginning of the eighteenth century western Newfoundland was colonized by the Micmac from Nova Scotia. As a consequence of the persistent warfare which followed the advent of the latter and which was also waged against the Beothuk by the Europeans, especially the French, the Beothuk rapidly wasted in numbers. Their main territory was soon confined to the neighborhood of the Exploits River. The tribe was finally lost sight of about 1827, having become extinct, or possibly the few survivors having crossed to the Labrador coast and joined the Nascapi with whom the tribe had always been on friendly terms.
Upon the map only the small portion of the island is given to the Beothuk which is known definitely to have been occupied by them, viz., the neighborhood of the Exploits River, though, as stated above, it seems probable that the entire island was once in their possession.
CADDOAN FAMILY.
> Caddoes, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 116, 306, 1836 (based on Caddoes alone). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 406, 1847. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1858 [gives as languages Caddo, Red River, (Nandakoes, Tachies, Nabedaches)].
> Caddokies, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 116, 1836 (same as his Caddoes). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 406, 1847.
> Caddo, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., II, 31-50, 1846 (indicates affinities with Iroquois, Muskoge, Catawba, Pawnee). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848, (Caddo only). Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848 (Caddos, etc.). Ibid., 1852. Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 338, 1850 (between the Mississippi and Sabine). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc., Lond., 101, 1856. Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 55, 70, 1856 (finds resemblances to Pawnee but keeps them separate). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 426, 448, 1859. Latham, Opuscula, 290, 366, 1860.
> Caddo, Latham, Elements Comp. Phil., 470, 1862 (includes Pawni and Riccari).
> Pawnees, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 128, 306, 1836 (two nations: Pawnees proper and Ricaras or Black Pawnees). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 408, 1847 (follows Gallatin). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., 59 II, pt. 1, xcix, 1848. Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 344, 1850 (or Panis; includes Loup and Republican Pawnees). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (gives as languages: Pawnees, Ricaras, Tawakeroes, Towekas, Wachos?). Hayden, Cont. Eth. and Phil. Missouri Indians, 232, 345, 1863 (includes Pawnees and Arikaras).
> Panis, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 117, 128, 1836 (of Red River of Texas; mention of villages; doubtfully indicated as of Pawnee family). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 407, 1847 (supposed from name to be of same race with Pawnees of the Arkansa). Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 344, 1850 (Pawnees or). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 403, 1853 (here kept separate from Pawnee family).
> Pawnies, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 77, 1848 (see Pawnee above).
> Pahnies, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852.
> Pawnee(?), Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 55, 65, 1856 (Kichai and Hueco vocabularies).
= Pawnee, Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 478, 1878 (gives four groups, viz: Pawnees proper; Arickarees; Wichitas; Caddoes).
= Pani, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 42, 1884. Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887.
> Towiaches. Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 116, 128, 1836 (same as Panis above). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 407, 1847.
> Towiachs, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 349, 1850 (includes Towiach, Tawakenoes, Towecas?, Wacos).
> Towiacks, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853.
> Natchitoches, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 116, 1836 (stated by Dr. Sibley to speak a language different from any other). Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 342, 1850. Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 406, 1847 (after Gallatin). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (a single tribe only).
> Aliche, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 349, 1850 (near Nacogdoches; not classified).
> Yatassees, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 116, 1836 (the single tribe; said by Dr. Sibley to be different from any other; referred to as a family).
> Riccarees, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 344, 1850 (kept distinct from Pawnee family).
> Washita, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc., Lond., 103, 1856. Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 441, 1859 (revokes previous opinion of its distinctness and refers it to Pawnee family).
> Witchitas, Buschmann, ibid., (same as his Washita).
Derivation: From the Caddo term ka´-ede, signifying “chief” (Gatschet).
The Pawnee and Caddo, now known to be of the same linguistic family, were supposed by Gallatin and by many later writers to be distinct, and accordingly both names appear in the Archæologia Americana as family designations. Both names are unobjectionable, but as the term Caddo has priority by a few pages preference is given to it.
Gallatin states “that the Caddoes formerly lived 300 miles up Red River but have now moved to a branch of Red River.” He refers to the Nandakoes, the Inies or Tachies, and the Nabedaches as speaking dialects of the Caddo language.
Under Pawnee two tribes were included by Gallatin: The Pawnees proper and the Ricaras. The Pawnee tribes occupied the country on the Platte River adjoining the Loup Fork. The Ricara towns were on the upper Missouri in latitude 46° 30'. 60 The boundaries of the Caddoan family, as at present understood, can best be given under three primary groups, Northern, Middle, and Southern.
Northern group.—This comprises the Arikara or Ree, now confined to a small village (on Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota,) which they share with the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes of the Siouan family. The Arikara are the remains of ten different tribes of “Paneas,” who had been driven from their country lower down the Missouri River (near the Ponka habitat in northern Nebraska) by the Dakota. In 1804 they were in three villages, nearer their present location.21
According to Omaha tradition, the Arikara were their allies when these two tribes and several others were east of the Mississippi River.22 Fort Berthold Reservation, their present abode, is in the northwest corner of North Dakota.
Middle group.—This includes the four tribes or villages of Pawnee, the Grand, Republican, Tapage, and Skidi. Dunbar says: “The original hunting ground of the Pawnee extended from the Niobrara,” in Nebraska, “south to the Arkansas, but no definite boundaries can be fixed.” In modern times their villages have been on the Platte River west of Columbus, Nebraska. The Omaha and Oto were sometimes southeast of them near the mouth of the Platte, and the Comanche were northwest of them on the upper part of one of the branches of the Loup Fork.23 The Pawnee were removed to Indian Territory in 1876. The Grand Pawnee and Tapage did not wander far from their habitat on the Platte. The Republican Pawnee separated from the Grand about the year 1796, and made a village on a “large northwardly branch of the Kansas River, to which they have given their name; afterwards they subdivided, and lived in different parts of the country on the waters of Kansas River. In 1805 they rejoined the Grand Pawnee.” The Skidi (Panimaha, or Pawnee Loup), according to Omaha tradition,24 formerly dwelt east of the Mississippi River, where they were the allies of the Arikara, Omaha, Ponka, etc. After their passage of the Missouri they were conquered by the Grand Pawnee, Tapage, and Republican tribes, with whom they have remained to this day. De L’Isle25 gives twelve Panimaha villages on the Missouri River north of the Pani villages on the Kansas River.
Southern group.—This includes the Caddo, Wichita, Kichai, and other tribes or villages which were formerly in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Indian Territory.
61The Caddo and Kichai have undoubtedly been removed from their priscan habitats, but the Wichita, judging from the survival of local names (Washita River, Indian Territory, Wichita Falls, Texas) and the statement of La Harpe,26 are now in or near one of their early abodes. Dr. Sibley27 locates the Caddo habitat 35 miles west of the main branch of Red River, being 120 miles by land from Natchitoches, and they formerly lived 375 miles higher up. Cornell’s Atlas (1870) places Caddo Lake in the northwest corner of Louisiana, in Caddo County. It also gives both Washita and Witchita as the name of a tributary of Red River of Louisiana. This duplication of names seems to show that the Wichita migrated from northwestern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas to the Indian Territory. After comparing the statements of Dr. Sibley (as above) respecting the habitats of the Anadarko, loni, Nabadache, and Eyish with those of Schermerhorn respecting the Kädo hadatco,28 of Le Page Du Pratz (1758) concerning the Natchitoches, of Tonti29 and La Harpe30 about the Yatasi, of La Harpe (as above) about the Wichita, and of Sibley concerning the Kichai, we are led to fix upon the following as the approximate boundaries of the habitat of the southern group of the Caddoan family: Beginning on the northwest with that part of Indian Territory now occupied by the Wichita, Chickasaw, and Kiowa and Comanche Reservations, and running along the southern border of the Choctaw Reservation to the Arkansas line; thence due east to the headwaters of Washita or Witchita River, Polk County, Arkansas; thence through Arkansas and Louisiana along the western bank of that river to its mouth; thence southwest through Louisiana striking the Sabine River near Salem and Belgrade; thence southwest through Texas to Tawakonay Creek, and along that stream to the Brazos River; thence following that stream to Palo Pinto, Texas; thence northwest to the mouth of the North Fork of Red River; and thence to the beginning.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Population.—The present number of the Caddoan stock is 2,259, of whom 447 are on the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota, and the rest in the Indian Territory, some on the Ponca, Pawnee, and Otoe Reservation, the others on the Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita Reservation. Below is given the population of the tribes officially recognized, compiled chiefly from the Indian Report for 1889:
Arikara | 448 | |
Pawnee | 824 | |
Wichita | 176 | |
Towakarehu | 145 | |
Waco | 64 | |
385 | ||
Kichai | 63 | |
Caddo | 539 | |
Total | 2,259 |
CHIMAKUAN FAMILY.
= Chimakum, Gibbs in Pac. R. R. Rep., I, 431, 1855 (family doubtful).
= Chemakum, Eells in Am. Antiquarian, 52, Oct., 1880 (considers language different from any of its neighbors).
< Puget Sound Group, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 474, 1878 (Chinakum included in this group).
< Nootka, Bancroft, Native Races, III, 564, 1882 (contains Chimakum).
Derivation unknown.
Concerning this language Gibbs, as above cited, states as follows:
The language of the Chimakum “differs materially from either that of the Clallams or the Nisqually, and is not understood by any of their neighbors. In fact, they seem to have maintained it a State secret. To what family it will ultimately be referred, cannot now be decided.”
Eells also asserts the distinctness of this language from any of its neighbors. Neither of the above authors assigned the language family rank, and accordingly Mr. Gatschet, who has made a comparison of vocabularies and finds the language to be quite distinct from any other, gives it the above name.
The Chimakum are said to have been formerly one of the largest and most powerful tribes of Puget Sound. Their warlike habits early tended to diminish their numbers, and when visited by Gibbs in 1854 they counted only about seventy individuals. This small remnant occupied some fifteen small lodges on Port Townsend Bay. According to Gibbs “their territory seems to have embraced the shore from Port Townsend to Port Ludlow.”31 In 1884 there were, according to 63 Mr. Myron Eells, about twenty individuals left, most of whom are living near Port Townsend, Washington. Three or four live upon the Skokomish Reservation at the southern end of Hood’s Canal.
The Quile-ute, of whom in 1889 there were 252 living on the Pacific south of Cape Flattery, belong to the family. The Hoh, a sub-tribe of the latter, number 71 and are under the Puyallup Agency.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
The following tribes are recognized:
Chimakum. Quile-ute. |
CHIMARIKAN FAMILY.
= Chim-a-ri´-ko, Powell in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 474, 1877. Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 255, April, 1882 (stated to be a distinct family).
According to Powers, this family was represented, so far as known, by two tribes in California, one the Chi-mál-a-kwe, living on New River, a branch of the Trinity, the other the Chimariko, residing upon the Trinity itself from Burnt Ranch up to the mouth of North Fork, California. The two tribes are said to have been as numerous formerly as the Hupa, by whom they were overcome and nearly exterminated. Upon the arrival of the Americans only twenty-five of the Chimalakwe were left. In 1875 Powers collected a Chimariko vocabulary of about two hundred words from a woman, supposed to be one of the last three women of that tribe. In 1889 Mr. Curtin, while in Hoopa Valley, found a Chimariko man seventy or more years old, who is believed to be one of the two living survivors of the tribe. Mr. Curtin obtained a good vocabulary and much valuable information relative to the former habitat and history of the tribe. Although a study of these vocabularies reveals a number of words having correspondences with the Kulanapan (Pomo) equivalents, yet the greater number show no affinities with the dialects of the latter family, or indeed with any other. The family is therefore classed as distinct.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Chimariko. Chimalakwe. |
CHIMMESYAN FAMILY.
= Chimmesyan, Latham in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., I, 154, 1848 (between 53° 30' and 55° 30' N.L.). Latham, Opuscula, 250, 1860.
Chemmesyan, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 300, 1850 (includes Naaskok, Chemmesyan, Kitshatlah, Kethumish). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 72, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 339, 1860. Latham, Elements Comp. Phil., 401, 1862.
= Chymseyans, Kane, Wanderings of an Artist, app., 1859 (a census of tribes of N.W. coast classified by languages).
= Chimayans, Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, V, 487, 1855 (gives Kane’s list but with many orthographical changes). Dall in Proc. Am. Ass., 269, 1869 (published in 1870). 64 Dall in Cont. N.A. Eth., I, 36, 39, 40, 1877 (probably distinct from T’linkets). Bancroft, Native Races, III, 564, 607, 1882.
= Tshimsian, Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 14-25, 1884.
= Tsimpsi-an´, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass., 379, 1885 (mere mention of family).
X Northern, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 220, 1841 (includes Chimmesyans).
X Haidah, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 220, 1841 (same as his Northern family).
< Naas, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 1848 (including Chimmesyan). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852.
< Naass, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 77, 1848. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853.
= Nasse, Dall in Cont. N.A. Eth., I, 36, 40, 1877 (or Chimsyan).
< Nass, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 564, 606, 1882 (includes Nass and Sebassa Indians of this family, also Hailtza).
= Hydahs, Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 473, 1878 (includes Tsimsheeans, Nass, Skeenas, Sebasses of present family).
Derivation: From the Chimsian ts’em, “on;” kcian, “main river:” “On the main (Skeena) river.”
This name appears in a paper of Latham’s published in 1848. To it is referred a vocabulary of Tolmie’s. The area where it is spoken is said by Latham to be 50° 30' and 55° 30'. The name has become established by long usage, and it is chiefly on this account that it has been given preference over the Naas of Gallatin of the same year. The latter name was given by Gallatin to a group of languages now known to be not related, viz, Hailstla, Haceltzuk Billechola, and Chimeysan. Billechola belongs under Salishan, a family name of Gallatin’s of 1836.
Were it necessary to take Naas as a family name it would best apply to Chimsian, it being the name of a dialect and village of Chimsian Indians, while it has no pertinency whatever to Hailstla and Haceltzuk, which are closely related and belong to a family quite distinct from the Chimmesyan. As stated above, however, the term Naas is rejected in favor of Chimmesyan of the same date.
For the boundaries of this family the linguistic map published by Tolmie and Dawson, in 1884, is followed.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Following is a list of the Chimmesyan tribes, according to Boas:32
A. Nasqa´: |
Nasqa´. Gyitksa´n. |
B. Tsimshian proper: |
Ts’emsia´n. Gyits’umrä´lon. Gyits’ala´ser. Gyitqā´tla. Gyitg·ā´ata. Gyidesdzo´. |
Population.—The Canadian Indian Report for 1888 records a total for all the tribes of this family of 5,000. In the fall of 1887 about 1,000 of these Indians, in charge of Mr. William Duncan, removed 65 to Annette Island, about 60 miles north of the southern boundary of Alaska, near Port Chester, where they have founded a new settlement called New Metlakahtla. Here houses have been erected, day and industrial schools established, and the Indians are understood to be making remarkable progress in civilization.
CHINOOKAN FAMILY.
> Chinooks, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 134, 306, 1836 (a single tribe at mouth of Columbia).
= Chinooks, Hale in U.S. Expl. Expd., VI, 198, 1846. Gallatin, after Hale, in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 15, 1848 (or Tsinuk).
= Tshinuk, Hale in U. S. Expl. Expd., VI, 562, 569, 1846 (contains Watlala or Upper Chinook, including Watlala, Nihaloitih, or Echeloots; and Tshinuk, including Tshinuk, Tlatsap, Wakaikam).
= Tsinuk, Gallatin, after Hale, in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 15, 1848. Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852.
> Cheenook, Latham in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., I, 236, 1848. Latham, Opuscula, 253, 1860.
> Chinuk, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 317, 1850 (same as Tshinúk; includes Chinúks proper, Klatsops, Kathlamut, Wakáikam, Watlala, Nihaloitih). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 73, 1856 (mere mention of family name). Latham, Opuscula, 340, 1860. Buschmann. Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 616-619, 1859.
= Tschinuk, Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852. Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 73, 1856 (mere mention of family name). Latham, Opuscula, 340, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 402, 1862 (cites a short vocabulary of Watlala).
= Tshinook, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (Chinooks, Clatsops, and Watlala). Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs. Brit. Col., 51, 61, 1884.
> Tshinuk, Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 616, 1859 (same as his Chinuk).
= T’sinūk, Dall, after Gibbs, in Cont. N.A. Eth., 1, 241, 1877 (mere mention of family).
= Chinook, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 167, 1877 (names and gives habitats of tribes). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 442, 1877.
< Chinooks, Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 474, 1878 (includes Skilloots, Watlalas, Lower Chinooks, Wakiakurns, Cathlamets, Clatsops, Calapooyas, Clackamas, Killamooks, Yamkally, Chimook Jargon; of these Calapooyas and Yamkally are Kalapooian, Killamooks are Salishan).
> Chinook, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 626-628, 1882 (enumerates Chinook, Wakiakum, Cathlamet, Clatsop, Multnomah, Skilloot, Watlala).
X Nootka-Columbian, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 224, 1841 (includes Cheenooks, and Cathlascons of present family).
X Southern, Scouler, ibid., 234 (same as his Nootka-Columbian family above).
The vocabulary of the Chinook tribe, upon which the family name was based, was derived from the mouth of the Columbia. As now understood the family embraces a number of tribes, speaking allied languages, whose former homes extended from the mouth of the river for some 200 miles, or to The Dalles. According to Lewis and Clarke, our best authorities on the pristine home of this family, most of their villages were on the banks of the river, chiefly upon the northern bank, though they probably claimed the land upon either bank for several miles back. 66 Their villages also extended on the Pacific coast north nearly to the northern extreme of Shoalwater Bay, and to the south to about Tillamook Head, some 20 miles from the mouth of the Columbia.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Lower Chinook: | Upper Chinook: |
Chinook. Clatsop. |
Cathlamet. Cathlapotle. Chilluckquittequaw. Clackama. Cooniac. Echeloot. Multnoma. Wahkiacum. Wasco. |
Population.—There are two hundred and eighty-eight Wasco on the Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon, and one hundred and fifty on the Yakama Reservation, Washington. On the Grande Ronde Reservation, Oregon, there are fifty-nine Clackama. From information derived from Indians by Mr. Thomas Priestly, United States Indian Agent at Yakama, it is learned that there still remain three or four families of “regular Chinook Indians,” probably belonging to one of the down-river tribes, about 6 miles above the mouth of the Columbia. Two of these speak the Chinook proper, and three have an imperfect command of Clatsop. There are eight or ten families, probably also of one of the lower river tribes, living near Freeport, Washington.
Some of the Watlala, or Upper Chinook, live near the Cascades, about 55 miles below The Dalles. There thus remain probably between five and six hundred of the Indians of this family.
CHITIMACHAN FAMILY.
= Chitimachas, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 114, 117, 1836. Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 407, 1847.
= Chetimachas, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 306, 1836. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 1848. Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 341, 1850. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853.
= Chetimacha, Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., II, 31-50, 1846. Latham, Opuscula, 293, 1860.
= Chetemachas, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 77, 1848 (same as Chitimachas).
= Shetimasha, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 44, 1884. Gatschet in Science, 414, April 29, 1887.
Derivation: From Choctaw words tchúti, “cooking vessels,” másha, “they possess,” (Gatschet).
This family was based upon the language of the tribe of the same name, “formerly living in the vicinity of Lake Barataria, and still existing (1836) in lower Louisiana.”
Du Pratz asserted that the Taensa and Chitimacha were kindred tribes of the Na’htchi. A vocabulary of the Shetimasha, however, revealed to Gallatin no traces of such affinity. He considered both 67 to represent distinct families, a conclusion subsequent investigations have sustained.
In 1881 Mr. Gatschet visited the remnants of this tribe in Louisiana. He found about fifty individuals, a portion of whom lived on Grand River, but the larger part in Charenton, St. Mary’s Parish. The tribal organization was abandoned in 1879 on the death of their chief.
CHUMASHAN FAMILY.
> Santa Barbara, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc., Lond., 85, 1856 (includes Santa Barbara, Santa Inez, San Luis Obispo languages). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 531, 535, 538, 602, 1859. Latham, Opuscula, 351, 1860. Powell in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 550, 567, 1877 (Kasuá, Santa Inez, Id. of Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara). Gatschet in U.S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th M., VII, 419, 1879 (cites La Purísima, Santa Inez, Santa Barbara, Kasuá, Mugu, Santa Cruz Id.).
X Santa Barbara, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 156, 1877 (Santa Inez, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz Id., San Luis Obispo, San Antonio).
Derivation: From Chumash, the name of the Santa Rosa Islanders.
The several dialects of this family have long been known under the group or family name, “Santa Barbara,” which seems first to have been used in a comprehensive sense by Latham in 1856, who included under it three languages, viz: Santa Barbara, Santa Inez, and San Luis Obispo. The term has no special pertinence as a family designation, except from the fact that the Santa Barbara Mission, around which one of the dialects of the family was spoken, is perhaps more widely known than any of the others. Nevertheless, as it is the family name first applied to the group and has, moreover, passed into current use its claim to recognition would not be questioned were it not a compound name. Under the rule adopted the latter fact necessitates its rejection. As a suitable substitute the term Chumashan is here adopted. Chumash is the name of the Santa Rosa Islanders, who spoke a dialect of this stock, and is a term widely known among the Indians of this family.
The Indians of this family lived in villages, the villages as a whole apparently having no political connection, and hence there appears to have been no appellation in use among them to designate themselves as a whole people.
Dialects of this language were spoken at the Missions of San Buenaventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Iñez, Purísima, and San Luis Obispo. Kindred dialects were spoken also upon the Islands of Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz, and also, probably, upon such other of the Santa Barbara Islands as formerly were permanently inhabited.
These dialects collectively form a remarkably homogeneous family, all of them, with the exception of the San Luis Obispo, being closely related and containing very many words in common. Vocabularies representing six dialects of the language are in possession of the Bureau of Ethnology.
68 The inland limits of this family can not be exactly defined, although a list of more than one hundred villages with their sites, obtained by Mr. Henshaw in 1884, shows that the tribes were essentially maritime and were closely confined to the coast.
Population.—In 1884 Mr. Henshaw visited the several counties formerly inhabited by the populous tribes of this family and discovered that about forty men, women, and children survived. The adults still speak their old language when conversing with each other, though on other occasions they use Spanish. The largest settlement is at San Buenaventura, where perhaps 20 individuals live near the outskirts of the town.
COAHUILTECAN FAMILY.
= Coahuilteco, Orozco y Berra, Geografía de las Lenguas de México, map, 1864.
= Tejano ó Coahuilteco, Pimentel, Cuadro Descriptivo y Comparativo de las Lenguas Indígenas de México, II, 409, 1865. (A preliminary notice with example from the language derived from Garcia’s Manual, 1760.)
Derivation: From the name of the Mexican State Coahuila.
This family appears to have included numerous tribes in southwestern Texas and in Mexico. They are chiefly known through the record of the Rev. Father Bartolomé Garcia (Manual para administrar, etc.), published in 1760. In the preface to the “Manual” he enumerates the tribes and sets forth some phonetic and grammatic differences between the dialects.
On page 63 of his Geografía de las Lenguas de México, 1864, Orozco y Berra gives a list of the languages of Mexico and includes Coahuilteco, indicating it as the language of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. He does not, however, indicate its extension into Texas. It would thus seem that he intended the name as a general designation for the language of all the cognate tribes.
Upon his colored ethnographic map, also, Orozco y Berra designates the Mexican portion of the area formerly occupied by the tribes of this family Coahuilteco.33 In his statement that the language and tribes are extinct this author was mistaken, as a few Indians still survive who speak one of the dialects of this family, and in 1886 Mr. Gatschet collected vocabularies of two tribes, the Comecrudo and Cotoname, who live on the Rio Grande, at Las Prietas, State of Tamaulipas. Of the Comecrudo some twenty-five still remain, of whom seven speak the language.
The Cotoname are practically extinct, although Mr. Gatschet obtained one hundred and twenty-five words from a man said to be of this blood. Besides the above, Mr. Gatschet obtained information of the existence of two women of the Pinto or Pakawá tribe who live at La Volsa, near Reynosa, Tamaulipas, on the Rio Grande, and who are said to speak their own language.
69PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Alasapa. Cachopostate. Casa chiquita. Chayopine. Comecrudo. Cotoname. Mano de perro. Mescal. Miakan. Orejone. Pacuâche. |
Pajalate. Pakawá. Pamaque. Pampopa. Pastancoya. Patacale. Pausane. Payseya. Sanipao. Tâcame. Venado. |
COPEHAN FAMILY.
> Cop-eh, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 421, 1853 (mentioned as a dialect).
= Copeh, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc., Lond., 79, 1856 (of Upper Sacramento; cites vocabs. from Gallatin and Schoolcraft). Latham, Opuscula, 345, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 412, 1862.
= Wintoons, Powers in Overland Monthly, 530, June, 1874 (Upper Sacramento and Upper Trinity). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 160, 1877 (defines habitat and names tribes). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Miscellany, 434, 1877.
= Win-tún, Powell in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 518-534, 1877 (vocabularies of Wintun, Sacramento River, Trinity Indians). Gatschet in U.S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th M., VII, 418, 1879 (defines area occupied by family).
X Klamath, Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 475, 1878 (cited as including Copahs, Patawats, Wintoons). Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 1882 (contains Copah).
> Napa, Keane, ibid., 476, 524, 1878 (includes Myacomas, Calayomanes, Caymus, Ulucas, Suscols). Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 567, 1882 (includes Napa, Myacoma, Calayomane, Caymus, Uluca, Suscol).
This name was proposed by Latham with evident hesitation. He says of it: “How far this will eventually turn out to be a convenient name for the group (or how far the group itself will be real), is uncertain.” Under it he places two vocabularies, one from the Upper Sacramento and the other from Mag Redings in Shasta County. The head of Putos Creek is given as headquarters for the language. Recent investigations have served to fully confirm the validity of the family.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The territory of the Copehan family is bounded on the north by Mount Shasta and the territory of the Sastean and Lutuamian families, on the east by the territory of the Palaihnihan, Yanan, and Pujunan families, and on the south by the bays of San Pablo and Suisun and the lower waters of the Sacramento.
The eastern boundary of the territory begins about 5 miles east of Mount Shasta, crosses Pit River a little east of Squaw Creek, and reaches to within 10 miles of the eastern bank of the Sacramento at Redding. From Redding to Chico Creek the boundary is about 10 miles east of the Sacramento. From Chico downward the Pujunan family encroaches till at the mouth of Feather River it occupies 70 the eastern bank of the Sacramento. The western boundary of the Copehan family begins at the northernmost point of San Pablo Bay, trends to the northwest in a somewhat irregular line till it reaches John’s Peak, from which point it follows the Coast Range to the tipper waters of Cottonwood Creek, whence it deflects to the west, crossing the headwaters of the Trinity and ending at the southern boundary of the Sastean family.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
A. Patwin: | B. Wintu: |
Chenposel. Gruilito. Korusi. Liwaito. Lolsel. Makhelchel. Malaka. Napa. Olelato. Olposel. Suisun. Todetabi. Topaidisel. Waikosel. Wailaksel. |
Daupom. Nomlaki. Nommuk. Norelmuk. Normuk. Waikenmuk. Wailaki. |
COSTANOAN FAMILY.
= Costano, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 82, 1856 (includes the Ahwastes, Olhones or Costanos, Romonans, Tulornos, Altatmos). Latham, Opuscula, 348, 1860.
< Mutsun, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 157, 1877 (includes Ahwastes, Olhones, Altahmos, Romonans, Tulomos). Powell in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 535, 1877 (includes under this family vocabs. of Costano, Mutsun, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz).
Derivation: From the Spanish costano, “coast-men.”
Under this group name Latham included five tribes, given above, which were under the supervision of the Mission Dolores. He gives a few words of the Romonan language, comparing it with Tshokoyem which he finds to differ markedly. He finally expresses the opinion that, notwithstanding the resemblance of a few words, notably personal pronouns, to Tshokoyem of the Moquelumnan group, the affinities of the dialects of the Costano are with the Salinas group, with which, however, he does not unite it but prefers to keep it by itself. Later, in 1877, Mr. Gatschet,34 under the family name Mutsun, united the Costano dialects with the ones classified by Latham under Moquelumnan. This arrangement was followed by Powell in his classification of vocabularies.35 More recent comparison of all the published material by Mr. Curtin, of the Bureau, revealed very decided and apparently radical differences between the two groups of dialects. In 1888 Mr. H. W. Henshaw visited the coast to the north and south of San Francisco, and obtained a considerable body of linguistic material for further comparison. The result seems fully to justify the separation of the two groups as distinct families.
71GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The territory of the Costanoan family extends from the Golden Gate to a point near the southern end of Monterey Bay. On the south it is bounded from Monterey Bay to the mountains by the Esselenian territory. On the east side of the mountains it extends to the southern end of Salinas Valley. On the east it is bounded by a somewhat irregular line running from the southern end of Salinas Valley to Gilroy Hot Springs and the upper waters of Conestimba Creek, and, northward from the latter points by the San Joaquin River to its mouth. The northern boundary is formed by Suisun Bay, Carquinez Straits, San Pablo and San Francisco Bays, and the Golden Gate.
Population.—The surviving Indians of the once populous tribes of this family are now scattered over several counties and probably do not number, all told, over thirty individuals, as was ascertained by Mr. Henshaw in 1888. Most of these are to be found near the towns of Santa Cruz and Monterey. Only the older individuals speak the language.
ESKIMAUAN FAMILY.
> Eskimaux, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 9, 305, 1836. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 401, 1853.
= Eskimo, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852. Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 288, 1850 (general remarks on origin and habitat). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 689, 1859. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 385, 1862. Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 562, 574, 1882.
> Esquimaux, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 367-371, 1847 (follows Gallatin). Latham in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., I, 182-191, 1848. Latham, Opuscula, 266-274, 1860.
> Eskimo, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass., 266, 1869 (treats of Alaskan Eskimo and Tuski only). Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887 (excludes the Aleutian).
> Eskimos, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 1878 (excludes Aleutian).
> Ounángan, Veniamínoff, Zapíski ob ostrovaχ Unaláshkinskago otdailo, II, 1, 1840 (Aleutians only).
> Ūnŭǵŭn, Dall in Cont. N.A. Eth., I, 22, 1877 (Aleuts a division of his Orarian group).
> Unangan, Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887.
X Northern, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 218, 1841 (includes Ugalentzes of present family).
X Haidah, Scouler, ibid., 224, 1841 (same as his Northern family).
> Ugaljachmutzi, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (lat. 60°, between Prince Williams Sound and Mount St. Elias, perhaps Athapascas).
Aleuten, Holmberg, Ethnog. Skizzen d. Völker Russ. Am., 1855.
> Aleutians, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass., 266, 1869. Dall, Alaska and Resources, 374, 1870 (in both places a division of his Orarian family).
> Aleuts, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 1878 (consist of Unalaskans of mainland and of Fox and Shumagin Ids., with Akkhas of rest of Aleutian Arch.).
> Aleut, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 562, 1882 (two dialects, Unalaska and Atkha).
72 > Konjagen, Holmberg, Ethnograph. Skizzen Volker Russ. Am., 1855 (Island of Koniag or Kadiak).
= Orarians, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass., 265, 1869 (group name; includes Innuit, Aleutians, Tuski). Dall, Alaska and Resources, 374, 1870. Dall in Cont. N.A. Eth., 1, 8, 9, 1877.
X Tinneb, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass., 269, 1869 (includes “Ugalense”).
> Innuit, Dall in Cont. N.A. Eth., 1, 9, 1877 (“Major group” of Orarians: treats of Alaska Innuit only). Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 73, 1887 (excludes the Aleutians).
Derivation: From an Algonkin word eskimantik, “eaters of raw flesh.”
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The geographic boundaries of this family were set forth by Gallatin in 1836 with considerable precision, and require comparatively little revision and correction.
In the linear extent of country occupied, the Eskimauan is the most remarkable of the North American linguistic families. It extends coastwise from eastern Greenland to western Alaska and to the extremity of the Aleutian Islands, a distance of considerably more than 5,000 miles. The winter or permanent villages are usually situated on the coast and are frequently at considerable distances from one another, the intervening areas being usually visited in summer for hunting and fishing purposes. The interior is also visited by the Eskimo for the purpose of hunting reindeer and other animals, though they rarely penetrate farther than 50 miles. A narrow strip along the coast, perhaps 30 miles wide, will probably, on the average, represent Eskimo occupancy.
Except upon the Aleutian Islands, the dialects spoken over this vast area are very similar, the unity of dialect thus observable being in marked contrast to the tendency to change exhibited in other linguistic families of North America.
How far north the east coast of Greenland is inhabited by Eskimo is not at present known. In 1823 Capt. Clavering met with two families of Eskimo north of 74° 30'. Recent explorations (1884-’85) by Capt. Holm, of the Danish Navy, along the southeast coast reveal the presence of Eskimo between 65° and 66° north latitude. These Eskimo profess entire ignorance of any inhabitants north of themselves, which may be taken as proof that if there are fiords farther up the coast which are inhabited there has been no intercommunication in recent times at least between these tribes and those to the south. It seems probable that more or less isolated colonies of Eskimo do actually exist along the east coast of Greenland far to the north.
Along the west coast of Greenland, Eskimo occupancy extends to about 74°. This division is separated by a considerable interval of uninhabited coast from the Etah Eskimo who occupy the coast from Smith Sound to Cape York, their most northerly village being in 73 78° 18'. For our knowledge of these interesting people we are chiefly indebted to Ross and Bessels.
In Grinnell Land, Gen. Greely found indications of permanent Eskimo habitations near Fort Conger, lat. 81° 44'.
On the coast of Labrador the Eskimo reach as far south as Hamilton Inlet, about 55° 30'. Not long since they extended to the Straits of Belle Isle, 50° 30'.
On the east coast of Hudson Bay the Eskimo reach at present nearly to James Bay. According to Dobbs36 in 1744 they extended as far south as east Maine River, or about 52°. The name Notaway (Eskimo) River at the southern end of the bay indicates a former Eskimo extension to that point.
According to Boas and Bessels the most northern Eskimo of the middle group north of Hudson Bay reside on the southern extremity of Ellesmere Land around Jones Sound. Evidences of former occupation of Prince Patrick, Melville, and other of the northern Arctic islands are not lacking, but for some unknown cause, probably a failure of food supply, the Eskimo have migrated thence and the islands are no longer inhabited. In the western part of the central region the coast appears to be uninhabited from the Coppermine River to Cape Bathurst. To the west of the Mackenzie, Herschel Island marks the limit of permanent occupancy by the Mackenzie Eskimo, there being no permanent villages between that island and the settlements at Point Barrow.
The intervening strip of coast is, however, undoubtedly hunted over more or less in summer. The Point Barrow Eskimo do not penetrate far into the interior, but farther to the south the Eskimo reach to the headwaters of the Nunatog and Koyuk Rivers. Only visiting the coast for trading purposes, they occupy an anomalous position among Eskimo.
Eskimo occupancy of the rest of the Alaska coast is practically continuous throughout its whole extent as far to the south and east as the Atna or Copper River, where begin the domains of the Koluschan family. Only in two places do the Indians of the Athapascan family intrude upon Eskimo territory, about Cook’s Inlet, and at the mouth of Copper River.
Owing to the labors of Dall, Petroff, Nelson, Turner, Murdoch, and others we are now pretty well informed as to the distribution of the Eskimo in Alaska.
Nothing is said by Gallatin of the Aleutian Islanders and they were probably not considered by him to be Eskimauan. They are now known to belong to this family, though the Aleutian dialects are unintelligible to the Eskimo proper. Their distribution has been entirely changed since the advent of the Russians and the introduction 74 of the fur trade, and at present they occupy only a very small portion of the islands. Formerly they were much more numerous than at present and extended throughout the chain.
The Eskimauan family is represented in northeast Asia by the Yuit of the Chukchi peninsula, who are to be distinguished from the sedentary Chukchi or the Tuski of authors, the latter being of Asiatic origin. According to Dall the former are comparatively recent arrivals from the American continent, and, like their brethren of America, are confined exclusively to the coast.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES AND VILLAGES.
Greenland group—East Greenland villages: | ||
Akorninak. Aluik. Anarnitsok. Angmagsalik. Igdlolnarsuk. Ivimiut. |
Kemisak. Kikkertarsoak. Kinarbik. Maneetsuk. Narsuk. Okkiosorbik. |
Sermiligak. Sermilik. Taterat. Umanak. Umerik. |
West coast villages: | ||
Akbat. | Karsuit. | Tessuisak. |
Labrador group: | ||
Itivimiut. Kiguaqtagmiut. |
Suqinimiut. | Taqagmiut. |
Middle Group: | ||
Aggomiut. Ahaknanelet. Aivillirmiut. Akudliarmiut. Akudnirmiut. Amitormiut. Iglulingmiut. |
Kangormiut. Kinnepatu. Kramalit. Nageuktormiut. Netchillirmiut. Nugumiut. Okomiut. |
Pilinginiut. Sagdlirmiut. Sikosuilarmiut. Sinimiut. Ugjulirmiut. Ukusiksalingmiut. |
Alaska group: | ||
Chiglit. Chugachigmiut. Ikogmiut. Imahklimiut. Inguhklimiut. Kaialigmiut. Kangmaligmiut. Kaviagmiut. |
Kittegareut. Kopagmiut. Kuagmiut. Kuskwogmiut. Magemiut. Mahlemiut. Nunatogmiut. Nunivagmiut. |
Nushagagmiut. Nuwungmiut. Oglemiut. Selawigmiut. Shiwokugmiut. Ukivokgmiut. Unaligmiut. |
Aleutian group: | ||
Atka. | Unalashka. | |
Asiatic group: | ||
Yuit. |
Population.—Only a rough approximation of the population of the Eskimo can be given, since of some of the divisions next to 75 nothing is known. Dall compiles the following estimates of the Alaskan Eskimo from the most reliable figures up to 1885: Of the Northwestern Innuit 3,100 (?), including the Kopagmiut, Kangmaligmiut, Nuwukmiut, Nunatogmiut, Kuagmiut, the Inguhklimiut of Little Diomede Island 40 (?), Shiwokugmiut of St. Lawrence Island 150 (?), the Western Innuit 14,500 (?), the Aleutian Islanders (Unungun) 2,200 (?); total of the Alaskan Innuit, about 20,000.
The Central or Baffin Land Eskimo are estimated by Boas to number about 1,100.37
From figures given by Rink, Packard, and others, the total number of Labrador Eskimo is believed to be about 2,000.
According to Holm (1884-’85) there are about 550 Eskimo on the east coast of Greenland. On the west coast the mission Eskimo numbered 10,122 in 1886, while the northern Greenland Eskimo, the Arctic Highlanders of Ross, number about 200.
Thus throughout the Arctic regions generally there is a total of about 34,000.
ESSELENIAN FAMILY.
< Salinas, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 85, 1856 (includes Gioloco?, Ruslen, Soledad, Eslen, Carmel, San Antonio, and San Miguel, cited as including Eslen). Latham, Opuscula, 350, 1860.
As afterwards mentioned under the Salinan family, the present family was included by Latham in the heterogeneous group called by him Salinas. For reasons there given the term Salinan was restricted to the San Antonio and San Miguel languages, leaving the present family without a name. It is called Esselenian, from the name of the single tribe Esselen, of which it is composed.
Its history is a curious and interesting one. Apparently the first mention of the tribe and language is to be found in the Voyage de la Pérouse, Paris, 1797, page 288, where Lamanon (1786) states that the language of the Ecclemachs (Esselen) differs “absolutely from all those of their neighbors.” He gives a vocabulary of twenty-two words and by way of comparison a list of the ten numerals of the Achastlians (Costanoan family). It was a study of the former short vocabulary, published by Taylor in the California Farmer, October 24, 1862, that first led to the supposition of the distinctness of this language.
A few years later the Esselen people came under the observation of Galiano,38 who mentions the Eslen and Runsien as two distinct nations, and notes a variety of differences in usages and customs which are of no great weight. It is of interest to note, however, that this author also appears to have observed essential differences 76 in the languages of the two peoples, concerning which he says: “The same difference as in usage and custom is observed in the languages of the two nations, as will be perceived from the following comparison with which we will conclude this chapter.”
Galiano supplies Esselen and Runsien vocabularies of thirty-one words, most of which agree with the earlier vocabulary of Lamanon. These were published by Taylor in the California Farmer under date of April 20, 1860.
In the fall of 1888 Mr. H. W. Henshaw visited the vicinity of Monterey with the hope of discovering survivors of these Indians. Two women were found in the Salinas Valley to the south who claimed to be of Esselen blood, but neither of them was able to recall any of the language, both having learned in early life to speak the Runsien language in place of their own. An old woman was found in the Carmelo Valley near Monterey and an old man living near the town of Cayucos, who, though of Runsien birth, remembered considerable of the language of their neighbors with whom they were connected by marriage. From them a vocabulary of one hundred and ten words and sixty-eight phrases and short sentences were obtained. These serve to establish the general correctness of the short lists of words collected so long ago by Lamanon and Galiano, and they also prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Esselen language forms a family by itself and has no connection with any other known.
The tribe or tribes composing this family occupied a narrow strip of the California coast from Monterey Bay south to the vicinity of the Santa Lucia Mountain, a distance of about 50 miles.
IROQUOIAN FAMILY.
> Iroquois, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 21, 23, 305, 1836 (excludes Cherokee). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 381, 1847 (follows Gallatin). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848 (as in 1836). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 401, 1853. Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 58, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 327, 1860. Latham, Elements Comp. Phil., 463, 1862.
> Irokesen, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852.
X Irokesen, Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887 (includes Kataba and said to be derived from Dakota).
> Huron-Iroquois, Bancroft, Hist. U.S., III, 243, 1840.
> Wyandot-Iroquois, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 468, 1878.
> Cherokees, Gallatin in Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 89, 306, 1836 (kept apart from Iroquois though probable affinity asserted). Bancroft, Hist. U.S., III, 246, 1840. Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 401, 1847. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848. Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 58, 1856 (a separate group perhaps to be classed with Iroquois and Sioux). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 401, 1853. Latham, Opuscula, 327, 1860. Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 472, 1878 (same as Chelekees or Tsalagi—“apparently entirely distinct from all other American tongues”).
> Tschirokies, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848.
77 > Chelekees, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 473, 1878 (or Cherokees).
> Cheroki, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 34, 1884. Gatschet in Science, 413, April 29, 1887.
= Huron-Cherokee, Hale in Am. Antiq., 20, Jan., 1883 (proposed as a family name instead of Huron-Iroquois; relationship to Iroquois affirmed).
Derivation: French, adaptation of the Iroquois word hiro, used to conclude a speech, and koué, an exclamation (Charlevoix). Hale gives as possible derivations ierokwa, the indeterminate form of the verb to smoke, signifying “they who smoke;” also the Cayuga form of bear, iakwai.39 Mr. Hewitt40 suggests the Algonkin words īrīn, true, or real; ako, snake; with the French termination ois, the word becomes Irinakois.
With reference to this family it is of interest to note that as early as 1798 Barton41 compared the Cheroki language with that of the Iroquois and stated his belief that there was a connection between them. Gallatin, in the Archæologia Americana, refers to the opinion expressed by Barton, and although he states that he is inclined to agree with that author, yet he does not formally refer Cheroki to that family, concluding that “We have not a sufficient knowledge of the grammar, and generally of the language of the Five Nations, or of the Wyandots, to decide that question.”42
Mr. Hale was the first to give formal expression to his belief in the affinity of the Cheroki to Iroquois.43 Recently extensive Cheroki vocabularies have come into possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, and a careful comparison of them with ample Iroquois material has been made by Mr. Hewitt. The result is convincing proof of the relationship of the two languages as affirmed by Barton so long ago.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
Unlike most linguistic stocks, the Iroquoian tribes did not occupy a continuous area, but when first known to Europeans were settled in three distinct regions, separated from each other by tribes of other lineage. The northern group was surrounded by tribes of Algonquian stock, while the more southern groups bordered upon the Catawba and Maskoki.
A tradition of the Iroquois points to the St. Lawrence region as the early home of the Iroquoian tribes, whence they gradually moved down to the southwest along the shores of the Great Lakes.
When Cartier, in 1534, first explored the bays and inlets of the Gulf of St. Lawrence he met a Huron-Iroquoian people on the shores of the Bay of Gaspé, who also visited the northern coast of the gulf. In the following year when he sailed up the St. Lawrence River he 78 found the banks of the river from Quebec to Montreal occupied by an Iroquoian people. From statements of Champlain and other early explorers it seems probable that the Wyandot once occupied the country along the northern shore of Lake Ontario.
The Conestoga, and perhaps some allied tribes, occupied the country about the Lower Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and have commonly been regarded as an isolated body, but it seems probable that their territory was contiguous to that of the Five Nations on the north before the Delaware began their westward movement.
As the Cherokee were the principal tribe on the borders of the southern colonies and occupied the leading place in all the treaty negotiations, they came to be considered as the owners of a large territory to which they had no real claim. Their first sale, in 1721, embraced a tract in South Carolina, between the Congaree and the South Fork of the Edisto,44 but about one-half of this tract, forming the present Lexington County, belonging to the Congaree.45 In 1755 they sold a second tract above the first and extending across South Carolina from the Savannah to the Catawba (or Wateree),46 but all of this tract east of Broad River belonged to other tribes. The lower part, between the Congaree and the Wateree, had been sold 20 years before, and in the upper part the Broad River was acknowledged as the western Catawba boundary.47 In 1770 they sold a tract, principally in Virginia and West Virginia, bounded east by the Great Kanawha,48 but the Iroquois claimed by conquest all of this tract northwest of the main ridge of the Alleghany and Cumberland Mountains, and extending at least to the Kentucky River,49 and two years previously they had made a treaty with Sir William Johnson by which they were recognized as the owners of all between Cumberland Mountains and the Ohio down to the Tennessee.50 The Cumberland River basin was the only part of this tract to which the Cherokee had any real title, having driven out the former occupants, the Shawnee, about 1721.51 The Cherokee had no villages north of the Tennessee (this probably includes the Holston as its upper part), and at a conference at Albany the Cherokee delegates presented to the Iroquois the skin of a deer, which they said belonged to the Iroquois, as the animal had been killed north of the Tennessee.52 In 1805, 1806, and 1817 they sold several tracts, mainly in 79 middle Tennessee, north of the Tennessee River and extending to the Cumberland River watershed, but this territory was claimed and had been occupied by the Chickasaw, and at one conference the Cherokee admitted their claim.53 The adjacent tract in northern Alabama and Georgia, on the headwaters of the Coosa, was not permanently occupied by the Cherokee until they began to move westward, about 1770.
The whole region of West Virginia, Kentucky, and the Cumberland River region of Tennessee was claimed by the Iroquois and Cherokee, but the Iroquois never occupied any of it and the Cherokee could not be said to occupy any beyond the Cumberland Mountains. The Cumberland River was originally held by the Shawnee, and the rest was occupied, so far as it was occupied at all, by the Shawnee, Delaware, and occasionally by the Wyandot and Mingo (Iroquoian), who made regular excursions southward across the Ohio every year to hunt and to make salt at the licks. Most of the temporary camps or villages in Kentucky and West Virginia were built by the Shawnee and Delaware. The Shawnee and Delaware were the principal barrier to the settlement of Kentucky and West Virginia for a period of 20 years, while in all that time neither the Cherokee nor the Iroquois offered any resistance or checked the opposition of the Ohio tribes.
The Cherokee bounds in Virginia should be extended along the mountain region as far at least as the James River, as they claim to have lived at the Peaks of Otter,54 and seem to be identical with the Rickohockan or Rechahecrian of the early Virginia writers, who lived in the mountains beyond the Monacan, and in 1656 ravaged the lowland country as far as the site of Richmond and defeated the English and the Powhatan Indians in a pitched battle at that place.55
The language of the Tuscarora, formerly of northeastern North Carolina, connect them directly with the northern Iroquois. The Chowanoc and Nottoway and other cognate tribes adjoining the Tuscarora may have been offshoots from that tribe.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Cayuga. Cherokee. Conestoga. Erie. Mohawk. Neuter. Nottoway. |
Oneida. Onondaga. Seneca. Tionontate. Tuscarora. Wyandot. |
Population.—The present number of the Iroquoian stock is about 43,000, of whom over 34,000 (including the Cherokees) are in the United States while nearly 9,000 are in Canada. Below is given the population of the different tribes, compiled chiefly from the 80 Canadian Indian Report for 1888, and the United States Census Bulletin for 1890:
The Iroquois of St. Regis, Caughnawaga, Lake of Two Mountains (Oka), and Gibson speak a dialect mainly Mohawk and Oneida, but are a mixture of all the tribes of the original Five Nations.
KALAPOOIAN FAMILY.
= Kalapooiah, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 335, 1841 (includes Kalapooiah and Yamkallie; thinks the Umpqua and Cathlascon languages are related). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 599, 617, 1859, (follows Scouler).
= Kalapuya, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 3217, 584, 1846 (of Willamet Valley above Falls). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., I pt. 1, c, 17, 77, 1848. Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1853. Gallatin in Sohoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853. Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 73, 1856. Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 617, 1859. Latham, Opuscula, 340, 1860. Gatschet in Mag. Arn. Hist., 167, 1877. Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 443, 1877.
> Calapooya, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 639, 1883.
X Chinooks, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 474, 1878 (includes Calapooyas and Yamkally).
> Yamkally, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 630, 1883 (bears a certain relationship to Calapooya).
Under this family name Scouler places two tribes, the Kalapooiah, inhabiting “the fertile Willamat plains” and the Yamkallie, who live “more in the interior, towards the sources of the Willamat River.” Scouler adds that the Umpqua “appear to belong to this Family, although their language is rather more remote from the Kalapooiah than the Yamkallie is.” The Umpqua language is now placed under the Athapascan family. Scouler also asserts the intimate relationship of the Cathlascon tribes to the Kalapooiah family. They are now classed as Chinookan.
The tribes of the Kalapooian family inhabited the valley of Willamette River, Oregon, above the falls, and extended well up to the 82 headwaters of that stream. They appear not to have reached the Columbia River, being cut off by tribes of the Chinookan family, and consequently were not met by Lewis and Clarke, whose statements of their habitat were derived solely from natives.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Ahántchuyuk (Pudding River Indians). Atfálati. Calapooya. Chelamela. Lákmiut. Santiam. Yámil. |
Population.—So far as known the surviving Indians of this family are all at the Grande Ronde Agency, Oregon.
The following is a census for 1890:
Atfálati | 28 |
Calapooya | 22 |
Lákmiut | 29 |
Mary’s River | 28 |
Santiam | 27 |
Yámil | 30 |
Yonkalla | 7 |
Total | 171 |
KARANKAWAN FAMILY.
= Karánkawa, Gatschet in Globus, XLIX, No. 8, 123, 1886 (vocabulary of 25 terms; distinguished as a family provisionally). Gatschet in Science, 414, April 9, 1887.
The Karankawa formerly dwelt upon the Texan coast, according to Sibley, upon an island or peninsula in the Bay of St. Bernard (Matagorda Bay). In 1804 this author, upon hearsay evidence, stated their number to be 500 men.56 In several places in the paper cited it is explicitly stated that the Karankawa spoke the Attakapa language; the Attakapa was a coast tribe living to the east of them. In 1884 Mr. Gatschet found a Tonkawe at Fort Griffin, Texas, who claimed to have formerly lived among the Karankawa. From him a vocabulary of twenty-five terms was obtained, which was all of the language he remembered.
The vocabulary is unsatisfactory, not only because of its meagerness, but because most of the terms are unimportant for comparison. Nevertheless, such as it is, it represents all of the language that is extant. Judged by this vocabulary the language seems to be distinct not only from the Attakapa but from all others. Unsatisfactory as the linguistic evidence is, it appears to be safer to class the language provisionally as a distinct family upon the strength of it than to accept Sibley’s statement of its identity with Attakapa, especially as we know nothing of the extent of his information or whether indeed his statement was based upon a personal knowledge of the language.
83 A careful search has been made with the hope of finding a few survivors of this family, but thus far not a single descendant of the tribe has been discovered and it is probable that not one is now living.
KERESAN FAMILY.
> Keres, Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 55, 86-90, 1856 (includes Kiwomi, Cochitemi, Acoma).
= Kera, Powell in Rocky Mt. Presbyterian, Nov., 1878 (includes San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Cóchiti, Santa Aña, Cia, Acoma, Laguna, Povate, Hasatch, Mogino). Gratschet in U.S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th M., VII, 417, 1879. Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist. 259, 1883.
= Keran, Powell in Am. Nat., 604, Aug., 1880 (enumerates pueblos and gives linguistic literature).
= Queres, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Ana.), 479, 1878.
= Chu-cha-cas, Lane in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, V, 689, 1855 (includes Laguna, Acoma, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Cochite, Sille).
= Chu-cha-chas, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 479, 1878 (misprint; follows Lane).
= Kes-whaw-hay, Lane in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, V, 689, 1855 (same as Chu-cha-cas above). Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 479, 1878 (follows Lane).
Derivation unknown. The name is pronounced with an explosive initial sound, and Ad. F. Bandelier spells it Qq’uêres, Quéra, Quéris.
Under this name Turner, as above quoted, includes the vocabularies of Kiwomi, Cochitemi, and Acoma.
The full list of pueblos of Keresan stock is given below. They are situated in New Mexico on the upper Rio Grande, on several of its small western affluents, and on the Jemez and San José, which also are tributaries of the Rio Grande.
VILLAGES.
Acoma. Acomita.57 Cochití. Hasatch. Laguna. Paguate. Pueblito.57 Punyeestye. Punyekia. |
Pusityitcho. San Felipe. Santa Ana. Santo Domingo. Seemunah. Sia. Wapuchuseamma. Ziamma. |
Population.—According to the census of 1890 the total population of the villages of the family is 3,560, distributed as follows:
Acoma58 | 566 |
Cochití | 268 |
Laguna59 | 1,143 |
Santa Ana | 253 |
San Felipe | 554 |
Santo Domingo | 670 |
Sia | 106 |
KIOWAN FAMILY.
