The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and ManuscriptsSchoolcraft, Henry Rowe
History
The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and Manuscripts
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
Indians of North America
[21] In giving the particle wa, the various meanings of "flitting,"
"waving," and "dancing," the Indian idiom is fully preserved. The
final particle see, in the term wa wa tai see, is from the generic
root asee, meaning a living creature, or created form, not man. By
prefixing Ahw to the root, we have the whole class of quadrupeds,
and by pen, the whole class of birds, &c. The Odjibwa Algonquin term
for a candle, was sa koon ain je gun, is literally rendered from its
elements--"bright--white--flamed--instrument." It is by the very
concrete character of these compounds that so much meaning results
from a few words, and so considerable a latitude in translation is
given to Indian words generally.
[22] Fire-fly, fire-fly! bright little thing,
Light me to bed, and my song I will sing.
Give me your light, as you fly o'er my head,
That I may merrily go to my bed.
Give me your light o'er the grass as you creep,
That I may joyfully go to my sleep.
Come little fire-fly--come little beast--
Come! and I'll make you to-morrow a feast.
Come little candle that flies as I sing,
Bright little fairy-bug--night's little king;
Come, and I'll dance as you guide me along,
Come, and I'll pay you, my bug, with a song.
Metre there was none, at least, of a regular character: they were the
wild improvisations of children in a merry mood.
ETHNOLOGY.
SCHOOLCRAFT'S AMERICAN CYCLOPAEDIA, OR ETHNOLOGICAL GAZETTEER OF THE
INDIAN TRIBES OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT, NORTH AND SOUTH,
COMPRISING THEIR HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND NOMENCLATURE, FROM THE
DISCOVERY IN 1492, TO THE PRESENT PERIOD.
ADVERTISEMENT.
A prospectus for this work was issued in 1842. While the title is
slightly modified, the design and plan of its execution have not been
essentially changed. The principal object aimed at, under the general
idea of the history and geography of the Aboriginal Race, is to furnish
a general and standard reference-book, or short encyclopaedia of topics
relative to the entire race, alphabetically arranged. By the insertion
of the name of each family of tribes, nation, sub-tribe, or important
clan, the occasion will be presented of noticing the leading or
characteristic events, in their history, numbers, government, religion,
languages, arts or distinctive character.
Where the scene or era of their expansion, growth and decay has been so
extensive, embracing as it does, the widest bounds and remotest periods,
their antiquities have also called for a passing notice. Nor could any
thing like a satisfactory accomplishment of the plan be effected,
without succinct notices of the lives and achievements of their
principal chiefs, rulers, and leading personages.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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