= Kiaways, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (on upper waters Arkansas).
= Kioway, Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 55, 80, 1856 (based on the (Caigua) tribe only). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 432, 433, 1859. Latham, EL. Comp. Phil., 444, 1862 (“more Paduca than aught else”).
= Kayowe, Gatschet in Am. Antiq., 280, Oct., 1882 (gives phonetics of).
Derivation: From the Kiowa word Kó-i, plural Kó-igu, meaning “Káyowe man.” The Comanche term káyowe means “rat.”
The author who first formally separated this family appears to have been Turner. Gallatin mentions the tribe and remarks that owing to the loss of Dr. Say’s vocabularies “we only know that both the Kiowas and Kaskaias languages were harsh, guttural, and extremely difficult.”60 Turner, upon the strength of a vocabulary furnished by Lieut. Whipple, dissents from the opinion expressed by Pike and others to the effect that the language is of the same stock as the Comanche, and, while admitting that its relationship to Camanche is greater than to any other family, thinks that the likeness is merely the result of long intercommunication. His opinion that it is entirely distinct from any other language has been indorsed by Buschmann and other authorities. The family is represented by the Kiowa tribe.
So intimately associated with the Comanches have the Kiowa been since known to history that it is not easy to determine their pristine home. By the Medicine Creek treaty of October 18, 1867, they and the Comanches were assigned their present reservation in the Indian Territory, both resigning all claims to other territory, especially their claims and rights in and to the country north of the Cimarron River and west of the eastern boundary of New Mexico.
The terms of the cession might be taken to indicate a joint ownership of territory, but it is more likely that the Kiowa territory adjoined the Comanche on the northwest. In fact Pope61 definitely locates the Kiowa in the valley of the Upper Arkansas, and of its tributary, the Purgatory (Las Animas) River. This is in substantial accord with the statements of other writers of about the same period. Schermerhorn (1812) places the Kiowa on the heads of the Arkansas and Platte. Earlier still they appear upon the headwaters of the Platte, which is the region assigned them upon the map.62 This region was occupied later by the Cheyenne and Arapaho of Algonquian stock.
Population.—According to the United States census for 1890 there are 1,140 Kiowa on the Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita Reservation, Indian Territory.
85KITUNAHAN FAMILY.
= Kitunaha, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 204, 535, 1846 (between the forks of the Columbia). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 10, 77, 1848 (Flatbow). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1853. Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 70, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 388, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 395, 1862 (between 52° and 48° N.L., west of main ridge of Rocky Mountains). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 170, 1877 (on Kootenay River).
= Coutanies, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 204, 1846 (= Kitunaha).
= Kútanis, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man., 316, 1850 (Kitunaha).
= Kituanaha, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (Coutaria or Flatbows, north of lat. 49°).
= Kootanies, Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 661, 1859.
= Kutani, Latham, El. Comp. Phil, 395, 1862 (or Kitunaha).
= Cootanie, Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 395, 1862 (synonymous with Kitunaha).
= Kootenai, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 170, 1877 (defines area occupied). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 446, 1877. Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 1882.
= Kootenuha, Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 79-87, 1884 (vocabulary of Upper Kootenuha).
= Flatbow, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 204, 1846 (= Kitunaha). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 10, 77, 1848 (after Hale). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 661, 1859. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 395, 1862 (or Kitunaha). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 170, 1877.
= Flachbogen, Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852.
X Shushwaps, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 474, 1878 (includes Kootenais (Flatbows or Skalzi)).
This family was based upon a tribe variously termed Kitunaha, Kutenay, Cootenai, or Flatbow, living on the Kootenay River, a branch of the Columbia in Oregon.
Mr. Gatschet thinks it is probable that there are two dialects of the language spoken respectively in the extreme northern and southern portions of the territory occupied, but the vocabularies at hand are not sufficient to definitely settle the question.
The area occupied by the Kitunahan tribes is inclosed between the northern fork of the Columbia River, extending on the south along the Cootenay River. By far the greater part of the territory occupied by these tribes is in British Columbia.
TRIBES.
The principal divisions or tribes are Cootenai, or Upper Cootenai; Akoklako, or Lower Cootenai; Klanoh-Klatklam, or Flathead Cootenai; Yaketahnoklatakmakanay, or Tobacco Plains Cootenai.
Population.—There are about 425 Cootenai at Flathead Agency, Montana, and 539 at Kootenay Agency, British Columbia; total, 964.
KOLUSCHAN FAMILY.
= Koluschen, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 14, 1836 (islands and adjacent coast from 60° to 55° N.L.).
= Koulischen, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 306, 1836. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 77, 1848, (Koulischen and Sitka languages). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (Sitka, bet. 52° and 59° lat.).
86 < Kolooch, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., II, 31-50, 1846 (tends to merge Kolooch into Esquimaux). Latham in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., 1, 163, 1848 (compared with Eskimo language.). Latham, Opuscula, 259, 276, 1860.
= Koluschians, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 433, 1847 (follows Gallatin). Scouler (1846) in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., I, 231, 1848.
< Kolúch, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 294, 1850 (more likely forms a subdivision of Eskimo than a separate class; includes Kenay of Cook’s Inlet, Atna of Copper River, Koltshani, Ugalents, Sitkans, Tungaas, Inkhuluklait, Magimut, Inkalit; Digothi and Nehanni are classed as “doubtful Kolúches”).
= Koloschen, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852. Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 680, 1859. Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887.
= Kolush, Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 401, 1862 (mere mention of family with short vocabulary).
= Kaloshians, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass., 375, 1885 (gives tribes and population).
X Northern, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 218, 1841 (includes Koloshes and Tun Ghasse).
X Haidah, Scouler, ibid, 219, 1841 (same as his Northern).
= Klen-ee-kate, Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, V, 489, 1855.
= Klen-e-kate, Kane, Wanderings of an Artist, app., 1859 (a census of N.W. coast tribes classified by language).
= Thlinkithen, Holmberg in Finland Soc., 284, 1856 (fide Buschmann, 676, 1859).
= Thl’nkets, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass., 268, 269, 1869 (divided into Sitka-kwan, Stahkin-kwan, “Yakutats”).
= T’linkets, Dall in Cont. N.A. Eth., I, 36, 1877 (divided into Yăk´ūtăts, Chilkāht’-kwan, Sitka-kwan, Stākhin´-kwān, Kygāh´ni).
= Thlinkeet, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 460, 462, 1878 (from Mount St. Elias to Nass River; includes Ugalenzes, Yakutats, Chilkats, Hoodnids, Hoodsinoos, Takoos, Auks, Kakas, Stikines, Eeliknûs, Tungass, Sitkas). Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 562, 579, 1882.
= Thlinkit, Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 14, 1884 (vocab. of Skutkwan Sept; also map showing distribution of family). Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887.
= Tlinkit, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass., 375, 1885 (enumerates tribes and gives population).
Derivation: From the Aleut word kolosh, or more properly, kaluga, meaning “dish,” the allusion being to the dish-shaped lip ornaments.
This family was based by Gallatin upon the Koluschen tribe (the Tshinkitani of Marchand), “who inhabit the islands and the adjacent coast from the sixtieth to the fifty-fifth degree of north latitude.”
In the Koluschan family, Gallatin observes that the remote analogies to the Mexican tongue to be found in several of the northern tribes, as the Kinai, are more marked than in any other.
The boundaries of this family as given by Gallatin are substantially in accordance with our present knowledge of the subject. The southern boundary is somewhat indeterminate owing to the fact, ascertained by the census agents in 1880, that the Haida tribes extend somewhat farther north than was formerly supposed and occupy the southeast half of Prince of Wales Island. About latitude 56°, or the mouth of Portland Canal, indicates the southern limit of the family, and 60°, or near the mouth of Atna River, the northern limit. Until recently they have been supposed to be exclusively 87 an insular and coast people, but Mr. Dawson has made the interesting discovery63 that the Tagish, a tribe living inland on the headwaters of the Lewis River, who have hitherto been supposed to be of Athapascan extraction, belong to the Koluschan family. This tribe, therefore, has crossed the coast range of mountains, which for the most part limits the extension of this people inland and confines them to a narrow coast strip, and have gained a permanent foothold in the interior, where they share the habits of the neighboring Athapascan tribes.
TRIBES.
Auk. Chilcat. Hanega. Hoodsunu. Hunah. Kek. |
Sitka. Stahkin. Tagish. Taku. Tongas. Yakutat. |
Population.—The following figures are from the census of 1880.64 The total population of the tribes of this family, exclusive of the Tagish, is 6,437, distributed as follows:
Auk | 640 | |
Chilcat | 988 | |
Hanega (including Kouyon and Klanak) | 587 | |
Hoodsunu | 666 | |
Hunah | 908 | |
Kek | 568 | |
Sitka | 721 | |
Stahkin | 317 | |
Taku | 269 | |
Tongas | 273 | |
Yakutat | 500 |
KULANAPAN FAMILY.
X Kula-napo, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 431, 1853 (the name of one of the Clear Lake bands).
> Mendocino (?), Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 77, 1856 (name suggested for Choweshak, Batemdaikai, Kulanapo, Yukai, Khwaklamayu languages). Latham, Opuscula, 343, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 410, 1863 (as above).
> Pomo, Powers in Overland Monthly, IX, 498, Dec., 1873 (general description of habitat and of family). Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 146, 1877. Powell, ibid., 491 (vocabularies of Gal-li-no-mé-ro, Yo-kai´-a, Ba-tem-da-kaii, Chau-i-shek, Yu-kai, Ku-la-na-po, H’hana, Venaambakaiia, Ka´-bi-na-pek, Chwachamaju). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 16, 1877 (gives habitat and enumerates tribes of family). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 436, 1877. Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 476, 1878 (includes Castel Pomos, Ki, Cahto, Choam, Chadela, Matomey Ki, Usal or Calamet, Shebalne Pomos, Gallinomeros, Sanels, Socoas, Lamas, Comachos).
< Pomo, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 566, 1882 (includes Ukiah, Gallinomero, Masallamagoon, Gualala, Matole, Kulanapo, Sanél, Yonios, Choweshak, Batemdakaie, Chocuyem, Olamentke, Kainamare, Chwachamaju. Of these, Chocuyem and Olamentke are Moquelumnan).
The name applied to this family was first employed by Gibbs in 1853, as above cited. He states that it is the “name of one of the 88 Clear Lake bands,” adding that “the language is spoken by all the tribes occupying the large valley.” The distinctness of the language is now generally admitted.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The main territory of the Kulanapan family is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by the Yukian and Copehan territories, on the north by the watershed of the Russian River, and on the south by a line drawn from Bodega Head to the southwest corner of the Yukian territory, near Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California. Several tribes of this family, viz, the Kastel Pomo, Kai Pomo, and Kato Pomo, are located in the valley between the South Fork of Eel River and the main river, and on the headwaters of the South Fork, extending thence in a narrow strip to the ocean. In this situation they were entirely cut off from the main body by the intrusive Yuki tribes, and pressed upon from the north by the warlike Wailakki, who are said to have imposed their language and many of their customs upon them and as well doubtless to have extensively intermarried with them.
TRIBES.
KUSAN FAMILY.
= Kúsa, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 257, 1883.
Derivation: Milhau, in a manuscript letter to Gibbs (Bureau of Ethnology), states that “Coos in the Rogue River dialect is said to mean lake, lagoon or inland bay.”
The “Kaus or Kwokwoos” tribe is merely mentioned by Hale as living on a river of the same name between the Umqua and the Clamet.65 Lewis and Clarke66 also mention them in the same location as the Cookkoo-oose. The tribe was referred to also under the name Kaus by Latham,67 who did not attempt its classification, having in fact no material for the purpose.
Mr. Gatschet, as above, distinguishes the language as forming a distinct stock. It is spoken on the coast of middle Oregon, on Coos River and Bay, and at the mouth of Coquille River, Oregon.
TRIBES.
Anasitch. Melukitz. Mulluk or Lower Coquille. Nacu?. |
Population.—Most of the survivors of this family are gathered upon the Siletz Reservation, Oregon, but their number can not be stated as the agency returns are not given by tribes.
LUTUAMIAN FAMILY.
= Lutuami, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 199, 569, 1846 (headwaters Klamath River and lake). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 17, 77, 1848 (follows Hale). Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 325, 1850 (headwaters Clamet River). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852. Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., VI, 82, 1854. Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 74, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 300, 310, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 407, 1862.
= Luturim, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (misprint for Lutuami; based on Clamets language).
= Lutumani, Latham, Opuscula, 341, 1860 (misprint for Lutuami).
= Tlamatl, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 218, 569, 1846 (alternative of Lutuami). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852.
= Clamets, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 218, 569, 1846 (alternative of Lutuami).
90 = Klamath, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 164, 1877. Gatschet in Beach. Ind. Misc., 439, 1877. Gatschet in Am. Antiq., 81-84, 1878 (general remarks upon family).
< Klamath, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 475, 1878 (a geographic group rather than a linguistic family; includes, in addition to the Klamath proper or Lutuami, the Yacons, Modocs, Copahs, Shastas, Palaiks, Wintoons, Eurocs, Cahrocs, Lototens, Weeyots, Wishosks, Wallies, Tolewahs, Patawats, Yukas, “and others between Eel River and Humboldt Bay.” The list thus includes several distinct families). Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 640, 1882 (includes Lutuami or Klamath, Modoc and Copah, the latter belonging to the Copehan family).
= Klamath Indians of Southwestern Oregon, Gatschet in Cont, N.A. Eth., II, pt. 1, XXXIII, 1890.
Derivation: From a Pit River word meaning “lake.”
The tribes of this family appear from time immemorial to have occupied Little and Upper Klamath Lakes, Klamath Marsh, and Sprague River, Oregon. Some of the Modoc have been removed to the Indian Territory, where 84 now reside; others are in Sprague River Valley.
The language is a homogeneous one and, according to Mr. Gatschet who has made a special study of it, has no real dialects, the two divisions of the family, Klamath and Modoc, speaking an almost identical language.
The Klamaths’ own name is É-ukshikni, “Klamath Lake people.” The Modoc are termed by the Klamath Módokni, “Southern people.”
TRIBES.
Klamath. Modoc. |
Population.—There were 769 Klamath and Modoc on the Klamath Reservation in 1889. Since then they have slightly decreased.
MARIPOSAN FAMILY.
> Mariposa, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 84, 1856 (Coconoons language, Mariposa County). Latham, Opuscula, 350, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Philology, 416, 1862 (Coconoons of Mercede River).
= Yo´-kuts, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 369, 1877. Powell, ibid., 570 (vocabularies of Yo´-kuts, Wi´-chi-kik, Tin´-lin-neh, King’s River, Coconoons, Calaveras County).
= Yocut, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 158, 1877 (mentions Taches, Chewenee, Watooga, Chookchancies, Coconoons and others). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 432, 1877.
Derivation: A Spanish word meaning “butterfly,” applied to a county in California and subsequently taken for the family name.
Latham mentions the remnants of three distinct bands of the Coconoon, each with its own language, in the north of Mariposa County. These are classed together under the above name. More recently the tribes speaking languages allied to the Coconūn have been treated of under the family name Yokut. As, however, the stock was established by Latham on a sound basis, his name is here restored.
91GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The territory of the Mariposan family is quite irregular in outline. On the north it is bounded by the Fresno River up to the point of its junction with the San Joaquin; thence by a line running to the northeast corner of the Salinan territory in San Benito County, California; on the west by a line running from San Benito to Mount Pinos. From the middle of the western shore of Tulare Lake to the ridge at Mount Pinos on the south, the Mariposan area is merely a narrow strip in and along the foothills. Occupying one-half of the western and all the southern shore of Tulare Lake, and bounded on the north by a line running from the southeast corner of Tulare Lake due east to the first great spur of the Sierra Nevada range is the territory of the intrusive Shoshoni. On the east the secondary range of the Sierra Nevada forms the Mariposan boundary.
In addition to the above a small strip of territory on the eastern bank of the San Joaquin is occupied by the Cholovone division of the Mariposan family, between the Tuolumne and the point where the San Joaquin turns to the west before entering Suisun Bay.
TRIBES.
Ayapaì (Tule River). Chainímaini (lower King’s River). Chukaímina (Squaw Valley). Chūk’chansi (San Joaquin River above Millerton). Ćhunut (Kaweah River at the lake). Coconūn´ (Merced River). Ititcha (King’s River). Kassovo (Day Creek). Kau-í-a (Kaweah River; foothills). Kiawétni (Tule River at Porterville). Mayáyu (Tule River, south fork). Notoánaiti (on the lake). |
Ochíngita (Tule River). Pitkachì (extinct; San Joaquin River below Millerton). Pohállin Tinleh (near Kern lake). Sawákhtu (Tule River, south fork). Táchi (Kingston). Télumni (Kaweah River below Visalia). Tínlinneh (Fort Tejon). Tisèchu (upper King’s River). Wíchikik (King’s River). Wikchúmni (Kaweah River; foothills). Wíksachi (upper Kaweah Valley). Yúkol (Kaweah River plains). |
Population.—There are 145 of the Indians of this family now attached to the Mission Agency, California.
92MOQUELUMNAN FAMILY.
> Tcho-ko-yem, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 421, 1853 (mentioned as a band and dialect).
> Moquelumne, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 81, 1856 (includes Hale’s Talatui, Tuolumne from Schoolcraft, Mumaltachi, Mullateco, Apangasi, Lapappu, Siyante or Typoxi, Hawhaw’s band of Aplaches, San Rafael vocabulary, Tshokoyem vocabulary, Cocouyem and Yonkiousme Paternosters, Olamentke of Kostromitonov, Paternosters for Mission de Santa Clara and the Vallee de los Tulares of Mofras, Paternoster of the Langue Guiloco de la Mission de San Francisco). Latham, Opuscula, 347, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 414, 1862 (same as above).
= Meewoc, Powers in Overland Monthly, 322, April, 1873 (general account of family with allusions to language). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 159, 1877 (gives habitat and bands of family). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 433, 1877.
= Mí-wok, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 346, 1877 (nearly as above).
< Mutsun, Powell in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 535, 1877 (vocabs. of Mi´-wok, Tuolumne, Costano, Tcho-ko-yem, Mūtsūn, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Chum-te´-ya, Kawéya, San Raphael Mission, Talatui, Olamentke). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 157, 1877 (gives habitat and members of family). Gatschet, in Beach, Ind. Misc., 430, 1877.
X Runsiens, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 476, 1878 (includes Olhones, Eslenes, Santa Cruz, San Miguel, Lopillamillos, Mipacmacs, Kulanapos, Yolos, Suisunes, Talluches, Chowclas, Waches, Talches, Poowells).
Derivation: From the river and hill of same name in Calaveras County, California; according to Powers the Meewoc name for the river is Wakalumitoh.
The Talatui mentioned by Hale68 as on the Kassima (Cosumnes) River belong to the above family. Though this author clearly distinguished the language from any others with which he was acquainted, he nowhere expressed the opinion that it is entitled to family rank or gave it a family name. Talatui is mentioned as a tribe from which he obtained an incomplete vocabulary.
It was not until 1856 that the distinctness of the linguistic family was fully set forth by Latham. Under the head of Moquelumne, this author gathers several vocabularies representing different languages and dialects of the same stock. These are the Talatui of Hale, the Tuolumne from Schoolcraft, the Sonoma dialects as represented by the Tshokoyem vocabulary, the Chocuyem and Youkiousme paternosters, and the Olamentke of Kostromitonov in Bäer’s Beiträge. He also places here provisionally the paternosters from the Mission de Santa Clara and the Vallee de los Tulares of Mofras; also the language Guiloco de la Mission de San Francisco. The Costano containing the five tribes of the Mission of Dolores, viz., the Ahwastes, Olhones or Costanos of the coast, Romonans, Tulomos and the Altahmos seemed to Latham to differ from the Moquelumnan language. Concerning them he states “upon the whole, however, the affinities seem to run in the direction of the languages of the next 93 group, especially in that of the Ruslen.” He adds: “Nevertheless, for the present I place the Costano by itself, as a transitional form of speech to the languages spoken north, east, and south of the Bay of San Francisco.” Recent investigation by Messrs. Curtin and Henshaw have confirmed the soundness of Latham’s views and, as stated under head of the Costanoan family, the two groups of languages are considered to be distinct.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The Moquelumnan family occupies the territory bounded on the north by the Cosumne River, on the south by the Fresno River, on the east by the Sierra Nevada, and on the west by the San Joaquin River, with the exception of a strip on the east bank occupied by the Cholovone. A part of this family occupies also a territory bounded on the south by San Francisco Bay and the western half of San Pablo Bay; on the west by the Pacific Ocean from the Golden Gate to Bodega Head; on the north by a line running from Bodega Head to the Yukian territory northeast of Santa Rosa, and on the east by a line running from the Yukian territory to the northernmost point of San Pablo Bay.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Miwok division: | |
Awani. Chauchila. Chumidok. Chumtiwa. Chumuch. Chumwit. Hettitoya. Kani. Lopolatimne. Machemni. Mokelumni. Newichumni. |
Olowidok. Olowit. Olowiya. Sakaiakumni. Seroushamne. Talatui. Tamoleka. Tumidok. Tumun. Walakumni. Yuloni. |
Olamentke division: | |
Bollanos. Chokuyem. Guimen. Likatuit. Nicassias. Numpali. |
Olamentke. Olumpali. Sonomi. Tamal. Tulare. Utchium. |
Population.—Comparatively few of the Indians of this family survive, and these are mostly scattered in the mountains and away from the routes of travel. As they were never gathered on reservations, an accurate census has not been taken.
In the detached area north of San Francisco Bay, chiefly in Marin County, formerly inhabited by the Indians of this family, almost none remain. There are said to be none living about the mission of San Rafael, and Mr. Henshaw, in 1888, succeeded in locating only six at Tomales Bay, where, however, he obtained a very good vocabulary from a woman.
94MUSKHOGEAN FAMILY.
> Muskhogee, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 94, 306, 1836 (based upon Muskhogees, Hitchittees, Seminoles). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 402, 1847 (includes Muskhogees, Seminoles, Hitchittees).
> Muskhogies, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852.
> Muscogee, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 471, 1878 (includes Muscogees proper, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Hitchittees, Coosadas or Coosas, Alibamons, Apalaches).
= Maskoki, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 50, 1884 (general account of family; four branches, Maskoki, Apalachian, Alibamu, Chahta). Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887.
> Choctaw Muskhogee, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 119, 1836.
> Chocta-Muskhog, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 401, 1853.
= Chata-Muskoki, Hale in Am. Antiq., 108, April, 1883 (considered with reference to migration).
> Chahtas, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 100, 306, 1836 (or Choctaws).
> Chahtahs, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 403, 1847 (or Choktahs or Flatheads).
> Tschahtas, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852.
> Choctah, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 337, 1850 (includes Choctahs, Muscogulges, Muskohges). Latham in Trans. Phil. Soc. Lond., 103, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 366, 1860.
> Mobilian, Bancroft, Hist. U.S., 349, 1840.
> Flat-heads, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 403, 1847 (Chahtahs or Choktahs).
> Coshattas, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 349, 1850 (not classified).
> Humas, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 341, 1850 (east of Mississippi above New Orleans).
Derivation: From the name of the principal tribe of the Creek Confederacy.
In the Muskhogee family Gallatin includes the Muskhogees proper, who lived on the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers; the Hitchittees, living on the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers; and the Seminoles of the peninsula of Florida. It was his opinion, formed by a comparison of vocabularies, that the Choctaws and Chickasaws should also be classed under this family. In fact, he called69 the family Choctaw Muskhogee. In deference, however, to established usage, the two tribes were kept separate in his table and upon the colored map. In 1848 he appears to be fully convinced of the soundness of the view doubtfully expressed in 1836, and calls the family the Chocta-Muskhog.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The area occupied by this family was very extensive. It may be described in a general way as extending from the Savannah River and the Atlantic west to the Mississippi, and from the Gulf of Mexico north to the Tennessee River. All of this territory was held by Muskhogean tribes except the small areas occupied by the Yuchi, Ná’htchi, and some small settlements of Shawni.
95 Upon the northeast Muskhogean limits are indeterminate. The Creek claimed only to the Savannah River; but upon its lower course the Yamasi are believed to have extended east of that river in the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.70 The territorial line between the Muskhogean family and the Catawba tribe in South Carolina can only be conjectured.
It seems probable that the whole peninsula of Florida was at one time held by tribes of Timuquanan connection; but from 1702 to 1708, when the Apalachi were driven out, the tribes of northern Florida also were forced away by the English. After that time the Seminole and the Yamasi were the only Indians that held possession of the Floridian peninsula.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Alibamu. Apalachi. Chicasa. Choctaw. Creek or Maskoki proper. Koasáti. Seminole. Yamacraw. Yamasi. |
Population.—There is an Alibamu town on Deep Creek, Indian Territory, an affluent of the Canadian, Indian Territory. Most of the inhabitants are of this tribe. There are Alibamu about 20 miles south of Alexandria, Louisiana, and over one hundred in Polk County, Texas.
So far as known only three women of the Apalachi survived in 1886, and they lived at the Alibamu town above referred to. The United States Census bulletin for 1890 gives the total number of pureblood Choctaw at 9,996, these being principally at Union Agency, Indian Territory. Of the Chicasa there are 3,464 at the same agency; Creek 9,291; Seminole 2,539; of the latter there are still about 200 left in southern Florida.
There are four families of Koasáti, about twenty-five individuals, near the town of Shepherd, San Jacinto County, Texas. Of the Yamasi none are known to survive.
NATCHESAN FAMILY.
> Natches, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 95, 806, 1836 (Natches only). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 402, 403, 1847.
> Natsches, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852.
> Natchez, Bancroft, Hist. U.S., 248, 1840. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848 (Natchez only). Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 340, 1850 (tends to include Taensas, Pascagoulas, Colapissas, Biluxi in same family). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 401, 1853 (Natchez only). Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 460, 473, 1878 (suggests that it may include the Utchees).
> Naktche, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 34, 1884. Gatschet in Science, 414, April 29, 1887.
96 > Taensa, Gatschet in The Nation, 383, May 4, 1882. Gatschet in Am. Antiq., IV, 238, 1882. Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 33, 1884. Gatschet in Science, 414, April 29, 1887 (Taensas only).
The Na’htchi, according to Gallatin, a residue of the well-known nation of that name, came from the banks of the Mississippi, and joined the Creek less than one hundred years ago.71 The seashore from Mobile to the Mississippi was then inhabited by several small tribes, of which the Na’htchi was the principal.
Before 1730 the tribe lived in the vicinity of Natchez, Miss., along St. Catherine Creek. After their dispersion by the French in 1730 most of the remainder joined the Chicasa and afterwards the Upper Creek. They are now in Creek and Cherokee Nations, Indian Territory.
The linguistic relations of the language spoken by the Taensa tribe have long been in doubt, and it is probable that they will ever remain so. As no vocabulary or text of this language was known to be in existence, the “Grammaire et vocabulaire de la langue Taensa, avec textes traduits et commentés par J.-D. Haumonté, Parisot, L. Adam,” published in Paris in 1882, was received by American linguistic students with peculiar interest. Upon the strength of the linguistic material embodied in the above Mr. Gatschet (loc. cit.) was led to affirm the complete linguistic isolation of the language.
Grave doubts of the authenticity of the grammar and vocabulary have, however, more recently been brought forward.72 The text contains internal evidences of the fraudulent character, if not of the whole, at least of a large part of the material. So palpable and gross are these that until the character of the whole can better be understood by the inspection of the original manuscript, alleged to be in Spanish, by a competent expert it will be far safer to reject both the vocabulary and grammar. By so doing we are left without any linguistic evidence whatever of the relations of the Taensa language.
D’Iberville, it is true, supplies us with the names of seven Taensa towns which were given by a Taensa Indian who accompanied him; but most of these, according to Mr. Gatschet, were given, in the Chicasa trade jargon or, as termed by the French, the “Mobilian trade jargon,” which is at least a very natural supposition. Under these circumstances we can, perhaps, do no better than rely upon the statements of several of the old writers who appear to be unanimous in regarding the language of the Taensa as of Na’htchi connection. Du Pratz’s statement to that effect is weakened from the fact that the statement also includes the Shetimasha, the language of which is known from a vocabulary to be totally distinct not only from the Na’htchi but from any other. To supplement Du Pratz’s testimony, such as it is, we have the statements of M. de Montigny, the 97 missionary who affirmed the affinity of the Taensa language to that of the Na’htchi, before he had visited the latter in 1699, and of Father Gravier, who also visited them. For the present, therefore, the Taensa language is considered to be a branch of the Na’htchi.
The Taensa formerly dwelt upon the Mississippi, above and close to the Na’htchi. Early in the history of the French settlements a portion of the Taensa, pressed upon by the Chicasa, fled and were settled by the French upon Mobile Bay.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Na’htchi. Taensa. |
Population.—There still are four Na’htchi among the Creek in Indian Territory and a number in the Cheroki Hills near the Missouri border.
PALAIHNIHAN FAMILY.
= Palaihnih, Hale in U.S. Expl. Expd., VI, 218, 569, 1846 (used in family sense).
= Palaik, Hale in U.S. Expl. Expd., VI, 199, 218, 569, 1846 (southeast of Lutuami in Oregon), Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 18, 77, 1848. Latham, Nat. Hist. Man., 325, 1850 (southeast of Lutuami). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852. Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., VI, 82, 1854 (cites Hale’s vocab). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 74, 1856 (has Shoshoni affinities). Latham, Opuscula, 310, 341, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 407, 1862.
= Palainih, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 1848. (after Hale). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852.
= Pulairih, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (obvious typographical error; quotes Hale’s Palaiks).
= Pit River, Powers in Overland Monthly, 412, May, 1874 (three principal tribes: Achomáwes, Hamefcuttelies, Astakaywas or Astakywich). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 164, 1877 (gives habitat; quotes Hale for tribes). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 439, 1877.
= A-cho-mâ´-wi, Powell in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 601, 1877 (vocabs. of A-cho-mâ´-wi and Lutuami). Powers in ibid., 267 (general account of tribes; A-cho-mâ´-wi, Hu-mâ´-whi, Es-ta-ke´-wach, Han-te´-wa, Chu-mâ´-wa, A-tu-a´-mih, Il-mâ´-wi).
< Klamath, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So.Am.), 460, 475, 1878 (includes Palaiks).
< Shasta, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 1882 (contains Palaik of present family).
Derivation: From the Klamath word p’laikni, signifying “mountaineers” or “uplanders” (Gatschet).
In two places73 Hale uses the terms Palaihnih and Palaiks interchangeably, but inasmuch as on page 569, in his formal table of linguistic families and languages, he calls the family Palaihnih, this is given preference over the shorter form of the name.
Though here classed as a distinct family, the status of the Pit River dialects can not be considered to be finally settled. Powers speaks of the language as “hopelessly consonantal, harsh, and sesquipedalian,” * * * “utterly unlike the sweet and simple 98 languages of the Sacramento.” He adds that the personal pronouns show it to be a true Digger Indian tongue. Recent investigations by Mr. Gatschet lead him, however, to believe that ultimately it will be found to be linguistically related to the Sastean languages.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The family was located by Hale to the southeast of the Lutuami (Klamath). They chiefly occupied the area drained by the Pit River in extreme northeastern California. Some of the tribe were removed to Round Valley Reservation, California.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Powers, who has made a special study of the tribe, recognizes the following principal tribal divisions:74
Achomâ´wi. Atua´mih. Chumâ´wa. Estake´wach. Hante´wa. Humâ´whi. Ilmâ´wi. Pakamalli? |
PIMAN FAMILY.
= Pima, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 898, 1850 (cites three languages from the Mithridates, viz, Pima proper, Opata, Eudeve). Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 55, 1856 (Pima proper). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 92, 1856 (contains Pima proper, Opata, Eudeve, Papagos). Latham, Opuscula, 356, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 427, 1862 (includes Pima proper, Opata, Eudeve, Papago, Ibequi, Hiaqui, Tubar, Tarahumara, Cora). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 156, 1877 (includes Pima, Névome, Pápago). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 429, 1877 (defines area and gives habitat).
Latham used the term Pima in 1850, citing under it three dialects or languages. Subsequently, in 1856, he used the same term for one of the five divisions into which he separates the languages of Sonora and Sinaloa.
The same year Turner gave a brief account of Pima as a distinct language, his remarks applying mainly to Pima proper of the Gila River, Arizona. This tribe had been visited by Emory and Johnston and also described by Bartlett. Turner refers to a short vocabulary in the Mithridates, another of Dr. Coulter’s in Royal Geological Society Journal, vol. XI, 1841, and a third by Parry in Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, vol. III, 1853. The short vocabulary he himself published was collected by Lieut. Whipple.
Only a small portion of the territory occupied by this family is included within the United States, the greater portion being in Mexico where it extends to the Gulf of California. The family is represented in the United States by three tribes, Pima alta, Sobaipuri, and Papago. The former have lived for at least two centuries with the 99 Maricopa on the Gila River about 160 miles from the mouth. The Sobaipuri occupied the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers, tributaries of the Gila, but are no longer known. The Papago territory is much more extensive and extends to the south across the border. In recent times the two tribes have been separated, but the Pima territory as shown upon the map was formerly continuous to the Gila River.
According to Buschmann, Gatschet, Brinton, and others the Pima language is a northern branch of the Nahuatl, but this relationship has yet to be demonstrated.75
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Northern group: |
Opata. Papago. Pima. |
Southern group: |
Cahita. Cora. Tarahumara. Tepeguana. |
Population.—Of the above tribes the Pima and Papago only are within our boundaries. Their numbers under the Pima Agency, Arizona,76 are Pima, 4,464; Papago, 5,163.
PUJUNAN FAMILY.
> Pujuni, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 80, 1856 (contains Pujuni, Secumne, Tsamak of Hale, Cushna of Schoolcraft). Latham, Opuscula, 346, 1860.
> Meidoos, Powers in Overland Monthly, 420, May, 1874.
= Meidoo, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 159, 1877 (gives habitat and tribes). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 433, 1877.
> Mai´-du, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 282, 1877 (same as Mai´-deh; general account of; names the tribes). Powell, ibid., 586 (vocabs. of Kon´-kau, Hol-o´-lu-pai, Na´-kum, Ni´-shi-nam, “Digger,” Cushna, Nishinam, Yuba or Nevada, Punjuni, Sekumne, Tsamak).
> Neeshenams, Powers in Overland Monthly, 21, Jan., 1874 (considers this tribe doubtfully distinct from Meidoo family).
> Ni-shi-nam, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 313, 1877 (distinguishes them from Maidu family).
X Sacramento Valley, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 476, 1878 (Ochecumne, Chupumne, Secumne, Cosumne, Sololumne, Puzlumne, Yasumne, etc.; “altogether about 26 tribes”).
The following tribes were placed in this group by Latham: Pujuni, Secumne, Tsamak of Hale, and the Cushna of Schoolcraft. The name adopted for the family is the name of a tribe given by Hale.77 This was one of the two races into which, upon the information of Captain Sutter as derived by Mr. Dana, all the Sacramento tribes 100 were believed to be divided. “These races resembled one another in every respect but language.”
Hale gives short vocabularies of the Pujuni, Sekumne, and Tsamak. Hale did not apparently consider the evidence as a sufficient basis for a family, but apparently preferred to leave its status to be settled later.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The tribes of this family have been carefully studied by Powers, to whom we are indebted for most all we know of their distribution. They occupied the eastern bank of the Sacramento in California, beginning some 80 or 100 miles from its mouth, and extended northward to within a short distance of Pit River, where they met the tribes of the Palaihnihan family. Upon the east they reached nearly to the border of the State, the Palaihnihan, Shoshonean, and Washoan families hemming them in in this direction.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Bayu. Boka. Eskin. Hélto. Hoak. Hoankut. Hololúpai. Koloma. Konkau. |
Kū´lmeh. Kulomum. Kwatóa. Nakum. Olla. Otaki. Paupákan. Pusúna. Taitchida. |
Tíshum. Toámtcha. Tosikoyo. Toto. Ustóma. Wapúmni. Wima. Yuba. |
QUORATEAN FAMILY.
> Quoratem, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 422, 1853 (proposed as a proper name of family “should it be held one”).
> Eh-nek, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 423, 1853 (given as name of a band only; but suggests Quoratem as a proper family name).
> Ehnik, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 76, 1856 (south of Shasti and Lutuami areas). Latham, Opuscula, 342, 1860.
= Cahrocs, Powers in Overland Monthly, 328, April, 1872 (on Klamath and Salmon Rivers).
= Cahrok, Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 438, 1877.
= Ka´-rok, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 19, 1877. Powell in ibid., 447, 1877 (vocabularies of Ka´-rok, Arra-Arra, Peh´-tsik, Eh-nek).
< Klamath, Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 475, 1878 (cited as including Cahrocs).
Derivation: Name of a band at mouth of Salmon River, California. Etymology unknown.
This family name is equivalent to the Cahroc or Karok of Powers and later authorities.
In 1853, as above cited, Gibbs gives Eh-nek as the titular heading of his paragraphs upon the language of this family, with the remark 101 that it is “The name of a band at the mouth of the Salmon, or Quoratem river.” He adds that “This latter name may perhaps be considered as proper to give to the family, should it be held one.” He defines the territory occupied by the family as follows: “The language reaches from Bluff creek, the upper boundary of the Pohlik, to about Clear creek, thirty or forty miles above the Salmon; varying, however, somewhat from point to point.”
The presentation of the name Quoratem, as above, seems sufficiently formal, and it is therefore accepted for the group first indicated by Gibbs.
In 1856 Latham renamed the family Ehnik, after the principal band, locating the tribe, or rather the language, south of the Shasti and Lutuami areas.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The geographic limits of the family are somewhat indeterminate, though the main area occupied by the tribes is well known. The tribes occupy both banks of the lower Klamath from a range of hills a little above Happy Camp to the junction of the Trinity, and the Salmon River from its mouth to its sources. On the north, Quoratean tribes extended to the Athapascan territory near the Oregon line.
TRIBES.
Ehnek. Karok. Pehtsik. |
Population.—According to a careful estimate made by Mr. Curtin in the region in 1889, the Indians of this family number about 600.
SALINAN FAMILY.
< Salinas, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 85, 1856 (includes Gioloco, Ruslen, Soledad of Mofras, Eslen, Carmel, San Antonio, San Miguel). Latham, Opuscula, 350, 1860.
> San Antonio, Powell in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 568, 1877 (vocabulary of; not given as a family, but kept by itself).
< Santa Barbara, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 157, 1877 (cited here as containing San Antonio). Gatschet in U.S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th M., VII, 419, 1879 (contains San Antonio, San Miguel).
X Runsiens, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 476, 1878 (San Miguel of his group belongs here).
Derivation: From river of same name.
The language formerly spoken at the Missions of San Antonio and San Miguel in Monterey County, California, have long occupied a doubtful position. By some they have been considered distinct, not only from each other, but from all other languages. Others have held that they represent distinct dialects of the Chumashan (Santa Barbara) group of languages. Vocabularies collected in 1884 by Mr. Henshaw show clearly that the two are closely connected dialects and that they are in no wise related to any other family.
102 The group established by Latham under the name Salinas is a heterogeneous one, containing representatives of no fewer than four distinct families. Gioloco, which he states “may possibly belong to this group, notwithstanding its reference to the Mission of San Francisco,” really is congeneric with the vocabularies assigned by Latham to the Mendocinan family. The “Soledad of Mofras” belongs to the Costanoan family mentioned on page 348 of the same essay, as also do the Ruslen and Carmel. Of the three remaining forms of speech, Eslen, San Antonio, and San Miguel, the two latter are related dialects, and belong within the drainage of the Salinas River. The term Salinan is hence applied to them, leaving the Eslen language to be provided with a name.
Population.—Though the San Antonio and San Miguel were probably never very populous tribes, the Missions of San Antonio and San Miguel, when first established in the years 1771 and 1779, contained respectively 1,400 and 1,300 Indians. Doubtless the larger number of these converts were gathered in the near vicinity of the two missions and so belonged to this family. In 1884 when Mr. Henshaw visited the missions he was able to learn of the existence of only about a dozen Indians of this family, and not all of these could speak their own language.
SALISHAN FAMILY.
> Salish, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 134, 306, 1836 (or Flat Heads only). Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., II, 31-50, 1846 (of Duponceau. Said to be the Okanagan of Tolmie).
X Salish, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 474, 1878 (includes Flatheads, Kalispelms, Skitsuish, Colvilles, Quarlpi, Spokanes, Pisquouse, Soaiatlpi).
= Salish, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 618, 1882.
> Selish, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc. II, pt. 1, 77, 1848 (vocab. of Nsietshaws). Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 63, 78, 1884 (vocabularies of Lillooet and Kullēspelm).
> Jelish, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 403, 1853 (obvious misprint for Selish; follows Hale as to tribes).
= Selish, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 169, 1877 (gives habitat and tribes of family). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 444, 1877.
< Selish, Dall, after Gibbs, in Cont. N.A. Eth., 1, 241, 1877 (includes Yakama, which is Shahaptian).
> Tsihaili-Selish, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 205, 535, 569, 1846 (includes Shushwaps. Selish or Flatheads, Skitsuish, Piskwaus, Skwale, Tsihailish, Kawelitsk, Nsietshawus). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 10, 1848 (after Hale). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852. Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 658-661, 1859. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 399, 1862 (contains Shushwap or Atna Proper, Kuttelspelm or Pend d’Oreilles, Selish, Spokan, Okanagan, Skitsuish, Piskwaus, Nusdalum, Kawitchen, Cathlascou, Skwali, Chechili, Kwaintl, Kwenaiwtl, Nsietshawus, Billechula).
> Atnahs, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 134, 135, 306, 1836 (on Fraser River). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 427, 1847 (on Fraser River).
103 > Atna, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 71, 1856 (Tsihaili-Selish of Hale and Gallatin).
X Nootka-Columbian, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 224, 1841 (includes, among others, Billechoola, Kawitchen, Noosdalum, Squallyamish of present family).
X Insular, Scouler, ibid., (same as Nootka-Columbian family).
X Shahaptan, Scouler, ibid., 225 (includes Okanagan of this family).
X Southern, Scouler, ibid., 224 (same as Nootka-Columbian family).
> Billechoola, Latham in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., I, 154, 1848 (assigns Friendly Village of McKenzie here). Latham, Opuscula, 250, 1860 (gives Tolmie’s vocabulary).
> Billechula, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 300, 1850 (mouth of Salmon River). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 72, 1856 (same). Latham, Opuscula, 339, 1860.
> Bellacoola, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 564, 607, 1882 (Bellacoolas only; specimen vocabulary).
> Bilhoola, Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 62, 1884 (vocab. of Noothlākimish).
> Bilchula, Boas in Petermann’s Mitteilungen, 130, 1887 (mentions Sātsq, Nūte̥´l, Nuchalkmχ, Taleómχ).
X Naass, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc. II, pt. 1, c, 77, 1848 (cited as including Billechola).
> Tsihaili, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 310, 1850 (chiefly lower part of Fraser River and between that and the Columbia; includes Shuswap, Salish, Skitsuish, Piskwaus, Kawitchen, Skwali, Checheeli, Kowelits, Noosdalum, Nsietshawus).
X Wakash, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 301, 1850 (cited as including Klallems).
X Shushwaps, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 474, 1878 (quoted as including Shewhapmuch and Okanagans).
X Hydahs, Keane, ibid., 473 (includes Bellacoolas of present family).
X Nootkahs, Keane, ibid., 473 (includes Komux, Kowitchans, Klallums, Kwantlums, Teets of present family).
X Nootka, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 564, 1882 (contains the following Salishan tribes: Cowichin, Soke, Comux, Noosdalum, Wickinninish, Songhie, Sanetch, Kwantlum, Teet, Nanaimo, Newchemass, Shimiahmoo, Nooksak, Samish, Skagit, Snohomish, Clallam, Toanhooch).
< Puget Sound Group, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 474, 1878 (comprises Nooksahs, Lummi, Samish, Skagits, Nisqually, Neewamish, Sahmamish, Snohomish, Skeewamish, Squanamish, Klallums, Classets, Chehalis, Cowlitz, Pistchin, Chinakum; all but the last being Salishan).
> Flatheads, Keane, ibid., 474, 1878 (same as his Salish above).
> Kawitshin, Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 39, 1884 (vocabs. of Songis and Kwantlin Sept and Kowmook or Tlathool).
> Qauitschin, Boas in Petermann’s Mitteilungen, 131, 1887.
> Niskwalli, Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 50, 121, 1884 (or Skwalliamish vocabulary of Sinahomish).
The extent of the Salish or Flathead family was unknown to Gallatin, as indeed appears to have been the exact locality of the tribe of which he gives an anonymous vocabulary from the Duponceau collection. The tribe is stated to have resided upon one of the branches of the Columbia River, “which must be either the most southern branch of Clarke’s River or the most northern branch of Lewis’s River.” The former supposition was correct. As employed by Gallatin the family embraced only a single tribe, the Flathead tribe proper. The Atnah, a Salishan tribe, were considered by Gallatin to be distinct, and the name would be eligible as the family 104 name; preference, however, is given to Salish. The few words from the Friendly Village near the sources of the Salmon River given by Gallatin in Archæologia Americana, II, 1836, pp. 15, 306, belong under this family.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
Since Gallatin’s time, through the labors of Riggs, Hale, Tolmie, Dawson, Boas, and others, our knowledge of the territorial limits of this linguistic family has been greatly extended. The most southern outpost of the family, the Tillamook and Nestucca, were established on the coast of Oregon, about 50 miles to the south of the Columbia, where they were quite separated from their kindred to the north by the Chinookan tribes. Beginning on the north side of Shoalwater Bay, Salishan tribes held the entire northwestern part of Washington, including the whole of the Puget Sound region, except only the Macaw territory about Cape Flattery, and two insignificant spots, one near Port Townsend, the other on the Pacific coast to the south of Cape Flattery, which were occupied by Chimakuan tribes. Eastern Vancouver Island to about midway of its length was also held by Salishan tribes, while the great bulk of their territory lay on the mainland opposite and included much of the upper Columbia. On the south they were hemmed in mainly by the Shahaptian tribes. Upon the east Salishan tribes dwelt to a little beyond the Arrow Lakes and their feeder, one of the extreme north forks of the Columbia. Upon the southeast Salishan tribes extended into Montana, including the upper drainage of the Columbia. They were met here in 1804 by Lewis and Clarke. On the northeast Salish territory extended to about the fifty-third parallel. In the northwest it did not reach the Chilcat River.
Within the territory thus indicated there is considerable diversity of customs and a greater diversity of language. The language is split into a great number of dialects, many of which are doubtless mutually unintelligible.
The relationship of this family to the Wakashan is a very interesting problem. Evidences of radical affinity have been discovered by Boas and Gatschet, and the careful study of their nature and extent now being prosecuted by the former may result in the union of the two, though until recently they have been considered quite distinct.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Population.—The total Salish population of British Columbia is 12,325, inclusive of the Bellacoola, who number, with the Hailtzuk, 2,500, and those in the list of unclassified, who number 8,522, distributed as follows:
Under the Fraser River Agency, 4,986; Kamloops Agency, 2,579; Cowichan Agency, 1,852; Okanagan Agency, 942; Williams Lake Agency, 1,918; Kootenay Agency, 48.
Most of the Salish in the United States are on reservations. They number about 5,500, including a dozen small tribes upon the Yakama Reservation, which have been consolidated with the Clickatat (Shahaptian) through intermarriage. The Salish of the United States are distributed as follows (Indian Affairs Report, 1889, and U.S. Census Bulletin, 1890):
Colville Agency, Washington, Coeur d’ Alene, 422; Lower Spokane, 417; Lake, 303; Colville, 247; Okinagan, 374; Kespilem, 67; San Pueblo (Sans Puell), 300; Calispel, 200; Upper Spokane, 170.
Puyallup Agency, Washington, Quaitso, 82; Quinaielt (Queniut), 101; Humptulip, 19; Puyallup, 563; Chehalis, 135; Nisqually, 94; Squaxon, 60; Clallam, 351; Skokomish, 191; Oyhut, Hoquiam, Montesano, and Satsup, 29.
Tulalip Agency, Washington, Snohomish, 443; Madison, 144; Muckleshoot, 103; Swinomish, 227; Lummi, 295.
Grande Ronde Agency, Oregon, Tillamook, 5.
SASTEAN FAMILY.
= Saste, Hale in U. S. Expl. Exp., VI, 218, 569, 1846. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 77, 1848. Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852. Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 572, 1859.
106 = Shasty, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 218, 1846 (= Saste). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 573, 1859 (= Saste).
= Shasties, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 199, 569, 1846 (= Saste). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852.
= Shasti, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 325, 1850 (southwest of Lutuami). Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc., Lond., VI, 82, 1854. Latham, ibid, 74, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 310, 341, 1860 (allied to both Shoshonean and Shahaptian families). Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 407, 1862.
= Shaste, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 422, 1853 (mentions Watsa-he’-wa, a Scott’s River band).
= Sasti, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (= Shasties).
= Shasta, Powell in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 607, 1877. Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 164, 1877. Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 438, 1877.
= Shas-ti-ka, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 243, 1877.
= Shasta, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 164, 1877 (= Shasteecas).
< Shasta, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 1882 (includes Palaik, Watsahewah, Shasta).
< Klamath, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 475, 1878 (contains Shastas of present family).
Derivation: The single tribe upon the language of which Hale based his name was located by him to the southwest of the Lutuami or Klamath tribes. He calls the tribe indifferently Shasties or Shasty, but the form applied by him to the family (see pp. 218, 569) is Saste, which accordingly is the one taken.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The former territory of the Sastean family is the region drained by the Klamath River and its tributaries from the western base of the Cascade range to the point where the Klamath flows through the ridge of hills east of Happy Camp, which forms the boundary between the Sastean and the Quoratean families. In addition to this region of the Klamath, the Shasta extended over the Siskiyou range northward as far as Ashland, Oregon.
SHAHAPTIAN FAMILY.
X Shahaptan, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc., XI, 225, 1841 (three tribes, Shahaptan or Nez-percés, Kliketat, Okanagan; the latter being Salishan).
< Shahaptan, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 428, 1847 (two classes, Nez-perces proper of mountains, and Polanches of plains; includes also Kliketat and Okanagan).
> Sahaptin, Hale in U.S. Expl. Expd., VI, 198, 212, 542, 1846 (Shahaptin or Nez-percés, Wallawallas, Pelooses, Yakemas, Klikatats). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 14, 1848 (follows Hale). Gallatin, ibid., II, pt. 1, c, 77, 1848 (Nez-percés only). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (Nez-perces and Wallawallas). Dall, after Gibbs, in Cont. N.A. Eth., 1, 241, 1877 (includes Taitinapam and Kliketat).
> Saptin, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 428, 1847 (or Shahaptan).
< Sahaptin, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 323, 1850 (includes Wallawallas, Kliketat, Proper Sahaptin or Nez-percés, Pelús, Yakemas, Cayús?). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 73, 1856 (includes Waiilatpu). Buschmann, Spuren der 107 aztek. Sprache, 614, 615, 1859. Latham, Opuscula, 340, 1860 (as in 1856). Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 440, 1862 (vocabularies Sahaptin, Wallawalla, Kliketat). Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 460, 474, 1878 (includes Palouse, Walla Wallas, Yakimas, Tairtlas, Kliketats or Pshawanwappams, Cayuse, Mollale; the two last are Waiilatpuan).
= Sahaptin, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 168, 1877 (defines habitat and enumerates tribes of). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 443, 1877. Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 620, 1882.
> Shahaptani, Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 78, 1884 (Whulwhaipum tribe).
< Nez-percés, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 428, 1847 (see Shahaptan). Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 474, 1878 (see his Sahaptin).
X Seliah, Dall, after Gibbs, in Cont. N.A. Eth., I, 241, 1877 (includes Yakama which belongs here).
Derivation: From a Selish word of unknown significance.
The Shahaptan family of Scouler comprised three tribes—the Shahaptan or Nez Percés, the Kliketat, a scion of the Shahaptan, dwelling near Mount Ranier, and the Okanagan, inhabiting the upper part of Fraser River and its tributaries; “these tribes were asserted to speak dialects of the same language.” Of the above tribes the Okinagan are now known to be Salishan.
The vocabularies given by Scouler were collected by Tolmie. The term “Sahaptin” appears on Gallatin’s map of 1836, where it doubtless refers only to the Nez Percé tribe proper, with respect to whose linguistic affinities Gallatin apparently knew nothing at the time. At all events the name occurs nowhere in his discussion of the linguistic families.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The tribes of this family occupied a large section of country along the Columbia and its tributaries. Their western boundary was the Cascade Mountains; their westernmost bands, the Klikitat on the north, the Tyigh and Warm Springs on the south, enveloping for a short distance the Chinook territory along the Columbia which extended to the Dalles. Shahaptian tribes extended along the tributaries of the Columbia for a considerable distance, their northern boundary being indicated by about the forty-sixth parallel, their southern by about the forty-fourth. Their eastern extension was interrupted by the Bitter Root Mountains.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES AND POPULATION.
Chopunnish (Nez Percé), 1,515 on Nez Percé Reservation, Idaho.
Klikitat, say one-half of 330 natives, on Yakama Reservation, Washington.
Paloos, Yakama Reservation, number unknown.
Tenaino, 69 on Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon.
Tyigh, 430 on Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon.
Umatilla, 179 on Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
Walla Walla, 405 on Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
108SHOSHONEAN FAMILY.
> Shoshonees, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 120, 133, 306, 1836 (Shoshonee or Snake only). Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 218, 1846 (Wihinasht, Pánasht, Yutas, Sampiches, Comanches). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 77, 1848 (as above). Gallatin, ibid., 18, 1848 (follows Hale; see below). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853. Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 55, 71, 76, 1856 (treats only of Comanche, Chemehuevi, Cahuillo). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 553, 649, 1859.
> Shoshoni, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 199, 218, 569, 1846 (Shóshoni, Wihinasht, Pánasht, Yutas, Sampiches, Comanches). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 73, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 340, 1860.
> Schoschonenu Kamantschen, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852.
> Shoshones, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 429, 1847 (or Snakes; both sides Rocky Mountains and sources of Missouri).
= Shoshóni, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist. 154, 1877. Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 426, 1877.
< Shoshone, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 477, 1878 (includes Washoes of a distinct family). Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 567, 661, 1882.
> Snake, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 120, 133, 1836 (or Shoshonees). Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 218, 1846 (as under Shoshonee). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 429, 1847 (as under Shoshones). Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 76, 1856 (as under Shoshonees). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 552, 649, 1859 (as under Shoshonees).
< Snake, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 477, 1878 (contains Washoes in addition to Shoshonean tribes proper).
> Kizh, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 569, 1846 (San Gabriel language only).
> Netela, Hale, ibid., 569, 1846 (San Juan Capestrano language).
> Paduca, Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 415, 1847 (Cumanches, Kiawas, Utas). Latham, Nat. Hist., Man., 310, 326, 1850. Latham (1853) in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., VI, 73, 1854 (includes Wihinast, Shoshoni, Uta). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 96, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 300, 360, 1860.
< Paduca, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man., 346, 1850 (Wihinast, Bonaks, Diggers, Utahs, Sampiches, Shoshonis, Kiaways, Kaskaias?, Keneways?, Bald-heads, Cumanches, Navahoes, Apaches, Carisos). Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 440, 1862 (defines area of; cites vocabs. of Shoshoni, Wihinasht, Uta, Comanch, Piede or Pa-uta, Chemuhuevi, Cahuillo, Kioway, the latter not belonging here).
> Cumanches, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853.
> Netela-Kij, Latham (1853) in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., VI, 76, 1854 (composed of Netela of Hale, San Juan Capistrano of Coulter, San Gabriel of Coulter, Kij of Hale).
> Capistrano, Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 85, 1856 (includes Netela, of San Luis Rey and San Juan Capistrano, the San Gabriel or Kij of San Gabriel and San Fernando).
In his synopsis of the Indian tribes78 Gallatin’s reference to this great family is of the most vague and unsatisfactory sort. He speaks of “some bands of Snake Indians or Shoshonees, living on the waters of the river Columbia” (p. 120), which is almost the only allusion to them to be found. The only real claim he possesses to the authorship of the family name is to be found on page 306, where, in his list 109 of tribes and vocabularies, he places “Shoshonees” among his other families, which is sufficient to show that he regarded them as a distinct linguistic group. The vocabulary he possessed was by Say.
Buschmann, as above cited, classes the Shoshonean languages as a northern branch of his Nahuatl or Aztec family, but the evidence presented for this connection is deemed to be insufficient.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
This important family occupied a large part of the great interior basin of the United States. Upon the north Shoshonean tribes extended far into Oregon, meeting Shahaptian territory on about the forty-fourth parallel or along the Blue Mountains. Upon the northeast the eastern limits of the pristine habitat of the Shoshonean tribes are unknown. The narrative of Lewis and Clarke79 contains the explicit statement that the Shoshoni bands encountered upon the Jefferson River, whose summer home was upon the head waters of the Columbia, formerly lived within their own recollection in the plains to the east of the Rocky Mountains, whence they were driven to their mountain retreats by the Minnetaree (Atsina), who had obtained firearms. Their former habitat thus given is indicated upon the map, although the eastern limit is of course quite indeterminate. Very likely much of the area occupied by the Atsina was formerly Shoshonean territory. Later a division of the Bannock held the finest portion of southwestern Montana,80 whence apparently they were being pushed westward across the mountains by Blackfeet.81 Upon the east the Tukuarika or Sheepeaters held the Yellowstone Park country, where they were bordered by Siouan territory, while the Washaki occupied southwestern Wyoming. Nearly the entire mountainous part of Colorado was held by the several bands of the Ute, the eastern and southeastern parts of the State being held respectively by the Arapaho and Cheyenne (Algonquian), and the Kaiowe (Kiowan). To the southeast the Ute country included the northern drainage of the San Juan, extending farther east a short distance into New Mexico. The Comanche division of the family extended farther east than any other. According to Crow tradition the Comanche formerly lived northward in the Snake River region. Omaha tradition avers that the Comanche were on the Middle Loup River, probably within the present century. Bourgemont found a Comanche tribe on the upper Kansas River in 1724.82 According to Pike the Comanche territory bordered the Kaiowe on the north, the former occupying the head waters of the upper Red River, Arkansas, and Rio Grande.83 How 110 far to the southward Shoshonean tribes extended at this early period is not known, though the evidence tends to show that they raided far down into Texas to the territory they have occupied in more recent years, viz, the extensive plains from the Rocky Mountains eastward into Indian Territory and Texas to about 97°. Upon the south Shoshonean territory was limited generally by the Colorado River. The Chemehuevi lived on both banks of the river between the Mohave on the north and the Cuchan on the south, above and below Bill Williams Fork.84 The Kwaiantikwoket also lived to the east of the river in Arizona about Navajo Mountain, while the Tusayan (Moki) had established their seven pueblos, including one founded by people of Tañoan stock, to the east of the Colorado Chiquito. In the southwest Shoshonean tribes had pushed across California, occupying a wide band of country to the Pacific. In their extension northward they had reached as far as Tulare Lake, from which territory apparently they had dispossessed the Mariposan tribes, leaving a small remnant of that linguistic family near Fort Tejon.85
A little farther north they had crossed the Sierras and occupied the heads of San Joaquin and Kings Rivers. Northward they occupied nearly the whole of Nevada, being limited on the west by the Sierra Nevada. The entire southeastern part of Oregon was occupied by tribes of Shoshoni extraction.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES AND POPULATION.
Bannock, 514 on Fort Hall Reservation and 75 on the Lemhi Reservation, Idaho.
Chemehuevi, about 202 attached to the Colorado River Agency, Arizona.
Comanche, 1,598 on the Kiowa, Comanche and Wichita Reservation, Indian Territory.
Gosiute, 256 in Utah at large.
Pai Ute, about 2,300 scattered in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada.
Paviotso, about 3,000 scattered in western Nevada and southern Oregon.
Saidyuka, 145 under Klamath Agency.
Shoshoni, 979 under Fort Hall Agency and 249 at the Lemhi Agency.
Tobikhar, about 2,200, under the Mission Agency, California.
Tukuarika, or Sheepeaters, 108 at Lemhi Agency.
Tusayan (Moki), 1,996 (census of 1890).
Uta, 2,839 distributed as follows: 985 under Southern Ute Agency, Colorado; 1,021 on Ouray Reserve, Utah; 833 on Uintah Reserve, Utah.
111SIOUAN FAMILY.
X Sioux, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 121, 306, 1836 (for tribes included see text below). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 408, 1847 (follows Gallatin). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848 (as in 1836). Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853. Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887.
> Sioux, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 333, 1850 (includes Winebagoes, Dakotas, Assineboins, Upsaroka, Mandans, Minetari, Osage). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 58, 1856 (mere mention of family). Latham, Opuscula, 327, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil, 458, 1862.
> Catawbas, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 87, 1836 (Catawbas and Woccons). Bancroft, Hist. U.S., III, 245, et map, 1840. Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 399, 1847. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848. Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 473, 1878.
> Catahbas, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852.
> Catawba, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man., 334, 1850 (Woccoon are allied). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 401, 1853.
> Kataba, Gatschet in Am. Antiquarian, IV, 238, 1882. Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 15, 1884. Gatschet in Science, 413, April 29, 1887.
> Woccons, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 306, 1836 (numbered and given as a distinct family in table, but inconsistently noted in foot-note where referred to as Catawban family.)
> Dahcotas, Bancroft, Hist. U.S., III, 243, 1840.
> Dakotas, Hayden, Cont. Eth. and Phil. Missouri Ind., 232, 1862 (treats of Dakotas, Assiniboins, Crows, Minnitarees, Mandans, Omahas, Iowas).
> Dacotah, Keane, App. to Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 470, 1878. (The following are the main divisions given: Isaunties, Sissetons, Yantons, Teetons, Assiniboines, Winnebagos, Punkas, Omahas, Missouris, Iowas, Otoes, Kaws, Quappas, Osages, Upsarocas, Minnetarees.)
> Dakota, Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 72, 1887.
Derivation: A corruption of the Algonkin word “nadowe-ssi-wag,” “the snake-like ones,” “the enemies” (Trumbull).
Under the family Gallatin makes four subdivisions, viz, the Winnebagos, the Sioux proper and the Assiniboins, the Minnetare group, and the Osages and southern kindred tribes. Gallatin speaks of the distribution of the family as follows: The Winnebagoes have their principal seats on the Fox River of Lake Michigan and towards the heads of the Rock River of the Mississippi; of the Dahcotas proper, the Mendewahkantoan or “Gens du Lac” lived east of the Mississippi from Prairie du Chien north to Spirit Lake. The three others, Wahkpatoan, Wahkpakotoan and Sisitoans inhabit the country between the Mississippi and the St. Peters, and that on the southern tributaries of this river and on the headwaters of the Red River of Lake Winnipek. The three western tribes, the Yanktons, the Yanktoanans and the Tetons wander between the Mississippi and the Missouri, extending southerly to 43° of north latitude and some distance west of the Missouri, between 43° and 47° of latitude. 112 The “Shyennes” are included in the family but are marked as doubtfully belonging here.
Owing to the fact that “Sioux” is a word of reproach and means snake or enemy, the term has been discarded by many later writers as a family designation, and “Dakota,” which signifies friend or ally, has been employed in its stead. The two words are, however, by no means properly synonymous. The term “Sioux” was used by Gallatin in a comprehensive or family sense and was applied to all the tribes collectively known to him to speak kindred dialects of a widespread language. It is in this sense only, as applied to the linguistic family, that the term is here employed. The term “Dahcota” (Dakota) was correctly applied by Gallatin to the Dakota tribes proper as distinguished from the other members of the linguistic family who are not Dakotas in a tribal sense. The use of the term with this signification should be perpetuated.
It is only recently that a definite decision has been reached respecting the relationship of the Catawba and Woccon, the latter an extinct tribe known to have been linguistically related to the Catawba. Gallatin thought that he was able to discern some affinities of the Catawban language with “Muskhogee and even with Choctaw,” though these were not sufficient to induce him to class them together. Mr. Gatschet was the first to call attention to the presence in the Catawba language of a considerable number of words having a Siouan affinity.
Recently Mr. Dorsey has made a critical examination of all the Catawba linguistic material available, which has been materially increased by the labors of Mr. Gatschet, and the result seems to justify its inclusion as one of the dialects of the widespread Siouan family.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The pristine territory of this family was mainly in one body, the only exceptions being the habitats of the Biloxi, the Tutelo, the Catawba and Woccon.
Contrary to the popular opinion of the present day, the general trend of Siouan migration has been westward. In comparatively late prehistoric times, probably most of the Siouan tribes dwelt east of the Mississippi River.
The main Siouan territory extended from about 53° north in the Hudson Bay Company Territory, to about 33°, including a considerable part of the watershed of the Missouri River and that of the Upper Mississippi. It was bounded on the northwest, north, northeast, and for some distance on the east by Algonquian territory. South of 45° north the line ran eastward to Lake Michigan, as the Green Bay region belonged to the Winnebago.86
113 It extended westward from Lake Michigan through Illinois, crossing the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien. At this point began the Algonquian territory (Sac, etc.) on the west side of the Mississippi, extending southward to the Missouri, and crossing that river it returned to the Mississippi at St. Louis. The Siouan tribes claimed all of the present States of Iowa and Missouri, except the parts occupied by Algonquian tribes. The dividing line between the two for a short distance below St. Louis was the Mississippi River. The line then ran west of Dunklin, New Madrid, and Pemiscot Counties, in Missouri, and Mississippi County and those parts of Craighead and Poinsett Counties, Arkansas, lying east of the St. Francis River. Once more the Mississippi became the eastern boundary, but in this case separating the Siouan from the Muskhogean territory. The Quapaw or Akansa were the most southerly tribe in the main Siouan territory. In 167387 they were east of the Mississippi. Joutel (1687) located two of their villages on the Arkansas and two on the Mississippi one of the latter being on the east bank, in our present State of Mississippi, and the other being on the opposite side, in Arkansas. Shea says88 that the Kaskaskias were found by De Soto in 1540 in latitude 36°, and that the Quapaw were higher up the Mississippi. But we know that the southeast corner of Missouri and the northeast corner of Arkansas, east of the St. Francis River, belonged to Algonquian tribes. A study of the map of Arkansas shows reason for believing that there may have been a slight overlapping of habitats, or a sort of debatable ground. At any rate it seems advisable to compromise, and assign the Quapaw and Osage (Siouan tribes) all of Arkansas up to about 36° north.
On the southwest of the Siouan family was the Southern Caddoan group, the boundary extending from the west side of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, nearly opposite Vicksburg, Mississippi, and running northwestwardly to the bend of Red River between Arkansas and Louisiana; thence northwest along the divide between the watersheds of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. In the northwest corner of Indian Territory the Osages came in contact with the Comanche (Shoshonean), and near the western boundary of Kansas the Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Arapaho (the two latter being recent Algonquian intruders?) barred the westward march of the Kansa or Kaw.
The Pawnee group of the Caddoan family in western Nebraska and northwestern Kansas separated the Ponka and Dakota on the north from the Kansa on the south, and the Omaha and other Siouan tribes on the east from Kiowa and other tribes on the west. The Omaha and cognate peoples occupied in Nebraska the lower part of the Platte River, most of the Elkhorn Valley, and the Ponka claimed the region watered by the Niobrara in northern Nebraska.
114 There seems to be sufficient evidence for assigning to the Crows (Siouan) the northwest corner of Nebraska (i.e., that part north of the Kiowan and Caddoan habitats) and the southwest part of South Dakota (not claimed by Cheyenne89), as well as the northern part of Wyoming and the southern part of Montana, where they met the Shoshonean stock.90
The Biloxi habitat in 1699 was on the Pascogoula river,91 in the southeast corner of the present State of Mississippi. The Biloxi subsequently removed to Louisiana, where a few survivors were found by Mr. Gatschet in 1886.
The Tutelo habitat in 1671 was in Brunswick County, southern Virginia, and it probably included Lunenburgh and Mecklenburg Counties.92 The Earl of Bellomont (1699) says93 that the Shateras were “supposed to be the Toteros, on Big Sandy River, Virginia,” and Pownall, in his map of North America (1776), gives the Totteroy (i.e., Big Sandy) River. Subsequently to 1671 the Tutelo left Virginia and moved to North Carolina.94 They returned to Virginia (with the Sapona), joined the Nottaway and Meherrin, whom they and the Tuscarora followed into Pennsylvania in the last century; thence they went to New York, where they joined the Six Nations, with whom they removed to Grand River Reservation, Ontario, Canada, after the Revolutionary war. The last full-blood Tutelo died in 1870. For the important discovery of the Siouan affinity of the Tutelo language we are indebted to Mr. Hale.
The Catawba lived on the river of the same name on the northern boundary of South Carolina. Originally they were a powerful tribe, the leading people of South Carolina, and probably occupied a large part of the Carolinas. The Woccon were widely separated from kinsmen living in North Carolina in the fork of the Cotentnea and Neuse Rivers.
The Wateree, living just below the Catawba, were very probably of the same linguistic connection.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
I. Dakota.
(A) Santee: include Mde´-wa-kan-ton-wan (Spirit Lake village, Santee Reservation, Nebraska), and Wa-qpe´-ku-te (Leaf Shooters); some on Fort Peck Reservation, Montana.
115(B) Sisseton (Si-si´-ton-wan), on Sisseton Reservation, South Dakota, and part on Devil’s Lake Reservation, North Dakota.
(C) Wahpeton (Wa-qpe´-ton-wan, Wa-hpe-ton-wan); Leaf village. Some on Sisseton Reservation; most on Devil’s Lake Reservation.
(D) Yankton (I-hañk´-ton-wan), at Yankton Reservation, South Dakota.
(E) Yanktonnais (I-hañk´-ton-wan´-na); divided into Upper and Lower. Of the Upper Yanktonnais, there are some of the Cut-head band (Pa´-ba-ksa gens) on Devil’s Lake Reservation. Upper Yanktonnais, most are on Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota; Lower Yanktonnais, most are on Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota, some are on Standing Rock Reservation, and some on Fort Peck Reservation, Montana.
(F) Teton (Ti-ton-wan); some on Fort Peck Reservation, Montana.
(a) Brulé (Si-tcan´-xu); some are on Standing Rock Reservation. Most of the Upper Brulé (Highland Sitcanxu) are on Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota. Most of the Lower Brulé (Lowland Sitcanxu) are on Lower Brulé Reservation, South Dakota.
(b) Sans Arcs (I-ta´-zip-tco´, Without Bows). Most are on Cheyenne Reservation. South Dakota; some on Standing Rock Reservation.
(c) Blackfeet (Si-ha´sa´-pa). Most are on Cheyenne Reservation; some on Standing Rock Reservation.
(d) Minneconjou (Mi´-ni-ko´-o-ju). Most are on Cheyenne Reservation, some are on Rosebud Reservation, and some on Standing Rock Reservation.
(e) Two Kettles (O-o´-he-non´-pa, Two Boilings), on Cheyenne Reservation.
(f) Ogalalla (O-gla´-la). Most on Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; some on Standing Rock Reservation. Wa-ża-ża (Wa-ja-ja, Wa-zha-zha), a gens of the Oglala (Pine Ridge Reservation); Loafers (Wa-glu-xe, In-breeders), a gens of the Oglala; most on Pine Ridge Reservation; some on Rosebud Reservation.
(g) Uncpapa (1862-’63), Uncapapa (1880-’81), (Huñ´-kpa-pa), on Standing Rock Reservation.
II. Assinaboin (Hohe, Dakota name); most in British North America; some on Fort Peck Reservation, Montana.
III. Omaha (U-man´-han), on Omaha Reservation, Nebraska.
IV. Ponca (formerly Ponka on maps; Ponka); 605 on Ponca Reservation, Indian Territory; 217 at Santee Agency, Nebraska.
[K] and [S] represent inverted K and S.
116V. Kaw ([K]an´-ze; the Kansa Indians); on the Kansas Reservation. Indian Territory.
VI. Osage; Big Osage (Pa-he´-tsi, Those on a Mountain); Little Osage (Those at the foot of the Mountain); Arkansas Band ([S]an-ʇsu-ʞ¢in, Dwellers in a Highland Grove), Osage Reservation, Indian Territory.
VII. Quapaw (U-ʞa´-qpa; Kwapa). A few are on the Quapaw Reserve, but about 200 are on the Osage Reserve, Oklahoma. (They are the Arkansa of early times.)
VIII. Iowa, on Great Nemaha Reserve, Kansas and Nebraska, and 86 on Sac and Fox Reserve, Indian Territory.
IX. Otoe (Wa-to´-qta-ta), on Otoe Reserve, Indian Territory.
X. Missouri or Missouria (Ni-u´-t’a-tci), on Otoe Reserve.
XI. Winnebago (Ho-tcañ´-ga-ra); most in Nebraska, on their reserve: some are in Wisconsin; some in Michigan, according to Dr. Reynolds.
XII. Mandan, on Fort Berthold Reserve, North Dakota.
XIII. Gros Ventres (a misleading name; syn. Minnetaree; Hi-da´-tsa); on the same reserve.
XIV. Crow (Absáruqe, Aubsároke, etc.), Crow Reserve, Montana.
XV. Tutelo (Ye-san´); among the Six Nations, Grand River Reserve, Province of Ontario, Canada.
XVI. Biloxi (Ta´-neks ha´-ya), part on the Red River, at Avoyelles, Louisiana; part in Indian Territory, among the Choctaw and Caddo.
XVII. Catawba.
XVIII. Woccon.
Population.—The present number of the Siouan family is about 43,400, of whom about 2,204 are in British North America, the rest being in the United States. Below is given the population of the tribes officially recognized, compiled chiefly from the Canadian Indian Report for 1888, the United States Indian Commissioner’s Report for 1889, and the United States Census Bulletin for 1890:
SKITTAGETAN FAMILY.
> Skittagets, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 1848 (the equivalent of his Queen Charlotte’s Island group, p. 77).
> Skittagetts, Berghaus, Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852.
> Skidegattz, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 403, 1853 (obvious typographical error; Queen Charlotte Island).
X Haidah, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 224, 1841 (same as his Northern family; see below).
119 = Haidah, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 300, 1850 (Skittegats, Massets, Kumshahas, Kyganie). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 72, 1856 (includes Skittigats, Massetts, Kumshahas, and Kyganie of Queen Charlotte’s Ids. and Prince of Wales Archipelago). Latham, Opuscula, 339, 1860. Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 673, 1859. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 401, 1862 (as in 1856). Dall in Proc. Am. Ass’n. 269, 1869 (Queen Charlotte’s Ids. and southern part of Alexander Archipelago). Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 564, 604, 1882.
> Hai-dai, Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, V, 489, 1855. Kane, Wanderings of an Artist, app., 1859, (Work’s census, 1836-’41, of northwest coast tribes, classified by language).
= Haida, Gibbs in Cont. N.A. Eth., I, 135, 1877. Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 15, 1884 (vocabs. of Kaigani Sept, Masset, Skidegate, Kumshiwa dialects; also map showing distribution). Dall in Proc. Am. Ass’n, 375, 1885 (mere mention of family).
< Hydahs, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 473, 1878 (enumerates Massets, Klue, Kiddan, Ninstance, Skid-a-gate, Skid-a-gatees, Cum-she-was, Kaiganies, Tsimsheeans, Nass, Skeenas, Sebasses, Hailtzas, Bellacoolas).
> Queen Charlotte’s Island, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 15, 306, 1836 (no tribe indicated). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 77, 1848 (based on Skittagete language). Latham in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., 1, 154, 1848. Latham, Opuscula, 349, 1860.
X Northern, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond., XI, 219, 1841 (includes Queen Charlotte’s Island and tribes on islands and coast up to 60° N.L.; Haidas, Massettes, Skittegás, Cumshawás). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 433, 1847 (follows Scouler).
= Kygáni, Dall in Proc. Am. Ass’n, 269, 1869 (Queen Charlotte’s Ids. or Haidahs).
X Nootka, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 564, 1882 (contains Quane, probably of present family; Quactoe, Saukaulutuck).
The vocabulary referred by Gallatin95 to “Queen Charlotte’s Islands” unquestionably belongs to the present family. In addition to being a compound word and being objectionable as a family name on account of its unwieldiness, the term is a purely geographic one and is based upon no stated tribe; hence it is not eligible for use in systematic nomenclature. As it appears in the Archæologia Americana it represents nothing but the locality whence the vocabulary of an unknown tribe was received.
The family name to be considered as next in order of date is the Northern (or Haidah) of Scouler, which appears in volume XI, Royal Geographical Society, page 218, et seq. The term as employed by Scouler is involved in much confusion, and it is somewhat difficult to determine just what tribes the author intended to cover by the designation. Reduced to its simplest form, the case stands as follows: Scouler’s primary division of the Indians of the Northwest was into two groups, the insular and the inland. The insular (and coast tribes) were then subdivided into two families, viz, Northern or Haidah family (for the terms are interchangeably used, as on page 224) and the Southern or Nootka-Columbian family. Under the Northern or Haidah family the author classes all the Indian tribes 120 in the Russian territory, the Kolchians (Athapascas of Gallatin, 1836), the Koloshes, Ugalentzes, and Tun Ghaase (the Koluscans of Gallatin, 1836); the Atnas (Salish of Gallatin, 1836); the Kenaians (Athapascas, Gallatin, 1836); the Haidah tribes proper of Queen Charlotte Island, and the Chimesyans.
It will appear at a glance that such a heterogeneous assemblage of tribes, representing as they do several distinct stocks, can not have been classed together on purely linguistic evidence. In point of fact, Scouler’s remarkable classification seems to rest only in a very slight degree upon a linguistic basis, if indeed it can be said to have a linguistic basis at all. Consideration of “physical character, manners, and customs” were clearly accorded such weight by this author as to practically remove his Northern or Haidah family from the list of linguistic stocks.
The next family name which was applied in this connection is the Skittagets of Gallatin as above cited. This name is given to designate a family on page c, volume II, of Transactions of the Ethnological Society, 1848. In his subsequent list of vocabularies, page 77, he changes his designation to Queen Charlotte Island, placing under this family name the Skittagete tribe. His presentation of the former name of Skittagets in his complete list of families is, however, sufficiently formal to render it valid as a family designation, and it is, therefore, retained for the tribes of the Queen Charlotte Archipelago which have usually been called Haida.
From a comparison of the vocabularies of the Haida language with others of the neighboring Koluschan family, Dr. Franz Boas is inclined to consider that the two are genetically related. The two languages possess a considerable number of words in common, but a more thorough investigation is requisite for the settlement of the question than has yet been given. Pending this the two families are here treated separately.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The tribes of this family occupy Queen Charlotte Islands, Forrester Island to the north of the latter, and the southeastern part of Prince of Wales Island, the latter part having been ascertained by the agents of the Tenth Census.96
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
The following is a list of the principal villages:
Haida: | ||
Aseguang. Cumshawa. Kayung. Kung. Kunχit. Massett. |
New Gold Harbor. Skedan. Skiteiget. Tanu. Tartanee. Uttewas. |
|
121 Kaigani: | ||
Chatcheeni. Clickass. Howakan. Quiahanless. Shakan. |
Population.—The population of the Haida is 2,500, none of whom are at present under an agent.
TAKILMAN FAMILY.
= Takilma, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 1882 (Lower Rogue River).
This name was proposed by Mr. Gatschet for a distinct language spoken on the coast of Oregon about the lower Rogue River. Mr. Dorsey obtained a vocabulary in 1884 which he has compared with Athapascan, Kusan, Yakonan, and other languages spoken in the region without finding any marked resemblances. The family is hence admitted provisionally. The language appears to be spoken by but a single tribe, although there is a manuscript vocabulary in the Bureau of Ethnology exhibiting certain differences which may be dialectic.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The Takilma formerly dwelt in villages along upper Rogue River, Oregon, all the latter, with one exception, being on the south side, from Illinois River on the southwest, to Deep Rock, which was nearer the head of the stream. They are now included among the “Rogue River Indians,” and they reside to the number of twenty-seven on the Siletz Reservation, Tillamook County, Oregon, where Dorsey found them in 1884.
TAÑOAN FAMILY.
> Tay-waugh, Lane (1854) in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, V. 689, 1855 (Pueblos of San Juan, Santa Clara, Pojuaque, Nambe. San Il de Conso, and one Moqui pueblo). Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 479, 1878.
> Taño, Powell in Rocky Mountain Presbyterian, Nov., 1878 (includes Sandia, Téwa, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Clara, Pojoaque, Nambé, Tesuque, Sinecú, Jemez, Taos, Picuri).
> Tegna, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 479, 1878 (includes S. Juan, Sta. Clara, Pojuaque, Nambe, Tesugue, S. Ildefonso, Haro).
= Téwan, Powell in Am. Nat., 605, Aug., 1880 (makes five divisions: 1. Taño (Isleta, Isleta near El Paso, Sandía); 2. Taos (Taos, Picuni); 3. Jemes (Jemes); 4. Tewa or Tehua (San Ildefonso, San Juan, Pojoaque, Nambe, Tesuque, Santa Clara, and one Moki pueblo); 5. Piro).
> E-nagh-magh, Lane (1854) in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, V, 689, 1855 (includes Taos, Vicuris, Zesuqua, Sandia, Ystete, and two pueblos near El Paso, Texas). Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 479, 1878 (follows Lane, but identifies Texan pueblos with Lentis? and Socorro?).
> Picori, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 479, 1878 (or Enaghmagh).
= Stock of Rio Grande Pueblos, Gatschet in U.S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th M., vii, 415, 1879.
= Rio Grande Pueblo, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 258, 1882.
122 Derivation: Probably from “taínin,” plural of tá-ide, “Indian,” in the dialect of Isleta and Sandia (Gatschet).
In a letter97 from Wm. Carr Lane to H. R. Schoolcraft, appear some remarks on the affinities of the Pueblo languages, based in large part on hearsay evidence. No vocabularies are given, nor does any real classification appear to be attempted, though referring to such of his remarks as apply in the present connection, Lane states that the Indians of “Taos, Vicuris, Zesuqua, Sandia, and Ystete, and of two pueblos of Texas, near El Paso, are said to speak the same language, which I have heard called E-nagh-magh,” and that the Indians of “San Juan, Santa Clara, Pojuaque, Nambe, San Il de Conso, and one Moqui pueblo, all speak the same language, as it is said: this I have heard called Tay-waugh.” The ambiguous nature of his reference to these pueblos is apparent from the above quotation.
The names given by Lane as those he had “heard” applied to certain groups of pueblos which “it is said” speak the same language, rest on too slender a basis for serious consideration in a classificatory sense.
Keane in the appendix to Stanford’s Compendium (Central and South America), 1878, p. 479, presents the list given by Lane, correcting his spelling in some cases and adding the name of the Tusayan pueblo as Haro (Hano). He gives the group no formal family name, though they are classed together as speaking “Tegua or Tay-waugh.”
The Taño of Powell (1878), as quoted, appears to be the first name formally given the family, and is therefore accepted. Recent investigations of the dialect spoken at Taos and some of the other pueblos of this group show a considerable body of words having Shoshonean affinities, and it is by no means improbable that further research will result in proving the radical relationship of these languages to the Shoshonean family. The analysis of the language has not yet, however, proceeded far enough to warrant a decided opinion.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The tribes of this family in the United States resided exclusively upon the Rio Grande and its tributary valleys from about 33° to about 36°. A small body of these people joined the Tusayan in northern Arizona, as tradition avers to assist the latter against attacks by the Apache—though it seems more probable that they fled from the Rio Grande during the pueblo revolt of 1680—and remained to found the permanent pueblo of Hano, the seventh pueblo of the group. A smaller section of the family lived upon the Rio Grande in Mexico and Texas, just over the New Mexico border.
123 Population.—The following pueblos are included in the family, with a total population of about 3,237:
Hano (of the Tusayan group) | 132 | |
Isleta (New Mexico) | 1,059 | |
Isleta (Texas) | few | |
Jemez | 428 | |
Nambé | 79 | |
Picuris | 100 | |
Pojoaque | 20 | |
Sandia | 140 | |
San Ildefonso | 148 | |
San Juan | 406 | |
Santa Clara | 225 | |
Senecú (below El Paso) | few | |
Taos | 409 | |
Tesuque | 91 |
TIMUQUANAN FAMILY.
= Timuquana, Smith in Hist. Magazine, II, 1, 1858 (a notice of the language with vocabulary; distinctness of the language affirmed). Brinton. Floridian Peninsula, 134, 1859 (spelled also Timuaca, Timagoa, Timuqua).
= Timucua, Gatschet in Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., XVI, April 6, 1877 (from Cape Cañaveral to mouth of St. John’s River). Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend I, 11-13, 1884. Gatschet in Science, 413, April 29, 1887.
= Atimuca, Gatschet in Science, ibid, (proper name).
Derivation: From ati-muca, “ruler,” “master;” literally, “servants attend upon him.”
In the Historical Magazine as above cited appears a notice of the Timuquana language by Buckingham Smith, in which is affirmed its distinctness upon the evidence of language. A short vocabulary is appended, which was collated from the “Confessionario” by Padre Pareja, 1613. Brinton and Gatschet have studied the Timuquana language and have agreed as to the distinctness of the family from any other of the United States. Both the latter authorities are inclined to take the view that it has affinities with the Carib family to the southward, and it seems by no means improbable that ultimately the Timuquana language will be considered an offshoot of the Carib linguistic stock. At the present time, however, such a conclusion would not be justified by the evidence gathered and published.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
It is impossible to assign definite limits to the area occupied by the tribes of this family. From documentary testimony of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the limits of the family domain appear to have been about as follows: In general terms the present northern limits of the State of Florida may be taken as the northern frontier, although upon the Atlantic side Timuquanan territory may have extended into Georgia. Upon the northwest the boundary line was formed in De Soto’s time by the Ocilla River. Lake Okeechobee on the south, or as it was then called Lake Sarrape or Mayaimi, may be taken as the boundary between the Timuquanan tribes proper and the Calusa province upon the Gulf coast and the Tegesta province upon the Atlantic side. Nothing whatever of the languages 124 spoken in these two latter provinces is available for comparison. A number of the local names of these provinces given by Fontanedo (1559) have terminations similar to many of the Timuquanan local names. This slender evidence is all that we have from which to infer the Timuquanan relationship of the southern end of the peninsula.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
The following settlements appear upon the oldest map of the regions we possess, that of De Bry (Narratio; Frankf. a.M. 15, 1590):
TONIKAN FAMILY.
= Tunicas, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 115, 116, 1836 (quotes Dr. Sibley, who states they speak a distinct language). Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 341, 1850 (opposite mouth of Red River; quotes Dr. Sibley as to distinctness of language).
= Tonica, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 39, 1884 (brief account of tribe).
= Tonika, Gatschet in Science, 412, April 29, 1887 (distinctness as a family asserted; the tribe calls itself Túniχka).
Derivation: From the Tonika word óni, “man,” “people;” t- is a prefix or article; -ka, -χka a nominal suffix.
The distinctness of the Tonika language, has long been suspected, and was indeed distinctly stated by Dr. Sibley in 1806.98 The statement to this effect by Dr. Sibley was quoted by Gallatin in 1836, but as the latter possessed no vocabulary of the language he made no attempt to classify it. Latham also dismisses the language with the same quotation from Sibley. Positive linguistic proof of the position of the language was lacking until obtained by Mr. Gatschet in 1886, who declared it to form a family by itself.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The Tonika are known to have occupied three localities: First, on the Lower Yazoo River (1700); second, east shore of Mississippi River (about 1704); third, in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana (1817). Near Marksville, the county seat of that parish, about twenty-five are now living.
TONKAWAN FAMILY.
= Tonkawa, Gatschet, Zwölf Sprachen aus dem Südwesten Nordamerikas, 76, 1876 (vocabulary of about 300 words and some sentences). Gatschet, Die Sprache der Tonkawas, in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 64, 1877. Gatschet (1876), in Proc. Am. Philosoph. Soc., XVI, 318, 1877.
Derivation: the full form is the Caddo or Wako term tonkawéya, “they all stay together” (wéya, “all”).
After a careful examination of all the linguistic material available for comparison, Mr. Gatschet has concluded that the language spoken by the Tonkawa forms a distinct family.
126GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The Tónkawa were a migratory people and a colluvies gentium, whose earliest habitat is unknown. Their first mention occurs in 1719; at that time and ever since they roamed in the western and southern parts of what is now Texas. About 1847 they were engaged as scouts in the United States Army, and from 1860-’62 (?) were in the Indian Territory; after the secession war till 1884 they lived in temporary camps near Fort Griffin, Shackelford County, Texas, and in October, 1884, they removed to the Indian Territory (now on Oakland Reserve). In 1884 there were seventy-eight individuals living; associated with them were nineteen Lipan Apache, who had lived in their company for many years, though in a separate camp. They have thirteen divisions (partly totem-clans) and observe mother-right.
UCHEAN FAMILY.
= Uchees, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II., 95, 1836 (based upon the Uchees alone). Bancroft, Hist. U.S., III., 247, 1840. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc. II., pt. 1, xcix, 77, 1848. Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 472, 1878 (suggests that the language may have been akin to Natchez).
= Utchees, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II., 306, 1836. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III., 401, 1853. Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 472, 1878.
= Utschies, Berghaus (1845), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1848. Ibid., 1852.
= Uché, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 338, 1850 (Coosa River). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., II., 31-50, 1846. Latham, Opuscula, 293, 1860.
= Yuchi, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 17, 1884. Gatschet in Science, 413, April 29, 1887.
The following is the account of this tribe given by Gallatin (probably derived from Hawkins) in Archæologia Americana, page 95:
The original seats of the Uchees were east of Coosa and probably of the Chatahoochee; and they consider themselves as the most ancient inhabitants of the country. They may have been the same nation which is called Apalaches in the accounts of De Soto’s expedition, and their towns were till lately principally on Flint River.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The pristine homes of the Yuchi are not now traceable with any degree of certainty. The Yuchi are supposed to have been visited by De Soto during his memorable march, and the town of Cofitachiqui chronicled by him, is believed by many investigators to have stood at Silver Bluff, on the left bank of the Savannah, about 25 miles below Augusta. If, as is supposed by some authorities, Cofitachiqui was a Yuchi town, this would locate the Yuchi in a section which, when first known to the whites, was occupied by the Shawnee. Later the Yuchi appear to have lived somewhat farther down the Savannah, on the eastern and also the western side, as far as the Ogeechee River, and also upon tracts above and below Augusta, Georgia. These tracts were claimed by them as late as 1736.
127 In 1739 a portion of the Yuchi left their old seats and settled among the Lower Creek on the Chatahoochee River; there they established three colony villages in the neighborhood, and later on a Yuchi settlement is mentioned on Lower Tallapoosa River, among the Upper Creek.99 Filson100 gives a list of thirty Indian tribes and a statement concerning Yuchi towns, which he must have obtained from a much earlier source: “Uchees occupy four different places of residence—at the head of St. John’s, the fork of St. Mary’s, the head of Cannouchee, and the head of St. Tillis” (Satilla), etc.101
Population.—More than six hundred Yuchi reside in northeastern Indian Territory, upon the Arkansas River, where they are usually classed as Creek. Doubtless the latter are to some extent intermarried with them, but the Yuchi are jealous of their name and tenacious of their position as a tribe.
WAIILATPUAN.
= Waiilatpu, Hale, in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 199, 214, 569, 1846 (includes Cailloux or Cayuse or Willetpoos, and Molele). Gallatin, after Hale, in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 14, 56, 77, 1848 (after Hale). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852. Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 628, 1859. Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 1882 (Cayuse and Mollale).
= Wailatpu, Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (Cayuse and Molele).
X Sahaptin, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 323, 1850 (cited as including Cayús?).
X Sahaptins, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 474, 1878 (cited because it includes Cayuse and Mollale).
= Molele, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 324, 1850 (includes Molele, Cayús?).
> Cayús?, Latham, ibid.
= Cayuse, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 166, 1877 (Cayuse and Moléle). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 442, 1877.
Derivation: Wayíletpu, plural form of Wa-ílet, “one Cayuse man” (Gatschet).
Hale established this family and placed under it the Cailloux or Cayuse or Willetpoos, and the Molele. Their headquarters as indicated by Hale are the upper part of the Walla Walla River and the country about Mounts Hood and Vancouver.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The Cayuse lived chiefly near the mouth of the Walla Walla River, extending a short distance above and below on the Columbia, between the Umatilla and Snake Rivers. The Molále were a mountain tribe and occupied a belt of mountain country south of the Columbia River, chiefly about Mounts Hood and Jefferson.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Cayuse. Molále. |
128 Population.—There are 31 Molále now on the Grande Ronde Reservation, Oregon,102 and a few others live in the mountains west of Klamath Lake. The Indian Affairs Report for 1888 credits 401 and the United States Census Bulletin for 1890, 415 Cayuse Indians to the Umatilla Reservation, but Mr. Henshaw was able to find only six old men and women upon the reservation in August, 1888, who spoke their own language. The others, though presumably of Cayuse blood, speak the Umatilla tongue.
WAKASHAN FAMILY.
> Wakash, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 15, 306, 1836 (of Nootka Sound; gives Jewitt’s vocab.). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 77, 1848 (based on Newittee). Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (includes Newittee and Nootka Sound). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 73, 1856 (of Quadra and Vancouver’s Island). Latham, Opuscula, 340, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 403, 1862 (Tlaoquatsh and Wakash proper; Nutka and congeners also referred here).
X Wakash, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 301. 1850 (includes Naspatle, proper Nutkans, Tlaoquatsh, Nittenat, Klasset, Klallems; the last named is Salishan).
X Nootka-Columbian, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc., XI, 221, 1841 (includes Quadra and Vancouver Island, Haeeltzuk, Billechoola, Tlaoquatch, Kawitchen, Noosdalum, Squallyamish, Cheenooks). Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 435, 1847 (follows Scouler). Latham in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., I, 162, 1848 (remarks upon Scouler’s group of this name). Latham, Opuscula, 257, 1860 (the same).
< Nootka, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 220, 569, 1846 (proposes family to include tribes of Vancouver Island and tribes on south side of Fuca Strait).
> Nutka, Buschmann, Neu-Mexico, 329, 1858.
> Nootka, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 170, 1877 (mentions only Makah, and Classet tribes of Cape Flattery). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 446. 1877.
X Nootkahs, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 473, 1878 (includes Muchlahts, Nitinahts, Ohyahts, Manosahts, and Quoquoulths of present family, together with a number of Salishan tribes).
X Nootka, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 564, 607, 1882 (a heterogeneous group, largely Salishan, with Wakashan, Skittagetan, and other families represented).
> Straits of Fuca, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 134, 306, 1836 (vocabulary of, referred here with doubt; considered distinct by Gallatin).
X Southern, Scouler in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc., XI, 224, 1841 (same as his Noctka-Columbian above).
X Insular, Scouler ibid. (same as his Nootka-Columbian above).
X Haeltzuk, Latham in Jour. Eth. Soc. Lond., I, 155, 1848 (cities Tolmie’s vocab. Spoken from 50°30' to 53°30' N.L.). Latham, Opuscula, 251, 1860 (the same).
> Haeeltsuk and Hailtsa, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 300, 1850 (includes Hyshalla, Hyhysh, Esleytuk, Weekenoch, Nalatsenoch, Quagheuil, Tlatla-Shequilla, Lequeeltoch).
> Hailtsa, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 72, 1856. Buschmann, Neu-Mexico, 322, 1858. Latham, Opuscula, 339, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 401, 1862 (includes coast dialects between Hawkesbury Island, Broughton’s Archipelago, and northern part of Vancouver Island).
> Ha-eelb-zuk, Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, V, 487, 1855. Kane, Wand. of an Artist, app., 1859 (or Ballabola; a census of N.W. tribes classified by language).
129 > Ha-ilt´-zŭkh, Dall, after Gibbs, in Cont. N.A. Eth., I, 144, 1877 (vocabularies of Bel-bella of Milbank Sound and of Kwákiūtl’).
< Nass, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt 1, c, 1848.
< Naass, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 77, 1848 (includes Hailstla, Haceltzuk, Billechola, Chimeysan). Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (includes Huitsla).
X Nass, Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 564, 606, 1882 (includes Hailtza of present family).
> Aht, Sproat, Savage Life, app., 312, 1868 (name suggested for family instead of Nootka-Columbian).
> Aht, Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 50, 1884 (vocab. of Kaiookwāht).
X Puget Sound Group, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 474, 1878.
X Hydahs, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 473, 1878 (includes Hailtzas of the present family).
> Kwakiool, Tolmie and Dawson, Comp. Vocabs., 27-48, 1884 (vocabs. of Haishilla, Hailtzuk, Kwiha, Likwiltoh, Septs; also map showing family domain).
> Kwā´kiūtl, Boas in Petermann’s Mitteilungen, 130, 1887 (general account of family with list of tribes).
Derivation: Waukash, waukash, is the Nootka word “good” “good.” When heard by Cook at Friendly Cove, Nootka Sound, it was supposed to be the name of the tribe.
Until recently the languages spoken by the Aht of the west coast of Vancouver Island and the Makah of Cape Flattery, congeneric tribes, and the Haeltzuk and Kwakiutl peoples of the east coast of Vancouver Island and the opposite mainland of British Columbia, have been regarded as representing two distinct families. Recently Dr. Boas has made an extended study of these languages, has collected excellent vocabularies of the supposed families, and as a result of his study it is now possible to unite them on the basis of radical affinity. The main body of the vocabularies of the two languages is remarkably distinct, though a considerable number of important words are shown to be common to the two.
Dr. Boas, however, points out that in both languages suffixes only are used in forming words, and a long list of these shows remarkable similarity.
The above family name was based upon a vocabulary of the Wakash Indians, who, according to Gallatin, “inhabit the island on which Nootka Sound is situated.” The short vocabulary given was collected by Jewitt. Gallatin states103 that this language is the one “in that quarter, which, by various vocabularies, is best known to us.” In 1848104 Gallatin repeats his Wakash family, and again gives the vocabulary of Jewitt. There would thus seem to be no doubt of his intention to give it formal rank as a family.
The term “Wakash” for this group of languages has since been generally ignored, and in its place Nootka or Nootka-Columbian has been adopted. “Nootka-Columbian” was employed by Scouler in 1841 for a group of languages, extending from the mouth of Salmon 130 River to the south of the Columbia River, now known to belong to several distinct families. “Nootka family” was also employed by Hale105 in 1846, who proposed the name for the tribes of Vancouver Island and those along the south side of the Straits of Fuca.
The term “Nootka-Columbian” is strongly condemned by Sproat.106 For the group of related tribes on the west side of Vancouver Island this author suggests Aht, “house, tribe, people,” as a much more appropriate family appellation.
Though by no means as appropriate a designation as could be found, it seems clear that for the so-called Wakash, Newittee, and other allied languages usually assembled under the Nootka family, the term Wakash of 1836 has priority and must be retained.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The tribes of the Aht division of this family are confined chiefly to the west coast of Vancouver Island. They range to the north as far as Cape Cook, the northern side of that cape being occupied by Haeltzuk tribes, as was ascertained by Dr. Boas in 1886. On the south they reached to a little above Sooke Inlet, that inlet being in possession of the Soke, a Salishan tribe.
The neighborhood of Cape Flattery, Washington, is occupied by the Makah, one of the Wakashan tribes, who probably wrested this outpost of the family from the Salish (Clallam) who next adjoin them on Puget Sound.
The boundaries of the Haeltzuk division of this family are laid down nearly as they appear on Tolmie and Dawson’s linguistic map of 1884. The west side of King Island and Cascade Inlet are said by Dr. Boas to be inhabited by Haeltzuk tribes, and are colored accordingly.
PRINCIPAL AHT TRIBES.
Ahowsaht. Ayhuttisaht. Chicklesaht. Clahoquaht. Hishquayquaht. Howchuklisaht. Kitsmaht. Kyoquaht. Macaw. Manosaht. |
Mowachat. Muclaht. Nitinaht. Nuchalaht. Ohiaht. Opechisaht. Pachenaht. Seshaht. Toquaht. Yuclulaht. |
Population.—There are 457 Makah at the Neah Bay Agency, Washington.107 The total population of the tribes of this family under the West Coast Agency, British Columbia, is 3,160.108 The grand total for this division of the family is thus 3,617.
131PRINCIPAL HAELTZUK TRIBES.
Aquamish. Belbellah. Clowetsus. Hailtzuk. Haishilla. Kakamatsis. Keimanoeitoh. Kwakiutl. Kwashilla. |
Likwiltoh. Mamaleilakitish. Matelpa. Nakwahtoh. Nawiti. Nimkish. Quatsino. Tsawadinoh. |
Population.—There are 1,898 of the Haeltzuk division of the family under the Kwawkewlth Agency, British Columbia. Of the Bellacoola (Salishan family) and Haeltzuk, of the present family, there are 2,500 who are not under agents. No separate census of the latter exists at present.
WASHOAN FAMILY.
= Washo, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 255, April, 1882.
< Shoshone, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 477, 1878 (contains Washoes).
< Snake, Keane, ibid. (Same as Shoshone, above.)
This family is represented by a single well known tribe, whose range extended from Reno, on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, to the lower end of the Carson Valley.
On the basis of vocabularies obtained by Stephen Powers and other investigators, Mr. Gatschet was the first to formally separate the language. The neighborhood of Carson is now the chief seat of the tribe, and here and in the neighboring valleys there are about 200 living a parasitic life about the ranches and towns.
WEITSPEKAN FAMILY.
= Weits-pek, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 422, 1853 (a band and language on Klamath at junction of Trinity). Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 410, 1862 (junction of Klamath and Trinity Rivers). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 163, 1877 (affirmed to be distinct from any neighboring tongue). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 438, 1877.
< Weitspek, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 77, 1856 (junction of Klamath and Trinity Rivers; Weyot and Wishosk dialects). Latham, Opuscula, 343, 1860.
= Eurocs, Powers in Overland Monthly, VII, 530, June, 1872 (of the Lower Klamath and coastwise; Weitspek, a village of).
= Eurok, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 163, 1877. Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 437, 1877.
= Yu´-rok, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 45, 1877 (from junction of Trinity to mouth and coastwise). Powell, ibid., 460 (vocabs. of Al-i-kwa, Klamath, Yu´-rok.)
X Klamath, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 475, 1878 (Eurocs belong here).
Derivation: Weitspek is the name of a tribe or village of the family situated on Klamath River. The etymology is unknown.
Gibbs was the first to employ this name, which he did in 1853, as 132 above cited. He states that it is “the name of the principal band on the Klamath, at the junction of the Trinity,” adding that “this language prevails from a few miles above that point to the coast, but does not extend far from the river on either side.” It would thus seem clear that in this case, as in several others, he selected the name of a band to apply to the language spoken by it. The language thus defined has been accepted as distinct by later authorities except Latham, who included as dialects under the Weitspek language, the locality of which he gives as the junction of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers, the Weyot and Wishosk, both of which are now classed under the Wishoskan family.
By the Karok these tribes are called Yurok, “down” or “below,” by which name the family has recently been known.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
For our knowledge of the range of the tribes of this family we are chiefly indebted to Stephen Powers.109 The tribes occupy the lower Klamath River, Oregon, from the mouth of the Trinity down. Upon the coast, Weitspekan territory extends from Gold Bluff to about 6 miles above the mouth of the Klamath. The Chillúla are an offshoot of the Weitspek, living to the south of them, along Redwood Creek to a point about 20 miles inland, and from Gold Bluff to a point about midway between Little and Mad Rivers.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Chillúla, Redwood Creek. Mita, Klamath River. Pekwan, Klamath River. Rikwa, Regua, fishing village at outlet of Klamath River. Sugon, Shragoin, Klamath River. Weitspek, Klamath River (above Big Bend). |
WISHOSKAN FAMILY.
> Wish-osk, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 422, 1853 (given as the name of a dialect on Mad River and Humboldt Bay).
= Wish-osk, Powell in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 478, 1877 (vocabularies of Wish-osk, Wi-yot, and Ko-wilth). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 162, 1877 (indicates area occupied by family). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 437, 1877.
> Wee-yot, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 422, 1853 (given as the name of a dialect on Eel River and Humboldt Bay).
X Weitspek, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 77, 1856 (includes Weyot and Wishosk). Latham, Opuscula, 343, 1860.
< Klamath, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 475, 1878 (cited as including Patawats, Weeyots, Wishosks).
Derivation: Wish-osk is the name given to the Bay and Mad River Indians by those of Eel River.
133 This is a small and obscure linguistic family and little is known concerning the dialects composing it or of the tribes which speak it.
Gibbs110 mentions Wee-yot and Wish-osk as dialects of a general language extending “from Cape Mendocino to Mad River and as far back into the interior as the foot of the first range of mountains,” but does not distinguish the language by a family name.
Latham considered Weyot and Wishosk to be mere dialects of the same language, i.e., the Weitspek, from which, however, they appeared to him to differ much more than they do from each other. Both Powell and Gatschet have treated the language represented by these dialects as quite distinct from any other, and both have employed the same name.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The area occupied by the tribes speaking dialects of this language was the coast from a little below the mouth of Eel River to a little north of Mad River, including particularly the country about Humboldt Bay. They also extended up the above-named rivers into the mountain passes.
TRIBES.
Patawat, Lower Mad River and Humboldt Bay as far south as Arcata.
Weeyot, mouth of Eel River.
Wishosk, near mouth of Mad River and north part of Humboldt Bay.
YAKONAN FAMILY.
> Yakones, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 198, 218, 1846 (or Iakon, coast of Oregon). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 612, 1859.
> Iakon, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 218, 569, 1846 (or Lower Killamuks). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 612, 1859.
> Jacon, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, c, 77, 1848.
> Jakon, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 17, 1848. Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 402, 1853 (language of Lower Killamuks). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 78, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 340, 1860.
> Yakon, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 324, 1850. Gatschet, in Mag. Am. Hist., 166, 1877. Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 441, 1877. Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 565, 640, 1882.
> Yákona, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 256, 1882.
> Southern Killamuks, Hale in U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, 218, 569, 1846 (or Yakones). Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, 17, 1848 (after Hale).
> Süd Killamuk, Berghaus (1851), Physik. Atlas, map 17, 1852.
> Sainstskla, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 325, 1850 (“south of the Yakon, between the Umkwa and the sea”).
> Sayúskla, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 257, 1882 (on Lower Umpqua, Sayúskla, and Smith Rivers).
> Killiwashat, Latham, Nat. Hist. Man, 325, 1850 (“mouth of the Umkwa”).
X Klamath, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 475, 1878 (cited as including Yacons).
134 Derivation: From yakwina, signifying “spirit” (Everette).
The Yakwina was the leading tribe of this family. It must have been of importance in early days, as it occupied fifty-six villages along Yaquina River, from the site of Elk City down to the ocean. Only a few survive, and they are with the Alsea on the Siletz Reservation, Tillamook County, Oregon. They were classed by mistake with the Tillamook or “Killamucks” by Lewis and Clarke. They are called by Lewis and Clarke111 Youikcones and Youkone.112
The Alsea formerly dwelt in villages along both sides of Alsea River, Oregon, and on the adjacent coast. They are now on the Siletz Reservation, Oregon. Perhaps a few are on the Grande Ronde Reservation, Oregon.
The Siuslaw used to inhabit villages on the Siuslaw River, Oregon. There may be a few pure Siuslaw on the Siletz Reservation, but Mr. Dorsey did not see any of them. They are mentioned by Drew,113 who includes them among the “Kat-la-wot-sett” bands. At that time, they were still on the Siuslaw River. The Ku-itc or Lower Umpqua villages were on both sides of the lower part of Umpqua River, Oregon, from its mouth upward for about 30 miles. Above them were the Upper Umpqua villages, of the Athapascan stock. A few members of the Ku-itc still reside on the Siletz Reservation, Oregon.
This is a family based by Hale upon a single tribe, numbering six or seven hundred, who live on the coast, north of the Nsietshawus, from whom they differ merely in language. Hale calls the tribe Iakon or Yakones or Southern Killamuks.
The Sayúsklan language has usually been assumed to be distinct from all others, and the comments of Latham and others all tend in this direction. Mr. Gatschet, as above quoted, finally classed it as a distinct stock, at the same time finding certain strong coincidences with the Yakonan family. Recently Mr. Dorsey has collected extensive vocabularies of the Yakonan, Sayúskla, and Lower Umpqua languages and finds unquestioned evidence of relationship.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The family consists of four primary divisions or tribes: Yakwina, Alsea, Siuslaw, and Ku-itc or Lower Umpqua. Each one of these comprised many villages, which were stretched along the western part of Oregon on the rivers flowing into the Pacific, from the Yaquina on the north down to and including the Umpqua River.
TRIBES.
Alsea (on Alseya River). Yakwĭ´na. Kuitc. Siuslaw. |
135 Population.—The U.S. Census Bulletin for 1890 mentions thirty-one tribes as resident on the Siletz Reservation with a combined population of 571. How many Yakwina are among this number is not known. The breaking down of tribal distinctions by reason of the extensive intermarriage of the several tribes is given as the reason for the failure to give a census by tribes.
YANAN FAMILY.
= Nó-zi, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 275, 1877 (or No-si; mention of tribe; gives numerals and states they are different from any he has found in California).
= Noces, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 160, March, 1877 (or Nozes; merely mentioned under Meidoo family).
Derivation: Yana means “people” in the Yanan language.
In 1880 Powell collected a short vocabulary from this tribe, which is chiefly known to the settlers by the name Noje or Nozi. Judged by this vocabulary the language seemed to be distinct from any other. More recently, in 1884, Mr. Curtin visited the remnants of the tribe, consisting of thirty-five individuals, and obtained an extensive collection of words, the study of which seems to confirm the impression of the isolated position of the language as regards other American tongues.
The Nozi seem to have been a small tribe ever since known to Europeans. They have a tradition to the effect that they came to California from the far East. Powers states that they differ markedly in physical traits from all California tribes met by him. At present the Nozi are reduced to two little groups, one at Redding, the other in their original country at Round Mountain, California.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The eastern boundary of the Yanan territory is formed by a range of mountains a little west of Lassen Butte and terminating near Pit River; the northern boundary by a line running from northeast to southwest, passing near the northern side of Round Mountain, 3 miles from Pit River. The western boundary from Redding southward is on an average 10 miles to the east of the Sacramento. North of Redding it averages double that distance or about 20 miles.
YUKIAN FAMILY.
= Yuki, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 125-138, 1877 (general description of tribe).
= Yú-ki, Powell in ibid., 483 (vocabs. of Yú-ki, Hūchnpōm, and a fourth unnamed vocabulary).
= Yuka, Powers in Overland Monthly, IX, 305, Oct., 1872 (same as above). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 161, 1877 (defines habitat of family; gives Yuka, Ashochemies or Wappos, Shumeias, Tahtoos). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 435, 1877. Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 566, 1882 (includes Yuka, Tahtoo, Wapo or Ashochemic).
136 = Uka, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 161, 1877. Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 435, 1877 (same as his Yuka).
X Klamath, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 475, 1878 (Yukas of his Klamath belong here).
Derivation: From the Wintun word yuki, meaning “stranger;” secondarily, “bad” or “thieving.”
A vocabulary of the Yuki tribe is given by Gibbs in vol. III of Schoolcraft’s Indian Tribes, 1853, but no indication is afforded that the language is of a distinct stock.
Powell, as above cited, appears to have been the first to separate the language.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
Round Valley, California, subsequently made a reservation to receive the Yuki and other tribes, was formerly the chief seat of the tribes of the family, but they also extended across the mountains to the coast.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Ashochimi (near Healdsburgh). Chumaya (Middle Eel River). Napa (upper Napa Valley). Tatu (Potter Valley). Yuki (Round Valley, California). |
YUMAN FAMILY.
> Yuma, Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 55, 94, 101, 1856 (includes Cuchan, Coco-Maricopa, Mojave, Diegeño). Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 86, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 351, 1860 (as above). Latham in addenda to Opuscula, 392, 1860 (adds Cuchan to the group). Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 420, 1862 (includes Cuchan, Cocomaricopa, Mojave, Dieguno). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 156, 1877 (mentions only U.S. members of family). Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 460, 479, 1878 (includes Yumas, Maricopas, Cuchans, Mojaves, Yampais, Yavipais, Hualpais). Bancroft, Nat. Races, III, 569, 1882.
= Yuma, Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 429, 1877 (habitat and dialects of family). Gatschet in U.S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th M., VII, 413, 414, 1879.
> Dieguno, Latham (1853) in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., VI, 75, 1854 (includes mission of San Diego, Dieguno, Cocomaricopas, Cuchañ, Yumas, Amaquaquas.)
> Cochimi, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 87, 1856 (northern part peninsula California). Buschmann, Spuren der aztek. Sprache, 471, 1859 (center of California peninsula). Latham, Opuscula, 353, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 423, 1862. Orozco y Berra, Geografía de las Lenguas de México, map, 1864. Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 476, 1878 (head of Gulf to near Loreto).
> Layamon, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 88, 1856 (a dialect of Waikur?). Latham, Opuscula, 353, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 423, 1862.
> Waikur, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 90, 1856 (several dialects of). Latham, Opuscula, 353, 1860. Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 423, 1862.
> Guaycura, Orozco y Berra, Geografía de las Lenguas de México, map, 1864.
> Guaicuri, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 476, 1878 (between 26th and 23d parallels).
137 > Ushiti, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 88, 1856 (perhaps a dialect of Waikur). Latham, Opuscula, 353, 1860.
> Utshiti, Latham, El. Comp. Phil., 423, 1862 (same as Ushiti).
> Pericú, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 88, 1856. Latham, Opuscula, 353, 1860. Orozco y Berra, Geografía de las Lenguas de México, map, 1864.
> Pericui, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent, and So. Am.), 476, 1878 (from 23° N.L. to Cape S. Lucas and islands).
> Seri, Gatschet in Zeitschr. für Ethnologie, XV, 129, 1883, and XVIII, 115, 1886.
Derivation: A Cuchan word signifying “sons of the river” (Whipple).
In 1856 Turner adopted Yuma as a family name, and placed under it Cuchan, Coco-Maricopa, Mojave and Diegeno.
Three years previously (1853) Latham114 speaks of the Dieguno language, and discusses with it several others, viz, San Diego, Cocomaricopa, Cuohañ, Yuma, Amaquaqua (Mohave), etc. Though he seems to consider these languages as allied, he gives no indication that he believes them to collectively represent a family, and he made no formal family division. The context is not, however, sufficiently clear to render his position with respect to their exact status as precise as is to be desired, but it is tolerably certain that he did not mean to make Diegueño a family name, for in the volume of the same society for 1856 he includes both the Diegueño and the other above mentioned tribes in the Yuma family, which is here fully set forth. As he makes no allusion to having previously established a family name for the same group of languages, it seems pretty certain that he did not do so, and that the term Diegueño as a family name may be eliminated from consideration. It thus appears that the family name Yuma was proposed by both the above authors during the same year. For, though part 3 of vol. III of Pacific Railroad Reports, in which Turner’s article is published, is dated 1855, it appears from a foot-note (p. 84) that his paper was not handed to Mr. Whipple till January, 1856, the date of title page of volume, and that his proof was going through the press during the month of May, which is the month (May 9) that Latham’s paper was read before the Philological Society. The fact that Latham’s article was not read until May 9 enables us to establish priority of publication in favor of Turner with a reasonable degree of certainty, as doubtless a considerable period elapsed between the presentation of Latham’s paper to the society and its final publication, upon which latter must rest its claim. The Yuma of Turner is therefore adopted as of precise date and of undoubted application. Pimentel makes Yuma a part of Piman stock.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The center of distribution of the tribes of this family is generally considered to be the lower Colorado and Gila Valleys. At least this 138 is the region where they attained their highest physical and mental development. With the exception of certain small areas possessed by Shoshonean tribes, Indians of Yuman stock occupied the Colorado River from its mouth as far up as Cataract Creek where dwell the Havasupai. Upon the Gila and its tributaries they extended as far east as the Tonto Basin. From this center they extended west to the Pacific and on the south throughout the peninsula of Lower California. The mission of San Luis Rey in California was, when established, in Yuman territory, and marks the northern limit of the family. More recently and at the present time this locality is in possession of Shoshonean tribes.
The island of Angel de la Guardia and Tiburon Island were occupied by tribes of the Yuman family, as also was a small section of Mexico lying on the gulf to the north of Guaymas.
PRINCIPAL TRIBES.
Cochimi. Cocopa. Cuchan or Yuma proper. Diegueño. Havasupai. |
Maricopa. Mohave. Seri. Waicuru. Walapai. |
Population.—The present population of these tribes, as given in Indian Affairs Report for 1889, and the U.S. Census Bulletin for 1890, is as follows:
Of the Yuma proper there are 997 in California attached to the Mission Agency and 291 at the San Carlos Agency in Arizona.
Mohave, 640 at the Colorado River Agency in Arizona; 791 under the San Carlos Agency; 400 in Arizona not under an agency.
Havasupai, 214 in Cosnino Cañon, Arizona.
Walapai, 728 in Arizona, chiefly along the Colorado.
Diegueño, 555 under the Mission Agency, California.
Maricopa, 315 at the Pima Agency, Arizona.
The population of the Yuman tribes in Mexico and Lower California is unknown.
ZUÑIAN FAMILY.
= Zuñi, Turner in Pac. R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 55, 91-93, 1856 (finds no radical affinity between Zuñi and Keres). Buschmann, Neu-Mexico, 254, 266, 276-278, 280-296, 302, 1858 (vocabs. and general references). Keane, App. Stanford’s Com. (Cent. and So. Am.), 479, 1878 (“a stock language”). Powell in Rocky Mountain Presbyterian, Nov., 1878 (includes Zuñi, Las Nutrias, Ojo de Pescado). Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 260, 1882.
= Zuñian, Powell in Am. Nat., 604, August, 1880.
Derivation: From the Cochití term Suinyi, said to mean “the people of the long nails,” referring to the surgeons of Zuñi who always wear some of their nails very long (Cushing).
Turner was able to compare the Zuñi language with the Keran, and his conclusion that they were entirely distinct has been fully 139 substantiated. Turner had vocabularies collected by Lieut. Simpson and by Capt. Eaton, and also one collected by Lieut. Whipple.
The small amount of linguistic material accessible to the earlier writers accounts for the little done in the way of classifying the Pueblo languages. Latham possessed vocabularies of the Moqui, Zuñi, A´coma or Laguna, Jemez, Tesuque, and Taos or Picuri. The affinity of the Tusayan (Moqui) tongue with the Comanche and other Shoshonean languages early attracted attention, and Latham pointed it out with some particularity. With the other Pueblo languages he does little, and attempts no classification into stocks.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
The Zuñi occupy but a single permanent pueblo, on the Zuñi River, western New Mexico. Recently, however, the summer villages of Tâiakwin, Heshotatsína, and K’iapkwainakwin have been occupied by a few families during the entire year.
Population.—The present population is 1,613.
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
The task involved in the foregoing classification has been accomplished by intermittent labors extending through more than twenty years of time. Many thousand printed vocabularies, embracing numerous larger lexic and grammatic works, have been studied and compared. In addition to the printed material, a very large body of manuscript matter has been used, which is now in the archives of the Bureau of Ethnology, and which, it is hoped, will ultimately be published. The author does not desire that his work shall be considered final, but rather as initiatory and tentative. The task of studying many hundreds of languages and deriving therefrom ultimate conclusions as contributions to the science of philology is one of great magnitude, and in its accomplishment an army of scholars must be employed. The wealth of this promised harvest appeals strongly to the scholars of America for systematic and patient labor. The languages are many and greatly diverse in their characteristics, in grammatic as well as in lexic elements. The author believes it is safe to affirm that the philosophy of language is some time to be greatly enriched from this source. From the materials which have been and may be gathered in this field the evolution of language can be studied from an early form, wherein words are usually not parts of speech, to a form where the parts of speech are somewhat differentiated; and where the growth of gender, number, and case systems, together with the development of tense and mode systems can be observed. The evolution of mind in the endeavor to express thought, by coining, combining, and contracting words and by organizing logical sentences through the development of parts of speech and 140 their syntactic arrangement, is abundantly illustrated. The languages are very unequally developed in their several parts. Low gender systems appear with high tense systems, highly evolved case systems with slightly developed mode systems; and there is scarcely any one of these languages, so far as they have been studied, which does not exhibit archaic devices in its grammar.
The author has delayed the present publication somewhat, expecting to supplement it with another paper on the characteristics of those languages which have been most fully recorded, but such supplementary paper has already grown too large for this place and is yet unfinished, while the necessity for speedy publication of the present results seems to be imperative. The needs of the Bureau of Ethnology, in directing the work of the linguists employed in it, and especially in securing and organizing the labor of a large body of collaborators throughout the country, call for this publication at the present time.
In arranging the scheme of linguistic families the author has proceeded very conservatively. Again and again languages have been thrown together as constituting one family and afterwards have been separated, while other languages at first deemed unrelated have ultimately been combined in one stock. Notwithstanding all this care, there remain a number of doubtful cases. For example, Buschmann has thrown the Shoshonean and Nahuatlan families into one. Now the Shoshonean languages are those best known to the author, and with some of them he has a tolerable speaking acquaintance. The evidence brought forward by Buschmann and others seems to be doubtful. A part is derived from jargon words, another part from adventitious similarities, while some facts seem to give warrant to the conclusion that they should be considered as one stock, but the author prefers, under the present state of knowledge, to hold them apart and await further evidence, being inclined to the opinion that the peoples speaking these languages have borrowed some part of their vocabularies from one another.
After considering the subject with such materials as are on hand, this general conclusion has been reached: That borrowed materials exist in all the languages; and that some of these borrowed materials can be traced to original sources, while the larger part of such acquisitions can not be thus relegated to known families. In fact, it is believed that the existing languages, great in number though they are, give evidence of a more primitive condition, when a far greater number were spoken. When there are two or more languages of the same stock, it appears that this differentiation into diverse tongues is due mainly to the absorption of other material, and that thus the multiplication of dialects and languages of the same group furnishes evidence that at some prior time there existed other languages which are now lost except as they are partially preserved in the divergent elements of the group. The conclusion which has been reached, therefore, does 141 not accord with the hypothesis upon which the investigation began, namely, that common elements would be discovered in all these languages, for the longer the study has proceeded the more clear it has been made to appear that the grand process of linguistic development among the tribes of North America has been toward unification rather than toward multiplication, that is, that the multiplied languages of the same stock owe their origin very largely to absorbed languages that are lost. The data upon which this conclusion has been reached can not here be set forth, but the hope is entertained that the facts already collected may ultimately be marshaled in such a manner that philologists will be able to weigh the evidence and estimate it for what it may be worth.
The opinion that the differentiation of languages within a single stock is mainly due to the absorption of materials from other stocks, often to the extinguishment of the latter, has grown from year to year as the investigation has proceeded. Wherever the material has been sufficient to warrant a conclusion on this subject, no language has been found to be simple in its origin, but every language has been found to be composed of diverse elements. The processes of borrowing known in historic times are those which have been at work in prehistoric times, and it is not probable that any simple language derived from some single pristine group of roots can be discovered.
There is an opinion current that the lower languages change with great rapidity, and that, by reason of this, dialects and languages of the same stock are speedily differentiated. This widely spread opinion does not find warrant in the facts discovered in the course of this research. The author has everywhere been impressed with the fact that savage tongues are singularly persistent, and that a language which is dependent for its existence upon oral tradition is not easily modified. The same words in the same form are repeated from generation to generation, so that lexic and grammatic elements have a life that changes very slowly. This is especially true where the habitat of the tribe is unchanged. Migration introduces a potent agency of mutation, but a new environment impresses its characteristics upon a language more by a change in the semantic content or meaning of words than by change in their forms. There is another agency of change of profound influence, namely, association with other tongues. When peoples are absorbed by peaceful or militant agencies new materials are brought into their language, and the affiliation of such matter seems to be the chief factor in the differentiation of languages within the same stock. In the presence of opinions that have slowly grown in this direction, the author is inclined to think that some of the groups herein recognized as families will ultimately be divided, as the common materials of such languages, when they are more thoroughly studied, will be seen to have been borrowed.
142 In the studies which have been made as preliminary to this paper, I have had great assistance from Mr. James C. Pilling and Mr. Henry W. Henshaw. Mr. Pilling began by preparing a list of papers used by me, but his work has developed until it assumes the proportions of a great bibliographic research, and already he has published five bibliographies, amounting in all to about 1,200 pages. He is publishing this bibliographic material by linguistic families, as classified by myself in this paper. Scholars in this field of research will find their labors greatly abridged by the work of Mr. Pilling. Mr. Henshaw began the preparation of the list of tribes, but his work also has developed into an elaborate system of research into the synonymy of the North American tribes, and when his work is published it will constitute a great and valuable contribution to the subject. The present paper is but a preface to the works of Mr. Pilling and Mr. Henshaw, and would have been published in form as such had not their publications assumed such proportions as to preclude it. And finally, it is needful to say that I could not have found the time to make this classification, imperfect as it is, except with the aid of the great labors of the gentlemen mentioned, for they have gathered the literature and brought it ready to my hand. For the classification itself, however, I am wholly responsible.
I am also indebted to Mr. Albert S. Gatschet and Mr. J. Owen Dorsey for the preparation of many comparative lists necessary to my work.
The task of preparing the map accompanying this paper was greatly facilitated by the previously published map of Gallatin. I am especially indebted to Col. Garrick Mallery for work done in the early part of its preparation in this form. I have also received assistance from Messrs. Gatschet, Dorsey, Mooney and Curtin. The final form which it has taken is largely due to the labors of Mr. Henshaw, who has gathered many important facts relating to the habitat of North American tribes while preparing a synonymy of tribal names.
FOOTNOTES
1. Proc. Am. Ass. Adv. Science, 1877, vol. 26.
2. Adventures on the Columbia River, 1849, p. 117.
3. Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands, 1878, p. 117.
4. Hist. of Am. Ind., 1775, p. 282.
5. Powers, Cont. N.A. Eth. 1877, vol. 3, p. 109: Dawson, Queen Charlotte Islands, 1880, p. 117.
6. Travels of Lewis and Clarke, London, 1809, p. 189.
7. Dall, Map Alaska, 1877.
8. Fide Nelson in Dall’s address, Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1885, p. 13.
9. Cruise of the Corwin, 1887.
10. Gibbs in Pac. R. R. Rep. I, 1855, p. 428.
11. Lewis and Clarke, Exp., 1814, vol. 2, p. 382.
12. Gatschet and Dorsey, MS., 1883-’84.
13. Dorsey, MS., map, 1884, B.E.
14. Hamilton, MS., Haynarger Vocab., B.E.; Powers, Contr. N.A. Ethn., 1877, vol. 3, p. 65.
15. Dorsey, MS., map, 1884, B.E.
16. Powers, Contr. N.A. Ethn., 1877, vol. 3, pp. 72, 73.
17. Powers, Contr. N.A. Ethn., 1877, vol. 3, p. 114.
18. Powers, Contr. N.A. Ethn., 1877, vol. 3, p. 122.
19. Cortez in Pac. R. R. Rep., 1856, vol. 3, pt. 3, pp. 118, 119.
20. Bartlett, Pers. Narr., 1854; Orozco y Berra, Geog., 1864.
21. Lewis, Travels of Lewis and Clarke, 15, 1809.
22. Dorsey in Am. Naturalist, March, 1886, p. 215.
23. Dorsey, Omaha map of Nebraska.
24. Dorsey in Am. Nat., March, 1886, p. 215.
25. Carte de la Louisiane, 1718.
26. In 1719, fide Margry, VI, 289, “the Ousita village is on the southwest branch of the Arkansas River.”
27. 1805, in Lewis and Clarke, Discov., 1806, p. 66.
28. Second Mass, Hist. Coll., vol. 2, 1814, p. 23.
29. 1690, in French, Hist. Coll. La., vol. 1, p. 72.
30. 1719, in Margry, vol. 6, p. 264.
31. Dr. Boas was informed in 1889, by a surviving Chimakum woman and several Clallam, that the tribe was confined to the peninsula between Hood’s Canal and Port Townsend.
32. B.A.A.S. Fifth Rep. of Committee on NW. Tribes of Canada. Newcastle-upon-Tyne meeting, 1889, pp. 8-9.
33. Geografía de las Lenguas de México, map, 1864.
34. Mag. Am. Hist., 1877, p. 157.
35. Cont. N.A. Eth., 1877, vol. 3, p. 535.
36. Dobbs (Arthur). An account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson’s Bay. London, 1744.
37. Sixth Ann. Rep. Bu. Eth., 426, 1888.
38. Relacion del viage hecho por las Goletas Sutil y Mexicana en el año de 1792. Madrid, 1802, p. 172.
39. Iroquois Book of Rites, 1883, app., p. 173.
40. American Anthropologist, 1888, vol. 1, p. 188.
41. New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America. Phila., 1798.
42. Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc., 1836, vol. 2, p. 92.
43. Am. Antiq., 1883, vol. 5, p. 20.
44. Cession No. 1, on Royce’s Cherokee map, 1884.
45. Howe in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 1854, vol. 4, p. 163.
46. Cession 2, on Royce’s Cherokee map, 1884.
47. Howe in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 1854, vol. 4, pp. 155-159.
48. Cession 4, on Royce’s Cherokee map, 1884.
49. Sir William Johnson in Parkman’s Conspiracy of Pontiac, app.
50. Bancroft, Hist. U.S.
51. Ramsey, Annals of Tennessee, 1853.
52. Ramsey, Annals of Tennessee, 1853.
53. Blount (1792) in Am. State Papers, 1832, vol. 4, p. 336.
54. Schoolcraft, Notes on Iroquois, 1847.
55. Bancroft, Hist. U.S.
56. Am. State Papers, 1832, vol. 4, p. 722.
57. Summer pueblos only.
58. Includes Acomita and Pueblito.
59. Includes Hasatch, Paguate, Punyeestye, Punyekia, Pusityitcho, Seemunah, Wapuchuseamma, and Ziamma.
60. Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., 1836, vol. II, p. 133.
61. Pac. R. R. Rep., 1855, vol. 2, pt. 3, p. 16.
62. Pike, Exp. to sources of the Mississippi, App., 1810, pt. 3, p. 9.
63. Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Canada, 1887.
64. Petroff, Report on the Population, Industries, and Resources of Alaska, 1884, p. 33.
65. U.S. Expl. Exp., 1846, vol. 6, p, 221.
66. Allen Ed., 1814, vol. 2, p. 118.
67. Nat. Hist. Man, 1850, p. 325.
68. U.S. Expl. Exp., 1846, vol. 6, pp. 630, 633.
69. On p. 119, Archæologia Americana.
70. Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, 1884, vol. 1, p. 62.
71. Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc., 1836, vol. 2, p. 95.
72. D. G. Brinton in Am. Antiquarian, March, 1885, pp. 109-114.
73. U.S. Expl. Expd., 1846, vol. 6, pp. 199, 218.
74. Cont. N.A. Eth. vol. 3, p. 267.
75. Buschmann, Die Pima-Sprache und die Sprache der Koloschen, pp. 321-432.
76. According to the U.S. Census Bulletin for 1890.
77. U.S. Expl. Exp., VI, p. 631.
78. Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 1836.
79. Allen ed., Philadelphia, 1814, vol. 1, p. 418.
80. U.S. Ind. Aff., 1869, p. 289.
81. Stevens in Pac. R. R. Rep., 1855, vol. 1, p. 329.
82. Lewis and Clarke, Allen ed., 1814, vol. 1, p. 34.
83. Pike, Expl. to sources of the Miss., app. pt. 3, 16, 1810.
84. Ives, Colorado River, 1861, p. 54.
85. Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., 1877, vol. 3, p. 369.
86. See treaty of Prairie du Chien, 1825.
87. Marquette’s Autograph Map.
88. Disc. of Miss. Valley, p. 170, note.
89. See Cheyenne treaty, in Indian Treaties, 1873, pp. 124, 5481-5489.
90. Lewis and Clarke, Trav., Lond., 1807, p. 25. Lewis and Clarke, Expl., 1874, vol. 2, p. 390. A. L. Riggs, MS. letter to Dorsey, 1876 or 1877. Dorsey, Ponka tradition: “The Black Hills belong to the Crows.” That the Dakotas were not there till this century see Corbusier’s Dakota Winter Counts, in 4th Rept. Bur. Eth., p. 130, where it is also said that the Crow were the original owners of the Black Hills.
91. Margry, Découvertes, vol. 4, p. 195.
92. Batts in Doc. Col. Hist. N.Y., 1853, vol. 3, p. 194. Harrison, MS. letter to Dorsey, 1886.
93. Doc. Col. Hist. N.Y., 1854, vol. 4. p. 488.
94. Lawson, Hist. Carolina, 1714; reprint of 1860, p. 384.
95. Archæologia Americana, 1836, II, pp. 15, 306.
96. See Petroff map of Alaska, 1880-’81.
97. Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, 1855, vol. 5, p. 689.
98. President’s message, February 19, 1806.
99. Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 21-22, 1884.
100. Discovery, etc., of Kentucky, 1793, II, 84-7.
101. Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, p. 20.
102. U.S. Ind. Aff., 1889.
103. Archæologia Americana, II, p. 15.
104. Trans. Am. Eth. Soc. II, p. 77.
105. U.S. Expl. Expd., vol. 6, p. 220.
106. Savage Life, 312.
107. U.S. Census Bulletin for 1890.
108. Canada Ind. Aff. Rep. for 1888.
109. Cont. N.A. Eth., 1877, vol. 3, p. 44.
110. Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 1853, vol. 3, p. 422.
111. Allen, ed. 1814, vol. 2, p. 473.
112. Ibid., p. 118.
113. U. S. Ind. Aff. Rept., 1857, p. 359.
114. Proc. London Philol. Soc., vol. 6, 75, 1854.
Problems of Transcription
The phonetic symbol ⁿ has been expressed as superscript n.
In the printed text it was not clear whether the author intended hacek (Unicode “caron”) ˇ or breve ˘. Breve was chosen as it is phonetically plausible and the characters are more widely available.
The spelling “Lewis and Clarke” was used consistently in the original text, as was “Zuñi” with tilde.
All parenthetical references to “obvious typographical error,” “evident misprint” and the like are retained from the original text.
The variation between “Ojibwa” and “Ojibway” is as in the original. In correction popups, superscript n is shown as {n}.
Note on language.
Note on MIDI files.
THE MIDĒ´WIWIN OR “GRAND MEDICINE SOCIETY”
OF
THE OJIBWA.
BY
W. J. HOFFMAN.
145
CONTENTS.
Page | |
Introduction | 149 |
Shamans | 156 |
Midē´wiwin | 164 |
Midē´wigân | 187 |
First degree | 189 |
Preparatory instruction | 189 |
Midē´ therapeutics | 197 |
207 | |
Initiation of candidate | 210 |
Descriptive notes | 220 |
Second degree | 224 |
Preparation of candidate | 224 |
Initiation of candidate | 231 |
Descriptive notes | 236 |
Third degree | 240 |
Preparation of candidate | 241 |
Initiation of candidate | 243 |
Descriptive notes | 251 |
Fourth degree | 255 |
Preparation of candidate | 257 |
Initiation of candidate | 258 |
Descriptive notes | 274 |
Dzhibai´ Midē´wigân | 278 |
Initiation by substitution | 281 |
Supplementary notes | 286 |
Pictography | 286 |
Music | 289 |
Dress and ornaments | 298 |
Future of the society | 299 |
Musical Notation: |
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Illustrations have been placed as close as practicable to their discussion in the text. Multi-part Plates have been divided. The page numbers show the original location of the illustrations.
Page. | ||
Plate II. | Map showing present distribution of Ojibwa |
150 |
III. | Red Lake and Leech Lake records |
166 |
IV. | Sikas´sige’s record | 170 |
V. | Origin of Âníshinâ´bēg | 172 |
VI. | Facial decoration | 174 |
VII. | Facial decoration | 178 |
VIII. | Ojibwa’s record | 182 |
IX. | 193 | |
X. | 202 | |
XI. | Sacred objects | 220 |
XII. | Invitation sticks | 236 |
XIII. | 238 | |
XIV. | 288 | |
XV. | Sacred posts | 240 |
XVI. | 244 | |
XVII. | 266 | |
XVIII. | Jĕs´sakkīd´ removing disease | 278 |
XIX. | Birch-bark records | 286 |
XX. | Sacred bark scroll and contents |
288 |
XXI. | Midē´ relics from Leech Lake | 390 |
XXII. | 392 | |
XXIII. | Midē´ dancing garters | 298 |
Fig. 1. | Herbalist preparing medicine and treating patient |
159 |
2. | Sikas´sigĕ’s combined charts, showing descent of Mī´nabō´zho |
174 |
3. | Origin of ginseng | 175 |
4. | Peep-hole post | 178 |
5. | Migration of Âníshinâ´bēg | 179 |
6. | Birch-bark record, from White Earth |
185 |
7. | Birch-bark record, from Bed Lake |
186 |
8. | Birch-bark record, from Red Lake |
186 |
9. | Eshgibō´ga | 187 |
10. | Diagram of Midē´wigân of the first degree |
188 |
11. | Interior of Midē´wigân | 188 |
12. | Ojibwa drums | 190 |
13. | Midē´ rattle | 191 |
14. | Midē´ rattle | 191 |
15. | Shooting the Mīgis | 192 |
16. | Wooden beads | 205 |
17. | Wooden effigy | 205 |
18. | Wooden effigy | 205 |
19. | Hawk-leg fetish | 220 |
20. | Hunter’s medicine | 222 |
21. | Hunter’s medicine | 222 |
22. | 148 Wâbĕnō´ drum | 223 |
23. | Diagram of Midē´wigân of the second degree |
224 |
24. | Midē´ destroying an enemy | 238 |
25. | Diagram of Midē´wigân of the third degree |
240 |
26. | Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge |
252 |
27. | Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge |
252 |
28. | Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge |
252 |
29. | Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge |
252 |
30. | Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge |
252 |
31. | Jĕs´sakkīd´ curing woman | 255 |
32. | Jĕs´sakkīd´ curing man | 255 |
33. | Diagram of Midē´wigân of the fourth degree |
255 |
34. | General view of Midē´wigân | 256 |
35. | Indian diagram of ghost lodge | 279 |
36. | Leech Lake Midē´ song | 295 |
37. | Leech Lake Midē´ song | 296 |
38. | Leech Lake Midē´ song | 297 |
39. | Leech Lake Midē´ song | 297 |
THE MIDĒ´WIWIN OR “GRAND MEDICINE
SOCIETY”
OF THE OJIBWAY.
By W. J. Hoffman.
INTRODUCTION.
The Ojibwa is one of the largest tribes of the United States, and it is scattered over a considerable area, from the Province of Ontario, on the east, to the Red River of the North, on the west, and from Manitoba southward through the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This tribe is, strictly speaking, a timber people, and in its westward migration or dispersion has never passed beyond the limit of the timber growth which so remarkably divides the State of Minnesota into two parts possessing distinct physical features. The western portion of this State is a gently undulating prairie which sweeps away to the Rocky Mountains, while the eastern portion is heavily timbered. The dividing line, at or near the meridian of 95° 50' west longitude, extends due north and south, and at a point about 75 miles south of the northern boundary the timber line trends toward the northwest, crossing the State line, 49° north latitude, at about 97° 10' west longitude.
Minnesota contains many thousand lakes of various sizes, some of which are connected by fine water courses, while others are entirely isolated. The wooded country is undulating, the elevated portions being covered chiefly with pine, fir, spruce, and other coniferous trees, and the lowest depressions being occupied by lakes, ponds, or marshes, around which occur the tamarack, willow, and other trees which thrive in moist ground, while the regions between these extremes are covered with oak, poplar, ash, birch, maple, and many other varieties of trees and shrubs.
Wild fowl, game, and fish are still abundant, and until recently have furnished to the Indians the chief source of subsistence.
Tribal organization according to the totemic system is practically broken up, as the Indians are generally located upon or near the several reservations set apart for them by the General Government, where they have been under more or less restraint by the United States Indian agents and the missionaries. Representatives of various totems or gentes may therefore be found upon a single reservation, 150 where they continue to adhere to traditional customs and beliefs, thus presenting an interesting field for ethnologic research.
The present distribution of the Ojibwa in Minnesota and Wisconsin is indicated upon the accompanying map, Pl. II. In the southern portion many of these people have adopted civilized pursuits, but throughout the northern and northwestern part many bands continue to adhere to their primitive methods and are commonly designated “wild Indians.” The habitations of many of the latter are rude and primitive. The bands on the northeast shore of Red Lake, as well as a few others farther east, have occupied these isolated sites for an uninterrupted period of about three centuries, as is affirmed by the chief men of the several villages and corroborated by other traditional evidence.
Father Claude Alloüez, upon his arrival in 1666 at Shagawaumikong, or La Pointe, found the Ojibwa preparing to attack the Sioux. The settlement at this point was an extensive one, and in traditions pertaining to the “Grand Medicine Society” frequent allusion is made to the fact that at this place the rites were practiced in their greatest purity.
Mr. Warren, in his History of the Ojibwa Indians,115 bases his belief upon traditional evidence that the Ojibwa first had knowledge of the whites in 1612. Early in the seventeenth century the French missionaries met with various tribes of the Algonkian linguistic stock, as well as with bands or subtribes of the Ojibwa Indians. One of the latter, inhabiting the vicinity of Sault Ste. Marie, is frequently mentioned in the Jesuit Relations as the Saulteurs. This term was applied to all those people who lived at the Falls, but from other statements it is clear that the Ojibwa formed the most important body in that vicinity. La Hontan speaks of the “Outchepoues, alias Sauteurs,” as good warriors. The name Saulteur survives at this day and is applied to a division of the tribe.
According to statements made by numerous Ojibwa chiefs of importance the tribe began its westward dispersion from La Pointe and Fond du Lac at least two hundred and fifty years ago, some of the bands penetrating the swampy country of northern Minnesota, while others went westward and southwestward. According to a statement116 of the location of the tribes of Lake Superior, made at Mackinaw in 1736, the Sioux then occupied the southern and northern extremities of that lake. It is possible, however, that the northern bands of the Ojibwa may have penetrated the region adjacent to the Pigeon River and passed west to near their present location, thus avoiding their enemies who occupied the lake shore south of them.
151 From recent investigations among a number of tribes of the Algonkian linguistic division it is found that the traditions and practices pertaining to the Midē´wiwin, Society of the Midē´ or Shamans, popularly designated as the “Grand Medicine Society,” prevailed generally, and the rites are still practiced at irregular intervals, though in slightly different forms in various localities.
In the reports of early travelers and missionaries no special mention is made of the Midē´, the Jes´sakkīd´, or the Wâbĕnō´, but the term sorcerer or juggler is generally employed to designate that class of persons who professed the power of prophecy, and who practiced incantation and administered medicinal preparations. Constant reference is made to the opposition of these personages to the introduction of Christianity. In the light of recent investigation the cause of this antagonism is seen to lie in the fact that the traditions of Indian genesis and cosmogony and the ritual of initiation into the Society of the Midē´ constitute what is to them a religion, even more powerful and impressive than the Christian religion is to the average civilized man. This opposition still exists among the leading classes of a number of the Algonkian tribes, and especially among the Ojibwa, many bands of whom have been more or less isolated and beyond convenient reach of the Church. The purposes of the society are twofold; first, to preserve the traditions just mentioned, and second, to give a certain class of ambitious men and women sufficient influence through their acknowledged power of exorcism and necromancy to lead a comfortable life at the expense of the credulous. The persons admitted into the society are firmly believed to possess the power of communing with various supernatural beings—manidos—and in order that certain desires may be realized they are sought after and consulted. The purpose of the present paper is to give an account of this society and of the ceremony of initiation as studied and observed at White Earth, Minnesota, in 1889. Before proceeding to this, however, it may be of interest to consider a few statements made by early travelers respecting the “sorcerers or jugglers” and the methods of medication.
In referring to the practices of the Algonkian tribes of the Northwest, La Hontan117 says:
When they are sick, they only drink Broth, and eat sparingly; and if they have the good luck to fall asleep, they think themselves cur’d: They have told me frequently, that sleeping and sweating would cure the most stubborn Diseases in the World. When they are so weak that they cannot get out of Bed, their Relations come and dance and make merry before ’em, in order to divert ’em. To conclude, when they are ill, they are always visited by a sort of Quacks, (Jongleurs); of whom ’t will now be proper to subjoin two or three Words by the bye.
A Jongleur is a sort of Physician, or rather a Quack, who being once cur’d of some dangerous Distemper, has the Presumption and Folly to fancy that he is immortal, and possessed of the Power of curing all Diseases, by speaking to the Good and Evil Spirits. Now though every Body rallies upon these Fellows when 152 they are absent, and looks upon ’em as Fools that have lost their Senses by some violent Distemper, yet they allow ’em to visit the Sick; whether it be to divert ’em with their Idle Stories, or to have an Opportunity of seeing them rave, skip about, cry, houl, and make Grimaces and Wry Faces, as if they were possess’d. When all the Bustle is over, they demand a Feast of a Stag and some large Trouts for the Company, who are thus regal’d at once with Diversion and Good Cheer.
When the Quack comes to visit the Patient, he examines him very carefully; If the Evil Spirit be here, says he, we shall quickly dislodge him. This said, he withdraws by himself to a little Tent made on purpose, where he dances, and sings houling like an Owl; (which gives the Jesuits Occasion to say, That the Devil converses with ’em.) After he has made an end of this Quack Jargon, he comes and rubs the Patient in some part of his Body, and pulling some little Bones out of his Mouth, acquaints the Patient, That these very Bones came out of his Body; that he ought to pluck up a good heart, in regard that his Distemper is but a Trifle; and in fine, that in order to accelerate the Cure, ’t will be convenient to send his own and his Relations Slaves to shoot Elks, Deer, &c., to the end they may all eat of that sort of Meat, upon which his Cure does absolutely depend.
Commonly these Quacks bring ’em some Juices of Plants, which are a sort of Purges, and are called Maskikik.
Hennepin, in “A Continuation of the New Discovery,” etc.,118 speaks of the religion and sorcerers of the tribes of the St. Lawrence and those living about the Great Lakes as follows:
We have been all too sadly convinced, that almost all the Salvages in general have no notion of a God, and that they are not able to comprehend the most ordinary Arguments on that Subject; others will have a Spirit that commands, say they, in the Air. Some among ’em look upon the Skie as a kind of Divinity; others as an Otkon or Manitou, either Good or Evil.
These People admit of some sort of Genius in all things; they all believe there is a Master of Life, as they call him, but hereof they make various applications; some of them have a lean Raven, which they carry always along with them, and which they say is the Master of their Life; others have an Owl, and some again a Bone, a Sea-Shell, or some such thing;
There is no Nation among ’em which has not a sort of Juglers or Conjuerers, which some look upon to be Wizards, but in my Opinion there is no Great reason to believe ’em such, or to think that their Practice favours any thing of a Communication with the Devil.
These Impostors cause themselves to be reverenced as Prophets which fore-tell Futurity. They will needs be look’d upon to have an unlimited Power. They boast of being able to make it Wet or Dry; to cause a Calm or a Storm; to render Land Fruitful or Barren; and, in a Word to make Hunters Fortunate or Unfortunate. They also pretend to Physick, and to apply Medicines, but which are such, for the most part as have little Virtue at all in ’em, especially to Cure that Distemper which they pretend to.
It is impossible to imagine, the horrible Howlings and strange Contortions that those Jugglers make of their Bodies, when they are disposing themselves to Conjure, or raise their Enchantments.
Marquette, who visited the Miami, Mascontin and Kickapoo Indians in 1673, after referring to the Indian herbalist, mentions also the ceremony of the “calumet dance,” as follows:
They have Physicians amongst them, towards whom they are very liberal when they are sick, thinking that the Operation of the Remedies they take, is proportional to the Presents they make unto those who have prescrib’d them.
153 In connection with this, reference is made by Marquette to a certain class of individuals among the Illinois and Dakota, who were compelled to wear women’s clothes, and who were debarred many privileges, but were permitted to “assist at all the Superstitions of their Juglers, and their solemn Dances in honor of the Calumet, in which they may sing, but it is not lawful for them to dance. They are call’d to their Councils, and nothing is determin’d without their Advice; for, because of their extraordinary way of Living, they are look’d upon as Manitous, or at least for great and incomparable Genius’s.”
That the calumet was brought into requisition upon all occasions of interest is learned from the following statement, in which the same writer declares that it is “the most mysterious thing in the World. The Sceptres of our Kings are not so much respected; for the Savages have such a Deference for this Pipe, that one may call it The God of Peace and War, and the Arbiter of Life and Death. Their Calumet of Peace is different from the Calumet of War; They make use of the former to seal their Alliances and Treaties, to travel with safety, and receive Strangers; and the other is to proclaim War.”
This reverence for the calumet is shown by the manner in which it is used at dances, in the ceremony of smoking, etc., indicating a religious devoutness approaching that recently observed among various Algonkian tribes in connection with the ceremonies of the Midē´wiwin. When the calumet dance was held, the Illinois appear to have resorted to the houses in the winter and to the groves in the summer. The above-named authority continues in this connection:
They chuse for that purpose a set Place among Trees, to shelter themselves against the Heat of the Sun, and lay in the middle a large Matt, as a Carpet, to lay upon the God of the Chief of the Company, who gave the Ball; for every one has his peculiar God, whom they call Manitoa. It is sometime a Stone, a Bird, a Serpent, or anything else that they dream of in their Sleep; for they think this Manitoa will prosper their Wants, as Fishing, Hunting, and other Enterprizes. To the Right of their Manitoa they place the Calumet, their Great Deity, making round about it a Kind of Trophy with their Arms, viz. their Clubs, Axes, Bows, Quivers, and Arrows. ***Every Body sits down afterwards, round about, as they come, having first of all saluted the Manitoa, which they do in blowing the Smoak of their Tobacco upon it, which is as much as offering to it Frankincense. ***This Preludium being over, he who is to begin the Dance appears in the middle of the Assembly, and having taken the Calumet, presents it to the Sun, as if he wou’d invite him to smoke. Then he moves it into an infinite Number of Postures sometimes laying it near the Ground, then stretching its Wings, as if he wou’d make it fly, and then presents it to the Spectators, who smoke with it one after another, dancing all the while. This is the first Scene of this famous Ball.
The infinite number of postures assumed in offering the pipe appear as significant as the “smoke ceremonies” mentioned in connection with the preparatory instruction of the candidate previous to his initiation into the Midē´wiwin.
154 In his remarks on the religion of the Indians and the practices of the sorcerers, Hennepin says:
As for their Opinion concerning the Earth, they make use of a Name of a certain Genius, whom they call Micaboche, who has cover’d the whole Earth with water (as they imagine) and relate innumerable fabulous Tales, some of which have a kind of Analogy with the Universal Deluge. These Barbarians believe that there are certain Spirits in the Air, between Heaven and Earth, who have a power to foretell future Events, and others who play the part of Physicians, curing all sorts of Distempers. Upon which account, it happens, that these Savages are very Superstitious, and consult their Oracles with a great deal of exactness. One of these Masters-Jugglers who pass for Sorcerers among them, one day caus’d a Hut to be erected with ten thick Stakes, which he fix’d very deep in the Ground, and then made a horrible noise to Consult the Spirits, to know whether abundance of Snow wou’d fall ere long, that they might have good game in the Hunting of Elks and Beavers: Afterward he bawl’d out aloud from the bottom of the Hut, that he saw many Herds of Elks, which were as yet at a very great distance, but that they drew near within seven or eight Leagues of their Huts, which caus’d a great deal of joy among those poor deluded Wretches.
That this statement refers to one or more tribes of the Algonkian linguistic stock is evident, not only because of the reference to the sorcerers and their peculiar methods of procedure, but also that the name of Micaboche, an Algonkian divinity, appears. This Spirit, who acted as an intercessor between Ki´tshi Man´idō (Great Spirit) and the Indians, is known among the Ojibwa as Mi´nabō´zho; but to this full reference will be made further on in connection with the Myth of the origin of the Midē´wiwin. The tradition of Nokomis (the earth) and the birth of Manabush (the Mi´nabō´zho of the Menomoni) and his brother, the Wolf, that pertaining to the re-creation of the world, and fragments of other myths, are thrown together and in a mangled form presented by Hennepin in the following words:
Some Salvages which live at the upper end of the River St. Lawrence, do relate a pretty diverting Story. They hold almost the same opinion with the former [the Iroquois], that a Woman came down from Heaven, and remained for some while fluttering in the Air, not finding Ground whereupon to put her Foot. But that the Fishes moved with Compassion for her, immediately held a Consultation to deliberate which of them should receive her. The Tortoise very officiously offered its Back on the Surface of the Water. The Woman came to rest upon it, and fixed herself there. Afterwards the Filthiness and Dirt of the Sea gathering together about the Tortoise, there was formed by little and little that vast Tract of Land, which we now call America.
They add that this Woman grew weary of her Solitude, wanting some body for to keep her Company, that so she might spend her time more pleasantly. Melancholy and Sadness having seiz’d upon her Spirits, she fell asleep, and a Spirit descended from above, and finding her in that Condition approach’d and knew her unperceptibly. From which Approach she conceived two Children, which came forth out of one of her Ribs. But these two Brothers could never afterwards agree together. One of them was a better Huntsman than the other; they quarreled every day; and their Disputes grew so high at last, that one could not bear with the other. One especially being of a very wild Temper, hated mortally his Brother who was of a milder Constitution, who being no longer able to endure the Pranks of the other, 155 he resolved at last to part from him. He retired then into Heaven, whence, for a Mark of his just Resentment, he causeth at several times his Thunder to rore over the Head of his unfortunate Brother.
Sometime after the Spirit descended again on that Woman, and she conceived a Daughter, from whom (as the Salvages say) were propagated these numerous People, which do occupy now one of the greatest parts of the Universe.
It is evident that the narrator has sufficiently distorted the traditions to make them conform, as much as practicable, to the biblical story of the birth of Christ. No reference whatever is made in the Ojibwa or Menomoni myths to the conception of the Daughter of Nokomis (the earth) by a celestial visitant, but the reference is to one of the wind gods. Mi´nabō´zho became angered with the Ki´tshi Man´idō, and the latter, to appease his discontent, gave to Mi´nabō´zho the rite of the Midēwiwin. The brother of Mi´nabō´zho was destroyed by the malevolent underground spirits and now rules the abode of shadows,—the “Land of the Midnight Sun.”
Upon his arrival at the “Bay of Puans” (Green Bay, Wisconsin), Marquette found a village inhabited by three nations, viz: “Miamis, Maskoutens, and Kikabeux.” He says:
When I arriv’d there, I was very glad to see a great Cross set up in the middle of the Village, adorn’d with several White Skins, Red Girdles, Bows and Arrows, which that good People had offer’d to the Great Manitou, to return him their Thanks for the care he had taken of them during the Winter, and that he had granted them a prosperous Hunting. Manitou, is the Name they give in general to all Spirits whom they think to be above the Nature of Man.
Marquette was without doubt ignorant of the fact that the cross is the sacred post, and the symbol of the fourth degree of the Midē´wiwin, as will be fully explained in connection with that grade of the society. The erroneous conclusion that the cross was erected as an evidence of the adoption of Christianity, and possibly as a compliment to the visitor, was a natural one on the part of the priest, but this same symbol of the Midē´ Society had probably been erected and bedecked with barbaric emblems and weapons months before anything was known of him.
The result of personal investigations among the Ojibwa, conducted during the years 1887, 1888 and 1889, are presented in the accompanying paper. The information was obtained from a number of the chief Midē´ priests living at Red Lake and White Earth reservations, as well as from members of the society from other reservations, who visited the last named locality during the three years. Special mention of the peculiarity of the music recorded will be made at the proper place; and it may here be said that in no instance was the use of colors detected, in any birch-bark or other records or mnemonic songs, simply to heighten the artistic effect; though the reader would be led by an examination of the works of Schoolcraft to believe this to be a common practice. Col. Garrick Mallery; U.S. Army, in a paper read before the Anthropological Society of 156 Washington, District of Columbia, in 1888, says, regarding this subject:
The general character of his voluminous publications has not been such as to assure modern critics of his accuracy, and the wonderful minuteness, as well as comprehension, attributed by him to the Ojibwa hieroglyphs has been generally regarded of late with suspicion. It was considered in the Bureau of Ethnology an important duty to ascertain how much of truth existed in these remarkable accounts, and for that purpose its pictographic specialists, myself and Dr. W. J. Hoffman as assistant, were last summer directed to proceed to the most favorable points in the present habitat of the tribe, namely, the northern region of Minnesota and Wisconsin, to ascertain how much was yet to be discovered. ***The general results of the comparison of Schoolcraft’s statements with what is now found shows that, in substance, he told the truth, but with much exaggeration and coloring. The word “coloring” is particularly appropriate, because, in his copious illustrations, various colors were used freely with apparent significance, whereas, in fact, the general rule in regard to the birch-bark rolls was that they were never colored at all; indeed, the bark was not adapted to coloration. The metaphorical coloring was also used by him in a manner which, to any thorough student of the Indian philosophy and religion, seems absurd. Metaphysical expressions are attached to some of the devices, or, as he calls them, symbols, which, could never have been entertained by a people in the stage of culture of the Ojibwa.
SHAMANS.
There are extant among the Ojibwa Indians three classes of mystery men, termed respectively and in order of importance the Midē´, the Jĕs´sakkīd´, and the Wâbĕnō´, but before proceeding to elaborate in detail the Society of the Midē´, known as the Midē´wiwin, a brief description of the last two is necessary.
The term Wâbĕnō´ has been explained by various intelligent Indians as signifying “Men of the dawn,” “Eastern men,” etc. Their profession is not thoroughly understood, and their number is so extremely limited that but little information respecting them can be obtained. Schoolcraft,119 in referring to the several classes of Shamans, says “there is a third form or rather modification of the medawin, ***the Wâbĕnō´; a term denoting a kind of midnight orgies, which is regarded as a corruption of the Meda.” This writer furthermore remarks120 that “it is stated by judicious persons among themselves to be of modern origin. They regard it as a degraded form of the mysteries of the Meda.”
From personal investigation it has been ascertained that a Wâbĕnō´ does not affiliate with others of his class so as to constitute a society, but indulges his pretensions individually. A Wâbĕnō´ is primarily prompted by dreams or visions which may occur during his youth, for which purpose he leaves his village to fast for an indefinite number of days. It is positively affirmed that evil man´idōs favor his desires, 157 and apart from his general routine of furnishing “hunting medicine,” “love powders,” etc., he pretends also to practice medical magic. When a hunter has been successful through the supposed assistance of the Wâbĕnō´, he supplies the latter with part of the game, when, in giving a feast to his tutelary daimon, the Wâbĕnō´ will invite a number of friends, but all who desire to come are welcome. This feast is given at night; singing and dancing are boisterously indulged in, and the Wâbĕnō´, to sustain his reputation, entertains his visitors with a further exhibition of his skill. By the use of plants he is alleged to be enabled to take up and handle with impunity red-hot stones and burning brands, and without evincing the slightest discomfort it is said that he will bathe his hands in boiling water, or even boiling maple sirup. On account of such performances the general impression prevails among the Indians that the Wâbĕnō´ is a “dealer in fire,” or “fire-handler.” Such exhibitions always terminate at the approach of day. The number of these pretenders who are not members of the Midē´wiwin, is very limited; for instance, there are at present but two or three at White Earth Reservation and none at Leech Lake.
As a general rule, however, the Wâbĕnō´ will seek entrance into the Midē´wiwin when he becomes more of a specialist in the practice of medical magic, incantations, and the exorcism of malevolent man´idōs, especially such as cause disease.
The Jĕs´sakkīd´ is a seer and prophet; though commonly designated a “juggler,” the Indians define him as a “revealer of hidden truths.” There is no association whatever between the members of this profession, and each practices his art singly and alone whenever a demand is made and the fee presented. As there is no association, so there is no initiation by means of which one may become a Jĕs´sakkīd´. The gift is believed to be given by the thunder god, or Animiki´, and then only at long intervals and to a chosen few. The gift is received during youth, when the fast is undertaken and when visions appear to the individual. His renown depends upon his own audacity and the opinion of the tribe. He is said to possess the power to look into futurity; to become acquainted with the affairs and intentions of men; to prognosticate the success or misfortune of hunters and warriors, as well as other affairs of various individuals, and to call from any living human being the soul, or, more strictly speaking, the shadow, thus depriving the victim of reason, and even of life. His power consists in invoking, and causing evil, while that of the Midē´ is to avert it; he attempts at times to injure the Midē´ but the latter, by the aid of his superior man´idos, becomes aware of, and averts such premeditated injury. It sometimes happens that the demon possessing a patient is discovered, but the Midē´ alone has the power to expel him. The exorcism of demons is one of the chief pretensions of this personage, and evil spirits are sometimes removed 158 by sucking them through tubes, and startling tales are told how the Jĕs´sakkīd´ can, in the twinkling of an eye, disengage himself of the most complicated tying of cords and ropes, etc. The lodge used by this class of men consists of four poles planted in the ground, forming a square of three or four feet and upward in diameter, around which are wrapped birch bark, robes, or canvas in such a way as to form an upright cylinder. Communion is held with the turtle, who is the most powerful man´idō of the Jĕs´sakkīd´, and through him, with numerous other malevolent man´idōs, especially the Animiki´, or thunder-bird. When the prophet has seated himself within his lodge the structure begins to sway violently from side to side, loud thumping noises are heard within, denoting the arrival of man´idōs, and numerous voices and laughter are distinctly audible to those without. Questions may then be put to the prophet and, if everything be favorable, the response is not long in coming. In his notice of the Jĕs´sakkīd´, Schoolcraft affirms121 that “while he thus exercises the functions of a prophet, he is also a member of the highest class of the fraternity of the Midâwin—a society of men who exercise the medical art on the principles of magic and incantations.” The fact is that there is not the slightest connection between the practice of the Jĕs´sakkīd´ and that of the Midē´wiwin, and it is seldom, if at all, that a Midē´ becomes a Jĕs´sakkīd´, although the latter sometimes gains admission into the Midē´wiwin, chiefly with the intention of strengthening his power with his tribe.
The number of individuals of this class who are not members of the Midē´wiwin is limited, though greater than that of the Wâbĕnō´. An idea of the proportion of numbers of the respective classes may be formed by taking the case of Menomoni Indians, who are in this respect upon the same plane as the Ojibwa. That tribe numbers about fifteen hundred, the Midē´ Society consisting, in round numbers, of one hundred members, and among the entire population there are but two Wâbĕnō´ and five Jĕs´sakkīd´.
It is evident that neither the Wâbĕnō´ nor the Jĕs´sakkīd´ confine themselves to the mnemonic songs which are employed during their ceremonial performances, or even prepare them to any extent. Such bark records as have been observed or recorded, even after most careful research and examination extending over the field seasons of three years, prove to have been the property of Wâbĕnō´ and Jĕs´sakkīd´, who were also Midē´. It is probable that those who practice either of the first two forms of ceremonies and nothing else are familiar with and may employ for their own information certain mnemonic records; but they are limited to the characteristic formulæ of exorcism, as their practice varies and is subject to changes according to circumstances and the requirements and wants of the applicant when words are chanted to accord therewith.
159 Some examples of songs used by Jĕs´sakkīd´, after they have become Midē´, will be given in the description of the several degrees of the Midē ’wiwin.
There is still another class of persons termed Mashkī´kĭkē´winĭnĭ, or herbalists, who are generally denominated “medicine men,” as the Ojibwa word implies. Their calling is a simple one, and consists in knowing the mysterious properties of a variety of plants, herbs, roots, and berries, which are revealed upon application and for a fee. When there is an administration of a remedy for a given complaint, based upon true scientific principles, it is only in consequence of such practice having been acquired from the whites, as it has usually been the custom of the Catholic Fathers to utilize all ordinary and available remedies for the treatment of the common disorders of life. Although these herbalists are aware that certain plants or roots will produce a specified effect upon the human system, they attribute the benefit to the fact that such remedies are distasteful and injurious to the demons who are present in the system and to whom the disease is attributed. Many of these herbalists are found among women, also; and these, too, are generally members of the Midē´wiwin. In Fig. 1 is shown an herbalist preparing a mixture.
160 The origin of the Midē´wiwin or Midē´ Society, commonly, though erroneously, termed Grand Medicine Society, is buried in obscurity. In the Jesuit Relations, as early as 1642, frequent reference is made to sorcerers, jugglers, and persons whose faith, influence, and practices are dependent upon the assistance of “Manitous,” or mysterious spirits; though, as there is no discrimination made between these different professors of magic, it is difficult positively to determine which of the several classes were met with at that early day. It is probable that the Jĕs´sakkīd´, or juggler, and the Midē´, or Shaman, were referred to.
The Midē´, in the true sense of the word, is a Shaman, though he has by various authors been termed powwow, medicine man, priest, seer, prophet, etc. Among the Ojibwa the office is not hereditary; but among the Menomoni a curious custom exists, by which some one is selected to fill the vacancy one year after the death of a Shaman. Whether a similar practice prevailed among other tribes of the Algonkian linguistic stock can be ascertained only by similar research among the tribes constituting that stock.
Among the Ojibwa, however, a substitute is sometimes taken to fill the place of one who has been prepared to receive the first degree of the Midē´wiwin, or Society of the Midē´, but who is removed by death before the proper initiation has been conferred. This occurs when a young man dies, in which case his father or mother may be accepted as a substitute. This will be explained in more detail under the caption of Dzhibai´ Midē´wigân or “Ghost Lodge,” a collateral branch of the Midē´wiwin.
As I shall have occasion to refer to the work of the late Mr. W. W. Warren, a few words respecting him will not be inappropriate. Mr. Warren was an Ojibwa mixed blood, of good education, and later a member of the legislature of Minnesota. His work, entiled “History of the Ojibwa Nation,” was published in Vol. V of the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, 1885, and edited by Dr. E. D. Neill. Mr. Warren’s work is the result of the labor of a lifetime among his own people, and, had he lived, he would undoubtedly have added much to the historical material of which the printed volume chiefly consists. His manuscript was completed about the year 1852, and he died the following year. In speaking of the Society of the Midē´,122 he says:
The grand rite of Me-da-we-win (or, as we have learned to term it, “Grand Medicine,”)and the beliefs incorporated therein, are not yet fully understood by the whites. This important custom is still shrouded in mystery even to my own eyes, though I have taken much pains to inquire and made use of every advantage possessed by speaking their language perfectly, being related to them, possessing their friendship and intimate confidence has given me, and yet I frankly acknowledge that I stand as yet, as it were, on the threshold of the Me-da-we lodge. I believe, however, that I have obtained full as much and more general and true information 161 on this matter than any other person who has written on the subject, not excepting a great and standard author, who, to the surprise of many who know the Ojibways well, has boldly asserted in one of his works that he has been regularly initiated into the mysteries of this rite, and is a member of the Me-da-we Society. This is certainly an assertion hard to believe in the Indian country; and when the old initiators or Indian priests are told of it they shake their heads in incredulity that a white man should ever have been allowed in truth to become a member of their Me-da-we lodge.
An entrance into the lodge itself, while the ceremonies are being enacted, has sometimes been granted through courtesy; though this does not initiate a person into the mysteries of the creed, nor does it make him a member of the Society.
These remarks pertaining to the pretensions of “a great and standard authority” have reference to Mr. Schoolcraft, who among numerous other assertions makes the following, in the first volume of his Information Respecting the Indian Tribes of the United States, Philadelphia, 1851, p. 361, viz:
I had observed the exhibitions of the Medawin, and the exactness and studious ceremony with which its rites were performed in 1820 in the region of Lake Superior; and determined to avail myself of the advantages of my official position, in 1822, when I returned as a Government agent for the tribes, to make further inquiries into its principles and mode of proceeding. And for this purpose I had its ceremonies repeated in my office, under the secrecy of closed doors, with every means of both correct interpretation and of recording the result. Prior to this transaction I had observed in the hands of an Indian of the Odjibwa tribe one of those symbolic tablets of pictorial notation which have been sometimes called “music boards,” from the fact of their devices being sung off by the initiated of the Meda Society. This constituted the object of the explanations, which, in accordance with the positive requisitions of the leader of the society and three other initiates, was thus ceremoniously made.
This statement is followed by another,123 in which Mr. Schoolcraft, in a foot-note, affirms:
Having in 1823 been myself admitted to the class of a Meda by the Chippewas, and taken the initiatory step of a Sagima and Jesukaid in each of the other fraternities, and studied their pictographic system with great care and good helps, I may speak with the more decision on the subject.
Mr. Schoolcraft presents a superficial outline of the initiatory ceremonies as conducted during his time, but as the description is meager, notwithstanding that there is every evidence that the ceremonies were conducted with more completeness and elaborate dramatization nearly three-quarters of a century ago than at the present day, I shall not burden this paper with useless repetition, but present the subject as conducted within the last three years.
Mr. Warren truly says:
In the Me-da-we rite is incorporated most that is ancient amongst them—songs and traditions that have descended not orally, but in hieroglyphs, for at least a long time of generations. In this rite is also perpetuated the purest and most ancient idioms of their language, which differs somewhat from that of the common everyday use.
162 As the ritual of the Midē´wiwin is based to a considerable extent upon traditions pertaining to the cosmogony and genesis and to the thoughtful consideration by the Good Spirit for the Indian, it is looked upon by them as “their religion,” as they themselves designate it.
In referring to the rapid changes occurring among many of the Western tribes of Indians, and the gradual discontinuance of aboriginal ceremonies and customs, Mr. Warren remarks124 in reference to the Ojibwa:
Even among these a change is so rapidly taking place, caused by a close contact with the white race, that ten years hence it will be too late to save the traditions of their forefathers from total oblivion. And even now it is with great difficulty that genuine information can be obtained of them. Their aged men are fast falling into their graves, and they carry with them the records of the past history of their people; they are the initiators of the grand rite of religious belief which they believe the Great Spirit has granted to his red children to secure them long life on earth and life hereafter; and in the bosoms of these old men are locked up the original secrets of this their most ancient belief. ***
They fully believe, and it forms part of their religion, that the world has once been covered by a deluge, and that we are now living on what they term the “new earth.” This idea is fully accounted for by their vague traditions; and in their Me-da-we-win or religion, hieroglyphs are used to denote this second earth.
Furthermore,
They fully believe that the red man mortally angered the Great Spirit which caused the deluge, and at the commencement of the new earth it was only through the medium and intercession of a powerful being, whom they denominate Manab-o-sho, that they were allowed to exist, and means were given them whereby to subsist and support life; and a code of religion was more lately bestowed on them, whereby they could commune with the offended Great Spirit, and ward off the approach and ravages of death.
It may be appropriate in this connection to present the description given by Rev. Peter Jones of the Midē´ priests and priestesses. Mr. Jones was an educated Ojibwa Episcopal clergyman, and a member of the Missasauga—i.e., the Eagle totemic division of that tribe of Indians living in Canada. In his work125 he states:
Each tribe has its medicine men and women—an order of priesthood consulted and employed in all times of sickness. These powwows are persons who are believed to have performed extraordinary cures, either by the application of roots and herbs or by incantations. When an Indian wishes to be initiated into the order of a powwow, in the first place he pays a large fee to the faculty. He is then taken into the woods, where he is taught the names and virtues of the various useful plants; next he is instructed how to chant the medicine song, and how to pray, which prayer is a vain repetition offered up to the Master of Life, or to some munedoo whom the afflicted imagine they have offended.
The powwows are held in high veneration by their deluded brethren; not so much for their knowledge of medicine as for the magical power which they are supposed to possess. It is for their interest to lead these credulous people to believe that they can at pleasure hold intercourse with the munedoos, who are ever ready to give them whatever information they require.
163 The Ojibwa believe in a multiplicity of spirits, or man´idōs, which inhabit all space and every conspicuous object in nature. These man´idōs, in turn, are subservient to superior ones, either of a charitable and benevolent character or those which are malignant and aggressive. The chief or superior man´idō is termed Ki´tshi Man´idō—Great Spirit—approaching to a great extent the idea of the God of the Christian religion; the second in their estimation is Dzhe Man´idō, a benign being upon whom they look as the guardian spirit of the Midē´wiwin and through whose divine provision the sacred rites of the Midē´wiwin were granted to man. The Ani´miki or Thunder God is, if not the supreme, at least one of the greatest of the malignant man´idōs, and it is from him that the Jĕs´sakkīd´ are believed to obtain their powers of evil doing. There is one other, to whom special reference will be made, who abides in and rules the “place of shadows,” the hereafter; he is known as Dzhibai´ Man´idō—Shadow Spirit, or more commonly Ghost Spirit. The name of Ki´tshi Man´idō is never mentioned but with reverence, and thus only in connection with the rite of Midē´wiwin, or a sacred feast, and always after making an offering of tobacco.
The first important event in the life of an Ojibwa youth is his first fast. For this purpose he will leave his home for some secluded spot in the forest where he will continue to fast for an indefinite number of days; when reduced by abstinence from food he enters a hysterical or ecstatic state in which he may have visions and hallucinations. The spirits which the Ojibwa most desire to see in these dreams are those of mammals and birds, though any object, whether animate or inanimate, is considered a good omen. The object which first appears is adopted as the personal mystery, guardian spirit, or tutelary daimon of the entranced, and is never mentioned by him without first making a sacrifice. A small effigy of this man´idō is made, or its outline drawn upon a small piece of birch bark, which is carried suspended by a string around the neck, or if the wearer be a Midē´ he carries it in his “medicine bag” or pinji´gosân. The future course of life of the faster is governed by his dream; and it sometimes occurs that because of giving an imaginary importance to the occurrence, such as beholding, during the trance some powerful man´idō or other object held in great reverence by the members of the Midē´ Society, the faster first becomes impressed with the idea of becoming a Midē´. Thereupon he makes application to a prominent Midē´ priest, and seeks his advice as to the necessary course to be pursued to attain his desire. If the Midē´ priest considers with favor the application, he consults with his confrères and action is taken, and the questions of the requisite preliminary instructions, fees, and presents, etc., are formally discussed. If the Midē´ priests are in accord with the desires of the applicant an instructor or preceptor is designated, to whom he must present himself 164 and make an agreement as to the amount of preparatory information to be acquired and the fees and other presents to be given in return. These fees have nothing whatever to do with the presents which must be presented to the Midē´ priests previous to his initiation as a member of the society, the latter being collected during the time that is devoted to preliminary instruction, which period usually extends over several years. Thus ample time is found for hunting, as skins and peltries, of which those not required as presents may be exchanged for blankets, tobacco, kettles, guns, etc., obtainable from the trader. Sometimes a number of years are spent in preparation for the first degree of the Midē´wiwin, and there are many who have impoverished themselves in the payment of fees and the preparation for the feast to which all visiting priests are also invited.
Should an Indian who is not prompted by a dream wish to join the society he expresses to the four chief officiating priests a desire to purchase a mī´gis, which is the sacred symbol of the society and consists of a small white shell, to which reference will be made further on. His application follows the same course as in the preceding instance, and the same course is pursued also when a Jĕs´sakkīd´ or a Wâbĕnō´ wishes to become a Midē´.
MIDĒ´WIWIN.
The Midē´wiwin—Society of the Midē´ or Shamans—consists of an indefinite number of Midē´ of both sexes. The society is graded into four separate and distinct degrees, although there is a general impression prevailing even among certain members that any degree beyond the first is practically a mere repetition. The greater power attained by one in making advancement depends upon the fact of his having submitted to “being shot at with the medicine sacks” in the hands of the officiating priests. This may be the case at this late day in certain localities, but from personal experience it has been learned that there is considerable variation in the dramatization of the ritual. One circumstance presents itself forcibly to the careful observer, and that is that the greater number of repetitions of the phrases chanted by the Midē´ the greater is felt to be the amount of inspiration and power of the performance. This is true also of some of the lectures in which reiteration and prolongation in time of delivery aids very much in forcibly impressing the candidate and other observers with the importance and sacredness of the ceremony.
It has always been customary for the Midē´ priests to preserve birch-bark records, bearing delicate incised lines to represent pictorially the ground plan of the number of degrees to which the owner is entitled. Such records or charts are sacred and are never exposed to the public view, being brought forward for inspection only when 165 an accepted candidate has paid his fee, and then only after necessary preparation by fasting and offerings of tobacco.
During the year 1887, while at Red Lake, Minnesota, I had the good fortune to discover the existence of an old birch-bark chart, which, according to the assurances of the chief and assistant Midē´ priests, had never before been exhibited to a white man, nor even to an Indian unless he had become a regular candidate. This chart measures 7 feet 1½ inches in length and 18 inches in width, and is made of five pieces of birch bark neatly and securely stitched together by means of thin, flat strands of bass wood. At each end are two thin strips of wood, secured transversely by wrapping and stitching with thin strands of bark, so as to prevent splitting and fraying of the ends of the record. Pl. III A, is a reproduction of the design referred to.
It had been in the keeping of Skwēkŏ´mĭk, to whom it was intrusted at the death of his father-in-law, the latter, in turn, having received it in 1825 from Badâ´san, the Grand Shaman and chief of the Winnibē´goshish Ojibwa.
It is affirmed that Badâ´san had received the original from the Grand Midē´ priest at La Pointe, Wisconsin, where, it is said, the Midē´wiwin was at that time held annually and the ceremonies conducted in strict accordance with ancient and traditional usage.
The present owner of this record has for many years used it in the preliminary instruction of candidates. Its value in this respect is very great, as it presents to the Indian a pictorial résumé of the traditional history of the origin of the Midē´wiwin, the positions occupied by the various guardian man´idos in the several degrees, and the order of procedure in study and progress of the candidate. On account of the isolation of the Red Lake Indians and their long continued, independent ceremonial observances, changes have gradually occurred so that there is considerable variation, both in the pictorial representation and the initiation, as compared with the records and ceremonials preserved at other reservations. The reason of this has already been given.
A detailed description of the above mentioned record, will be presented further on in connection with two interesting variants which were subsequently obtained at White Earth, Minnesota. On account of the widely separated location of many of the different bands of the Ojibwa, and the establishment of independent Midē´ societies, portions of the ritual which have been forgotten by one set may be found to survive at some other locality, though at the expense of some other fragments of tradition or ceremonial. No satisfactory account of the tradition of the origin of the Indians has been obtained, but such information as it was possible to procure will be submitted.
166 In all of their traditions pertaining to the early history of the tribe these people are termed A-nish´-in-â´-bēg—original people—a term surviving also among the Ottawa, Patawatomi, and Menomoni, indicating that the tradition of their westward migration was extant prior to the final separation of these tribes, which is supposed to have occurred at Sault Ste. Marie.
Mi´nabō´zho (Great Rabbit), whose name occurs in connection with most of the sacred rites, was the servant of Dzhe Man´idō, the Good Spirit, and acted in the capacity of intercessor and mediator. It is generally supposed that it was to his good offices that the Indian owes life and the good things necessary to his health and subsistence.
The tradition of Mi´nabō´zho and the origin of the Midē´wiwin, as given in connection with the birch-bark record obtained at Red Lake (Pl. III A), is as follows:
When Mi´nabō´zho, the servant of Dzhe Man´idō, looked down upon the earth he beheld human beings, the Ani´shinâ´bēg, the ancestors of the Ojibwa. They occupied the four quarters of the earth—the northeast, the southeast, the southwest, and the northwest. He saw how helpless they were, and desiring to give them the means of warding off the diseases with which they were constantly afflicted, and to provide them with animals and plants to serve as food and with other comforts, Mi´nabō´zho remained thoughtfully hovering over the center of the earth, endeavoring to devise some means of communicating with them, when he heard something laugh, and perceived a dark object appear upon the surface of the water to the west (No. 2). He could not recognize its form, and while watching it closely it slowly disappeared from view. It next appeared in the north (No. 3), and after a short lapse of time again disappeared. Mi´nabō´zho hoped it would again show itself upon the surface of the water, which it did in the east (No. 4). Then Mi´nabō´zho wished that it might approach him, so as to permit him to communicate with it. When it disappeared from view in the east and made its reappearance in the south (No. 1), Mi´nabō´zho asked it to come to the center of the earth that he might behold it. Again it disappeared from view, and after reappearing in the west Mi´nabō´zho observed it slowly approaching the center of the earth (i.e., the centre of the circle), when he descended and saw it was the Otter, now one of the sacred man´idōs of the Midē´wiwin. Then Mi´nabō´zho instructed the Otter in the mysteries of the Midē´wiwin, and gave him at the same time the sacred rattle to be used at the side of the sick; the sacred Midē´ drum to be used during the ceremonial of initiation and at sacred feasts, and tobacco, to be employed in invocations and in making peace.
The place where Mi´nabō´zho descended was an island in the middle of a large body of water, and the Midē´ who is feared by all the others is called Mini´sino´shkwe (He-who-lives-on-the-island). Then 167 Mi´nabō´zho built a Midē´wigân (sacred Midē´ lodge), and taking his drum he beat upon it and sang a Midē´ song, telling the Otter that Dzhe Man´idō had decided to help the Aníshinâ´bōg, that they might always have life and an abundance of food and other things necessary for their comfort. Mi´nabō´zho then took the Otter into the Midē´wigân and conferred upon him the secrets of the Midē´wiwin, and with his Midē´ bag shot the sacred mī´gis into his body that he might have immortality and be able to confer these secrets to his kinsmen, the Aníshinâ´bēg.
The mī´gis is considered the sacred symbol of the Midē´wigân, and may consist of any small white shell, though the one believed to be similar to the one mentioned in the above tradition resembles the cowrie, and the ceremonies of initiation as carried out in the Midē´wiwin at this day are believed to be similar to those enacted by Mi´nabō´zho and the Otter. It is admitted by all the Midē´ priests whom I have consulted that much of the information has been lost through the death of their aged predecessors, and they feel convinced that ultimately all of the sacred character of the work will be forgotten or lost through the adoption of new religions by the young people and the death of the Midē´ priests, who, by the way, decline to accept Christian teachings, and are in consequence termed “pagans.”
My instructor and interpreter of the Red Lake chart added other information in explanation of the various characters represented thereon, which I present herewith. The large circle at the right side of the chart denotes the earth as beheld by Mi´nabō´zho, while the Otter appeared at the square projections at Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4; the semicircular appendages between these are the four quarters of the earth, which are inhabited by the Ani´shinâ´bēg, Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8. Nos. 9 and 10 represent two of the numerous malignant man´idōs, who endeavor to prevent entrance into the sacred structure and mysteries of the Midē´wiwin. The oblong squares, Nos. 11 and 12, represent the outline of the first degree of the society, the inner corresponding lines being the course traversed during initiation. The entrance to the lodge is directed toward the east, the western exit indicating the course toward the next higher degree. The four human forms at Nos. 13, 14, 15, and 16 are the four officiating Midē´ priests whose services are always demanded at an initiation. Each is represented as having a rattle. Nos. 17, 18, and 19 indicate the cedar trees, one of each of this species being planted near the outer angles of a Midē´ lodge. No. 20 represents the ground. The outline of the bear at No. 21 represents the Makwa´ Man´idō, or Bear Spirit, one of the sacred Midē´ man´idōs, to which the candidate must pray and make offerings of tobacco, that he may compel the malevolent spirits to draw away from the entrance to the Midē´wigân, which is shown in No. 28. Nos 23 and 24 represent the sacred drum which 168 the candidate must use when chanting the prayers, and two offerings must be made, as indicated by the number two.
After the candidate has been admitted to one degree, and is prepared to advance to the second, he offers three feasts, and chants three prayers to the Makwa´ Man´idō, or Bear Spirit (No. 22), that the entrance (No. 29) to that degree may be opened to him. The feasts and chants are indicated by the three drums shown at Nos. 25, 26, and 27.
Nos. 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 are five Serpent Spirits, evil man´idōs who oppose a Midē´’s progress, though after the feasting and prayers directed to the Makwa´ Man´idō have by him been deemed sufficient the four smaller Serpent Spirits move to either side of the path between the two degrees, while the larger serpent (No. 32) raises its body in the middle so as to form an arch, beneath which passes the candidate on his way to the second degree.
Nos. 35, 36, 46, and 47 are four malignant Bear Spirits, who guard the entrance and exit to the second degree, the doors of which are at Nos. 37 and 49. The form of this lodge (No. 38) is like the preceding; but while the seven Midē´ priests at Nos. 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 simply indicate that the number of Midē´ assisting at this second initiation are of a higher and more sacred class of personages than in the first degree, the number designated having reference to quality and intensity rather than to the actual number of assistants, as specifically shown at the top of the first degree structure.
When the Midē´ is of the second degree, he receives from Dzhe Man´idō supernatural powers as shown in No. 48. The lines extending upward from the eyes signify that he can look into futurity; from the ears, that he can hear what is transpiring at a great distance; from the hands, that he can touch for good or for evil friends and enemies at a distance, however remote; while the lines extending from the feet denote his ability to traverse all space in the accomplishment of his desires or duties. The small disk upon the breast of the figure denotes that a Midē´ of this degree has several times had the mī´gis—life—“shot into his body,” the increased size of the spot signifying amount or quantity of influence obtained thereby.
No. 50 represents a Mi´tsha Midē´ or Bad Midē´, one who employs his powers for evil purposes. He has the power of assuming the form of any animal, in which guise he may destroy the life of his victim, immediately after which he resumes his human form and appears innocent of any crime. His services are sought by people who wish to encompass the destruction of enemies or rivals, at however remote a locality the intended victim may be at the time. An illustration representing the modus operandi of his performance is reproduced and explained in Fig. 24, page 238.
Persons possessed of this power are sometimes termed witches, special reference to whom is made elsewhere. The illustration, No. 169 50, represents such an individual in his disguise of a bear, the characters at Nos. 51 and 52 denoting footprints of a bear made by him, impressions of which are sometimes found in the vicinity of lodges occupied by his intended victims. The trees shown upon either side of No. 50 signify a forest, the location usually sought by bad Midē´ and witches.
If a second degree Midē´ succeeds in his desire to become a member of the third degree, he proceeds in a manner similar to that before described; he gives feasts to the instructing and four officiating Midē´, and offers prayers to Dzhe Man´idō for favor and success. No. 53 denotes that the candidate now personates the bear—not one of the malignant man´idōs, but one of the sacred man´idōs who are believed to be present during the ceremonials of initiation of the second degree. He is seated before his sacred drum, and when the proper time arrives the Serpent Man´idō (No. 54)—who has until this opposed his advancement—now arches its body, and beneath it he crawls and advances toward the door (No. 55) of the third degree (No. 56) of the Midē´wiwin, where he encounters two (Nos. 57 and 58) of the four Panther Spirits, the guardians of this degree.
Nos. 61 to 76 indicate midē´ spirits who inhabit the structure of this degree, and the number of human forms in excess of those shown in connection with the second degree indicates a correspondingly higher and more sacred character. When an Indian has passed this, initiation he becomes very skillful in his profession of a Midē´. The powers which he possessed in the second degree may become augmented. He is represented in No. 77 with arms extended, and with lines crossing his body and arms denoting darkness and obscurity, which signifies his ability to grasp from the invisible world the knowledge and means to accomplish extraordinary deeds. He feels more confident of prompt response and assistance from the sacred man´idōs and his knowledge of them becomes more widely extended.
Nos. 59 and 60 are two of the four Panther Spirits who are the special guardians of the third degree lodge.
To enter the fourth and highest degree of the society requires a greater number of feasts than before, and the candidate, who continues to personate the Bear Spirit, again uses his sacred drum, as he is shown sitting before it in No. 78, and chants more prayers to Dzhe Man´idō for his favor. This degree is guarded by the greatest number and the most powerful of malevolent spirits, who make a last effort to prevent a candidate’s entrance at the door (No. 79) of the fourth degree structure (No. 80). The chief opponents to be overcome, through the assistance of Dzhe Man´idō, are two Panther Spirits (Nos. 81 and 82) at the eastern entrance, and two Bear Spirits (Nos. 83 and 84) at the western exit. Other bad spirits are about the structure, who frequently gain possession and are then enabled to make strong and prolonged resistance to the candidate’s entrance. 170 The chiefs of this group of malevolent beings are Bears (Nos. 88 and 96), the Panther (No. 91), the Lynx (No. 97), and many others whose names they have forgotten, their positions being indicated at Nos. 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, and 95, all but the last resembling characters ordinarily employed to designate serpents.
The power with which it is possible to become endowed after passing through the fourth degree is expressed by the outline of a human figure (No. 98), upon which are a number of spots indicating that the body is covered with the mī´gis or sacred shells, symbolical of the Midē´wiwin. These spots designate the places where the Midē´ priests, during the initiation, shot into his body the mī´gis and the lines connecting them in order that all the functions of the several corresponding parts or organs of the body may be exercised.
The ideal fourth degree Midē´ is presumed to be in a position to accomplish the greatest feats in necromancy and magic. He is not only endowed with the power of reading the thoughts and intentions of others, as is pictorially indicated by the mī´gis spot upon the top of the head, but to call forth the shadow (soul) and retain it within his grasp at pleasure. At this stage of his pretensions, he is encroaching upon the prerogatives of the Jĕs´sakkīd´, and is then recognized as one, as he usually performs within the Jĕs´sakkân or Jĕs´sakkīd´ lodge, commonly designated “the Jugglery.”
The ten small circular objects upon the upper part of the record may have been some personal marks of the original owner; their import was not known to my informants and they do not refer to any portion of the history or ceremonies or the Midē´wiwin.
Extending toward the left from the end of the fourth degree inclosure is an angular pathway (No. 99), which represents the course to be followed by the Midē´ after he has attained this high distinction. On account of his position his path is often beset with dangers, as indicated by the right angles, and temptations which may lead him astray; the points at which he may possibly deviate from the true course of propriety are designated by projections branching off obliquely toward the right and left (No. 100). The ovoid figure (No. 101) at the end of this path is termed Wai-ĕk´-ma-yŏk´—End of the road—and is alluded to in the ritual, as will be observed hereafter, as the end of the world, i.e., the end of the individual’s existence. The number of vertical strokes (No. 102) within the ovoid figure signify the original owner to have been a fourth degree Midē´ for a period of 14 years.
The outline of the Midē´wigân (No. 103) not only denotes that the same individual was a member of the Midē´wiwin, but the thirteen vertical strokes shown in Nos. 104 and 105 indicate that he was chief Midē´ priest of the society for that number of years.
The outline of a Midē´wigân as shown at No. 106, with the place upon the interior designating the location of the sacred post (No. 171 107) and the stone (No. 108) against which the sick are placed during the time of treatment, signifies the owner to have practiced his calling of the exorcism of demons. But that he also visited the sick beyond the acknowledged jurisdiction of the society in which he resided, is indicated by the path (No. 109) leading around the sacred inclosure.
Upon that portion of the chart immediately above the fourth degree lodge is shown the outline of a Midē´wiwin (No. 110), with a path (No. 114), leading toward the west to a circle (No. 111), within which is another similar structure (No. 112) whose longest diameter is at right angles to the path, signifying that it is built so that its entrance is at the north. This is the Dzhibai´ Midē´wigân or Ghost Lodge.
Around the interior of the circle are small V-shaped characters denoting the places occupied by the spirits of the departed, who are presided over by the Dzhibai´ Midē´, literally Shadow Midē´.
No. 113 represents the Kŏ´-kó-kŏ-ō´ (Owl) passing from the Midē´wigân to the Land of the Setting Sun, the place of the dead, upon the road of the dead, indicated by the pathway at No. 114. This man´idō is personated by a candidate for the first degree of the Midē´wiwin when giving a feast to the dead in honor of the shadow of him who had been dedicated to the Midē´wiwin and whose place is now to be taken by the giver of the feast.
Upon the back of the Midē´ record, above described, is the personal record of the original owner, as shown in Pl. III B. Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent the four degrees of the society into which he has been initiated, or, to use the phraseology of an Ojibwa, “through which he has gone.” This “passing through” is further illustrated by the bear tracks, he having personated the Makwa´ Man´idō or Bear Spirit, considered to be the highest and most powerful of the guardian spirits of the fourth degree wigwam.
The illustration presented in Pl. III C represents the outlines of a birch-bark record (reduced to one-third) found among the effects of a lately deceased Midē´ from Leech Lake, Minnesota. This record, together with a number of other curious articles, composed the outfit of the Midē´, but the Rev. James A. Gilfillan of White Earth, through whose courtesy I was permitted to examine the objects, could give me no information concerning their use. Since that time, however, I have had an opportunity of consulting with one of the chief priests of the Leech Lake Society, through whom I have obtained some interesting data concerning them.
The chart represents the owner to have been a Midē´ of the second degree, as indicated by the two outlines of the respective structures at Nos. 1 and 2, the place of the sacred posts being marked at Nos. 3 and 4. Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are Midē´ priests holding their Midē´ bags as in the ceremony of initiation. The disks represented at Nos. 172 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 denote the sacred drum, which may be used by him during his initiation, while Nos. 14, 15, 16, and 17 denote that he was one of the four officiating priests of the Midē´wigân at his place of residence. Each of these figures is represented as holding their sacred bags as during the ceremonies. No. 18 denotes the path he has been pursuing since he became a Midē´, while at Nos. 19 and 20 diverging lines signify that his course is beset with temptations and enemies, as referred to in the description of the Red Lake chart, Pl. III A.
The remaining objects found among the effects of the Midē´ referred to will be described and figured hereafter.
The diagram represented on Pl. IV is a reduced copy of a record made by Sikas´sigĕ, a Mille Lacs Ojibwa Midē´ of the second degree, now resident at White Earth.
The chart illustrating pictorially the general plan of the several degrees is a copy of a record in the possession of the chief Midē´ at Mille Lacs in 1830, at which time Sikas´sigĕ, at the age of 10 years, received his first degree. For a number of years thereafter Sikas´sigĕ received continued instruction from his father Baiē´dzhĕk, and although he never publicly received advancement beyond the second degree of the society, his wife became a fourth degree priestess, at whose initiation he was permitted to be present.
Since his residence at White Earth Sikas´sigĕ has become one of the officiating priests of the society at that place. One version given by him of the origin of the Indians is presented in the following tradition, a pictorial representation having also been prepared of which Pl. V is a reduced copy:
In the beginning, Dzhe Man´idō (No. 1), made the Midē´ Man´idōs. He first created two men (Nos. 2 and 3), and two women (Nos. 4 and 5); but they had no power of thought or reason. Then Dzhe Man´idō (No. 1) made them rational beings. He took them in his hands so that they should multiply; he paired them, and from this sprung the Indians. When there were people he placed them upon the earth, but he soon observed that they were subject to sickness, misery, and death, and that unless he provided them with the Sacred Medicine they would soon become extinct.
Between the position occupied by Dzhe Man´idō and the earth were four lesser spirits (Nos. 6, 7, 8, and 9) with whom Dzhe Man´idō decided to commune, and to impart to them the mysteries by which the Indians could be benefited. So he first spoke to a spirit at No. 6, and told him all he had to say, who in turn communicated the same information to No. 7, and he in turn to No. 8, who also communed with No. 9. They all met in council, and determined to call in the four wind gods at Nos. 10, 11, 12, and 13. After consulting as to what would be best for the comfort and welfare of the Indians, these spirits agreed to ask Dzhe Man´idō to communicate the Mystery of the Sacred Medicine to the people.
Dzhe Man´idō then went to the Sun Spirit (No. 14) and asked him to go to the earth and instruct the people as had been decided upon by the council. The Sun Spirit, in the form of a little boy, went to the earth and lived with a woman (No. 15) who had a little boy of her own.
This family went away in the autum to hunt, and during the winter this woman’s 173 son died. The parents were so much distressed that they decided to return to the village and bury the body there; so they made preparations to return, and as they traveled along, they would each evening erect several poles upon which the body was placed to prevent the wild beasts from devouring it. When the dead boy was thus hanging upon the poles, the adopted child—who was the Sun Spirit—would play about the camp and amuse himself, and finally told his adopted father he pitied him, and his mother, for their sorrow. The adopted son said he could bring his dead brother to life, whereupon the parents expressed great surprise and desired to know how that could be accomplished.
The adopted boy then had the party hasten to the village, when he said, “Get the women to make a wig´iwam of bark (No. 16), put the dead boy in a covering of birch bark and place the body on the ground in the middle of the wig´iwam.” On the next morning after this had been done, the family and friends went into this lodge and seated themselves around the corpse.
When they had all been sitting quietly for some time, they saw through the doorway the approach of a bear (No. 17) which gradually came towards the wig´iwam, entered it, and placed itself before the dead body and said hŭ, hŭ, hŭ, hŭ, when he passed around it towards the left side, with a trembling motion, and as he did so, the body began quivering, and the quivering increased as the bear continued until he had passed around four times, when the body came to life again and stood up. Then the bear called to the father, who was sitting in the distant right-hand corner of the wig´iwam, and addressed to him the following words:
Nōs | ka-wī´-na | ni´-shi-na´-bi | wis-sī´ | a´-ya-wī´-an | man´-i-dō | nin-gī´-sis. |
My father | is not | an Indian | not | you are | a spirit | son. |
Be-mai´-a-mī´-nik | ni´-dzhĭ | man´-i-dō | mī-a-zhĭ´-gwa | tshí-gĭ-a´-we-ân´. |
Insomuch | my fellow | spirit | now | as you are. |
Nōs | a-zhĭ´-gwa | a-sē´-ma | tshi´-a-tō´-yēk. | A´-mĭ-kŭn´-dem |
My father | now | tobacco | you shall put. | He speaks of |
mi-ē´-ta | â´-bi-dink´ | dzhi-gŏsh´-kwi-tōt´ | wen´-dzhi-bi-mâ´-di-zid´-o-ma´ |
only | once | to be able to do it | why he shall live here |
a-gâ´-wa | bi-mâ-dĭ-zĭd´-mi-o-ma´; | ni-dzhĭ | man´-i-dō |
now | that he scarcely lives; | my fellow | spirit |
mí-a-zhĭ´-gwa | tshí-gĭ-wĕ´-ân. |
now I shall go | home. |
The little bear boy (No. 17) was the one who did this. He then remained among the Indians (No. 18) and taught them the mysteries of the Grand Medicine (No. 19); and, after he had finished, he told his adopted father that as his mission had been fulfilled he was to return to his kindred spirits, for the Indians would have no need to fear sickness as they now possessed the Grand Medicine which would enable them to live. He also said that his spirit could bring a body to life but once, and he would now return to the sun from which they would feel his influence.
This is called Kwí-wĭ-sĕns´ wĕ-dī´-shĭ-tshī gē-wī-nĭp—“Little-boy-his-work.”
From subsequent information it was learned that the line No. 22 denotes the earth, and that, being considered as one step in the course of initiation into the Midē´wiwin, three others must be taken before a candidate can be admitted. These steps, or rests, as they are denominated (Nos. 23, 24, and 25), are typified by four distinct gifts of goods, which must be remitted to the Midē´ priests before the ceremony can take place.
Nos. 18 and 19 are repetitions of the figures alluded to in the tradition (Nos. 16 and 17) to signify that the candidate must personate the Makwa´ Man´idō—Bear Spirit—when entering the Midē´wiwin (No. 19). No. 20 is the Midē´ Man´idō as Ki´tshi Man´idō is termed 174 by the Midē´ priests. The presence of horns attached to the head is a common symbol of superior power found in connection with the figures of human and divine forms in many Midē´ songs and other mnemonic records. No. 21 represents the earth’s surface, similar to that designated at No. 22.
Upon comparing the preceding tradition of the creation of the Indians with the following, which pertains to the descent to earth of Mi´nabō´zho, there appears to be some discrepancy, which could not be explained by Sikas´sigĕ, because he had forgotten the exact sequence of events; but from information derived from other Midē´ it is evident that there have been joined together two myths, the intervening circumstances being part of the tradition given below in connection with the narrative relating to the chart on Pl. III A.
This chart, which was in possession of the Mille Lacs chief Baiē´dzhĕk, was copied by him from that belonging to his preceptor at La Pointe about the year 1800, and although the traditions given by Sikas´sigĕ is similar to the one surviving at Red Lake, the diagram is an interesting variant for the reason that there is a greater amount of detail in the delineation of objects mentioned in the tradition.
By referring to Pl. IV it will be noted that the circle, No. 1, resembles the corresponding circle at the beginning of the record on Pl. III, A, with this difference, that the four quarters of the globe inhabited by the Ani´shinâ´bēg are not designated between the cardinal points at which the Otter appeared, and also that the central island, only alluded to there (Pl. III A), is here inserted.
The correct manner of arranging the two pictorial records, Pls. III A and IV, is by placing the outline of the earth’s surface (Pl. V, No. 21) upon the island indicated in Pl. IV, No. 6, so that the former stands vertically and at right angles to the latter; for the reason that the first half of the tradition pertains to the consultation held between Ki´tshi Man´idō and the four lesser spirits which is believed to have occurred above the earth’s surface. According to Sikas´sigĕ the two charts should be joined as suggested in the accompanying illustration, Fig. 2.
175 Sikas´sigĕ’s explanation of the Mille Lacs chart (Pl. IV) is substantially as follows:
When Mi´nabō´zho descended to the earth to give to the Ani´shinâ´bēg the Midē´wiwin, he left with them this chart, Midē´wigwas´. Ki´tshi Man´idō saw that his people on earth were without the means of protecting themselves against disease and death, so he sent Mi´nabō´zho to give to them the sacred gift. Mi´nabō´zho appeared over the waters and while reflecting in what manner he should be able to communicate with the people, he heard something laugh, just as an otter sometimes cries out. He saw something black appear upon the waters in the west (No. 2) which immediately disappeared beneath the surface again. Then it came up at the northern horizon (No. 3), which pleased Mi´nabō´zho, as he thought he now had some one through whom he might convey the information with which he had been charged by Ki´tshi Man´idō. When the black object disappeared beneath the waters at the north to reappear in the east (No. 4), Mi´nabō´zho desired it would come to him in the middle of the waters, but it disappeared to make its reappearance in the south (No. 5), where it again sank out of sight to reappear in the west (No. 2), when Mi´nabō´zho asked it to approach the center where there was an island (No. 6), which it did. This did Ni´gĭk, the Otter, and for this reason he is given charge of the first degree of the Midē´wiwin (Nos. 35 and 36) where his spirit always abides during initiation and when healing the sick.
Then Ni´gĭk asked Mi´nabō´zho, “Why do you come to this place?” When the latter said, “I have pity on the Ani´shinâ´bēg and wish to give them life; Ki´tshi Man´idō gave me the power to confer upon them the means of protecting themselves against sickness and death, and through you I will give them the Midē´wiwin, and teach them the sacred rites.”
Then Mi´nabō´zho built a Midē´wigân in which he instructed the Otter in all the mysteries of the Midē´wiwin. The Otter sat before the door of the Midē´wigân four days (Nos. 7, 8, 9, and 10), sunning himself, after which time he approached the entrance (No. 14), where his progress was arrested (No. 11) by seeing two bad spirits (Nos. 12 and 13) guarding it. Through the powers possessed by Mi´nabō´zho he was enabled to pass these; when he entered the sacred lodge (No. 15), the first object he beheld being the sacred stone (No. 16) against which those who were sick were to be seated, or laid, when undergoing the ceremonial of restoring them to health. He next saw a post (No. 17) painted red with a green band around the top. A sick man would also have to pray 176 to the stone and to the post, when he is within the Midē´wigân, because within them would be the Midē´ spirits whose help he invoked. The Otter was then taken to the middle of the Midē´wigân where he picked up the mī´gis (No. 18) from among a heap of sacred objects which form part of the gifts given by Ki´tshi Man´idō. The eight man´idōs around the midē´wigân (Nos. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26) were also sent by Ki´tshi Man´idō to guard the lodge against the entrance of bad spirits.
A life is represented by the line No. 27, the signification of the short lines (Nos. 28, 29, 30, and 31) denoting that the course of human progress is beset by temptations and trials which may be the cause of one’s departure from such course of conduct as is deemed proper, and the beliefs taught by the Midē´. When one arrives at middle age (No. 32) his course for the remaining period of life is usually without any special events, as indicated by the plain line No. 27, extending from middle age (No. 32) to the end of one’s existence (No. 33). The short lines at Nos. 28, 29, 30, and 31, indicating departure from the path of propriety, terminate in rounded spots and signify, literally, “lecture places,” because when a Midē´ feels himself failing in duty or vacillating in faith he must renew professions by giving a feast and lecturing to his confreres, thus regaining his strength to resist evil doing—such as making use of his powers in harming his kinsmen, teaching that which was not given him by Ki´tshi Man´idō through Mi´nabō´zho, etc. His heart must be cleansed and his tongue guarded.
To resume the tradition of the course pursued by the Otter, Sikas´sigĕ said:
The Otter then went round the interior of the Midē´wigân (No. 34), and finally seated himself in the west, where Mi´nabō´zho shot into his body the sacred mī´gis, which was in his Midē´ bag. Then Mi´nabō´zho said, “This is your lodge and you shall own it always (Nos. 35 and 36), and eight Midē´ Man´idōs (Nos. 19-26) shall guard it during the night.”
The Otter was taken to the entrance (No. 37) of the second degree structure (No. 38), which he saw was guarded by two evil man´idōs (Nos. 39 and 40), who opposed his progress, but who were driven away by Mi´nabō´zho. When the Otter entered at the door he beheld the sacred stone (No. 41) and two posts (Nos. 42, 43), the one nearest to him being painted red with a green band around the top, and another at the middle, with a bunch of little feathers upon the top. The other post (No. 43) was painted red, with only a band of green at the top, similar to the first degree post. Nos. 44 and 45 are the places where sacred objects and gifts are placed. This degree of the Midē´wiwin is guarded at night by twelve Midē´ Man´idōs (Nos. 46 to 57) placed there by Ki´tshi Man´idō, and the degree is owned by the Thunder Bird as shown in Nos. 58, 59.
The circles (Nos. 60, 61, and 62) at either end of the outline of the structure denoting the degree and beneath it are connected by a line (No. 63) as in the preceding degree, and are a mere repetition to denote the course of conduct to be pursued by the Midē´. The points (Nos. 64, 65, 66, and 67), at the termini of the shorter lines, also refer to the feasts and lectures to be given in case of need.
177 To continue the informant’s tradition:
When the Otter had passed around the interior of the Midē´wigân four times, he seated himself in the west and faced the degree post, when Mi´nabō´zho again shot into his body the mī´gis, which gave him renewed life. Then the Otter was told to take a “sweat bath” once each day for four successive days, so as to prepare for the next degree. (This number is indicated at the rounded spots at Nos. 68, 69, 70, and 71.)
The third degree of the Midē´wiwin (No. 72) is guarded during the day by two Midē´ spirits (Nos. 73, 74) near the eastern entrance, and by the Makwa´ Man´idō within the inclosure (Nos. 75 and 76), and at night by eighteen Midē´ Man´idōs (Nos. 77 to 94), placed there by Ki´tshi Man´idō. When the Otter approached the entrance (No. 95) he was again arrested in his progress by two evil man´idōs (Nos. 96 and 97), who opposed his admission, but Mi´nibō´zho overcame them and the Otter entered. Just inside of the door, and on each side, the Otter saw a post (Nos. 98 and 99), and at the western door or exit two corresponding posts (Nos. 100 and 101). These symbolized the four legs of the Makwa´ Man´idō, or Bear Spirit, who is the guardian by day and the owner of the third degree. The Otter then observed the sacred stone (No. 102) and the two heaps of sacred objects (Nos. 103 and 104) which Mi´nabō´zho had deposited, and three degree posts (Nos. 105, 106, and 107), the first of which (No. 105) was a plain cedar post with the bark upon it, but sharpened at the top; the second (No. 106), a red post with a green band round the top and one about the middle, as in the second degree; and the third a cross (No. 107) painted red, each of the tips painted green. [The vertical line No. 108 was said to have no relation to anything connected with the tradition.] After the Otter had observed the interior of the Midē´wigân he again made four circuits, after which he took his station in the west, where he seated himself, facing the sacred degree posts. Then Mi´nabō´zho, for the third time, shot into his body the mī´gis, thus adding to the powers which he already possessed, after which he was to prepare for the fourth degree of the Midē´wiwin.
Other objects appearing upon the chart were subsequently explained as follows:
The four trees (Nos. 109, 110, 111, and 112), one of which is planted at each of the four corners of the Midē´wigân, are usually cedar, though pine may be taken as a substitute when the former can not be had. The repetition of the circles Nos. 113, 114, and 115 and connecting line No. 116, with the short lines at Nos. 117, 118, 119, and 120, have the same signification as in the preceding two degrees.
After the Otter had received the third degree he prepared himself for the fourth, and highest, by taking a steam bath once a day for four successive days (Nos. 121, 122, 123, and 124). Then, as he proceeded toward the Midē´wigân he came to a wig´iwam made of brush (No. 179), which was the nest of Makwa´ Man´idō, the Bear Spirit, who guarded the four doors of the sacred structure.
The four rows of spots have reference to the four entrances of the Midē´wigân of the fourth degree. The signification of the spots near the larger circle, just beneath the “Bear’s nest” could not be explained by Sikas´sigĕ, but the row of spots (No. 117) along the horizontal line leading to the entrance of the inclosure were denominated steps, or stages of progress, equal to as many days—one spot denoting one day—which must elapse before the Otter was permitted to view the entrance.
Fig. 4.—Peep-hole post. |
When the Otter approached the fourth degree (No. 118) he came to a short post 178 (No. 119) in which there was a small aperture. The post was painted green on the side from which he approached and red upon the side toward the Midē´wigân [see Fig. 4.] But before he was permitted to look through it he rested and invoked the favor of Ki´tshi Man´idō, that the evil man´idōs might be expelled from his path. Then, when the Otter looked through the post, he saw that the interior of the inclosure was filled with Midē´ Man´idos, ready to receive him and to attend during his initiation. The two Midē´ Man´idos at the outside of the eastern entrance (Nos. 120 and 121) compelled the evil man´idōs (Nos. 122 and 123) to depart and permit the Otter to enter at the door (No. 124). Then the Otter beheld the sacred stone (No. 125) and the five heaps of sacred objects which Minabō´zho had deposited (Nos. 126, 127, 128, 129, and 130) near the four degree posts (Nos. 131, 132, 133, and 134). According to their importance, the first was painted red, with a green band about the top; the second was painted red, with two green bands, one at the top and another at the middle; the third consisted of a cross painted red, with the tips of the arms and the top of the post painted green; while the fourth was a square post, the side toward the east being painted white, that toward the south green, that toward the west red, and that toward the north black.
The two sets of sticks (Nos. 135 and 136) near the eastern and western doors represent the legs of Makwa´ Man´idō, the Bear Spirit. When the Otter had observed all these things he passed round the interior of the Midē´wigân four times, after which he seated himself in the west, facing the degree posts, when Mi´nabō´zho approached him and for the fourth time shot into his body the sacred mī´gis, which gave him life that will endure always. Then Mi´nabō´zho said to the Otter, “This degree belongs to Ki´tshi Man´ido, the Great Spirit (Nos. 137 and 138), who will always be present when you give the sacred rite to any of your people.” At night the Midē´ Man´idōs (Nos. 139 to 162) will guard the Midē´wigân, as they are sent by Ki´tshi Man´ido to do so. The Bear’s nest (Nos. 163 and 164) just beyond the northern and southern doors (Nos. 165 and 166) of the Midē´wigân are the places where Makwa´ Man´idō takes his station when guarding the doors.
Then the Otter made a wig´iwam and offered four prayers (Nos. 167, 168, 169, and 170) for the rites of the Midē´wiwin, which Ki´tshi Man´idō had given him.
The following supplemental explanations were added by Sikas´sigĕ, viz: The four vertical lines at the outer angles of the lodge structure (Nos. 171, 172, 173, and 174), and four similar ones on the inner corners (Nos. 175, 176, 177, and 178), represent eight cedar trees planted there by the Midē´ at the time of preparing the Midē´wigân for the reception of candidates. The circles Nos. 179, 180, and 181, and the connecting line, are a reproduction of similar ones shown in the three preceding degrees, and signify the course of a Midē’s life—that it should be without fault and in strict accordance with the teachings of the Midē´wiwin. The short lines, terminating in circles Nos. 182, 183, 184, and 185, allude to temptations which beset the Midē’s path, and he shall, when so tempted, offer at these points feasts and lectures, or, in other words, “professions of faith.” The three lines Nos. 186, 187, and 188, consisting of four 179 spots each, which radiate from the larger circle at No. 179 and that before mentioned at No. 116, symbolize the four bear nests and their respective approaches, which are supposed to be placed opposite the four doors of the fourth degree; and it is obligatory, therefore, for a candidate to enter these four doors on hands and knees when appearing for his initiation and before he finally waits to receive the concluding portion of the ceremony.
Fig. 5.— Migration of Âníshinâ´beg. |
The illustration presented in Fig. 5 is a reduced copy of a drawing made by Sikas´sigĕ to represent the migration of the Otter toward the west after he had received the rite of the Midē´wiwin. No. 1 refers to the circle upon the large chart on Pl. III in A, No. 1, and signifies the earth’s surface as before described. No. 2 in Fig. 5 is a line separating the history of the Midē´wiwin from that of the migration as follows: When the Otter had offered four prayers, as above mentioned, which fact is referred to by the spot No. 3, he disappeared beneath the surface of the water and went toward the west, whither the Ani´shinâ´bēg followed him, and located at Ottawa Island (No. 4). Here they erected the Midē´wigân and lived for many years. Then the Otter again disappeared beneath the water, and in a short time reappeared at A´wiat´ang (No. 5), when the Midē´wigân was again erected and the sacred rites conducted in accordance with the teachings of Mi´nabō´zho. Thus was an interrupted migration continued, the several resting places being given below in their proper order, at each of which the rites of the Midē´wiwin were conducted in all their purity. The next place to locate at was Mi´shenama´kinagung—Mackinaw 180 (No. 6); then Ne´mikung (No. 7); Kiwe´winang´ (No. 8); Bâwating—Sault Ste. Marie (No. 9); Tshiwi´towi´ (No. 10); Nega´wadzhĕ´ŭ—Sand Mountain (No. 11), northern shore of Lake Superior; Mi´nisa´wĭk [Mi´nisa´bikkăng]—Island of rocks (No. 12); Kawa´sitshĭŭwongk—Foaming rapids (No. 13); Mush´kisi´wi [Mash´kisi´bi]—Bad River (No. 14); Shagawâmikongk—Long-sand-bar-beneath-the-surface (No. 15); Wikwe´dânwonggân—Sandy Bay (No. 16); Neâ´shiwikongk—Cliff Point (No. 17); Netân´wayan´sink—Little point-of-sand-bar (No. 18); An´nibins—Little elm tree (No. 19); Wikup´binminsh-literally, Little-island-basswood (No. 20); Makubin´minsh—Bear Island (No. 21); Sha´geski´ke´dawan´ga (No. 22); Ni´wigwas´sikongk—The place where bark is peeled (No. 23); Ta´pakwe´ĭkak [Sa´apakwe´shkwaokongk]—The-place-where-lodge-bark-is-obtained (No. 24); Ne´uwesak´kudeze´bi [Ne´wisaku´desi´bin]—Point-deadwood-timber river (No. 25); Amini´kanzi´bi [modern name, Âsh´kiba´gisi´bi], given respectively as Fish spawn River and Green leaf River (No. 26).
This last-named locality is said to be Sandy Lake, Minnesota, where the Otter appeared for the last time, and where the Midē´wigân was finally located. From La Pointe, as well as from Sandy Lake, the Ojibwa claim to have dispersed in bands over various portions of the territory, as well as into Wisconsin, which final separation into distinct bodies has been the chief cause of the gradual changes found to exist in the ceremonies of the Midē´wiwin.
According to Sikas´sigĕ, the above account of the initiation of the Otter, by Mi´nabo´zho, was adopted as the course of initiation by the Midē´ priests of the Mille Lacs Society, when he himself received the first degree, 1830. At that time a specific method of facial decoration was pursued by the priests of the respective degrees (Pl. VI), each adopting that pertaining to the highest degree to which he was entitled, viz:
First degree.—A broad band of green across the forehead and a narrow stripe of vermilion across the face, just below the eyes.
Second degree.—A narrow stripe of vermilion across the temples, the eyelids, and the root of the nose, a short distance above which is a similar stripe of green, then another of vermilion, and above this again one of green.
Third degree.—Red and white spots are daubed all over the face, the spots being as large as can be made by the finger tips in applying the colors.
Fourth degree.—Two forms of decoration were admissible; for the first, the face was painted with vermilion, with a stripe of green extending diagonally across it from the upper part of the left temporal region to the lower part of the right cheek; for the second, the face was painted red with two short, horizontal parallel bars of 181 green across the forehead. Either of these was also employed as a sign of mourning by one whose son has been intended for the priesthood of the Midē´wiwin, but special reference to this will be given in connection with the ceremony of the Dzhibai´ Midē´wigân, or Ghost Society.
On Pl. VIII is presented a reduced copy of the Midē´ chart made by Ojibwa, a Midē´ priest of the fourth degree and formerly a member of the society of the Sandy Lake band of the Mississippi Ojibwa. The illustration is copied from his own chart which he received in 1833 in imitation of that owned by his father, Me´toshi´kōnsh; and this last had been received from Lake Superior, presumably La Pointe, many years before.
The illustration of the four degrees are here represented in profile, and shows higher artistic skill than the preceding copies from Red Lake, and Mille Lacs.
The information given by Ojibwa, regarding the characters is as follows:
When Ki´tshi Man´idō had decided to give to the Ani´shinâ´bēg the rites of the Midē´wiwin, he took his Midē´ drum and sang, calling upon the other Man´idōs to join him and to hear what he was going to do. No. 1 represents the abode in the sky of Ki´tshi Man´idō, No. 2, indicating the god as he sits drumming, No. 3. the small spots surrounding the drum denoting the mī´gis with which everything about him is covered. The Midē´ Man´idōs came to him in his Midē´wigân (No. 4), eleven of which appear upon the inside of that structure, while the ten—all but himself—upon the outside (Nos. 5 to 14) are represented as descending to the earth, charged with the means of conferring upon the Ani´shinâbē´g the sacred rite. In the Midē´wigân (No. 4) is shown also the sacred post (No. 15) upon which is perched Kŏ-ko´kŏ-ō—the Owl (No. 16). The line traversing the structure, from side to side, represents the trail leading through it, while the two rings (Nos. 17 and 18) upon the right side of the post indicate respectively the spot where the presents are deposited and the sacred stone—this according to modern practices.
When an Indian is prepared to receive the rights of initiation he prepares a wig´iwam (No. 19) in which he takes a steam bath once each day for four successive days. The four baths and four days are indicated by the number of spots at the floor of the lodge, representing stones. The instructors, employed by him, and the officiating priests of the society are present, one of which (No. 20) may be observed upon the left of the wig´iwam in the act of making an offering of smoke, while the one to the right (No. 21) is drumming and singing. The four officiating priests are visible to either side of the candidate within the structure. The wig´iwams (Nos. 22, 23, 24, and 25) designate the village habitations.
In the evening of the day preceding the initiation, the candidate (No. 26) visits his instructor (No. 27) to receive from him final directions as to the part to be enacted upon the following day. The candidate is shown in the act of carrying with him his pipe, the offering of tobacco being the most acceptable of all gifts. His relatives follow and carry the goods and other presents, some of which are suspended from the branches of the Midē´ tree (No. 28) near the entrance of the first degree structure. The instructor’s wig´iwam is shown at No. 29, the two dark circular spots upon the floor showing two of the seats, occupied by instructor and pupil. The figure No. 27 has his left arm elevated, denoting that his conversation pertains to Ki´tshi Man´idō, while in his right hand he holds his Midē´ drum. Upon the following 182 morning the Midē´ priests, with the candidate in advance (No. 30), approach and enter the Midē´wigân and the initiation begins. No. 31 is the place of the sacred drum and those who are detailed to employ the drum and rattles, while No. 32 indicates the officiating priests; No. 33 is the degree post, surmounted by Kŏ-ko´-kŏ-ō´, the Owl (No. 34). The post is painted with vermilion, with small white spots all over its surface, emblematic of the mī´gis shell. The line (No. 35) extending along the upper portion of the inclosure represents the pole from which are suspended the robes, blankets, kettles, etc., which constitute the fee paid to the society for admission.
This degree is presided over and guarded by the Panther Man´idō.
When the candidate has been able to procure enough gifts to present to the society for the second degree, he takes his drum and offers chants (No. 35) to Ki´tshi Man´idō for success. Ki´tshi Man´idō himself is the guardian of the second degree and his footprints are shown in No. 36. No. 37 represents the second degree inclosure, and contains two sacred posts (Nos. 38 and 39), the first of which is the same as that of the first degree, the second being painted with white clay, bearing two bands of vermilion, one about the top and one near the middle. A small branch near the top is used, after the ceremony is over, to hang the tobacco pouch on. No. 40 represents the musicians and attendants; No. 41 the candidate upon his knees; while Nos. 42, 43, 44, and 45 pictures the officiating priests who surround him. The horizontal pole (No. 46) has presents of robes, blankets, and kettles suspended from it.
When a candidate is prepared to advance to the third degree (No. 47) he personates Makwa´ Man´idō, who is the guardian of this degree, and whose tracks (No. 48) are visible. The assistants are visible upon the interior, drumming and dancing. There are three sacred posts, the first (No. 49) is black, and upon this is placed Kŏ-ko´-kŏ-ō´—the Owl; the second (No. 50) is painted with white clay and has upon the top the effigy of an owl; while the third (No. 51) is painted with vermilion, bearing upon the summit the effigy of an Indian. Small wooden effigies of the human figure are used by the Midē´ in their tests of the proof of the genuineness and sacredness of their religion, which tests will be alluded to under another caption. The horizontal rod (No. 52), extending from one end of the structure to the other, has suspended from it the blankets and other gifts.
The guardian of the fourth degree is Maka´no—the Turtle—as he appears (No. 53) facing the entrance of the fourth degree (No. 54). Four sacred posts are planted in the fourth degree; the first (No. 55), being painted white upon the upper half and green upon the lower; the second (No. 56) similar; the third (No. 57) painted red, with a black spiral line extending from the top to the bottom, and upon which is placed Kŏ-ko´-kŏ-ō´—the Owl; and the fourth (No. 58), a cross, the arms and part of the trunk of which is white, with red spots—to designate the sacred mī´gis—the lower half of the trunk cut square, the face toward the east painted red, the south green, the west white, and the north black. The spot (No. 59) at the base of the cross signifies the place of the sacred stone, while the human figures (No. 60) designate the participants, some of whom are seated near the wall of the inclosure, whilst others are represented as beating the drum. Upon the horizontal pole (No. 61) are shown the blankets constituting gifts to the society.
The several specific methods of facial decoration employed (Pl. VII), according to Ojibwa’s statement, are as follows:
First degree.—One stripe of vermilion across the face, from near the ears across the tip of the nose.
Second degree.—One stripe as above, and another across the eyelids, temples, and the root of the nose.
183 Third degree.—The upper half of the face is painted green and the lower half red.
Fourth degree.—The forehead and left side of the face, from the outer canthus of the eye downward, is painted green; four spots of vermilion are made with the tip of the finger upon the forehead and four upon the green surface of the left cheek. In addition to this, the plumes of the golden eagle, painted red, are worn upon the head and down the back. This form of decoration is not absolutely necessary, as the expense of the “war bonnet” places it beyond the reach of the greater number of persons.
Before proceeding further with the explanation of the Mide´ records it may be of interest to quote the traditions relative to the migration of the Ani´shinâ´bēg, as obtained by Mr. Warren previous to 1853. In his reference to observing the rites of initiation he heard one of the officiating priests deliver “a loud and spirited harangue,” of which the following words126 caught his attention:
“Our forefathers were living on the great salt water toward the rising sun, the great Megis (seashell) showed itself above the surface of the great water and the rays of the sun for a long time period were reflected from its glossy back. It gave warmth and light to the An-ish-in-aub-ag (red race). All at once it sank into the deep, and for a time our ancestors were not blessed with its light. It rose to the surface and appeared again on the great river which drains the waters of the Great Lakes, and again for a long time it gave life to our forefathers and reflected back the rays of the sun. Again it disappeared from sight and it rose not till it appeared to the eyes of the An-ish-in-aub-ag on the shores of the first great lake. Again it sank from sight, and death daily visited the wigiwams of our forefathers till it showed its back and reflected the rays of the sun once more at Bow-e-ting (Sault Ste. Marie). Here it remained for a long time, but once more, and for the last time, it disappeared, and the An-ish-in-aub-ag was left in darkness and misery, till it floated and once more showed its bright back at Mo-ning-wun-a-kaun-ing (La Pointe Island), where it has ever since reflected back the rays of the sun and blessed our ancestors with life, light, and wisdom. Its rays reach the remotest village of the widespread Ojibways.” As the old man delivered this talk he continued to display the shell, which he represented as an emblem of the great megis of which he was speaking.
A few days after, anxious to learn the true meaning of this allegory, ***I requested him to explain to me the meaning of his Me-da-we harangue.
After filling his pipe and smoking of the tobacco I had presented he proceeded to give me the desired information, as follows:
“My grandson,” said he, “the megis I spoke of means the Me-da-we religion. Our forefathers, many string of lives ago, lived on the shores of the great salt water in the east. Here, while they were suffering the ravages of sickness and death, the Great Spirit, at the intercession of Man-a-bo-sho, the great common uncle of the An-ish-in-aub-ag, granted them this rite, wherewith life is restored and prolonged. Our forefathers moved from the shores of the great water and proceeded westward.
“The Me-da-we lodge was pulled down, and it was not again erected till our forefathers again took a stand on the shores of the great river where Mo-ne-aung (Montreal) now stands.
“Again these rites were forgotten, and the Me-da-we lodge was not built till the Ojibways found themselves congregated at Bow-e-ting (outlet of Lake Superior), where it remained for many winters. Still the Ojibways moved westward, and for the last time the Me-da-we lodge was erected on the island of La Pointe, and here, long before the pale face appeared among them, it was practiced in its purest and most original form. Many of our fathers lived the full term of life granted to mankind by the Great Spirit, and the forms of many old people were mingled with each rising generation. This, my grandson, is the meaning of the words you did not understand; they have been repeated to us by our fathers for many generations.”
In the explanation of the chart obtained at Red Lake, together with the tradition, reference to the otter, as being the most sacred emblem of society, is also verified in a brief notice of a tradition by Mr. Warren,127 as follows:
There is another tradition told by the old men of the Ojibway village of Fond du Lac, Lake Superior, which tells of their former residence on the shores of the great salt water. It is, however, so similar in character to the one I have related that its introduction here would only occupy unnecessary space. The only difference between the two traditions is that the otter, which is emblematical of one of the four Medicine Spirits who are believed to preside over the Midawe rites, is used in one in the same figurative manner as the seashell is used in the other, first appearing to the ancient An-ish-in-aub-ag from the depths of the great salt water, again on the river St. Lawrence, then on Lake Huron at Sault Ste. Marie, again at La Pointe, but lastly at Fond du Lac, or end of Lake Superior, where it is said to have forced the sand bank at the mouth of the St. Louis River. The place is still pointed out by the Indians where they believe the great otter broke through.
It is affirmed by the Indians that at Sault Ste. Marie some of the Ojibwa separated from the main body of that tribe and traversed the country along the northern shore of Lake Superior toward the west. These have since been known of as the “Bois Forts” (hardwood people or timber people), other bands being located at Pigeon River, Rainy Lake, etc. Another separation occurred at La Pointe, one party going toward Fond du Lac and westward to Red Lake, where they claim to have resided for more than three hundred years, while the remainder scattered from La Pointe westward and southwestward, locating at favorable places throughout the timbered country. This early dismemberment and long-continued separation of the Ojibwa nation accounts, to a considerable extent, for the several versions of the migration and the sacred emblems connected with the Midē´wiwin, the northern bands generally maintaining their faith in favor of the Otter as the guide, while the southern bodies are almost entirely supporters of the belief in the great mī´gis.
On account of the independent operations of the Midē´ priests in the various settlements of the Ojibwa, and especially because of the slight intercourse between those of the northern and southern divisions of the nation, there has arisen a difference in the pictographic 185 representation of the same general ideas, variants which are frequently not recognized by Midē´ priests who are not members of the Midē´wiwin in which these mnemonic charts had their origin. As there are variants in the pictographic delineation of originally similar ideas, there are also corresponding variations in the traditions pertaining to them.
The tradition relating to Mi´nabō´zho and the sacred objects received from Ki´tshi Man´idō for the Ani´shinâ´bēg is illustrated in Fig. 6, which is a reproduction of a chart preserved at White Earth. The record is read from left to right. No. 1 represents Mi´nabō´zho, who says of the adjoining characters representing the members of the Midē´wiwin: “They are the ones, they are the ones, who put into my heart the life.” Mi´nabō´zho holds in his left hand the sacred Midē´ sack, or pin-ji´-gu-sân´. Nos. 2 and 3 represent the drummers. At the sound of the drum all the Midē´ rise and become inspired, because Ki´tshi Man´idō is then present in the wig´iwam. No. 4 denotes that women also have the privilege of becoming members of the Midē´wiwin. The figure holds in the left hand the Midē´ sack, made of a snake skin. No. 5 represents the Tortoise, the guardian spirit who was the giver of some of the sacred objects used in the rite. No. 6, the Bear, also a benevolent Man´idō, but not held in so great veneration as the Tortoise. His tracks are visible in the Midē´wiwin. No. 7, the sacred Midē´ sack or pin-ji´-gu-sân´, which contains life, and can be used by the Midē´ to prolong the life of a sick person. No. 8 represents a Dog, given by the Midē´ Man´idōs to Mi´nabō´zho as a companion.
Such was the interpretation given by the owner of the chart, but the informant was unconsciously in error, as has been ascertained not only from other Midē´ priests consulted with regard to the true meaning, but also in the light of later information and research in the exemplification of the ritual of the Midē´wiwin.
Mi´nabō´zho did not receive the rite from any Midē´ priests (Nos. 2 and 5), but from Ki´tshi Man´idō. Women are not mentioned in any of the earlier traditions of the origin of the society, neither was the dog given to Mi´nabō´zho, but Mi´nabō´zho gave it to the Ani´shinâ´bēg.
The chart, therefore, turns out to be a mnemonic song similar to others to be noted hereafter, and the owner probably copied it from 186 a chart in the possession of a stranger Midē´, and failed to learn its true signification, simply desiring it to add to his collection of sacred objects and to gain additional respect from his confrères and admirers.
Two similar and extremely old birch-bark mnemonic songs were found in the possession of a Midē´ at Red Lake. The characters upon these are almost identical, one appearing to be a copy of the other. These are reproduced in Figs. 7 and 8. By some of the Midē´ Esh´gibō´ga takes the place of Mi´nabō´zho as having originally received the Midē´wiwin from Ki´tshi Man´idō, but it is believed that the word is a synonym or a substitute based upon some reason to them inexplicable. These figures were obtained in 1887, and a brief explanation of them given in the American Anthropologist.128 At that time I could obtain but little direct information from the owners of the records, but it has since been ascertained that both are mnemonic songs pertaining to Mi´nabō´zho, or rather Eshgibō´ga, and do not form a part of the sacred records of the Midē´wiwin, but simply the pictographic representation of the possibilities and powers of the alleged religion. The following explanation of Figs. 7 and 8 is reproduced from the work just cited. A few annotations and corrections are added. The numbers apply equally to both illustrations:
No. 1, represents Esh´gibō´ga, the great uncle of the Ani´shinâ´bēg, and receiver of the Midē´wiwin.
No. 2, the drum and drumsticks used by Esh´gibō´ga.
No. 3, a bar or rest, denoting an interval of time before the song is resumed.
No. 4, the pin-ji´-gu-sân´ or sacred Midē´ sack. It consists of an otter skin, and is the mī´gis or sacred symbol of the Midē´wigân.
No. 5. a Midē´ priest, the one who holds the mī´gis while chanting the Midē´ song in the Midē´wigân. He is inspired, as indicated by the line extending from the heart to the mouth.
187 No. 6, denotes that No. 5 is a member of the Midē´wiwin. This character, with the slight addition of lines extending upward from the straight top line, is usually employed by the more southern Ojibwa to denote the wig´iwam of a Jĕss´akkīd´, or jugglery.
No. 7, is a woman, and signifies that women may also be admitted to the Midē´wiwin.
No. 8, a pause or rest.
No. 9, a snake-skin pin-ji´-gu-sân´ possessing the power of giving life. This power is indicated by the lines radiating from the head, and the back of the skin.
No. 10, represents a woman.
No. 11, is another illustration of the mī´gis, or otter.
No. 12, denotes a priestess who is inspired, as shown by the line extending from the heart to the mouth in Fig. 7, and simply showing the heart in Fig. 6. In the latter she is also empowered to cure with magic plants.
No. 13, in Fig. 7, although representing a Midē´ priest, no explanation was given.
Fig. 9.— Esh´gibō´ga. |
Fig. 9 is presented as a variant of the characters shown in No. 1 of Figs. 7 and 8. The fact that this denotes the power of curing by the use of magic plants would appear to indicate an older and more appropriate form than the delineation of the bow and arrows, as well as being more in keeping with the general rendering of the tradition.
MIDĒ´WIGÂN.
Initiation into the Midē´wiwin or Midē´ Society is, at this time, performed during the latter part of summer. The ceremonies are performed in public, as the structure in which they are conducted is often loosely constructed of poles with intertwined branches and leaves, leaving the top almost entirely exposed, so that there is no difficulty in observing what may transpire within. Furthermore, the ritual is unintelligible to the uninitiated, and the important part of the necessary information is given to the candidate in a preceptor’s wig´iwam.
To present intelligibly a description of the ceremonial of initiation as it occurred at White Earth, Minnesota, it will be necessary to first describe the structure in which it occurs, as well as the sweat lodge with which the candidate has also to do.
Fig. 10.— Diagram of Midē´wigân of the first degree. |
The Midē´wigân, i.e., Midē´wig´iwam, or, as it is generally designated “Grand Medicine Lodge,” is usually built in an open grove or clearing; it is a structure measuring about 80 feet in length by 20 in width, extending east and west with the main entrance toward that point of the compass at which the sun rises. The walls consist of poles and saplings from 8 to 10 feet high, firmly planted in the ground, wattled with short branches and twigs with leaves. In the east and west walls are left open spaces, each about 4 feet wide, 188 used as entrances to the inclosure. From each side of the opening the wall-like structure extends at right angles to the end wall, appearing like a short hallway leading to the inclosure, and resembles double doors opened outward. Fig. 10 represents a ground plan of the Midē´wigân, while Fig. 11 shows an interior view. Saplings thrown across the top of the structure serve as rafters, upon which are laid branches with leaves, and pieces of bark, to sufficiently shade the occupants from the rays of the sun. Several saplings extend across the inclosure near the top, while a few are attached to these so as to extend longitudinally, from either side of which presents of blankets, etc., may be suspended. About 10 feet from the main entrance a large flattened stone, measuring more than a foot in diameter, is placed upon the ground. This is used when subjecting to treatment a patient; and at a corresponding distance from the western door is planted the sacred Midē´ post of cedar, that for the first degree being about 7 feet in height and 6 or 8 inches in diameter. It is painted red, with a band of green 4 inches wide around the top. Upon the post is fixed the stuffed body of an owl. Upon that part of the floor midway between the stone and the Midē´ post is spread a blanket, upon which the gifts and presents to the society are afterward deposited. A short distance from each of the outer angles of the structure are planted cedar or pine trees, each about 10 feet in height.
189 About a hundred yards east of the main entrance is constructed a wig´iwam or sweat lodge, to be used by the candidate, both to take his vapor baths and to receive final instructions from his preceptor.
This wig´iwam is dome-shaped measures about 10 feet in diameter and 6 feet high in the middle, with an opening at the top which can be readily covered with a piece of bark. The framework of the structure consists of saplings stuck into the ground, the tops being bent over to meet others from the opposite side. Other thin saplings are then lashed horizontally to the upright ones so as to appear like hoops, decreasing in size as the summit is reached. They are secured by using strands of basswood bark. The whole is then covered with pieces of birchbark—frequently the bark of the pine is used—leaving a narrow opening on the side facing the Midē´wigân, which may be closed with an adjustable flap of bark or blankets.
The space between the Midē´wigân and the sweat lodge must be kept clear of other temporary shelters, which might be placed there by some of the numerous visitors attending the ceremonies.
FIRST DEGREE.
PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION.
When the candidate’s application for reception into the Midē´wiwin has been received by one of the officiating priests, he calls upon the three assisting Midē´, inviting them to visit him at his own wig´iwam at a specified time. When the conference takes place, tobacco, which has been previously furnished by the candidate, is distributed and a smoke offering made to Ki´tshi Man´idō, to propitiate his favor in the deliberations about to be undertaken. The host then explains the object of the meeting, and presents to his auditors an account of the candidate’s previous life; he recounts the circumstances of his fast and dreams, and if the candidate is to take the place of a lately deceased son who had been prepared to receive the degree, the fact is mentioned, as under such circumstances the forms would be different from the ordinary method of reception into the society. The subject of presents and gifts to the individual members of the society, as well as those intended to be given as a fee to the officiating priests, is also discussed; and lastly, if all things are favorable to the applicant, the selection of an instructor or preceptor is made, this person being usually appointed from among these four priests.
When the conference is ended the favorable decision is announced to the applicant, who acknowledges his pleasure by remitting to each of the four priests gifts of tobacco. He is told what instructor would be most acceptable to them, when he repairs to the wig´iwam of the person designated and informs him of his wish and the decision of the Midē´ council.
The designated preceptor arranges with his pupil to have certain days upon which the latter is to call and receive instruction and acquire 190 information. The question of remuneration being settled, tobacco is furnished at each sitting, as the Midē´ never begins his lecture until after having made a smoke-offering, which is done by taking a whiff and pointing the stem to the east; then a whiff, directing the stem to the south; another whiff, directing the stem to the west; then a whiff and a similar gesture with the stem to the north; another whiff is taken slowly and with an expression of reverence, when the stem is pointed forward and upward as an offering to Ki´tshi Man´idō; and finally, after taking a similar whiff, the stem is pointed forward and downward toward the earth as an offering to Nokō´mis, the grandmother of the universe, and to those who have passed before. After these preliminaries, the candidate receives at each meeting only a small amount of information, because the longer the instruction is continued daring the season before the meeting at which it is hoped the candidate may be admitted the greater will be the fees; and also, in order that the instruction may be looked upon with awe and reverence, most of the information imparted is frequently a mere repetition, the ideas being clothed in ambiguous phraseology. The Midē´ drum (Fig. 12 a) differs from the drum commonly used in dances (Fig. 12 b) in the fact that it is cylindrical, consisting of an elongated kettle or wooden vessel, or perhaps a section of the hollow trunk of a tree about 10 inches in diameter and from 18 to 20 inches in length, over both ends of which rawhide is stretched while wet, so that upon drying the membrane becomes hard and tense, producing, when beaten, a very hard, loud tone, which may be heard at a great distance.
Frequently, however, water is put into the bottom of the drum and the drum-head stretched across the top in a wet state, which appears to intensify the sound very considerably.
The peculiar and special properties of the drum are described to the applicant; that it was at first the gift of Ki´tshi Man´idō, who gave it through the intercession of Mi´nabō´zho; that it is used to invoke the presence of the Midē´ Man´idōs, or sacred spirits, when seeking 191 direction as to information desired, success, etc.; that it is to be employed at the side of the sick to assist in the expulsion or exorcism of evil man´idōs who may possess the body of the sufferer; and that it is to be used in the. Midē´wigân during the initiation of new members or the advancement of a Midē´ from a degree to a higher one.
Fig. 13.— Midē´ rattle. |
Fig. 14.— Midē´ rattle. |
The properties of the rattle are next enumerated and recounted, its origin is related, and its uses explained. It is used at the side of a patient and has even more power in the expulsion of evil demons than the drum. The rattle is also employed in some of the sacred songs as an accompaniment, to accentuate certain notes and words. There are two forms used, one consisting of a cylindrical tin box filled with grains of corn or other seeds (Fig. 13), the other being a hollow gourd also filled with seed (Fig. 14). In both of these the handle passes entirely through the rattle case.
In a similar manner the remaining gifts of Mi´nabō´zho are instanced and their properties extolled.
The mī´gis, a small white shell (Cypræa moneta L.) is next extracted from the Midē´ sack, or pinji´gusân´. This is explained as being the sacred emblem of the Midē´wiwin, the reason therefor being given in the account of the several traditions presented in connection with Pls. III, IV, and VIII. This information is submitted in parts, so that the narrative of the history connected with either of the records is extended over a period of time to suit the preceptor’s plans and purposes. The ceremony of shooting the mī´gis (see Fig. 15) is explained on page 215.
As time progresses the preceptor instructs his pupil in Midē´ songs, i.e., he sings to him songs which form a part of his stock in trade, and which are alleged to be of service on special occasions, as when searching for medicinal plants, hunting, etc. The pupil thus acquires a comprehension of the method of preparing and reciting songs, which information is by him subsequently put to practical use in the composition and preparation of his own songs, the mnemonic characters employed being often rude copies of those observed upon the charts of his preceptor, but the arrangement thereof being original.
It is for this reason that a Midē´ is seldom, if ever, able to recite correctly any songs but his own, although he may be fully aware of the character of the record and the particular class of service in which it may be employed. In support of this assertion several songs obtained at Red Lake and imperfectly explained by “Little Frenchman” and “Leading Feather,” are reproduced in Pl. XXII, A B, page 292.
192 From among the various songs given by my preceptor are selected and presented herewith those recognized by him as being part of the ritual. The greater number of songs are mere repetitions of short phrases, and frequently but single words, to which are added meaningless sounds or syllables to aid in prolonging the musical tones, and repeated ad libitum in direct proportion to the degree of inspiration in which the singer imagines himself to have attained. These frequent outbursts of singing are not based upon connected mnemonic songs preserved upon birch bark, but they consist of fragments or selections of songs which have been memorized, the selections relating to the subject upon which the preceptor has been discoursing, and which undoubtedly prompts a rythmic vocal equivalent. These songs are reproduced on Pl. IX, A, B, C. The initial mnemonic characters pertaining to each word or phrase of the original text are repeated below in regular order with translations in English, together with supplemental notes explanatory of the characters employed. The musical notation is not presented, as the singing consists of a monotonous repetition of four or five notes in a minor key; furthermore, a sufficiently clear idea of this may be formed by comparing some of the Midē´ songs presented in connection with the ritual of initiation and preparation of medicines. The first of the songs given herewith (Pl. IX, A) pertains to a request to Ki´tshi Man´idō that clear weather may be had for the 193 day of ceremonial, and also an affirmation to the candidate that the singer’s words are a faithful rendering of his creed.
Each of the phrases is repeated before advancing to the next, as often as the singer desires and in proportion to the amount of reverence and awe with which he wishes to impress his hearer. There is usually a brief interval between each of the phrases, and a longer one at the appearance of a vertical line, denoting a rest, or pause. One song may occupy, therefore, from fifteen minutes to half an hour.
In the following song (Pl. IX, B), the singer relates to the candidate the gratitude which he experiences for the favors derived from the Good Spirit; he has been blessed with knowledge of plants and other sacred objects taken from the ground, which knowledge has been derived by his having himself become a member of the Midē´wiwin, and hence urges upon the candidate the great need of his also continuing in the course which he has thus far pursued.
In the following song (Pl. IX, C), the preceptor appears to feel satisfied that the candidate is prepared to receive the initiation, and therefore tells him that the Midē´ Man´idō announces to him the assurance. The preceptor therefore encourages his pupil with promises of the fulfillment of his highest desires.
197MIDĒ´ THERAPEUTICS.
During the period of time in which the candidate is instructed in the foregoing traditions, myths, and songs the subject of Midē´ plants is also discussed. The information pertaining to the identification and preparation of the various vegetable substances is not imparted in regular order, only one plant or preparation, or perhaps two, being enlarged upon at a specified consultation. It may be that the candidate is taken into the woods where it is known that a specified plant or tree may be found, when a smoke offering is made before the object is pulled out of the soil, and a small pinch of tobacco put into the hole in the ground from which it was taken. This is an offering to Noko´mis—the earth, the grandmother of mankind—for the benefits which are derived from her body where they were placed by Ki´tshi Man´idō.
In the following list are presented, as far as practicable, the botanical and common names of these, there being a few instances in which the plants were not to be had, as they were foreign to that portion of Minnesota in which the investigations were made; a few of them, also, were not identified by the preceptors, as they were out of season.
It is interesting to note in this list the number of infusions and decoctions which are, from a medical and scientific standpoint, specific remedies for the complaints for which they are recommended. It is probable that the long continued intercourse between the Ojibwa and the Catholic Fathers, who were tolerably well versed in the ruder forms of medication, had much to do with improving an older and purely aboriginal form of practicing medical magic. In some of the remedies mentioned below there may appear to be philosophic reasons for their administration, but upon closer investigation it has been learned that the cure is not attributed to a regulation or restoration of functional derangement, but to the removal or even expulsion of malevolent beings—commonly designated as bad Man´idōs—supposed to have taken possession of that part of the body in which such derangement appears most conspicuous. Further reference to the mythic properties of some of the plants employed will be made at the proper time.
Although the word Mashki kiwa´bun—medicine broth—signifies liquid medical preparations, the term is usually employed in a general sense to pertain to the entire materia medica; and in addition to the alleged medicinal virtues extolled by the preceptors, certain parts of the trees and plants enumerated are eaten on account of some mythic reason, or employed in the construction or manufacture of habitations, utensils, and weapons, because of some supposed supernatural origin or property, an explanation of which they have forgotten.
198Pinus strobus, L. White Pine. Zhingwâk´.
1. The leaves are crushed and applied to relieve headache; also boiled; after which they are put into a small hole in the ground and hot stones placed therein to cause a vapor to ascend, which is inhaled to cure backache.
The fumes of the leaves heated upon a stone or a hot iron pan are inhaled to cure headache.
2. Gum; chiefly used to cover seams of birch-bark canoes. The gum is obtained by cutting a circular band of bark from the trunk, upon which it is then scraped and boiled down to proper consistence. The boiling was formerly done in clay vessels.
Pinus resinosa, Ait. Red Pine; usually, though erroneously, termed Norway Pine. Pŏkgwĕ´nagē´mŏk.
Used as the preceding.
Abies balsamea, Marshall. Balsam Fir. Ini´nandŏk.
1. The bark is scraped from the trunk and a decoction thereof is used to induce diaphoresis.
2. The gum, which is obtained from the vesicles upon the bark, and also by skimming it from the surface of the water in which the crushed bark is boiled, is carried in small vessels and taken internally as a remedy for gonorrhoea and for soreness of the chest resulting from colds.
3. Applied externally to sores and cuts.
Abies alba, Michx. White Spruce. Sĕ´ssēgân´dŏk. The split roots—wadŏb´-are used for sewing; the wood for the inside timbers of canoes.
Abies nigra, Poir. Black Spruce. A´mikwan´dŏk.
1. The leaves and crushed bark are used to make a decoction, and sometimes taken as a substitute in the absence of pines.
2. Wood used in manufacture of spear handles.
Abies Canadensis, Michx. Hemlock. Gaga´īnwunsh—“Raven Tree.”
Outer bark powdered and crushed and taken internally for the cure of diarrhea. Usually mixed with other plants not named.
Larix Americana, Michx. Tamarack. Mŏsh´kīkiwa´dik.
1. Crushed leaves and bark used as Pinus strobus.
2. Gum used in mending boats.
3. Bark used for covering wig´iwams.
Cupressus thyoides, L. White Cedar. Gi´zhĭk—“Day.”
1. Leaves crushed and used as Pinus strobus. The greater the variety of leaves of coniferæ the better. The spines of the leaves exert their prickly influence through the vapor upon the demons possessing the patient’s body.
2. The timber in various forms is used in the construction of canoe and lodge frames, the bark being frequently employed in roofing habitations.
Juniperus Virginiana, L. Red Cedar. Muskwa´wâ´ak.
Bruised leaves and berries are used internally to remove headache.
Quercus alba, L. White Oak. Mītig´ōmish´.
1. The bark of the root and the inner bark scraped from the trunk is boiled and the decoction used internally for diarrhea.
2. Acorns eaten raw by children, and boiled or dried by adults.
Quercus rubra, L. Red Oak. Wisug´emītig´omish´—“Bitter Acorn Tree.”
Has been used as a substitute for Q. alba.
Acer saccharinum, Wang. Sugar Maple. Innīnâ´tik.
1. Decoction of the inner bark is used for diarrhea.
2. The sap boiled in making sirup and sugar.
3. The wood valued for making arrow shafts.
199Acer nigrum, Michx. Black Sugar Maple. Iskig´omeaush´— “Sap-flows-fast.”
Arbor liquore abundans, ex quo liquor tanquam urina vehementer projicitur.
Sometimes used as the preceding.
Betula excelsa, Ait. Yellow Birch. Wi´nnis´sik.
The inner bark is scraped off, mixed with that of the Acer saccharinum, and the decoction taken as a diuretic.
Betula papyracea, Ait. White Birch. Wīgwas´.
Highly esteemed, and employed for making records, canoes, syrup-pans, mōkoks´—or sugar boxes—etc. The record of the Midē´wiwin, given by Minabō´zho, was drawn upon this kind of bark.
Populus monilifera, Ait. Cottonwood. Mâ´nâsâ´ti.
The cotton down is applied to open sores as an absorbent.
Populus balsamifera, L. Balsam Poplar. Asa´dĭ.
1. The bark is peeled from the branches and the gum collected and eaten.
2. Poles are used in building ordinary shelter lodges, and particularly for the Midē´wigân.
Juglans nigra, L. Black Walnut. Paga´nŏk—“Nut wood.”
Walnuts are highly prized; the green rind of the unripe fruit is sometimes employed in staining or dyeing.
Smilacina racemosa, Desf. False Spikenard. Kinē´bigwŏshk—“Snake weed or Snake Vine.”
1. Warm decoction of leaves used by lying-in women.
2. The roots are placed upon a red-hot stone, the patient, with a blanket thrown over his head, inhaling the fumes, to relieve headache.
3. Fresh leaves are crushed and applied to cuts to stop bleeding.
Helianthus occidentalis, Riddell. Sunflower. Pŭkite´wŭbbŏkuns´.
The crushed root is applied to bruises and contusions.
Polygala senega, L. Seneca Snakeroot. Winis´sikēns´.
1. A decoction of the roots is used for colds and cough.
2. An infusion of the leaves is given for sore throat; also to destroy water-bugs that have been swallowed.
Rubus occidentalis, L. Black Raspberry. Makadē´mĭskwi´minŏk—“Black Blood Berry.”
A decoction made of the crushed roots is taken to relieve pains in the stomach.
Rubus strigosus, Michx. Wild Red Raspberry. Miskwi´minŏk´—“Blood Berry.”
The roots are sometimes used as a substitute for the preceding.
Gaylussacia resinosa, Torr. and Gr. Huckleberry. Mī´nŭn.
Forms one of the chief articles of trade during the summer. The berry occupies a conspicuous place in the myth of the “Road of the Dead,” referred to in connection with the “Ghost Society.”
Prunus Virginiana, L. Choke Cherry. Sisan´wemi´nakŏânsh´.
1. The branchlets are used for making an ordinary drink; used also during gestation.
2. The fruit is eaten.
Prunus serotina, Ehrhart. Wild Black Cherry. Okwē´mĭsh—“Scabby Bark.”
1. The inner bark is applied to external sores, either by first boiling, bruising, or chewing it.
2. An infusion of the inner bark is sometimes given to relieve pains and soreness of the chest.
Prunus Pennsylvanica, L. Wild Red Cherry. Kusigwa´kumi´nŏk.
1. A decoction of the crushed root is given for pains and other stomach disorders.
2. Fruit is eaten and highly prized.
3. This, believed to be synonymous with the June Cherry of Minnesota, is referred to in the myths and ceremonies of the “Ghost Society.”
200Prunus Americana, Marsh. Wild Plum. Bogē´sanŏk.
The small rootlets, and the bark of the larger ones, are crushed and boiled together with the roots of the following named plants, as a remedy for diarrhea. The remaining plants were not in bloom at the time during which the investigations were made, and therefore were not identified by the preceptors, they being enabled to furnish only the names and an imperfect description. They are as follows, viz: Minēn´sŏk, two species, one with red berries, the other with yellow ones; Wabō´sōminī´sŏk—“Rabbit berries”; Shi´gwanau´isŏk, having small red berries; and Cratægus coccinea, L. Scarlet-fruited Thorn. O´ginīk.
Typha latifolia, L. Common Cat-tail. Napŏgŭshk—“Flat grass.”
The roots are crushed by pounding or chewing, and applied as a poultice to sores.
Sporobolus heterolepis Gr. Napŏ´gŭshkūns´—“Little Flat Grass.”
1. Used sometimes as a substitute for the preceding.
2. Roots are boiled and the decoction taken to induce emesis, “to remove bile.”
Fragaria vesca, L. Wild Strawberry. Odē īmĭn´nĕ—Heart Berry.
Referred to in the ceremony of the “Ghost Society.”
The fruit is highly valued as a luxury.
Acer Pennsylvanicum, L. Striped Maple. Mōn´zomĭsh´—“Moose Wood.”
The inner bark scraped from four sticks or branches, each two feet long, is put into a cloth and boiled, the liquid which can subsequently be pressed out of the bag is swallowed, to act as an emetic.
Fraxinus sambucifolia, Lam. Black or Water Ash. A´gimak´.
1. The inner bark is soaked in warm water, and the liquid applied to sore eyes.
2. The wood is employed in making the rims for frames of snow-shoes.
Veronica Virginica, L. Culver’s Root. Wi´sŏgedzhi´bik—“Bitter Root.”
A decoction of the crushed root is taken as a purgative.
Salix Candida, Willd. Hoary Willow. Sisi´gobe´mĭsh.
The thick inner bark of the roots is scraped off, boiled, and the decoction taken for cough.
Symphoricarpos vulgaris, Michx. Indian Currant. Gus´sigwaka´mĭsh.
The inner bark of the root boiled and the decoction, when cold, applied to sore eyes.
Geum strictum, Ait. Aven. Ne´bone´ankwe´âk—“ Hair on one side.”
The roots are boiled and a weak decoction taken internally for soreness in the chest, and cough.
Rumex crispus, L. Curled Dock. O´zabetshi´wĭk.
The roots are bruised or crushed and applied to abrasions, sores, etc.
Amorpha canescens, Nutt. Lead Plant. We´abŏnag´kak—“That which turns white.”
A decoction, made of the roots, is used for pains in the stomach. Rosa blanda, Ait. Early Wild Rose. O´ginīk.
A piece of root placed in lukewarm water, after which the liquid is applied to inflamed eyes.
Anemone (sp.?) Anemone. Wisŏg´ibŏk´; also called Hartshorn plant by the mixed-bloods of Minnesota.
The dry leaves are powdered and used as an errhine, for the cure of headache.
(Gen. et sp. ?) Termed Kine´bĭk wansh´kons and “Snake weed.”
This plant was unfortunately so injured in transportation that identification was impossible. Ball-players and hunters use it to give them endurance and speed; the root is chewed when necessary to possess these qualities. The root is likened to a snake, which is supposed to be swift in motion and possessed of extraordinary muscular strength.
201Rhus (aromatica, Ait. ?) “White Sumac.” Bŏkkwan´ībŏk.
Roots are boiled, with those of the following named plant, and the decoction taken to cure diarrhea.
(Gen. et sp. ?) Ki´tshiodēiminibŏk—“Big Heart Leaf.”
Roots boiled, with preceding, and decoction taken for diarrhea.
Monarda fistulosa, L. Wild Bergamot. Moshkōs´wanowins´—“Little Elk’s Tail.”
The root is used by making a decoction and drinking several swallows, at intervals, for pain in the stomach and intestines.
Hydrophyllum Virginicum, L. Waterleaf. Buⁿkite´bagūⁿs´.
The roots are boiled, the liquor then taken for pains in the chest, back, etc.
Anemone Pennsylvanicum, L. Pennsylvania Anemone. Pesī´kwadzhi´bwiko´kŏk.
A decoction of the roots is used for pains in the lumbar region.
Viola (Canadensis, L.?). Canada Violet. Maskwī´widzhī´wiko´kŏk.
The decoction made of the roots is used for pains in the region of the bladder.
Phryma leptostachya, L. Lopseed. Waia´bishkĕno´kŏk.
The roots are boiled and the decoction taken for rheumatic pains in the legs.
Viola pubescens, Ait. Downy Yellow Violet. Ogitē´baguns.
A decoction is made of the roots, of which small doses are taken at intervals for sore throat.
Rosa (lucida, Ehrhart?). Dwarf Wild Rose. Oginī´minagan´wŏs.
The roots of young plants are steeped in hot water and the liquid applied to sore eyes.
(Gen. et sp. ?) Mŏ´zânâ´tĭk.
This plant could not be identified at the locality and time at which investigations were conducted. The root is boiled and the decoction taken as a diuretic for difficult micturition.
Actæa rubra, Michx. Red Baneberry. Odzī´bĭkĕns´—“Little Root.”
A decoction of the root, which has a sweet taste, is used for stomachic pains caused by having swallowed hair (mythic). Used also in conjunction with Ginseng.
This plant, according to some peculiarities, is considered the male plant at certain seasons of the year, and is given only to men and boys, while the same plant at other seasons, because of size, color of fruit, or something else, is termed the female, and is prepared for women and girls in the following manner, viz: The roots are rolled in basswood leaves and baked, when they become black; an infusion is then prepared, and used in a similar manner as above.
The latter is called Wash´kubĭdzhi´bikakŏk´.
Botrychium Virginicum, Swartz. Moonwort. Ozaga´tigŭm.
The root is bruised and applied to cuts.
Aralia trifolia, Gr. Dwarf Ginseng. Nesō´bakŏk—“Three Leafed.”
The roots are chewed and the mass applied to cuts to arrest hemorrhage.
Echinospermum lappula, Lehm. Stickweed. Ozaga´tĭgomĕns—“Burr Bush.”
The roots are placed in a hole in the ground upon hot stones, to cause the fumes to rise, when the patient puts down his face and has a cloth or blanket thrown over his head. The fumes are inhaled for headache. The raw roots are also sniffed at for the same purpose.
It is affirmed by various members of the Midē´ Society that in former times much of the information relating to some of these plants was not imparted to a candidate for initiation into the first degree, but was reserved for succeeding degrees, to induce a Midē´ of the first degree to endeavor to attain higher distinction and further advancement in the mysteries of the order. As much knowledge 202 is believed to have been lost through the reticence and obstinacy of former chief priests, the so-called higher secrets are now imparted at the first and second degree preparatory instructions. The third and fourth degrees are very rarely conferred, chiefly because the necessary presents and fees are beyond the reach of those who so desire advancement, and partly also because the missionaries, and in many instances the Indian agents, have done their utmost to suppress the ceremonies, because they were a direct opposition and hindrance to progress in Christianizing influences.
When the preparatory instruction has come to an end and the day of the ceremony of initiation is at hand, the preceptor sings to his pupil a song, expatiating upon his own efforts and the high virtue of the knowledge imparted. The pipe is brought forward and an offering of tobacco smoke made by both preceptor and pupil, after which the former sings a song (Pl. X, A.), the time of its utterance being tediously prolonged. The mnemonic characters were drawn by Sikas´sigĕ, and are a copy of an old birch-bark scroll which has for many years been in his possession, and which was made in imitation of one in the possession of his father, Baiē´dzĭk, one of the leading Midē´ at Mille Lacs, Minnesota.
From ten days to two weeks before the day of initiation, the chief Midē´ priest sends out to all the members invitations, which consist of sticks one-fourth of an inch thick and 6 or 7 inches long. The courier is charged with giving to the person invited explicit information as to the day of the ceremony and the locality where it is to 204 be held. Sometimes these sticks have bands of color painted around one end, usually green, sometimes red, though both colors may be employed, the two ends being thus tinted. The person invited is obliged to bring with him his invitation stick, and upon entering the Midē´wigân he lays it upon the ground near the sacred stone, on the side toward the degree post. In case a Midē´ is unable to attend he sends his invitation with a statement of the reason of his inability to come. The number of sticks upon the floor are counted, on the morning of the day of initiation, and the number of those present to attend the ceremonies is known before the initiation begins.
About five or six days preceding the day set for the ceremony of initiation, the candidate removes to the neighborhood of the locality of the Midē´wigân. On the evening of the fifth day he repairs to the sudatory or sweat-lodge, which has, in the meantime, been built east of the sacred inclosure, and when seated within he is supplied with water which he keeps for making vapor by pouring it upon heated stones introduced for the purpose by assistants upon the outside. This act of purification is absolutely necessary and must be performed once each day for four days, though the process may be shortened by taking two vapor baths in one day, thus limiting the process to two days. This, however, is permitted, or desired only under extraordinary circumstances. During the process of purgation, the candidates thoughts must dwell upon the seriousness of the course he is pursuing and the sacred character of the new life he is about to assume.
When the fumigation has ceased he is visited by the preceptor and the other officiating Midē´ priests, when the conversation is confined chiefly to the candidate’s progress. He then gives to each of them presents of tobacco, and after an offering to Ki´tshi Man´idō, with the pipe, they expose the articles contained in their Midē´ sacks and explain and expatiate upon the merits and properties of each of the magic objects. The candidate for the first time learns of the manner of preparing effigies, etc., with which to present to the incredulous ocular demonstration of the genuineness and divine origin of the Midē´wiwin, or, as it is in this connection termed, religion.
Several methods are employed for the purpose, and the greater the power of the Midē´ the greater will appear the mystery connected with the exhibition. This may be performed whenever circumstances demand such proof, but the tests are made before the candidate with a twofold purpose: first, to impress him with the supernatural powers of the Midē´ themselves; and second, in an oracular manner, to ascertain if Ki´tshi Ma´nidō is pleased with the contemplated ceremony and the initiation of the candidate.
205Fig. 16. |
The first test is made by laying upon the floor of the wig´iwam a string of four wooden beads each measuring about 1 inch in diameter. See Fig. 16. After the owner of this object has chanted for a few moments in an almost inaudible manner the beads begin to roll from side to side as if animated. The string is then quickly restored to its place in the Midē´ sack. Another Midē´ produces a small wooden effigy of a man (Fig. 17), measuring about 5 inches in height. The body has a small orifice running through it from between the shoulders to the buttocks, the head and neck forming a separate piece which may be attached to the body like a glass stopper to a bottle.
A hole is made in the ground deep enough to reach to the hips of the effigy, when the latter is put into it and the loose earth loosely restored so as to hold it in an upright position. Some magic powder of herbs is sprinkled around the body, and into the vertical orifice in 206 it, when the head is put in place. A series of inarticulate utterances are chanted, when, if everything be favorable, the figure will perceptibly move up and down as if possessed of life. Fig. 18 represents another figure used in a similar manner. It consists of one piece, however, and is decorated with narrow bands of dark blue flannel about the ankles and knees, a patch of red cloth upon the breast and bands about the wrists, each of the eyes being indicated by three white porcelain beads.
Fig. 17. | Fig. 18. |
One of the most astonishing tests, however, and one that can be produced only by Midē´ of the highest power, consists in causing a Midē´ sack to move upon the ground as if it were alive. This, it is confidently alleged, has been done repeatedly, though it is evident that the deception is more easily produced than in the above-mentioned instances, as the temporary retention within a bag of a small mammal could readily be made to account for the movements.
In most of these private exhibitions the light is so obscured as to prevent the deception being observed and exposed; and when public demonstrations of skill are made the auditors invariably consist of the most credulous of the uninitiated, or the confréres of the performer, from whom no antagonism or doubt would be expected.
The preceptor then consults with the Midē´ priests respecting the presents to be delivered by the candidate, and repeats the following words, viz:
Mis-shai´-ĕ-gwa | tshi-dĕ-bŏg-in-de-mung´. | gi´-she-gŏ-dung´ |
Now is the time | that we shall fix the price | of everything pertaining to the sky, |
ka-mi´-nĕ- | nŏngk | gi´-she-goy-dŭng´ | di´-bi-ga-dōnk´ gai-yé´. | |
that has been | given to us | from the day | [and] | the night also. |
A-pē´-gĕ-dá´wŭnk | i´-wa-pī | ge-bin´-de-ga-yŏngk´, |
When it shall come to pass | and at the time | that we shall enter, |
ă-au´-wa-mi-dē´-wĭd. |
he who wishes to become a Midē´. |
When the four vapor baths have been taken by the candidate, and the eve of the ceremony has arrived, he remains in the sudatory longer than usual so as not to come in contact with the large crowd of visitors who have arrived upon the scene. The woods resound with the noises incident to a large camp, while in various directions may be heard the monotonous beating of the drum indicating the presence of a number of dancers, or the hard, sharp taps of the midē´ drum, caused by a priest propitiating and invoking the presence and favor of Ki´tshi Ma´nidō in the service now so near at hand.
When the night is far advanced and all becomes hushed, the candidate, with only the preceptor accompanying, retires to his own wig´iwam, while the assistant Midē´ priests and intimate friends or members of his family collect the numerous presents and suspend them from the transverse and longitudinal poles in the upper part of the Midē´wigân. Watchers remain to see that nothing is removed during the night.
At the approach of day, the candidate breakfasts and again returns to the sweat-lodge to await the coming of his preceptor, and, later, of the officiating priests. The candidate puts on his best clothing 207 and such articles of beaded ornaments as he may possess. The preceptor and Midē´ priests are also clad in their finest apparel, each wearing one or two beaded dancing bags at his side, secured by a band of beaded cloth crossing the opposite shoulder. The members of the Midē´wiwin who are not directly concerned in the preliminaries resort to the Midē´wigân and take seats around the interior, near the wall, where they may continue to smoke, or may occasionally drum and sing. The drummer, with his assistants, takes a place near upon the floor of the sacred inclosure to the left of the eastern entrance, i.e., the southeast corner.
IMPLORATION FOR CLEAR WEATHER.
Should the day open up with a threatening sky, one of the Midē´ priests accompanying the candidate sings the following song (Pl. X, B) to dispel the clouds. Each of the lines is repeated an indefinite number of times, and after being repeated once or twice is sung also by the others as an accompaniment.
It will be observed that the words as spoken vary to some extent when chanted or sung.
Ki-na-nē´, hē´, ki´-ne-na-wē´ man´-i-dō. I swing the spirit like a child. The Midē´ Spirit, showing magic lines radiating from his body. The Midē´ claims to be able to receive special favor. |
Ki´nana´wein, Ki´nana´wein, Ki´nana´wein, Man´ido´weēg;
Ki´nana´wein, Ki´nana´wein, Ki´nana´wein, Man´ido´weēg´;
Ki´nana´wein, Man´ido´weēg´.
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Gi-zhik´-ē´ ka-hwē´ da-mū´-nĕ. The sky is what I am telling you about. The sky and the earth united by a pathway of possible rain. |
Ki´zhiga´widâ´ mu´nedē´, Ki´zhiga´widâ´ mu´nedē´,
Ki´zhiga´widâ´ Ki´zhi-ga´wi-dâ´,
Ki´zhi-ga´wi-dâ mu´nedē´, Ki´zhiga´widâ mu´nedē´.
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208
Wa-ne-o-ho ne´-ge-shi´-go-ni We have lost the sky [it becomes dark]. [Clouds obscure the sky, and the arm of the Midē´ is reaching up into it for its favor of clear weather.] |
Waneo-ho hē ne´-ge-shi-go-ni, Wane-o-ho-hē ne´-ge-shi-go-ni,
Ko´sawe ne hē wa´nishi-na-ha, waneo-ho-hē ne´-ge-shi-go-ni.
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Wi-tshi´-hi-na´-ne-he, nē´, kō´, hō. I am helping you. [The Otter-skin Midē´ sack is held up to influence the Otter Spirit to aid them.] |
Wi´tshihinanehe nē´ kō hō´, ne´niwi´tshinan, wi´tshihinanehe
nē´ kō´ hō´. U-a-ni-ma wē u-a-ni-ma wē henigwish.
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U-a´-ni-ma´, wē´, he´-ni-gwĭsh. I have made an error [in sending]. The Otter-skin Midē´ sack has failed to produce the desired effect. |
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Rest. |
The Midē´ women who have gathered without the lodge now begin to dance as the song is renewed.
Na-nin-dē´, hē´, he-yo-ya, nē´. I am using my heart. Refers to sincerity of motives in practice of Midē´ ceremony. |
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209 |
Yo´-na-hĭsh´-i-me´-a´-ne´, hē´. What are you saying to me, and I am “in my senses”? |
Man´-i-dō, hē´ nē´, mē´-de-wē´, ē´. The spirit wolf. One of the malevolent spirits who is opposed to having the ceremony is assisting the evil man´idōs in causing the sky to be overcast. |
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Wen´-tshi-o-ne-se hē´, nē´, wen´-tshi-o-ne-se hē´. I do not know where I am going. The Midē´ is in doubt whether to proceed or not in the performance of initiation. |
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Mi´-shok-kwo´-ti-ne be-wa´-ne, I depend on the clear sky. [To have the ceremony go on. Arm reaching toward the sky for help.] |
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Ke-me´-ni-na-ne´ a-nō´-ē´ I give you the other village, spirit that you are. [That rain should fall anywhere but upon the assemblage and Midē´wigân.] |
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Tshing-gwē´-o-dē |: gē´. The thunder is heavy. The Thunder Bird, who causes the rain.A |
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We´-ka-ka-nō´, hō´ shi´-a-dē´. We are talking to one another. The Midē´ communes with Ki´tshi Man´idō; he is shown near the sky; his horns denoting superior wisdom and power, while the lines from the mouth signify speech. |
In case the appearance of the sky becomes sufficiently favorable the initiation begins, but if it should continue to be more unfavorable or to rain, then the song termed the “Rain Song” is resorted to and sung within the inclosure of the Midē´wigân, to which they all march in solemn procession. Those Midē´ priests who have with them their Midē´ drums use them as an accompaniment to the singing and to propitiate the good will of Ki´tshi Man´idō. Each line of the entire song appears as an independent song, the intervals of rest varying in time according to the feelings of the officiating priest.
The words of the song are known to most of the Midē´ priests; but, as there is no method of retaining a set form of musicial notation, the result is entirely individual and may vary with each singer, if sung independently and out of hearing of others; so that, under 210 ordinary circumstances, the priest who leads off sings through one stanza of the song, after which the others will readily catch the notes and accompany him. It will be observed, also, that the words as spoken vary to some extent when chanted or sung.
If this song does not appear to bring about a favorable change the priests return to their respective wig´iwams and the crowd of visitors disperses to return upon the first clear day.
INITIATION OF CANDIDATE.
If, however, the day be clear and promising the candidate goes early to the sweat-lodge, where he is joined by his preceptor, and later by the officiating priest. After all preliminaries have been arranged and the proper time for regular proceedings has arrived, the preceptor sings the following song (Pl. X, C), the musical notation of which varies according to his feelings, clearly showing that there is no recognized method of vocal delivery, as is the case with the music of dancing songs:
This is addressed to the Midē´ priests (Nika´ni) present, and is an inquiry as to their willingness to proceed. The Midē´wigân is shown, the line running horizontally through it the path of the candidate (or one who has gone through), the two spots within the place of the sacred stone and the post, while the spot to the right of the outside of the inclosure denotes the beginning, or the sweat-lodge, symbolizing the circle of the earth upon the Midē´ chart (Pl. III), those upon the left denoting the three possible degrees of advancement in the future.
Upon the conclusion of the song there is a brief interval, during which all partake of a smoke in perfect silence, making the usual offerings to the four points of the compass, to Ki´tshi Man´idō´, and toward the earth.
The preceptor then says:
Mĭs-sa´i´-a-shi-gwa, | mĭs-sa´-a-shĭ-gwa- | nŏn´-do-nŭng; | ka-kĭ-nâ |
Now is the time, | now is the time he | hears us; | all of us |
ka-kĭn´-nâ-gi-nŏn´-do-da´g-u-nan´ | ga-o´-shī-dōt | mi-dē´-wĭ´-win. |
he hears us all the one | who made the | midē´wiwin. |
After this monologue he continues, and addresses to the candidate the midē´ gagĭ´kwewĭn´, or Midē´ sermon, in the following language, viz:
An-be´-bi-sĭn´-di-wi´-shĭn, | wa´-i-ni´-nan; |
now listen to me | what I am about to say to you; |
kēsh´-pin-pe´-sin-da´-nin-wĭn | da-ma´-dzhi shka´ | ke´-bi-mâ´-di-si-wĭn´. |
If you take heed of that which I say to you | shall continue | always your life. |
Un, nun´-gūm, | ke-za´-ki-gi-zi-ton mŏn | ki´-tshi man´-i-dō | ō´-dik-kid´-do-wĭn´; |
Now, to-day | I make known to you | the great spirit | That which he says; |
o´-wi-dŏsh kid´-di-nĭn´ | ki-ī´-kid-dō´kī´-tshi | man´-i-dō | gi´-sa-gi-ĭg´. |
and now this I say to you. | This is what says | the great spirit | that he loves you. |
to-wa´-bish-ga´ | gi-shtig-wa | a-pī-we- | sa´-gi-sit´-to-wad |
It shall be white | the sacred object | at the time | When they shall let it be known |
o-sa´-in-di-kid´-do-wīn | ĕ´-kid-dōdt ki´-tshi | man´-i-dō |
and this is what I say | That which he says | the great spirit |
ŏ´-gi-din´-nĭn | mis-sâ´-wa | ke´-a-ked´-de-wó |
now this I impart to you | even if | they say |
wa´-ba-ma-tshin´ni-bŭdt | mi´-â-ma´ tshī´-ō- | nish-gâd´, |
That they saw him dead | in this place he shall be | Raised again |
ini-â-má | a-pe´-ni-nut´ | nin-dē´ | kid´-do-wĭn |
in this place | he puts his trust | In my heart | in this “saying” |
min-nik´ kid-da´- | kĭ-o-wink´. | Ka-wī´-ka-da-an´-na-we´-was-si-nan, |
the time of the duration | Of the world. | It shall never fail. |
me-ē´-kid-dodt´ man´-i-dō. | Nin´-ne-dzha´-nis |
That is what he says, the spirit. | My child, |
ke-un´-dzhi be-mâ´-dis | si´-an. |
this shall give | you life. |
The Midē´ priests then leave the sweat-lodge and stand upon the outside, while the candidate gathers up in his arms a number of small presents, such as tobacco, handkerchiefs, etc., and goes out of the wig´iwam to join the Midē´ priests. The order of marching to the main entrance of the Midē´wigân is then taken up in the following order: First the candidate, next the preceptor, who in turn is followed by the officiating priests, and such others, and members of his family and relatives as desire. At the door of the Midē´wigân all but one of the priests continue forward and take their stations within the inclosure, the preceptor remaining on one side of the candidate, the Midē´ priest upon the other, then all march four times around the outside of the inclosure, toward the left or south, during which time drumming is continued within. Upon the completion of the fourth circuit the candidate is placed so as to face the main entrance of the Midē´wigân. When he is prompted to say:
“Man-un´-ga-bīn´-di-gĕ | o-bŏg´-ga-dĭ-nan´, | o-dai´-ye-din´.” |
Let me come in | and these I put down | my things [gifts]. |
The presents are then laid upon the ground. The preceptor goes inside, taking with him the gifts deposited by the candidate, and remains standing just within the door and faces the degree post toward the west. Then the chief officiating priest, who has remained at the side of the candidate, turns toward the latter and in a clear, distinct, and exceedingly impressive manner sings the following chant, addressed to Ki´tshi Man´idō whose invisible form is supposed to abide within the Midē´wigan during such ceremonies, stating that the candidate is presented to receive life (the mī´gis) for which he is suffering, and invoking the divine favor.
Hai ya ha man´-i-dō, | hō´, | ti-bish´-ko-gish´-i-gŭng, | hē´, | we-zá-ba-mid´-mi |
There is a spirit | ho, | just as the one above, | he, | now sits with me |
nin-dzhá-nis, | esh-ĭ-gan´-do-we, | hē´, hwē´, | mé-a-tshi-bin´-de-gan´-ni-nan, |
my child | and now I proclaim, | he, hwe, | that I enter you here |
nōs, | dzhi-man´-i-dō, | hō´, | hwō´, | sha-wé-nĭ-mi-shin´, | hē´, hwē´, |
my father | good spirit, | ho, | hwo, | have pity on me, | he, hwe |
a-shig´-wa-bin´-de-gan-nŏk | gé-gwa-da-gí-sid | wi-bĭ-mâ´-di-sĭd, |
now that I enter him here, | he that is suffering | for life, |
dé-bwe-daú-wi-shĭn | dzhí-bi-mâ´-di-sĭd´, | nōs, |
believe me | that he shall live, | my father, |
wē´-o-sĭm´-in-nan´, | hē´, hē´. |
whose child I am, | he, he. |
The following is the musical notation:
he-he-he-he yo.
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The candidate is then led within the inclosure when all the members of the society arise while he is slowly led around toward the southern side to the extreme end in the west, thence toward the right and back along the western side to the point of beginning. This is done four times. As he starts upon his march, the member nearest the door falls in the line of procession, each member continuing to drop in, at the rear, until the entire assembly is in motion. During this movement there is a monotonous drumming upon the Midē´ drums and the chief officiating priest sings:
Ni´-sha-bōn´-da shkan | wig´-i-wam | ke-nōn´-dēg, |
I go through | [the] “house” | the long, i.e., through the Midē´wigân. |
At the fourth circuit, members begin to stop at the places previously occupied by them, the candidate going and remaining with his preceptor to a point just inside the eastern entrance, while the four officiating priests continue around toward the opposite end of the inclosure and station themselves in a semicircle just beyond the degree post, and facing the western door. Upon the ground before them are spread blankets and similar goods, which have been removed from the beams above, and upon which the candidate is to kneel. He is then led to the western extremity of the inclosure where he 214 stands upon the blankets spread upon the ground and faces the four Midē´ priests. The preceptor takes his position behind and a little to one side of the candidate, another assistant being called upon by the preceptor to occupy a corresponding position upon the other side. During this procedure there is gentle drumming which ceases after all have been properly stationed, when the preceptor steps to a point to the side and front of the candidate and nearer the officiating priests, and says:
Mĭ-i´-shi-gwa´ | bŏ´-gi-ta-mon´-nan, |
The time has arrived | that I yield it to you. |
mi´-na-nan´-kĕ-ân-dzhi | bi-mâ´-dĭ-si´-an. |
[the midē´migis] that will give you | life. |
The preceptor then returns to his position back of and a little to one side of the candidate, when the chief officiating priest sings the following song, accompanying himself upon a small cylindrical midē´drum. The words are: Kit´-ta-non´-do-wē man´-i-do´-wid—you shall hear me, spirit that you are—, and the music is rendered as follows:
Kit´ta-no´do-we man´i-dō´wid-hō dō, wē, hē,
Kit´ta-no´do-we man´i-dō-wid-hō, hē, hwē, hē,
Kit´-ta-no´-do-we man´-i-dō´-wid, kit´ta-no´do-wē,
kit´ta-no´do-wid, man´i-do´-wid, man´i-do´wid-hō, wē, hwē, hē,
Kit´ta-no´dowē´ man´idō´wid, hō, hē, hwē, hē, hē, hwē, hē.
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215 After this song is ended the drum is handed to one of the members sitting near by, when the fourth and last of the officiating priests says to the candidate, who is now placed upon his knees:
Mĭs-sa´-a-shi´-gwa | ki-bo´-gĭs-sē-na-min | tshi´-ma-mâd |
Now is the time | that I hope of you | that you shall |
bi-mâ´-di-sĭ-wĭn, | mĭ-nē´-sĭd. |
take life | the bead [mi´gis shell.] |
This priest then grasps his Midē´ sack as if holding a gun, and, clutching it near the top with the left hand extended, while with the right he clutches it below the middle or near the base, he aims it toward the candidate’s left breast and makes a thrust forward toward that target uttering the syllables “yâ, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´,” rapidly, rising to a higher key. He recovers his first position and repeats this movement three times, becoming more and more animated, the last time making a vigorous gesture toward the kneeling man’s breast as if shooting him. (See Fig. 15, page 192.) While this is going on, the preceptor and his assistants place their hands upon the candidate’s shoulders and cause his body to tremble.
Then the next Midē´, the third of the quartette, goes through a similar series of forward movements and thrusts with his Midē´ sack, uttering similar sounds and shooting the sacred mī´gis—life—into the right breast of the candidate, who is agitated still more strongly than before. When the third Midē´, the second in order of precedence, goes through similar gestures and pretends to shoot the mī´gis into the candidate’s heart, the preceptors assist him to be violently agitated.
The leading priest now places himself in a threatening attitude and says to the Midē´; “Mī´-dzhi-de´-a-mi-shĭk´”—“put your helping heart with me”—, when he imitates his predecessors by saying, “yâ, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´,” at the fourth time aiming the Midē´ sack at the candidate’s head, and as the mī´gis is supposed to be shot into it, he falls forward upon the ground, apparently lifeless.
Then the four Midē´ priests, the preceptor and the assistant, lay their Midē´ sacks upon his back and after a few moments a mī´gis shell drops from his mouth—where he had been instructed to retain it. The chief Midē´ picks up the mī´gis and, holding it between the thumb and index finger of the right hand, extending his arm toward the candidate’s mouth says “wâ! wâ! hĕ hĕ hĕ hĕ,” the last syllable being uttered in a high key and rapidly dropped to a low note; then the same words are uttered while the mī´gis is held toward the east, and in regular succession to the south, to the west, to the north, then toward the sky. During this time the candidate has begun to partially revive and endeavor to get upon his knees, but when the Midē´ finally places the mī´gis into his mouth again, he instantly falls upon the ground, as before. The Midē´ then take up the sacks, each grasping his own as before, and as they pass around the inanimate body they touch it at various points, which causes the 216 candidate to “return to life.” The chief priest then says to him, “Ō´nishgân”—“get up”—which he does; then indicating to the holder of the Midē´ drum to bring that to him, he begins tapping and presently sings the following song:
Mi´-si-ni-en´-di-an Mi´si-ni-en´-di-an Mi´-si-ni-en´-dian,
Mi´-si-ni-en´-di-an, Mi´-si-ni-en´-di-an Mi´-si-ni-en´-di-an,
Mi´-si-ni-en´-di-an, Mi´-si-ni-en´-di-an Mi´-si-ni-en´-di-an,
Ni-kan. Hĭū, Hĭū, Hĭu.
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The words of the text signify, “This is what I am, my fellow Midē´; I fear all my fellow Midē´.” The last syllables, hĭū´, are meaningless.
At the conclusion of the song the preceptor prompts the candidate to ask the chief Midē´:
Ni-kan´ | k´kĕ´-nō´-mo´, | man-dzhi´-an | na´-ka-mō´-in. |
Colleague | instruct me, | give me | a song. |
In response to which the Midē´ teaches him the following, which is uttered as a monotonous chant, viz:
We´-go-nĕn´ | ge-gwed´-dzhi-me-an´, | mi-dē´-wi-wĭn | ke-kwed´-dzhi-me-an´? |
What | are you asking, | grand medicine | are you asking? |
Ki´-ka-mi´-nin | en-da-wĕn´-da | ma-wi´-nĕn | mi-dē´-wi-wĭn |
I will give you | you want me to | give you | “grand medicine” |
tshi-da-si-nē´-ga´-na-win´-da-mōn; | ki-ĭn´-tshun-di´-nĕ-ma´-so-wĭn, |
always take care of; | you have received it yourself, |
tsho´-a-wa´-nin | di´-sĕ-wan. |
never | forget. |
To this the candidate, who is now a member, replies, ēn, yes, i.e., assent, fully agreeing with the statement made by the Midē´, and adds:
Mi-gwĕtsh´ | a-shi´-wa-ka-kish´-da-win | be-mâ´-di-si´-an. |
Thanks | for giving to me | life. |
Then the priests begin to look around in search of spaces in which to seat themselves, saying:
217Mi´-a-shi´-gwa ki´-tshi-an´-wâ-bin-da-man | tshi-ō´-we-na´-bi-an. |
Now is the time I look around | where we shall be [sit]. |
and all go to such places as are made, or reserved, for them.
The new member then goes to the pile of blankets, robes, and other gifts and divides them among the four officiating priests, reserving some of less value for the preceptor and his assistant; whereas tobacco is carried around to each person present. All then make an offering of smoke, to the east, south, west, north, toward the center and top of the Midē´wigân—where Ki´tshi Man´idō presides—and to the earth. Then each person blows smoke upon his or her Midē´ sack as an offering to the sacred mī´gis within.
The chief Midē´ advances to the new member and presents him with a new Midē´ sack, made of an otter skin, or possibly of the skin of the mink or weasel, after which he returns to his place. The new member rises, approaches the chief Midē´, who inclines his head to the front, and, while passing both flat hands down over either side,
Mi-gwĕtsh´, | ni-ka´-ni, ni-ka´-ni, ni-ka´-ni, na-ka´. |
Thanks, | my colleagues, my colleagues, my colleagues. |
Then, approaching the next in rank, he repeats the ceremony and continues to do so until he has made the entire circuit of the Midē´wigân.
At the conclusion of this ceremony of rendering thanks to the members of the society for their presence, the newly elected Midē´ returns to his place and, after placing within his Midē´ sack his mī´gis, starts out anew to test his own powers. He approaches the person seated nearest the eastern entrance, on the south side, and, grasping his sack in a manner similar to that of the officiating priests, makes threatening motions toward the Midē´ as if to shoot him, saying, “yâ, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´,” gradually raising his voice to a higher key. At the fourth movement he makes a quick thrust toward his victim, whereupon the latter falls forward upon the ground. He then proceeds to the next, who is menaced in a similar manner and who likewise becomes apparently unconscious from the powerful effects of the mī´gis. This is continued until all persons present have been subjected to the influence of the mī´gis in the possession of the new member. At the third or fourth experiment the first subject revives and sits up, the others recovering in regular order a short time after having been “shot at,” as this procedure is termed.
When all of the Midē´ have recovered a very curious ceremony takes place. Each one places his mī´gis shell upon the right palm and, grasping the Midē´ sack with the left hand, moves around the inclosure and exhibits his mī´gis to everyone present, constantly uttering the word “hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´,” in a quick, low tone. During this period there is a mingling of all the persons present, each endeavoring to attract the attention of the others. Each Midē´ then 218 pretends to swallow his mī´gis, when suddenly there are sounds of violent coughing, as if the actors were strangling, and soon thereafter they gag and spit out upon the ground the mī´gis, upon which each one falls apparently dead. In a few moments, however, they recover, take up the little shells again and pretend to swallow them. As the Midē´ return to their respective places the mī´gis is restored to its receptacle in the Midē´ sack.
Food is then brought into the Midē´wigân and all partake of it at the expense of the new member.
After the feast, the older Midē´ of high order, and possibly the officiating priests, recount the tradition of the Ani´shinâ´bēg and the origin of the Midē´wiwin, together with speeches relating to the benefits to be derived through a knowledge thereof, and sometimes, tales of individual success and exploits. When the inspired ones have given utterance to their thoughts and feelings, their memories and their boastings, and the time of adjournment has almost arrived, the new member gives an evidence of his skill as a singer and a Midē´. Having acted upon the suggestion of his preceptor, he has prepared some songs and learned them, and now for the first time the opportunity presents itself for him to gain admirers and influential friends, a sufficient number of whom he will require to speak well of him, and to counteract the evil which will be spoken of him by enemies—for enemies are numerous and may be found chiefly among those who are not fitted for the society of the Midē´, or who have failed to attain the desired distinction.
The new member, in the absence of a Midē´ drum of his own, borrows one from a fellow Midē´ and begins to beat it gently, increasing the strokes in intensity as he feels more and more inspired, then sings a song (Pl. X, D), of which the following are the words, each line being repeated ad libitum, viz:
As the sun approaches the western horizon, the Midē´ priests emerge from the western door of the Midē´wigân and go to their respective wig´iwams, where they partake of their regular evening repast, after which the remainder of the evening is spent in paying calls upon other members of the society, smoking, etc.
The preceptor and his assistant return to the Midē´wigân at nightfall, remove the degree post and plant it at the head of the wig´iwam—that part directly opposite the entrance—occupied by the new member. Two stones are placed at the base of the post, to represent the two forefeet of the bear Man´idō through whom life was also given to the Ani´shinâ´bēg.
If there should be more than one candidate to receive a degree the entire number, if not too great, is taken into the Midē´wigân for initiation at the same time; and if one day suffices to transact the 220 business for which the meeting was called the Indians return to their respective homes upon the following morning. If, however, arrangements have been made to advance a member to a higher degree, the necessary changes and appropriate arrangement of the interior of the Midē´wigân are begun immediately after the society has adjourned.
DESCRIPTIVE NOTES.
The mī´gis referred to in this description of the initiation consists of a small white shell, of almost any species, but the one believed to resemble the form of the mythical mī´gis is similar to the cowrie, Cypræa moneta, L., and is figured at No. 1 on Pl. XI. Nearly all of the shells employed for this purpose are foreign species, and have no doubt been obtained from the traders. The shells found in the country of the Ojibwa are of rather delicate structure, and it is probable that the salt water shells are employed as a substitute chiefly because of their less frangible character. The mī´gis of the other degrees are presented on the same plate, but special reference to them will be made. No. 2 represents the mī´gis in the possession of the chief Midē priest of the society at Leech Lake, Minnesota, and consists of a pearl-white Helix (sp?).
The Midē´ sack represented in No. 7 (Pl. XI.) is made of the skin of a mink—Putorius vison, Gapp. White, downy feathers are secured to the nose, as an additional ornament. In this sack are carried the sacred objects belonging to its owner, such as colors for facial ornamentation, and the magic red powder employed in the preparation of hunters’ songs; effigies and other contrivances to prove to the incredulous the genuineness of the Midē´ pretensions, sacred songs, amulets, and other small man´idōs—abnormal productions to which they attach supernatural properties—invitation sticks, etc.
Fig. 19.—Hawk-leg fetish. |
221 In Fig. 19 is reproduced a curious abnormal growth which was in the possession of a Midē´ near Red Lake, Minnesota. It consists of the leg of a Goshawk—Astur atricapillus, Wilson—from the outer inferior condyle of the right tibia of which had projected a supernumerary leg that terminated in two toes, the whole abnormality being about one-half the size and length of the natural leg and toes.
This fetish was highly prized by its former owner, and was believed to be a medium whereby the favor of the Great Thunderer, or Thunder God, might be invoked and his anger appeased. This deity is represented in pictography by the eagle, or frequently by one of the Falconidæ; hence it is but natural that the superstitious should look with awe and reverence upon such an abnormality on one of the terrestrial representatives of this deity.
A Midē´ of the first degree, who may not be enabled to advance further in the mysteries of the Midē´wiwin, owing to his inability to procure the necessary quantity of presents and gifts which he is required to pay to new preceptors and to the officiating priests—the latter demanding goods of double the value of those given as an entrance to the first degree—may, however, accomplish the acquisition of additional knowledge by purchasing it from individual Midē´. It is customary with Midē´ priests to exact payment for every individual remedy or secret that may be imparted to another who may desire such information. This practice is not entirely based upon mercenary motives, but it is firmly believed that when a secret or remedy has been paid, for it can not be imparted for nothing, as then its virtue would be impaired, if not entirely destroyed, by the man´idō or guardian spirit under whose special protection it may be supposed to be held or controlled.
Under such circumstances certain first degree Midē´ may become possessed of alleged magic powers which are in reality part of the accomplishments of the Midē´ of the higher degrees; but, for the mutual protection of the members of the society, they generally hesitate to impart anything that may be considered of high value. The usual kind of knowledge sought consists of the magic properties and use of plants, to the chief varieties of which reference will be made in connection with the next degree.
There is one subject, however, which first-degree Midē´ seek enlightment upon, and that is the preparation of the “hunter’s medicine” and the pictographic drawings employed in connection therewith. The compound is made of several plants, the leaves and roots of which are ground into powder. A little of this is put into the gun barrel, with the bullet, and sometimes a small pinch is dropped upon the track of the animal to compel it to halt at whatever place it may be when the powder is so sprinkled upon the ground.
The method generally employed to give to the hunter success is as follows: When anyone contemplates making a hunting trip, he first visits the Midē´, giving him a present of tobacco before announcing 222 the object of his visit and afterwards promising to give him such and such portions of the animal which he may procure. The Midē´, if satisfied with the gift, produces his pipe and after making an offering to Ki´tshi Man´idō for aid in the preparation of his “medicine,” and to appease the anger of the man´idō who controls the class of animals desired, sings a song, one of his own composition, after which he will draw with a sharp-pointed bone or nail, upon a small piece of birch bark, the outline of the animal desired by the applicant. The place of the heart of the animal is indicated by a puncture upon which a small quantity of vermilion is carefully rubbed, this color being very efficacious toward effecting the capture of the animal and the punctured heart insuring its death.
Fig. 20.—Hunter’s medicine. |
Frequently the heart is indicated by a round or triangular figure, from which a line extends toward the mouth, generally designated the life line, i.e., that magic power may reach its heart and influence the life of the subject designated. Fig. 20 is a reproduction of the character drawn upon a small oval piece of birch bark, which had been made by a Midē´ to insure the death of two bears. Another example is presented in Fig. 21, a variety of animals being figured and a small quantity of vermilion being rubbed upon the heart of each. In some instances the representation of animal forms is drawn by the Midē´ not upon birch bark, but directly upon sandy earth or a bed of ashes, either of which affords a smooth surface. For this purpose he uses a sharply pointed piece of wood, thrusts it into the region of the heart, and afterwards sprinkles upon this a small quantity of powder consisting of magic plants and vermilion. These performances are not conducted in public, but after the regular mystic ceremony has been conducted by the Midē´ the information is delivered with certain injunctions as to the course of procedure, direction, 223 etc. In the latter method of drawing the outline upon the sand or upon ashes, the result is made known with such directions as may be deemed necessary to insure success.
For the purpose of gaining instruction and success in the disposition of his alleged medicines, the Midē´ familiarizes himself with the topography and characteristics of the country extending over a wide area, to ascertain the best feeding grounds of the various animals and their haunts at various seasons. He keeps himself informed by also skillfully conducting inquiries of returning hunters, and thus becomes possessed of a large amount of valuable information respecting the natural history of the surrounding country, by which means he can, with a tolerable amount of certainty, direct a hunter to the best localities for such varieties of game as may be particularly desired by him.
Fig. 22.—Wâbĕnō´ drum. |
In his incantations a Wâbĕnō´ uses a drum resembling a tambourine. A hoop made of ash wood is covered with a piece of rawhide, tightly stretched while wet. Upon the upper surface is painted a mythic figure, usually that of his tutelaly daimon. An example of this kind is from Red Lake, Minnesota, presented in Fig. 22. The human figure is painted red, while the outline of the head is black, as are also the waving lines extending from the head. These lines denote superior power. When drumming upon this figure, the Wâbĕnō´ chants and is thus more easily enabled to invoke the assistance of his man´idō.
Women, as before remarked, may take the degrees of the Midē´wiwin, but, so far as could be ascertained, their professions pertain chiefly to the treatment of women and children and to tattooing for the cure of headache and chronic neuralgia.
Tattooing is accomplished by the use of finely powdered charcoal, soot or gunpowder, the pricking instrument being made by tying together a small number of needles; though formerly, it is said, fish spines or sharp splinters of bone were used for the purpose. The marks consist of round spots of one-half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter immediately over the afflicted part, the intention being to drive out the demon. Such spots are usually found upon the temples, though an occasional one may be found on the forehead or over the nasal eminence.
When the pain extends over considerable space the tattoo marks are smaller, and are arranged in rows or continuous lines. Such marks may be found upon some individuals to run outward over either or both cheeks from the alæ of the nose to a point near the 224 lobe of the ear, clearly indicating that the tattooing was done for toothache or neuralgia.
The female Midē´ is usually present at the initiation of new members, but her duties are mainly to assist in the singing and to make herself generally useful in connection with the preparation of the medicine feast.
SECOND DEGREE.
The inclosure within which the second degree of the Midē´wiwin is conferred, resembles in almost every respect that of the first, the only important difference being that there are two degree posts instead of one. A diagram is presented in Fig. 23. The first post is planted a short distance beyond the middle of the floor—toward the western door—and is similar to the post of the first degree, i.e., red, with a band of green around the top, upon which is perched the stuffed body of an owl; the kŏ-ko´-kŏ-ō´. The second post, of similar size, is painted red, and over the entire surface of it are spots of white made by applying clay with the finger tips. (Pl. XV, No. 2.) These spots are symbolical of the sacred mī´gis, the great number of them denoting increased power of the magic influence which fills the Midē´wigân. A small cedar tree is also planted at each of the outer angles of the inclosure.
The sweat-lodge, as before, is erected at some distance east of the main entrance of the Midē´wigân, but a larger structure is arranged upon a similar plan; more ample accommodations must be provided to permit a larger gathering of Midē´ priests during the period of preparation and instruction of the candidate.
PREPARATION OF CANDIDATE.
A Midē´ of the first degree is aware of the course to be pursued by him when he contemplates advancement into the next higher grade. Before making known to the other members his determination, he is compelled to procure, either by purchase or otherwise, such a quantity of blankets, robes, peltries, and other articles of apparel or ornament as will amount in value to twice the sum at which were estimated the gifts presented at his first initiation. A year or more usually elapses before this can be accomplished, as but one hunting season intervenes before the next annual meeting of the society, when furs are in their prime; and fruits and maple sugar can be gathered but once during the season, and these may be converted into money with which to purchase presents not always found 225 at the Indian traders’ stores. Friends may be called upon to advance goods to effect the accomplishment of his desire, but such loans must be returned in kind later on, unless otherwise agreed. When a candidate feels convinced that he has gathered sufficient material to pay for his advancement, he announces to those members of the society who are of a higher grade than the first degree that he wishes to present himself at the proper time for initiation. This communication is made to eight of the highest or officiating priests, in his own wig´iwam, to which they have been specially invited. A feast is prepared and partaken of, after which he presents to each some tobacco, and smoking is indulged in for the purpose of making proper offerings, as already described. The candidate then informs his auditors of his desire and enumerates the various goods and presents which he has procured to offer at the proper time. The Midē´ priests sit in silence and meditate; but as they have already been informally aware of the applicant’s wish, they are prepared as to the answer they will give, and are governed according to the estimated value of the gifts. Should the decision of the Midē´ priests be favorable, the candidate procures the services of one of those present to assume the office of instructor or preceptor, to whom, as well as to the officiating priests, he displays his ability in his adopted specialties in medical magic, etc. He seeks, furthermore, to acquire additional information upon the preparation of certain secret remedies, and to this end he selects a preceptor who has the reputation of possessing it.
For acting in the capacity of instructor, a Midē´ priest receives blankets, horses, and whatever may be mutually agreed upon between himself and his pupil. The meetings take place at the instructor’s wig´iwam at intervals of a week or two; and sometimes during the autumn months, preceding the summer in which the initiation is to be conferred, the candidate is compelled to resort to a sudatory and take a vapor bath, as a means of purgation preparatory to his serious consideration of the sacred rites and teachings with which his mind “and heart” must henceforth be occupied, to the exclusion of everything that might tend to divert his thoughts.
What the special peculiarities and ceremonials of initiation into the second degree may have been in former times, it is impossible to ascertain at this late day. The only special claims for benefits to be derived through this advancement, as well as into the third and fourth degrees, are, that a Midē´ upon his admission into a new degree receives the protection of that Man´idō alleged and believed to be the special guardian of such degree, and that the repetition of initiation adds to the magic powers previously received by the initiate. In the first degree the sacred mīgis was “shot” into the two sides, the heart, and head of the candidate, whereas in the second degree this sacred, or magic, influence, is directed by the priests 226 toward the candidate’s joints, in accordance with a belief entertained by some priests and referred to in connection with the Red Lake chart presented on Pl. III. The second, third, and fourth degrees are practically mere repetitions of the first, and the slight differences between them are noted under their respective captions.
In addition to a recapitulation of the secrets pertaining to the therapeutics of the Midē´, a few additional magic remedies are taught the candidate in his preparatory instruction. The chief of these are described below.
Ma-kwa´ wī´-i-sŏp, “Bear’s Gall,” and Pi´-zhi-ki wī´-i-sŏp, “Ox Gall,” are both taken from the freshly killed animal and hung up to dry. It is powdered as required, and a small pinch of it is dissolved in water, a few drops of which are dropped into the ear of a patient suffering from earache.
Gō´-gi-mish (gen. et sp.?).—A plant, described by the preceptor as being about 2 feet in height, having black bark and clusters of small red flowers.
1. The bark is scraped from the stalk, crushed and dried. When it is to be used the powder is put into a small bag of cloth and soaked in hot water to extract the virtue. It is used to expel evil man´idōs which cause obstinate coughs, and is also administered to consumptives. The quantity of bark derived from eight stems, each 10 inches long, makes a large dose. When a Midē´ gives this medicine to a patient, he fills his pipe and smokes, and before the tobacco is all consumed the patient vomits.
2. The root of this plant mixed with the following is used to produce paralysis of the mouth. In consequence of the power it possesses it is believed to be under the special protection of the Midē´ Man´idō, i.e., Ki´tshi Man´idō.
The compound is employed also to counteract the evil intentions, conjurations, or other charms of so-called bad Midē´, Wâbĕnō´, and Jĕs´sakkīd´.
Tzhi-bē´-gŏp—“Ghost Leaf.”
After the cuticle is removed from the roots the thick under-bark is crushed into a powder. It is mixed with Gō´gimish.
Dzhi-bai´-ĕ-mŏk´-ke-zĭn´—“Ghost Moccasin;” “Puff-ball.”
The spore-dust of the ball is carefully reserved to add to the above mixture.
O-kwē´-mish—“Bitter Black Cherry.”
The inner bark of branches dried and crushed is also added.
Nē´-wĕ—“Rattlesnake” (Crotalus durissus, L.).
The reptile is crushed and the blood collected, dried, and used in a pulverulent form. After partially crushing the body it is hung up and the drippings collected and dried. Other snakes may be employed as a substitute.
It is impossible to state the nature of the plants mentioned in the above compound, as they are not indigenous to the vicinity of White Earth, Minnesota, but are procured from Indians living in the eastern extremity of the State and in Wisconsin. Poisonous plants are of rare occurrence in this latitude, and if any actual poisonous properties exist in the mixture they may be introduced by the Indian himself, as strychnia is frequently to be purchased at almost any of the stores, to be used in the extermination of noxious animals. Admitting that crotalus venom may be present, the introduction into the human circulation of this substance would without doubt produce death and not paralysis of the facial muscles, and if taken into the stomach it quickly undergoes chemical change when brought in contact with the gastric juice, as is well known 227 from experiments made by several well known physiologists, and particularly by Dr. Coxe (Dispensatory, 1839), who employed the contents of the venom sack, mixed with bread, for the cure of rheumatism.
I mention this because of my personal knowledge of six cases at White Earth, in which paralysis of one side of the face occurred soon after the Midē´ administered this compound. In nearly all of them the distortion disappeared after a lapse of from six weeks to three months, though one is known to have continued for several years with no signs of recovery. The Catholic missionary at White Earth, with whom conversation was held upon this subject, feels impressed that some of the so-called “bad Midē´” have a knowledge of some substance, possibly procured from the whites, which they attempt to employ in the destruction of enemies, rivals, or others. It may be possible that the instances above referred to were cases in which the dose was not sufficient to kill the victim, but was enough to disable him temporarily. Strychnia is the only substance attainable by them that could produce such symptoms, and then only when given in an exceedingly small dose. It is also alleged by almost every one acquainted with the Ojibwa that they do possess poisons, and that they employ them when occasion demands in the removal of personal enemies or the enemies of those who amply reward the Midē´ for such service.
When the time of ceremony of initiation approaches, the chief Midē´ priest sends out a courier to deliver to each member an invitation to attend (Pl. XII), while the candidate removes his wig´iwam to the vicinity of the place where the Midē´wigân has been erected. On the fifth day before the celebration he visits the sweat-lodge, where he takes his first vapor bath, followed on the next by another; on the following day he takes the third bath, after which his preceptor visits him. After making an offering to Ki´tshi Man´iō the priest sings a song, of which the characters are reproduced in Pl. XIII, A. The Ojibwa words employed in singing are given in the first lines, and are said to be the ancient phraseology as taught for many generations. They are archaic, to a great extent, and have additional meaningless syllables inserted, and used as suffixes which are intoned to prolong notes. The second line of the Ojibwa text consists of the words as they are spoken at the present time, to each of which is added the interpretation. The radical similarity between the two is readily perceived.
During this interval another smoke offering is made, in which the Midē´ priest is joined by the candidate.
Hĭu´-a-me´-da-ma´ ki´-a-wēn´-da-mag man´-i-dō´-wĭt hĭu´-a-wen´-da-mag.
(As sung.) He tells us he is [one] of the man´idōs. [This ma´nidō is the same as that referred to in the above-named phrase. This form is different, the four spots denoting the four sacred mī´gis points upon his body, the short radiating lines referring to the abundance of magic powers with which it is filled.] |
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Wa´-sa-wa´-dī, hē´, wen´-da-na-ma´, mĭ-tē´-win. (As
sung.) I get it from afar mi-dē´-wi-wĭn´. The “grand medicine.” [The character represents a leg, with a magic line drawn across the middle, to signify that the distance is accomplished only through the medium of supernatural powers. The place “from afar” refers to the abode of Ki´tshi Man´idō.] |
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Ki-go´-na-bi-hin ē´-ni-na mi-tē´. (As sung.) I place you there “in the grand medicine” (among the “Midē´ people”) a-bit´-da-win´. Half way (in the Midē´wigân). [The Midē´ priest informs the candidate that the second initiation will advance the candidate half way into the secrets of the Midē´wigân. The candidate is then placed so that his body will have more magic influence and power as indicated by the zigzag lines radiating from it toward the sky.] |
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229 |
Hi´-sha-we-ne´-me-go´, hē´, nē´. They have pity on me those who are sitting here. [This request is made to the invisible man´idōs who congregate in the Mide´wigân during the ceremonies, and the statement implies that they approve of the candidate’s advancement.] |
Another smoke offering is made upon the completion of this song, after which both individuals retire to their respective habitations. Upon the following day, that being the one immediately preceding the day of ceremony, the candidate again repairs to the sudatory to take a last vapor bath, after the completion of which he awaits the coming of his preceptor for final conversation and communion with man´idōs respecting the step he is prepared to take upon the morrow.
The preceptor’s visit is merely for the purpose of singing to the candidate, and impressing him with the importance of the rites of the Midē´wigân. After making the usual offering of tobacco smoke the preceptor becomes inspired and sings a song, the following being a reproduction of the one employed by him at this stage of the preparatory instruction. (See Pl. XIII, B.)
[The zigzag lines extending downward and outward from the mouth indicate singing. He has reached the power of a man´idō, and is therefore empowered to sit within the sacred inclosure of the Midē´wigân, to which he alludes.] |
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Da´-bī-wā-ni´, ha´, hē´, An´-nĭn, e-kō´-wē-an´. Drifting snow, why do I sing. [The first line is sung, but no interpretation of the words could be obtained, and it was alleged that the second line contained the idea to be expressed. The horizontal curve denotes the sky, the vertical zigzag lines indicating falling snow—though being exactly like the lines employed to denote rain. The drifting snow is likened to a shower of delicate mī´gis shells or spots, and inquiry is made of it to account for the feeling of inspiration experienced by the singer, as this shower of mī´gis descends from the abode of Ki´tshi Man´idō and is therefore, in this instance, looked upon as sacred.] |
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Rest, or pause. |
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230 |
Gi-man´-i-dō´-wē, ni´-me-ne´-ki-nan´ wan-da. Your body, I believe it is a spirit. Gi-a-wĭngk. your body. [The first line is sung, but the last word could not be satisfactorily explained. The first word, as now pronounced, is Ki´tshi Man´idō, and the song is addressed to him. The curved line, from which the arm protrudes, is the Midē´wigân and the arm itself is that of the speaker in the attitude of adoration: reaching upward in worship and supplication.] |
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[The second word is of archaic form and no agreement concerning its correct signification could be reached by the Midē´. The meaning of the phrase appears to be that Ki´tshi Man´idō promised to create the Thunder-bird, one of the man´idōs. The falcon is here taken as a representative of that deity, the entire group of Thunderers being termed a-ni´-mi-ki´.] |
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[The character of the bear represents the great bear spirit of the malevolent type, a band about his body indicating his spirit form. By means of his power and influence the singer has become endowed with the ability of changing his form into that of the bear, and in this guise accomplishing good or evil. The reference to flame (fire) denotes the class of conjurers or Shamans to which this power is granted, i.e., the Wâbĕnō´, and in the second degree this power is reached as will be referred to further on.] |
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Ni´-a-wen´-din-da-sa´, ha´, sa´, man´-i-dō´-wid.
[The first line is sung, and is not of the modern style of spoken language. The second line signifies that the arm of Ki´tshi Man´idō, through the intermediary of the Midē´ priest, will put the spirit, i.e., the mī´gis, into the body of the candidate.] |
The singer accompanies his song either by using a short baton of wood, termed “singing stick” or the Midē´ drum. After the song is completed another present of tobacco is given to the preceptor, and after making an offering of smoke both persons return to their respective wig´iwams. Later in the evening the preceptor calls upon the candidate, when both, with the assistance of friends, carry the presents to the Midē´wigân, where they are suspended from the rafters, 231 to be ready for distribution after the initiation on the following day. Several friends of the candidate, who are Midē´, are stationed at the doors of the Midē´wigân to guard against the intrusion of the uninitiated, or the possible abstraction of the gifts by strangers.
INITIATION OF CANDIDATE.
The candidate proceeds early on the morning of the day of initiation to take possession of the sweat-lodge, where he awaits the coming of his preceptor and the eight officiating priests. He has an abundance of tobacco with which to supply all the active participants, so that they may appease any feeling of opposition of the man´idōs toward the admission of a new candidate, and to make offerings of tobacco to the guardian spirit of the second degree of the Midē´wiwin. After the usual ceremony of smoking individual songs are indulged in by the Midē´ priests until such time as they may deem it necessary to proceed to the Midē´wigân, where the members of the society have long since gathered and around which is scattered the usual crowd of spectators. The candidate leads the procession from the sweat-lodge to the eastern entrance of the Midē´wigân, carrying an ample supply of tobacco and followed by the priests who chant. When the head of the procession arrives at the door of the sacred inclosure a halt is made, the priests going forward and entering. The drummer, stationed within, begins to drum and sing, while the preceptor and chief officiating priest continue their line of march around the inclosure, going by way of the south or left hand. Eight circuits are made, the last terminating at the main or eastern entrance. The drumming then ceases and the candidate is taken to the inner side of the door, when all the members rise and stand in their places. The officiating priests approach and stand near the middle of the inclosure, facing the candidate, when one of them says to the Midē´ priest beside the latter: O-da´-pin a-sē´-ma—“Take it, the tobacco,” whereupon the Midē´ spoken to relieves the candidate of the tobacco and carries it to the middle of the inclosure, where it is laid upon a blanket spread upon the ground. The preceptor then takes from the cross-poles some of the blankets or robes and gives them to the candidate to hold. One of the malevolent spirits which oppose the entrance of a stranger is still supposed to remain with the Midē´wigân, its body being that of a serpent, like flames of fire, reaching from the earth to the sky. He is called I´-shi-ga-nē´-bĭ-gŏg—“Big-Snake.” To appease his anger the candidate must make a present; so the preceptor says for the candidate:
Ka-wī´n-nĭ-na-ga´ | wa´-ba-ma´-si-ba´-shĭ-gi´-ne-gēt´? |
Do you not see | how he carries the goods? |
This being assented to by the Midē´ priests the preceptor takes the blankets and deposits them near the tobacco upon the ground. Slight taps upon the Midē´ drum are heard and the candidate is led 232 toward the left on his march round the interior of the Midē´wigân, the officiating priests following and being followed in succession by all others present. The march continues until the eighth passage round, when the members begin to step back into their respective places, while the officiating Midē´ finally station themselves with their backs toward the westernmost degree post, and face the door at the end of the structure. The candidate continues round to the western end, faces the Midē´ priests, and all sit down. The following song is then sung, which may be the individual production of the candidate (Pl. XIII, C). A song is part of the ritual, though it is not necessary that the candidate should sing it, as the preceptor may do so for him. In the instance under my observation the song was an old one (which had been taught the candidate), as the archaic form of pronunciation indicates. Each of the lines is repeated as often as the singer may desire, the prolongation of the song being governed by his inspired condition. The same peculiarity governs the insertion, between words and at the end of lines, of apparently meaningless vowel sounds, to reproduce and prolong the last notes sounded. This may be done ad libitum, rythmical accentuation being maintained by gently tapping upon the Midē´ drum.
Hĭa´-ni-de hĕn´-da man´-i-dō, hō´, Where is the spirit lodge? I go through it. [The oblong structure represents the Midē´wigân, the arm upon the left indicating the course of the path leading through it, the latter being shown by a zigzag line.] |
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Nin-gō´-sa mĭ-dē´-kwe ni-ka´ na´-ska-wa´. I am afraid of the “grand medicine” woman; I go to her. A leg is shown to signify locomotion. The singer fears the opposition of a Midē´ priestess and will conciliate her. |
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Ka-ni-sa´ hi´-a-tshi´-mĭn-dē´ man´-ski-kī´, dē´, hē´, hē´. Kinsmen who speak of me, they see the striped sky. A person of superior power, as designated by the horns attached to the head. The lines from the mouth signify voice or speech, while the horizontal lines denote the stratus clouds, the height above the earth of which illustrates the direction of the abode of the spirit whose conversation, referring to the singer, is observed crossing them as short vertical zigzag lines; i.e., voice lines. |
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Ke´-na-nan´-do-mē´ ko-nō´-ne-nak The cloud looks to me for medicine. [The speaker has become so endowed with the power of magic influence that he has preference with the superior Man´idōs. The magic influence is shown descending to the hand which reaches beyond the cloud indicated by the oblong square upon the forearm.] |
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Rest, after which dancing begins. |
Wa-tshu´-a-nē´ ke´-ba-bing´-e-on´, wa-dzhū. Going into the mountains. The singer’s thoughts go to the summit to commune with Ki´tshi Man´idō. He is shown upon the summit. |
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Hi´-mĕ-de´-wa hen´-dĕ-a he´-na. The grand medicine affects me. In his condition he appeals to Ki´tshi Man´idō for aid. The arms represent the act of supplication. |
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Hai´-an-go ho´-ya o´-gĕ-ma, ha´. The chief goes out. The arms grasp a bear—the Bear Man´idō—and the singer intimates that he desires the aid of that powerful spirit, who is one of the guardians of the Midē´wigân. |
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Nish´-o-wē´ ni-mē´-hi-gō´, hē´, ni-gō´-tshi-mi´-go-we, hē´. Have pity on me wherever I have medicine. The speaker is filled with magic influence, upon the strength of which he asks the Bear to pity and to aid him. |
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Wi´-so-mi´-ko-wē´ hĕ-a-za-we´-ne-ne-gō´, hō´. I am the beaver; have pity on me. This is said to indicate that the original maker of the mnemonic song was of the Beaver totem or gens. |
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Hēn´-ta-no-wik´-ko-we´ de-wĕn´-da ĕn-da-â´-dân. I wish to know what is the matter with me. The singer feels peculiarly impressed by his surroundings in the Midē´wigân, because the sacred man´idōs have filled his body with magic powers. These are shown by the zigzag or waving lines descending to the earth. |
As each of the preceding lines or verses is sung in such a protracted manner as to appear like a distinct song, the dancers, during the intervals of rest, always retire to their places and sit down. 234 The dancing is not so energetic as many of those commonly indulged in for amusement only. The steps consist of two treading movements made by each foot in succession. Keeping time with the drum-beats, at the same time there is a shuffling movement made by the dancer forward, around and among his companions, but getting back toward his place before the verse is ended. The attitude during these movements consists in bending the body forward, while the knees are bent, giving one the appearance of searching for a lost object. Those who do not sing give utterance to short, deep grunts, in accordance with the alternate heavier strokes upon the drum.
As the dancing ceases, and all are in their proper seats, the preceptor, acting for the candidate, approaches the pile of tobacco and distributes a small quantity to each one present, when smoking is indulged in, preceded by the usual offering to the east, the south, the west, the north, the sky and the earth.
After the completion of this ceremonial an attendant carries the Midē´ drum to the southeast angle of the inclosure, where it is delivered to the drummer; then the officiating priests rise and approach within two or three paces of the candidate as he gets upon his knees. The preceptor and the assistant who is called upon by him take their places immediately behind and to either side of the candidate, and the Midē´ priest lowest in order of precedence begins to utter quick, deep tones, resembling the sound hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, hŏ´, at the same time grasping his midē´ sack with both hands, as if it were a gun, and moving it in a serpentine and interrupted manner toward one of the large joints of the candidate’s arms or legs. At the last utterance of this sound he produces a quick puff with the breath and thrusts the bag forward as if shooting, which he pretends to do, the missile being supposed to be the invisible sacred mī´gis. The other priests follow in order from the lowest to the highest, each selecting a different joint, during which ordeal the candidate trembles more and more violently until at last he is overcome with the magic influence and falls forward upon the ground unconscious. The Midē´ priests then lay their sacks upon his back, when the candidate begins to recover and spit out the mī´gis shell which he had previously hidden within his mouth. Then the chief Midē´ takes it up between the tips of the forefinger and thumb and goes through the ceremony described in connection with the initiation into the first degree, of holding it toward the east, south, west, north, and the sky, and finally to the mouth of the candidate, when the latter, who has partly recovered from his apparently insensible condition, again relapses into that state. The eight priests then place their sacks to the respective joints at which they previously directed them, which fully infuses the body with the magic influence as desired. Upon this the candidate recovers, takes up the mī´gis shell and, placing it upon his left palm, holds it forward and swings it from side to side, saying he! 235 he! he! he! he! and pretends to swallow it, this time only reeling from its effects. He is now restored to a new life for the second time; and as the priests go to seek seats he is left on the southern side and seats himself. After all those who have been occupied with the initiation have hung up their midē´ sacks on available projections against the wall or branches, the new member goes forward to the pile of tobacco, blankets, and other gifts and divides them among those present, giving the larger portions to the officiating priests. He then passes around once more, stopping before each one to pass his hands over the sides of the priests’ heads, and says:
Mi-gwĕtsh´ | ga-shi-tō´-win | bi-mâ´-dĭ-si-wĭn, |
Thanks | for giving to me | life, |
after which he retreats a step, and clasping his hands and bowing toward the priest, says:
Ni-ka´-ni | ni-ka´ni | ni-ka´-ni ka-nia´, |
fellow midē´ | fellow midē´ | fellow midē´, |
to which each responds hau´, ēn. The word hau´ is a term of approbation, ēn signifying yes, or affirmation, the two thus used together serving to intensify the expression. Those of the Midē´ present who are of the second, or even some higher degree, then indulge in the ceremony of passing around to the eastern part of the inclosure, where they feign coughing and gagging, so as to produce from the mouth the mī´gis shell, as already narrated in connection with the first degree, p. 192.
This manner of thanking the officiating Midē´ for their services in initiating the candidate into a higher degree is extended also to those members of the Midē´wiwin who are of the first degree only, in acknowledgment of the favor of their presence at the ceremony, they being eligible to attend ceremonial rites of any degree higher than the class to which they belong, because such men are neither benefited nor influenced in any way by merely witnessing such initiation, but they must themselves take the principal part in it to receive the favor of a renewed life and to become possessed of higher power and increased magic influence.
Various members of the society indulge in short harangues, recounting personal exploits in the performance of magic and exorcism, to which the auditors respond in terms of gratification and exclamations of approval. During these recitals the ushers, appointed for the purpose, leave the inclosure by the western door to return in a short time with kettles of food prepared for the midē´ feast. The ushers make four circuits of the interior, giving to each person present a quantity of the contents of the several vessels, so that all receive sufficient to gratify their desires. When the last of the food has been consumed, or removed, the midē´ drum is heard, and soon a song is started, in which all who desire join. After the first two or three verses of the song are recited, a short interval of 236 rest is taken, but when it is resumed dancing begins and is continued to the end. In this manner they indulge in singing and dancing, interspersed with short speeches, until the approach of sunset, when the members retire to their own wig´iwams, leaving the Midē´-wigân by the western egress.
The ushers, assisted by the chief Midē´, then remove the sacred post from the inclosure and arrange the interior for new initiations, either of a lower or higher class, if candidates have prepared and presented themselves. In case there is no further need of meeting again at once, the members of the society and visitors return upon the following day to their respective homes.
DESCRIPTIVE NOTES.
The mī´gis shell employed in the second degree initiation is of the same species as those before mentioned. At White Earth, however, some of the priests claim an additional shell as characteristic of this advanced degree, and insist that this should be as nearly round as possible, having a perforation through it by which it may be secured with a strand or sinew. In the absence of a rounded white shell a bead may be used as a substitute. On Pl. XI, No. 4, is presented an illustration of the bead (the second-degree mī´gis) presented to me on the occasion of my initiation.
With reference to the style of facial decoration resorted to in this degree nearly all of the members now paint the face according to their own individual tastes, though a few old men still adhere to the traditional method previously described (pp. 180, 181). The candidate usually adopts the style practiced by his preceptor, to which he is officially entitled; but if the preceptor employed in the preparatory instruction for the second degree be not the same individual whose services were retained for the first time, then the candidate has the privilege of painting his face according to the style of the preceding degree. If he follow his last preceptor it is regarded as an exceptional token of respect, and the student is not expected to follow the method in his further advancement.
A Midē´ of the second degree is also governed by his tutelary daimon; e.g., if during the first fast and vision he saw a bear, he now prepares a necklace of bear-claws, which is worn about the neck and crosses the middle of the breast. He now has the power of changing his form into that of a bear; and during that term of his disguise he wreaks vengeance upon his detractors and upon victims for whose destruction he has been liberally rewarded. Immediately upon the accomplishment of such an act he resumes his human form and thus escapes identification and detection. Such persons are termed by many “bad medicine men,” and the practice of thus debasing the sacred teachings of the Midē´wiwin is discountenanced by members of the society generally. Such pretensions are firmly believed in 237 and acknowledged by the credulous and are practiced by that class of Shamans here designated as the Wâbĕnō´.
In his history129 Rev. Mr. Jones says:
As the powwows always unite witchcraft with the application of their medicines I shall here give a short account of this curious art.
Witches and wizards are persons supposed to possess the agency of familiar spirits from whom they receive power to inflict diseases on their enemies, prevent good luck of the hunter and the success of the warrior. They are believed to fly invisibly at pleasure from place to place; to turn themselves into bears, wolves, foxes, owls, bats, and snakes. Such metamorphoses they pretend to accomplish by putting on the skins of these animals, at the same time crying and howling in imitation of the creature they wish to represent. Several of our people have informed me that they have seen and heard witches in the shape of these animals, especially the bear and the fox. They say that when a witch in the shape of a bear is being chased all at once she will run round a tree or a hill, so as to be lost sight of for a time by her pursuers, and then, instead of seeing a bear they behold an old woman walking quietly along or digging up roots, and looking as innocent as a lamb. The fox witches are known by the flame of fire which proceeds out of their mouths every time they bark.
Many receive the name of witches without making any pretensions to the art, merely because they are deformed or ill-looking. Persons esteemed witches or wizards are generally eccentric characters, remarkably wicked, of a ragged appearance and forbidding countenance. The way in which they are made is either by direct communication with the familiar spirit during the days of their fasting, or by being instructed by those skilled in the art.
A Midē´ of the second degree has the reputation of superior powers on account of having had the mī´gis placed upon all of his joints, and especially because his heart is filled with magic power, as is shown in Pl. III, No. 48. In this drawing the disk upon the breast denotes where the mī´gis has been “shot” into the figure, the enlarged size of the circle signifying “greater abundance,” in contradistinction to the common designation of a mī´gis shown only by a simple spot or small point. One of this class is enabled to hear and see what is transpiring at a remote distance, the lines from the hands indicating that he is enabled to grasp objects which are beyond the reach of a common person, and the lines extending from the feet signifying that he can traverse space and transport himself to the most distant points. Therefore he is sought after by hunters for aid in the discovery and capture of game, for success in war, and for the destruction of enemies, however remote may be their residence.
When an enemy or a rival is to be dealt with a course is pursued similar to that followed when preparing hunting charts, though more powerful magic medicines are used. In the following description of a pictograph recording such an occurrence the Midē´, or rather the Wâbĕnō´, was of the fourth degree of the Midē´wiwin. The indication of the grade of the operator is not a necessary part of the record, but in this instance appears to have been prompted 238 from motives of vanity. The original sketch, of which Fig. 24 is a reproduction, was drawn upon birch-bark by a Midē´, in 1884, and the ceremony detailed actually occurred at White Earth, Minnesota. By a strange coincidence the person against whom vengeance was aimed died of pneumonia the following spring, the disease having resulted from cold contracted during the preceding winter. The victim resided at a camp more than a hundred miles east of the locality above named, and his death was attributed to the Midē´’s power, a reputation naturally procuring for him many new adherents and disciples. The following is the explanation as furnished by a Midē´ familiar with the circumstances:
No. 1 is the author of the chart, a Midē´ who was called upon to take the life of a man living at a distant camp. The line extending from the midē´ to the figure at No. 9, signifies that his influence will reach to that distance.
No. 2, the applicant for assistance.
Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6, represent the four degrees of the Midē´wiwin (of which the operator, in this instance, was a member). The degrees are furthermore specifically designated by short vertical strokes.
No. 7 is the midē´ drum used during the ceremony of preparing the charm.
No. 8 represents the body of the intended victim. The heart is indicated, and upon this spot was rubbed a small quantity of vermilion.
No. 9 is the outline of a lake, where the subject operated upon resided.
War parties are not formed at this time, but mnemonic charts of songs used by priests to encourage war parties, are still extant, and a reproduction of one is given on Pl. XIII, D. This song was used by the Midē´ priest to insure success to the parties. The members who intended participating in the exhibition would meet on the evening preceding their departure, and while listening to the words, some would join in the singing while others would dance. The lines may be repeated ad libitum so as to lengthen the entire series of phrases according to the prevalent enthusiasm and the time at the disposal of the performers. The war drum was used, and there were always five or six drummers so as to produce sufficient noise to accord with the loud and animated singing of a large body of excited men. This drum is, in size, like that employed for dancing. It is made by covering with rawhide an old kettle, or wooden vessel, from 2 to 3 feet in diameter. The drum is then attached to four sticks, or short posts, so as to prevent its touching the ground, thus affording every advantage for producing full and resonant sounds, when struck. The drumsticks are strong withes, at the end of each of which is fastened a ball of buckskin thongs. The following lines are repeated ad libitum:
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Hu´-na-wa´-na ha´-wā, un-do´-dzhe-na´ ha-we´-nĕ. I am looking [feeling] for my paint. [The Midē’s hands are at his medicine sack searching for his war paint.] |
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Hĭa´-dzhi-mĭn-de´ non´-da-kō´, hō´, They hear me speak of legs. Refers to speed in the expedition. To the left of the leg is the arm of a spirit, which is supposed to infuse magic influence so as to give speed and strength. |
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Hu´-wa-ke´, na´, ha´, He said, The Turtle Man´idō will lend his aid in speed. The turtle was one of the swiftest man´idōs, until through some misconduct, Min´abō´zho deprived him of his speed. |
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Wa´-tshe, ha´, hwē, wa´-ka-te´, hē´, wa´-tshe, ha´, hwē´. Powder, he said. [The modern form of Wa´-ka-te´, he´, hwā´, is ma´-ka-dē´-hwa; other archaic words occur also in other portions of this song. The phrase signifies that the Midē´ Man´idō favors good results from the use of powder. His form projects from the top of the Midē´ structure.] |
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Rest. A smoke is indulged in after which the song is resumed, accompanied with dancing. |
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Sin-go´-na wa-kī´ na-ha´-ka I made him cry. The figure is that of a turkey buzzard which the speaker shot. |
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Te-wa´-tshi-me-kwe´-na, ha´, na-ke´-nan. They tell of my powers. The people speak highly of the singer’s magic powers; a charmed arrow is shown which terminates above with feather-web ornament, enlarged to signify its greater power. |
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He´-wĕ-ne-nis´-sa ma-he´-ka-nĕn´-na. What have I killed, it is a wolf. By aid of his magic influence the speaker has destroyed a bad man´idō which had assumed the form of a wolf. |
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Sun´-gu-we´-wa, ha´, nīn-dēn´, tshi´-man-da´-kwa ha´na-nĭn-dēn´. I am as strong as the bear. The Midē´ likens his powers to those of the Bear Man´idō, one of the most powerful spirits; his figure protrudes from the top of the Midē´wigân while his spirit form is indicated by the short lines upon the back. |
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Wa´-ka-na´-ni, hē´, wa´-ka-na´-ni. I wish to smoke. The pipe used is that furnished by the promoter or originator of the war party, termed a “partisan.” The Midē´ is in full accord with the work undertaken and desires to join, signifying his wish by desiring to smoke with the braves. |
He´-wa-hō´-a hai´-a-nē´ I even use a wooden image. Effigies made to represent one who is to be destroyed. The heart is punctured, vermilion or other magic powder is applied, and the death of the victim is encompassed. |
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Pa-kwa´ ma-ko-nē´ ā´, ō´, hē´, The bear goes round angry. [The Bear Man´idō is angry because the braves are dilatory in going to war. The sooner they decide upon this course, the better it will be for the Midē´ as to his fee, and the chances of success are greater while the braves are infused with enthusiasm, than if they should become sluggish and their ardor become subdued.] |
THIRD DEGREE.
The structure in which the third degree of the Midē´wiwin is conferred resembles that of the two preceding, and an outline is presented in Fig. 25. In this degree three posts are erected, the first one resembling that of the first degree, being painted red with a band of green around the top. (Pl. XV, No. 1.) This is planted a short distance to the east of the middle of the floor. The second post is also painted red, but has scattered over its entire surface spots of white clay, each of about the size of a silver quarter of a dollar, symbolical of the mī´gis shell. Upon the top of this post is placed the stuffed body of an owl—Kŏ-kó-kŏ-ō´. (Pl. XV, No. 2.) This post is planted a short distance west of the first one and about midway between it and the third, which last is erected within about 6 or 8 feet from the western door, and is painted black. (Pl. XV, No. 3.) The sacred stone against which patients are placed, and which has the alleged virtue of removing or expelling the demons that cause disease, is placed upon the ground at the usual spot near the eastern entrance (Fig. 25, No. 1). The Makwá Man´idō—bear spirit—is the tutelary guardian of this degree. Cedar trees are planted at each of the outer angles of the structure (Fig. 25, Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9). The sudatory is erected about 100 yards due east of the main entrance of the Midē´wigân, and is of the same size and for the same purpose as that for the second degree.
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PREPARATION OF CANDIDATE.
It is customary for the period of one year to elapse before a second-degree Midē´ can be promoted, even if he be provided with enough presents for such advancement. As the exacted fee consists of goods and tobacco thrice the value of the fee for the first degree, few present themselves. This degree is not held in as high estimation, relatively, as the preceding one; but it is alleged that a Midē´’s powers are intensified by again subjecting himself to the ceremony of being “shot with the sacred mī´gis,” and he is also elevated to that rank by means of which he may be enabled the better to invoke the assistance of the tutelary guardian of this degree.
A Midē´ who has in all respects complied with the preliminaries of announcing to the chief Midē´ his purpose, gaining satisfactory evidence of his resources and ability to present the necessary presents, and of his proficiency in the practice of medical magic, etc., selects a preceptor of at least the third degree and one who is held in high repute and influence in the Midē´wiwin. After procuring the services of such a person and making a satisfactory agreement with him, he may be enabled to purchase from him some special formulæ for which he is distinguished. The instruction embraces a résumé of the traditions previously given, the various uses and properties of magic plants and compounds with which the preceptor is familiar, and conversations relative to exploits performed in medication, incantation, and exorcism. Sometimes the candidate is enabled to acquire new “medicines” to add to his list, and the following is a translation of the tradition relating to the origin of ginseng (Aralia quinquefolia, Gr.), the so-called “man root,” held in high estimation as of divine origin. In Fig. 3 is presented a pictorial representation of the story, made by Ojibwa, a Midē´ priest of White Earth, Minnesota. The tradition purports to be an account of a visit of the spirit of a boy to the abode of Dzhibai´Man´idō, “the chief spirit of the place of souls,” called Ne´-ba-gi´-zis, “the land of the sleeping sun.”
There appears to be some similarity between this tradition and that given in connection with Pl. V, in which the Sun Spirit restored to life a boy, by which act he exemplified a portion of the ritual of the Midē´wiwin. It is probable therefore that the following tradition is a corruption of the former and made to account for the origin of “man root,” as ginseng is designated, this root, or certain portions of it, being so extensively employed in various painful complaints.
Once an old Midē´, with his wife and son, started out on a hunting trip, and, as the autumn was changing into winter, the three erected a substantial wig´iwam. The snow began to fall and the cold increased, so they decided to remain and eat of their stores, game having been abundant and a good supply having been procured. 242 The son died; whereupon his mother immediately set out for the village to obtain help to restore him to life, as she believed her father, the chief priest of the Midē´-wiwin, able to accomplish this.
When the woman informed her father of the death of her son, her brother, who was present, immediately set out in advance to render assistance. The chief priest then summoned three assistant Midē´, and they accompanied his daughter to the place where the body of his dead grandson lay upon the floor of the wig´iwam, covered with robes.
The chief Midē´ placed himself at the left shoulder of the dead boy, the next in rank at the right, while the two other assistants stationed themselves at the feet. Then the youngest Midē´—he at the right foot of the deceased—began to chant a midē´ song, which he repeated a second, a third, and a fourth time.
When he had finished, the Midē´ at the left foot sang a midē´ song four times; then the Midē´ at the right shoulder of the body did the same, after which the chief Midē´ priest sang his song four times, whereupon there was a perceptible movement under the blanket, and as the limbs began to move the blanket was taken off, when the boy sat up. Being unable to speak, he made signs that he desired water, which was given to him.
The four Midē´ priests then chanted medicine songs, each preparing charmed remedies which were given to the boy to complete his recovery. The youngest Midē´, standing at the foot of the patient, gave him four pinches of powder, which he was made to swallow; the Midē´ at the left foot did the same; then the Midē´ at the right shoulder did likewise, and he, in turn, was followed by the chief priest standing at the left shoulder of the boy; whereupon the convalescent immediately recovered his speech and said that during the time that his body had been in a trance his spirit had been in the “spirit land,” and had learned of the “grand medicine.”
The boy then narrated what his spirit had experienced during the trance, as follows: “Gi´-gi-min´-ĕ-go´-min mi-dē´-wi-wĭn mi-dē´ man´-i-dō´ B’n-gi-gĭn´-o-a-mâk ban-dzhi´-ge´-o-we´-ân ta´-zi-ne´-zho-wak´ ni-zha´-nĕ-zak, kĭ-wi´-de-gĕt´ mi´-o-pi´-ke´-ne-bŭi´-yan ka-ki´-nĕ ka-we´-dĕ-ge´ mi´-o-wŏk-pi´ i-kan´-o-a-mag´-ĭ-na mi-dē´ man´i-dō wi-we´-ni-tshi mi-dē´-wi-wĭn, ki´-mi-mâ´-dĭ-si-win´-in-ân´ ki-mi´-nĭ-go-nan´ ge-on´-dĕ-na-mŏngk ki´-mi-mâ´-di-si´-wa-in-an´; ki´-ki-no´-a-mag´-wi-nan´ mash´-kĭ-ki o-gi´-mi-ni´-go-wan´ o-dzhi-bi´-gân gi-me´-ni-na-gŭk´ mash´-kĭ-ki-wa´-bon shtĭk-wan´-a-ko-se´-an o-ma´-mâsh´-kĭ-ki ma´-gi-ga´-to ki´-ka-ya-tōn.”
The following is a translation:
“He, the chief spirit of the Midē´ Society, gave us the “grand medicine,” and he has taught us how to use it. I have come back from the spirit land. There will be twelve, all of whom will take wives; when the last of these is no longer without a wife, then will I die. That is the time. The Midē´ spirit taught us to do right. He gave us life and told us how to prolong it. These things he taught us, and gave us roots for medicine. I give to you medicine; if your head is sick, this medicine put upon it, you will put it on.”
The revelation received by the boy was in the above manner imparted to the Indians. The reference to twelve—three times the sacred number four—signifies that twelve chief priests shall succeed each other before death will come to the narrator. It is observed, also, that a number of the words are archaic, which fact appears to be an indication of some antiquity, at least, of the tradition.
The following are the principal forms in which a Midē´ will utilize Aralia quinquefolia, Gr., ginseng—Shtĕ´-na-bi-o´-dzhi-bik:
2431. Small quantities of powdered root are swallowed to relieve stomachic pains.
2. A person complaining with acute pains in any specific part of the body is given that part of the root corresponding to the part affected; e.g., for pleurisy, the side of the root is cut out, and an infusion given to relieve such pains; if one has pains in the lower extremities, the bifurcations of the root are employed; should the pains be in the thorax, the upper part of the root—corresponding to the chest—is used in a similar manner.
INITIATION OF CANDIDATE.
As the candidate for promotion has acquired from his Midē´ friends such new information as they choose to impart, and from his instructor all that was practicable, he has only to await the day of ceremony to be publicly acknowledged as a third-degree Midē´. As this time approaches the invitation sticks are sent to the various members and to such non-resident Midē´ as the officiating priests may wish to honor. On or before the fifth day previous to the meeting the candidate moves to the vicinity of the Midē´wigân. On that day the first sweat bath is taken, and one also upon each succeeding day until four baths, as a ceremony of purification, have been indulged in. On the evening of the day before the meeting his preceptor visits him at his own wig´iwam when, with the assistance of friends, the presents are collected and carried to the Midē´-wigân and suspended from the transverse poles near the roof. The officiating priests may subsequently join him, when smoking and singing form the chief entertainment of the evening.
By this time numerous visitors have gathered together and are encamped throughout the adjacent timber, and the sound of the drum, where dancing is going on, may be heard far into the night.
Early on the morning of the day of the ceremonies the candidate goes to the sudatory where he first awaits the coming of his preceptor and later the arrival of the Midē´ priests by whom he is escorted to the Midē´wigân. With the assistance of the preceptor he arranges his gift of tobacco which he takes with him to the sacred inclosure, after which a smoke offering is made, and later Midē´ songs are chanted. These may be of his own composition as he has been a professor of magic a sufficient lapse of time to have composed them, but to give evidence of superior powers the chief, or some other of the officiating priests, will perhaps be sufficiently inspired to sing. The following was prepared and chanted by one of the Midē´ priests at the third-degree meeting at White Earth, Minnesota, and the illustration in Pl. XIV, A, is a reproduction of the original. The words, with translation, are as follows:
[The two arms are grasping the mī´gis, which he the Midē´ is going to shoot into the body of the candidate. The last word means, literally, trying to hit the mark at random.] |
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The Midē´ arm, signified by the magic zigzag lines at the lower end of the picture, reaches up into the sky to keep it clear; the rain is descending elsewhere as indicated by the lines descending from the sky at the right and left. |
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Rest. |
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The figure represents the sacred mī´gis, as indicated by the short lines radiating from the periphery. The mī´gis is white and the clear sky is compared to it. |
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Sōn´-gi-mi-dē´ wi-ka´-ne, hē´, Take the “grand medicine” strong, as they, together with the “Great Spirit,” tell me. [The candidate is enjoined to persevere in his purpose. The associate Midē´ are alluded to, as also Ki´tshi Man´idō, who urge his continuance and advancement in the sacred society. The arm reaches down to search for the sacred mī´gis of the fourth degree—designated by four vertical lines—which is, as yet, hidden from the person addressed.] |
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Hwa´-ba-mi-dē´, hwa´-ba-mi-dē´, He who sees me, he who sees me, stands on the middle of the earth. [The human figure symbolizes Ki´tshi Man´idō; the magic lines cross his body, while his legs rest upon the outline of the Midē´wigân. His realm, the sky, reaches from the zenith to the earth, and he beholds the Midē´ while chanting and conducting the Midē´wiwin.] |
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The speaker enjoins the candidate to be faithful to his charge, and thus a friend to Ki´tshi Man´idō, who in return will always assist him. The figure holds a mī´gis in its right hand, and the Midē´ drum in its left. |
The greater number of words in the preceding text are of an archaic form, and are presented as they were chanted. The several lines may be repeated ad libitum to accord with the feeling of inspiration which the singer experiences, or the amount of interest manifested by his hearers.
All the members of the society not officially inducting the candidate have ere this entered the Midē´wigân and deposited their invitation sticks near the sacred stone, or, in the event of their inability 245 to attend, have sent them with an explanation. The candidate, at the suggestion of the Midē´ priest, then prepares to leave the sudatory, gathers up the tobacco, and as he slowly advances toward the Midē´ inclosure his attendants fall into the procession according to their office. The priests sing as they go forward, until they reach the entrance of the Midē´wigân, where the candidate and his preceptor halt, while the remainder enter and take their stations just within the door, facing the west.
The drummers, who are seated in the southwestern angle of the inclosure, begin to drum and sing, while the candidate is led slowly around the exterior, going by the south, thus following the course of the sun. Upon the completion of the fourth circuit he is halted directly opposite the main entrance, to which his attention is then directed. The drumming and singing cease; the candidate beholds two Midē´ near the outer entrance and either side of it. These Midē´ represent two malevolent man´idō and guard the door against the entrance of those not duly prepared. The one upon the northern side of the entrance then addresses his companion in the following words: I´-ku-tan ka´-wi-nad´-gĭ wa´-na-mâ´-sĭ ē´-zhĭ-gĭ´-nĭ-gĕd—“Do you not see how he is formed?” To which the other responds: O-da´-pĭ-nŏ´ ke´-no-wĭn-dŭng shkwan´-dĭm—“Take care of it, the door;” [i.e., guard the entrance.] The former then again speaks to his companion, and says: Ka-wīn´-nĭ-na-ga´ wâ´-ba-ma´-si-ba´-shĭ-gi´-ne-gēt´—“Do you not see how he carries the goods?” The Midē´ spoken to assents to this, when the preceptor takes several pieces of tobacco which he presents to the two guards, whereupon they permit the candidate to advance to the inner entrance, where he is again stopped by two other guardian man´idō, who turn upon him as if to inquire the reason of his intrusion. The candidate then holds out two parcels of tobacco and says to them: O-da´-pin a-sē´-ma—“Take it, the tobacco,” whereupon they receive the gift and stand aside, saying: Kun´-da-dan—“Go down;” [i.e., enter and follow the path.] As the candidate is taken a few steps forward and toward the sacred stone, four of the eight officiating priests receive him, one replacing the preceptor who goes to the extreme western end there to stand and face the east, where another joins him, while the remaining two place themselves side by side so as to face the west.
It is believed that there are five powerful man´idōs who abide within the third-degree Midē´wigân, one of whom is the Midē´ man´idō—Ki´tshi Man´idō—one being present at the sacred stone, the second at that part of the ground between the sacred stone and the first part where the gifts are deposited, the remaining three at the three degree posts.
As the candidate starts and continues upon his walk around the interior of the inclosure the musicians begin to sing and drum, while all those remaining are led toward the left, and when opposite the 246 sacred stone he faces it and is turned round so that his back is not toward it in passing; the same is done at the second place where one of the spirits is supposed to abide; again at first, second, and third posts. By this time the candidate is at the western extremity of the structure, and as the second Midē´ receives him in charge, the other taking his station beside the preceptor, he continues his course toward the north and east to the point of departure, going through similar evolutions as before, as he passes the three posts, the place of gifts and the sacred stone. This is done as an act of reverence to the man´idōs and to acknowledge his gratitude for their presence and encouragement. When he again arrives at the eastern extremity of the inclosure he is placed between the two officiating Midē´, who have been awaiting his return, while his companion goes farther back, even to the door, from which point he addresses the other officiating Midē´ as follows:
Mĭs-sa´-a-shi´-gwa | wi-kan´-da´-we-an´, | mĭs-sa´-a-shi´-gwa |
Now is the time | [I am] telling [—advising,] | now is the time |
wī´-di-wa´-mŏk | wi-un´-o-bē-ŏg. |
to be observed | [I am] ready to make him sit down. |
Then one of the Midē´ priests standing beside the candidate leads him to the spot between the sacred stone and the first-degree post where the blankets and other goods have been deposited, and here he is seated. This priest then walks slowly around him singing in a tremulous manner wa´, hĕ´, hĕ´, hĕ´, hĕ´, hĕ´, hĕ´, hĕ´, returning to a position so as to face him, when he addresses him as follows: Mĭs-sa´-a-shi´-gwa pŏ´-gŭ-sĕ-ni´mi-nan´ au´-u-sa´ za-a´-da-win´ man´-i-dō mī´-gis. Na´-pish-gatsh di-mâ´-gĭ-sĭ ĕ-nĕ´-nĭ-mi-an pi´-sha-gâ-an-da-i´ na´-pish-gatsh tshi-skwa´-di-na-wâd´ dzhi-ma´-dzhi-a-ka´-ma-da-mân bi-mâ´-dĭs-si´-an.
The following is a free translation:
The time has arrived for you to ask of the Great Spirit this “reverence” i.e., the sanctity of this degree. I am interceding in your behalf, but you think my powers are feeble; I am asking him to confer upon you the sacred powers. He may cause many to die, but I shall henceforth watch your course of success in life, and learn if he will heed your prayers and recognize your magic power.
At the conclusion of these remarks three others of the officiating Midē´ advance and seat themselves, with their chief, before the candidate. The Midē´ drum is handed to the chief priest, and after a short prelude of drumming he becomes more and more inspired, and sings the following Midē´ song, represented pictorially, also on Pl. XIV, B.
Man´-i-dō´ we-da´, man´-i-dō´ gi-dō´ we-do´-nĭng. Let us be a spirit, let the spirit come from the mouth. The head is said to signify that of a Midē´, who is about to sing. |
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247 |
Nin´-de-wen´-don zha´-bon-dĕsh´-kân-mân´. I own this lodge, through which I pass. The speaker claims that he has been received into the degree of the Midē´wiwin to which he refers. The objects on the outer side of the oblong square character represent spirits, those of the bear. |
Ân´-dzhe-ho ĭ´-a-ni´ o-gēn´, hwe´-ō-ke´, hwe´-ō-ke´. Mother is having it over again. The reference is to the earth, as having the ceremony of the “grand medicine” again. |
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Ni´-ka-nan ni´-go-sân, ni´-go-sân´ Friends I am afraid, I am afraid, friends, of the spirits sitting around me. [The speaker reaches his hand toward the sky, i.e., places his faith in Ki´tshi Man´idō who abides above.] |
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Ya´-ki-no´-sha-me´-wa, ya´-ki-no´-sha-me´-wa, I am going, with medicine bag, to the lodge. [The object represents an otter skin Midē´ sack, the property of the speaker.] |
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Ya´-be-kai´-a-bi, ya´-be-kai´-a-bi, hē´-ā´, hē´-ā´, We are still sitting in a circle. [A Midē´ sitting within the Midē´wigân; the circle is shown.] |
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A-ya´-a-bi-ta´ pa´-ke-zhĭk´, ū´, hū´, a´, Half the sky The hand is shown reaching toward the sky, imploring the assistance of Ki´tshi Man´idō that the candidate may receive advancement in power. He has only two degrees, one-half of the number desired. |
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Ba´-be-ke´ o´-gi-mân nish´-a-we, hē´, The spirit has pity on me now, [The “Great Spirit” is descending upon the Midē´wigân, to be present during the ceremony.] |
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Nin-dai´-a, nin-dai´-a, ha´, we´-ki-ma´, ha´, wâ-no-kwe´. In my heart, in my heart, I have the spirit. [The hand is holding the mī´gis, to which reference is made.] |
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I-ke´-u-ha´-ma man-ta-na´-ki-na ni-ka´-ni I take the earth, my Midē´ friends. The earth furnishes the resources necessary to the maintenance of life, both food and medicines. |
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248 |
Wi´-a-ya´-din shin-da´, hān´, Let us get him to take this water. [The figure sees medicine in the earth, as the lines from the eyes to the horizontal strokes indicate.] |
Hŭe´-shĭ-shi-kwa´-ni-an nin-ga´-ga-mūn´. I take this rattle. The rattle is used when administering medicine. |
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Wi-wa´-ba-mi´na hē´-na ko´-ni-a´-ni, ka´, See how I shine in making medicine. [The speaker likens himself to the Makwa´ Man´idō, one of the most powerful Midē´ spirits. His body shines as if it were ablaze with light—due to magic power.] |
This song is sung ad libitum according to the inspired condition of the person singing it. Many of the words are archaic, and differ from the modern forms.
Then the officiating priests arise and the one lowest in rank grasps his Midē´ sack and goes through the gestures, described in connection with the previous degrees, of shooting into the joints and forehead of the candidate the sacred mī´gis. At the attempt made by the chief priest the candidate falls forward apparently unconscious. The priests then touch his joints and forehead with the upper end of their Midē´ sacks whereupon he recovers and rises to a standing posture. The chief then addresses him and enjoins him to conduct himself with propriety and in accordance with the dignity of his profession. The following is the text, viz: Gi-gan´-bis-sĭn dau´-gē-in´-ni-nân´ kish-bin´-bish-in dau´-o-ân-nĭn da´-ki-ka-wa´-bi-kwe ga´-kĭ-ne ke-ke´-wi-bi´-na-mōn ki-ma´-dzhĭ-zhi we´-bĭ-zi-wĭn´.
The translation is as follows: “You heed to what I say to you; if you are listening and will do what is right you will live to have white hair. That is all; you will do away with all bad actions.”
The Midē´ priest second in rank then says to the candidate: Ke´-go-wi´-ka-za´-gi-to-wa´-kin ki-da´-no-ka´tshĭ-gân kai-ē´-gi-gīt´ a-sē´-ma, kai´-e-mī´-dzĭm, which signifies: “Never begrudge your goods, neither your tobacco, nor your provisions.” To this the candidate responds ēn´—yes, by this signifying that he will never regret what he has given the Midē´ for their services. The candidate remains standing while the members of the society take seats, after which he goes to the pile of blankets, skins, and other presents, and upon selecting appropriate ones for the officiating priests he carries them to those persons, after which he makes presents of less value to all other Midē´ present. Tobacco is then distributed, and while all are preparing to make an offering to Ki´tshi Man´idō of tobacco, the 249 newly accepted member goes around to each, member present, passes his hands downward over the sides of the Midē’s head and says:
Mi-gwĕtsh´ | ga´shi-tō´-win | bi-ma´-dĭ-si-wīn´, |
Thanks | for giving to me | life, |
then, stepping back, he clasps his hands and bows toward the Midē´, adding: Ni-ka´-ni, ni-ka´-ni, ni-ka´-ni, ka-na´,—“My Midē´ friend, my Midē´ friend, my Midē´ friend, friend.” To this the Midē´ responds in affirmation, hau´, ēn´—yes.
The new member then finds a seat on the southern side of the inclosure, whereupon the ushers—Midē´ appointed to attend to outside duties—retire and bring in the vessels of food which are carried around to various persons present, four distinct times.
The feast continues for a considerable length of time, after which the kettles and dishes are again carried outside the Midē´wi-gân, when all who desire indulge in smoking. Midē´ songs are chanted by one of the priests, the accompanying, reproduced pictorially in Pl. XIV C, being an example. The lines, as usual, are repeated ad libitum, the music being limited to but few notes, and in a minor key. The following are the words with translation:
This refers to the sun, and moon, whose bodies are united in the drawing. |
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The figure is that of the crane, whose loud, far-reaching voice is indicated by the short lines radiating from the mouth. The eyes of the crane Man´idō are equally penetrating. |
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Knowledge of superior powers gained through familiarity with the rites of the Midē´wiwin is here referred to. The figure points to the abode of Ki´tshi Man´idō; three short lines indicating three degrees in the Midē´wiwin, which the candidate has taken. |
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[The hand reaches up as in making the gesture for rising sun or day, the “sky lines” leaning to the left, or east; one making signs is always presumed to face the south, and signs referring to periods of day, sun, sunrise, etc., are made from the left side of the body.] |
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Rest. |
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Wa-dzhi-wan´, wa-dzhi-wan´-na,
There is a mountain, there is a mountain, [The upright outline represents a mountain upon which a powerful Midē´ is seated, symbolical of the distinction attainable by a Midē´.] |
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[The Mī´gis is represented in the illustration by the small rings; the arrow indicating that it was “shot” with velocity.] |
Hwe´-kwo-nin´-na-ta, ki-wī´-kash´-ka-man;
What am I going around? |
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[The oblong structure represents the Midē´wigân. The otter-skin Midē´ sack is taken around it, as is shown by the outline of that animal and the line or course indicated. The Makwa´ Man´idō (bear spirit) is shown at the left, resting upon the horizontal line, the earth, below which are magic lines showing his power, as also the lines upon the back of the bear. The speaker compares himself to the bear spirit.] |
Nen´-do-ne´-ha-mān-ni´ nī´-ŏ, What am I looking at. The figure denotes a leg, signifying powers of transporting one’s self to remote places; the magic power is indicated by the three transverse lines and the small spots, the mī´gis, upon it. |
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Ba´bin-ke´-en non´-do-wa-wē´, hī´, I soon heard him, the one who did not listen to them. [The Midē´, as a superior personage, is shown by having the horns attached to the head. The line of hearing has small rings, at intervals, indicating that something is heard.] |
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Hin´-ta-na´-wi ni-ka´-na-gi´, ē´, hē´, The Nika´ni are finding fault with me, inside of my lodge. [The arm at the side of the Midē´wigân points to the interior, the place spoken of.] |
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Onsh´-konsh-na-nā´ pi-na´-wa nin-bosh´-i-na´-na. With the bear’s claws I almost hit him. The Midē´ used the bear’s claw to work a charm, or exorcism, and would seem to indicate that he claimed the powers of a Wâbĕnō´. The one spoken of is an evil man´idō, referred to in the preceding line, in which he speaks of having heard him. |
At the conclusion of this protracted ceremony a few speeches may be made by a Midē´, recounting the benefits to be enjoyed and the powers wielded by the knowledge thus acquired, after which the chief priest intimates to his colleagues the advisability of adjourning. They then leave the Midē´wigân by the western door, and before night all movable accessories are taken away from the structure.
The remainder of the evening is spent in visiting friends, dancing, etc., and upon the following day they all return to their respective homes.
DESCRIPTIVE NOTES.
Although the mī´gis shell of the several degrees is generally of the same species, some of the older Midē´ priests claim that there were formerly specific shells, each being characteristic and pertaining specially to each individual grade. The objects claimed by Sika´s-sigĕ as referring to the third degree are, in addition to the Cypræa monata, L., a piece of purple wampum, and one shell of elongated form, both shown on Pl. XI, Nos. 3 and 5, respectively.
The fact of a Midē´ having been subjected to “mī´gis shooting” for the third time is an all-sufficient reason to the Indian why his powers are in a corresponding manner augmented. His powers of exorcism and incantation are greater; his knowledge and use of magic medicines more extended and certain of effect; and his ability to do harm, as in the capacity of a Wâbĕnō´, is more and more lauded and feared. He becomes possessed of a greater power in prophecy and prevision, and in this state enters the class of personages known as the Jĕs´sakkīd´, or jugglers. His power over darkness and obscurity is indicated on Pl. III, A, No. 77, upon which the head, chest, and arms are represented as being covered with lines to designate obscurity, the extended arms with outstretched hands denoting ability to grasp and control that which is hidden to the eye.
Fig. 26.—Jĕs´sakkân´ or juggler’s lodge. |
The Jĕs´sakkīd´ and his manner of performing have already been mentioned. This class of sorcerers were met with by the Jesuit Fathers early in the seventeenth century, and referred to under various designations, such as jongleur, magicien, consulteur du manitou, etc. Their influence in the tribe was recognized, and formed one of the greatest obstacles encountered in the Christianization of the Indians. Although the Jĕs´sakkīd´ may be a seer and prophet as well as a practitioner of exorcism without becoming a 252 member of the Midē´wiwin, it is only when a Midē´ attains the rank of the third degree that he begins to give evidence of, or pretends to exhibit with any degree of confidence, the powers accredited to the former. The structure erected and occupied by the Jĕs´sakkīd´ for the performance of his powers as prophet or oracle has before been described as cylindrical, being made by planting four or more poles and wrapping about them sheets of birch bark, blankets, or similar material that will serve as a covering. This form of structure is generally represented in pictographic records, as shown in Fig. 26.
Fig. 27.—Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge. |
Fig. 28.—Jĕs´sakkân´, or juggler’s lodge. |
Fig. 29.—Jĕs´sakkân´, juggler’s lodge. |
The accompanying illustrations, Figs. 27, 28, and 29, reproduced from birch-bark etchings, were the property of Jĕs´sakkīd´, who were also Midē´ of the third and fourth degrees. It will be noticed that the structure used by them is in the form of the ordinary wig´iwam, as their profession of medical magic is apparently held in higher esteem than the art of prophecy; their status and claims as Jĕs´sakkīd´ being indicated by the great number of ma´nidōs which they have the power of invoking. These man´idōs, or spirits, are indicated by the outline of their material forms, the heart being indicated and connected with the interior of the structure to show the power of the Jĕs´sakkīd´ over the life of the respective spirits. The Thunder-bird usually occupies the highest position in his estimation, and for this reason is drawn directly over the wig´iwam. The Turtle is claimed to be the man´idō who acts as intermediary between the Jĕs´sakkīd´ and the other man´idōs, and is therefore not found among the characters on the outside of the wig´iwam, but his presence is indicated within, either at the spot marking the convergence of the “life lines,” or immediately below it. 253 etching made by a Jĕs´sakkīd´ at White Earth, Minnesota. The two curved lines above the Jĕs´sakkan´ represent the sky, from which magic power is derived, as shown by the waving line extending downward. The small spots within the structure are “magic spots,” i.e., the presence of man´idōs. The juggler is shown upon the left side near the base. When a prophet is so fortunate as to be able to claim one of these man´idōs as his own tutelary daimon, his advantage in invoking the others is comparatively greater. Before proceeding to the Jĕs´sakkân´—or the “Jugglery,” as the Jĕs´sakkīd´ wig´iwam is commonly designated, a prophet will prepare himself by smoking and making an offering to his man´idō, and by singing a chant, of which an example is presented on Pl. XIV, D. It is a reproduction of one made by a Jĕs´sakkīd´ who was also a Midē´ of the third degree. Each line is chanted as often as may be desired, or according to the effect which it may be desirable to produce or the inspired state of the singer.
Fig. 30 is a reproducton of an
Me-we´-yan, ha´, ha´, ha´, I go into the Jĕs´sakkan´ to see the medicine. The circle represents the Jĕs´sakkīd´ as viewed from above; the short lines denote the magic character of the structure, and the central ring, or spot, the magic stone used by the prophet who appears entering from the side. |
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Tschi-nun´-dōn´, he´, he´, he´, he´, I was the one who dug up life. The Otter Man´idō emerging from the Midē´wigân; he received it from Ki´tshi Mani´dō. |
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Ni´ka-nī´ we-do-kon´-a, ha´, ha´, The spirit put down medicine on earth to grow. The sacred or magic lines descending to the earth denote supernatural origin of the mī´gis, which is shown by the four small rings. The short lines at the bottom represent the ascending sprouts of magic plants. |
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Te-ti-ba´-tshi mŭt´-â-wit´, tē´, hē´, hē´, I am the one that dug up the medicine. The otter shown emerging from the jugglery. The speaker represents himself “like unto the Otter Man´idō.” |
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Ki´wan-win´-da ma´-kwa-nan´, na´, ha´, I answer my brother spirit. The Otter Man´idō responds to the invocation of the speaker. The diagonal line across the body signifies the “spirit character” of the animal. |
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Rest or pause. |
Wa´-a-so´-at wĕn´-ti´-na-man, ha´, ha, The spirit has put life into my body. The speaker is represented as being in the Midē´-wigân, where Ki´tshi Man´idō placed magic power into his body; the arms denote this act of putting into his sides the mī´gis. The line crossing the body denotes the person to be possessed of supernatural power. |
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Ki-to´-na-bi´-in, nē´, hē´, hē´, This is what the medicine has given us. The Midē´wigân, showing on the upper line the guardian man´idōs. |
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Ni´-sha-we´-ni-bĭ-ku´, hū´, hū´, hē´, I took with two hands what was thrown down to us. The speaker grasped life, i.e., the migīs´, to secure the mysterious power which he professes. |
In addition to the practice of medical magic, the Jĕs´sakkīd´ sometimes resorts to a curious process to extract from the patient’s body the malevolent beings or man´idōs which cause disease. The method of procedure is as follows: The Jĕs´sakkīd´ is provided with four or more tubular bones, consisting of the leg bones of large birds, each of the thickness of a finger and 4 or 5 inches in length. After the priest has fasted and chanted prayers for success, he gets down upon all fours close to the patient and with his mouth near the affected part. After using the rattle and singing most vociferously to cause the evil man´idō to take shelter at some particular spot, so that it may be detected and located by him, he suddenly touches that place with the end of one of the bones and immediately thereafter putting the other end into his mouth, as if it were a cigar, strikes it with the flat hand and sends it apparently down his throat. Then the second bone is treated in the same manner, as also the third and fourth, the last one being permitted to protrude from the mouth, when the end is put against the affected part and sucking is indulged in amid the most violent writhings and contortions in his endeavors to extract the man´idō. As this object is supposed to have been reached and swallowed by the Jĕs´sakkīd´ he crawls away to a short distance from the patient and relieves himself of the demon with violent 255 retchings and apparent suffering. He recovers in a short time, spits out the bones, and, after directing his patient what further medicine to swallow, receives his fee and departs. Further description of this practice will be referred to below and illustrated on Pl. XVIII.
The above manner of disposing of the hollow bones is a clever trick and not readily detected, and it is only by such acts of jugglery and other delusions that he maintains his influence and importance among the credulous.
Fig. 31.—Jĕs´sakkīd´ curing woman. |
Fig. 32.—Jĕs´sakkīd´ curing man. |
Fig. 31 represents a Jĕs´sakkīd´ curing a sick woman by sucking the demon through a bone tube. The pictograph was drawn upon a piece of birch bark which was carried in the owner’s Midē´ sack, and was intended to record an event of importance.
No. 1 represents the actor, holding a rattle in hand. Around his head is an additional circle, denoting quantity (literally, more than an ordinary amount of knowledge), the short line projecting to the right indicating the tube used.
No. 2 is the woman operated upon.
Fig. 32 represents an exhibition by a Jĕs´sakkīd´, a resident of White Earth, Minnesota. The priest is shown in No. 1 holding his rattle, the line extending from his eye to the patient’s abdomen signifying that he has located the demon and is about to begin his exorcism. No. 2 is the patient lying before the operator.
FOURTH DEGREE.
The Midē´wigân, in which this degree is conferred, differs from the preceding structures by having open doorways in both the northern and southern walls, about midway between the eastern and western extremities and opposite to one another. Fig. 33 represents a ground plan, in which may also be observed the location of each of the four Midē´ posts. Fig. 34 shows general view of same structure. A short distance from the eastern entrance is deposited the sacred stone, beyond which is an area reserved for the presents to be deposited by an applicant for initiation. The remaining two-thirds of the space toward the western door is occupied at regular intervals by four posts, the first being painted red with a band of green around the top. (Pl. XV, No. 1.) The second post is red, and has scattered over its surface spots of white clay to symbolize 256 the sacred mī´gis shell. Upon it is perched the stuffed skin of an owl—kŏ-kó-kŏ-ō´. (Pl. XV, No. 2.) The third post is black; but instead of being round is cut square. (Pl. XV, No. 3.) The fourth post, that nearest the western extremity, is in the shape of a cross, painted white, with red spots, excepting the lower half of the trunk, which is squared, the colors upon the four sides being white on the east, green on the south, red on the west, and black on the north. (Pl. XV, No. 4.)
About 10 paces east of the main entrance, in a direct line between it and the sweat lodge, is planted a piece of thin board 3 feet high and 6 inches broad, the top of which is cut so as to present a three-lobed apex, as shown in Fig. 4. The eastern side of this board is painted green; that facing the Midē´wigân red. Near the top is a small opening, through which the Midē´ are enabled to peep into the interior of the sacred structure to observe the angry man´idōs occupying the structure and opposing the intrusion of anyone not of the fourth degree.
A cedar tree is planted at each of the outer corners of the Midē´wigân, and about 6 paces away from the northern, western, and southern entrances a small brush structure is erected, sufficiently large to admit the body. These structures are termed bears’ nests, supposed to be points where the Bear Man´idō rested during the struggle he passed through while fighting with the malevolent man´idōs within to gain entrance and receive the fourth-degree initiation. Immediately within and to either side of the east and west entrances is planted a short post, 5 feet high and 8 inches thick, painted red upon the side facing the interior and black upon the reverse, at the base of each being laid a stone about as large as a human head. These four posts represent the four limbs and feet of the Bear Man´idō, who made the four entrances and forcibly entered and expelled the evil beings who had opposed him. The fourth-degree Midē´ post— 257 the cross—furthermore symbolizes the four days’ struggle at the four openings or doors in the north, south, east, and west walls of the structure.
PREPARATION OF CANDIDATE.
Under ordinary circumstances it requires at least one year before a Midē´ of the third grade is considered eligible for promotion, and it is seldom that a candidate can procure the necessary presents within that period, so that frequently a number of years elapse before any intimation by a candidate is made to the chief priest that the necessary requirements can be complied with. The chief reason of this delay is attributed to the fact that the fee to the officiating priests alone must equal in value and quantity four times the amount paid at the first initiation, and as the success in gathering the robes, skins, blankets, etc., depends upon the candidate’s own exertions it will readily appear why so few ever attain the distinction sought. Should one be so fortunate, however, as to possess the required articles, he has only to make known the fact to the chief and assistant Midē´ priests, when a meeting is held at the wig´iwam of one of the members and the merits of the candidate discussed. For this purpose tobacco is furnished by the candidate. The more valuable and more numerous the presents the more rapidly will his application be disposed of, and the more certainly will favorable consideration on it be had. It becomes necessary, as in former instances of preparation, for the candidate to procure the service of a renowned Midē´, in order to acquire new or specially celebrated remedies or charms. The candidate may also give evidence of his own proficiency in magic without revealing the secrets of his success or the course pursued to attain it. The greater the mystery the higher he is held in esteem even by his jealous confrères.
There is not much to be gained by preparatory instruction for the fourth degree, the chief claims being a renewal of the ceremony of “shooting the mī´gis” into the body of the candidate, and enacting or dramatizing the traditional efforts of the Bear Man´idō in his endeavor to receive from the Otter the secrets of this grade. One who succeeds becomes correspondingly powerful in his profession and therefore more feared by the credulous. His sources of income are accordingly increased by the greater number of Indians who require his assistance. Hunters, warriors, and lovers have occasion to call upon him, and sometimes antidoting charms are sought, when the evil effects of an enemy’s work are to be counteracted.
The instructor receives the visit of the candidate, and upon coming to a satisfactory agreement concerning the fee to be paid for the service he prepares his pupil by prompting him as to the part he is to enact during the initiation and the reasons therefor. The preparation and the merits of magic compounds are discussed, and 258 the pupil receives instruction in making effective charms, compounding love powder, etc. This love powder is held in high esteem, and its composition is held a profound secret, to be transmitted only when a great fee is paid. It consists of the following ingredients: Vermilion; powdered snakeroot (Polygala senega, L.); exiguam particulam sanguinis a puella effusi, quum in primis menstruis esset; and a piece of ginseng cut from the bifurcation of the root, and powdered. These are mixed and put into a small buckskin bag. The preparation is undertaken only after an offering to Ki´tshi Man´idō of tobacco and a Midē´ song with rattle accompaniment. The manner of using this powder will be described under the caption of “descriptive notes.” It differs entirely from the powder employed in painting the face by one who wishes to attract or fascinate the object of his or her devotion. The latter is referred to by the Rev. Peter Jones130 as follows:
There is a particular kind of charm which they use when they wish to obtain the object of their affections. It is made of roots and red ocher. With this they paint their faces, believing it to possess a power so irresistible as to cause the object of their desire to love them. But the moment this medicine is taken away and the charm withdrawn the person who before was almost frantic with love hates with a perfect hatred.
It is necessary that the candidate take a sweat-bath once each day, for four successive days, at some time during the autumn months of the year preceding the year in which the initiation is to occur. This form of preparation is deemed agreeable to Ki´tshi Man´idō, whose favor is constantly invoked that the candidate may be favored with the powers supposed to be conferred in the last degree. As spring approaches the candidate makes occasional presents of tobacco to the chief priest and his assistants, and when the period of the annual ceremony approaches, they send out runners to members to solicit their presence, and, if of the fourth degree, their assistance.
INITIATION OF CANDIDATE.
The candidate removes to the vicinity of the Midē´wigân so as to be able to go through the ceremony of purgation four times before the day of initiation. The sudatory having been constructed on the usual site, east of the large structure, he enters it on the morning of the fifth day preceding the initiation and after taking a sweat-bath he is joined by the preceptor, when both proceed to the four entrances of the Midē´wigân and deposit at each a small offering of tobacco. This procedure is followed on the second and third days, also, but upon the fourth the presents are also carried along and deposited at the entrances, where they are received by assistants and suspended from the rafters of the interior. On the evening of the last day, the chief and officiating priests visit the candidate and his preceptor, 259 in the sweat-lodge, when ceremonial smoking is indulged in followed by the recitation of Midē´ chants. The following (Pl. XVI, A) is a reproduction of the chant taught to and recited by the candidate. The original was obtained from an old mnemonic chart in use at Mille Lacs, Minnesota, in the year 1825, which in turn had been copied from a record in the possession of a Midē´ priest at La Pointe, Wisconsin. Many of the words are of an older form than those in use at the present day. Each line may be repeated ad libitum.
[The speaker compares himself to the Bear Man´ido, and as such is represented at the entrance of the Midē´wigân.] |
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[The lines from the ear denotes hearing; the words are addressed to his auditors.] |
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Signifies that Ki´tshi Man´idō, who is seen with the voice lines issuing from the mouth, and who promised the Ani´shinâ´bēg “life,” that they might always live. |
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Rest. A ceremonial smoke is now indulged in. |
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We´-shki-nun´-do-ni-ne´, This is the first time you hear it. [The lines of hearing are again shown; the words refer to the first time this is chanted as it is an intimation that the singer is to be advanced to the higher grade of the Midē´wiwin.] |
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Hwe´-na-ni-ka he-na´, he-nō´ You laugh, you laugh at the “grand medicine.” [The arms are directed towards Ki´tshi Man´idō, the creator of the sacred rite; the words refer to those who are ignorant of the Midē´wiwin and its teachings.] |
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Nun-te´-ma-ne´, hē´, wi´-na-nun´-te-ma-ne´ I hear, but they hear it not. [The speaker intimates that he realizes the importance of the Midē´ rite, but the uninitiated do not.] |
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260 |
Pe´-ne-sŭi´-a ke´-ke-kwi´-yan. I am sitting like a sparrow-hawk. The singer is sitting upright, and is watchful, like a hawk watching for its prey. He is ready to observe, and to acquire, everything that may transpire in the Midē´ structure. |
Upon the conclusion of the chant, the assembled Midē´ smoke and review the manner of procedure for the morrow’s ceremony, and when these details have been settled they disperse, to return to their wig´iwams, or to visit Midē´ who may have come from distant settlements.
Early on the day of his initiation the candidate returns to the sudatory to await the coming of his preceptor. The gifts of tobacco are divided into parcels which may thus be easily distributed at the proper time, and as soon as the officiating priests have arrived, and seated themselves, the candidate produces some tobacco of which all present take a pipeful, when a ceremonial smoke-offering is made to Ki´tshi Man´idō. The candidate then takes his midē´ drum and sings a song of his own composition, or one which he may have purchased from his preceptor, or some Midē´ priest. The following is a reproduction of an old mnemonic song which the owner, Sikas´sigĕ, had received from his father who in turn had obtained it at La Pointe, Wisconsin, about the year 1800. The words are archaic to a great extent, and they furthermore differ from the modern language on account of the manner in which they are pronounced in chanting, which peculiarity has been faithfully followed below. The pictographic characters are reproduced in Pl. XVI, B. As usual, the several lines are sung ad libitum, repetition depending entirely upon the feelings of the singer.
Hin´-to-nâ-ga-ne´ o-sa-ga-tshī´-wēd o-do´-zhi-tōn´. The sun is coming up, that makes my dish. The dish signifies the feast to be made by the singer. The zigzag lines across the dish denote the sacred character of the feast. The upper lines are the arm holding the vessel. |
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Man´-i-dō i´-ya-nē´, ish´-ko-te´-wi-wa´-we-yan´. My spirit is on fire. The horizontal lines across the leg signify magic power of traversing space. The short lines below the foot denote flames, i.e., magic influence obtained by swiftness of communication with the man´idōs. |
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Ko´tshi-hâ-ya-nē´, nē´, I want to try you, I am of fire. [The zigzag lines diverging from the mouth signify voice, singing; the apex upon the head superior knowledge, by means of which the singer wishes to try his Midē´ sack upon his hearer, to give evidence of the power of his influence.] |
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261 |
A pause. Ceremonial smoking is indulged in, after which the chant is continued. |
Ni-mī´-ga-sim´-ma man´-i-dō, sa-ko´-tshi-na´. My mī´gis spirit, that is why I am stronger than you. The three spots denote the three times the singer has received the mī´gis by being shot; it is because this spirit is within him that he is more powerful than those upon the outside of the wigiwam who hear him. |
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Mī´-ga-ye´-nin en´-dy-ân, ya´, hō´, ya´, man´-i-dō´-ya. That is the way I feel, spirit. The speaker is filled with joy at his power, the mī´gis within him, shown by the spot upon the body, making him confident. |
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Ya-gō´-sha-hī´, nâ´, ha´, ha´, I am stronger than you, spirit that you are. [He feels more powerful, from having received three times the mī´gis, than the evil spirit who antagonizes his progress in advancement.] |
Upon the completion of this preliminary by the candidate, the priests emerge from the wig´iwam and fall in line according to their official status, when the candidate and preceptor gather up the parcels of tobacco and place themselves at the head of the column and start toward the eastern entrance of the Midē´wigân. As they approach the lone post, or board, the candidate halts, when the priests continue to chant and drum upon the Midē´ drum. The chief Midē´ then advances to the board and peeps through the orifice near the top to view malevolent man´idōs occupying the interior, who are antagonistic to the entrance of a stranger. This spot is assumed to represent the resting place or “nest,” from which the Bear Man´idō viewed the evil spirits during the time of his initiation by the Otter. The evil spirits within are crouching upon the floor, one behind the other and facing the east, the first being Mi-shi´-bi-shi´—the panther; the second, Me-shi´-kĕ—the turtle; the third, kwin´-go-â´-gĭ—the big wolverine; the fourth, wâ´-gŭsh—the fox; the fifth, ma-in´-gŭn—the wolf; and the sixth, ma-kwa´—the bear. They are the ones who endeavor to counteract or destroy the good wrought by the rites of the Midē´wiwin, and only by the aid of the good man´idōs can they be driven from the Midē´wigân so as to permit a candidate to enter and receive the benefits of the degree. The second Midē´ then views the group of malevolent beings, after which the third, and lastly the fourth priest looks through the orifice. They then advise 262 the presentation by the candidate of tobacco at that point to invoke the best efforts of the Midē´ Man´idō