Iroquois Indians; Mohawk language -- Texts; Onondaga language -- Texts
7. _"And the next death will receive the pouch."_ The "mourning wampum,"
in modern days, is left, or supposed to be left, with the kindred of the
late chief until another death shall occur among the members of the
Council, when it is to be passed on to the family of the deceased. This
economy is made necessary by the fact that only one store of such wampum
now exists, as the article is no longer made. It is probable that in
ancient times the wampum was left permanently with the family of the
deceased, as a memorial of the departed chief.
_"Where the fire is made and the smoke is rising," i.e.,_ when you
receive notice that a Condoling Council is to be held in a certain
place. The kindled fire and the rising smoke were the well-understood
images which represented the convocation of their councils. In the
Onondaga book before referred to (_ante,_ p. 152) a few pages were
occupied by what might be styled a pagan sermon, composed of
exhortations addressed to the chiefs, urging them to do their duty to
the community. The following is the commencement of this curious
composition, which may serve to illustrate both the words now under
consideration and the character of the people. The orthography is much
better than that of La Fort's book, the vowels generally having the
Italian sound, and the spelling being tolerably uniform. The translation
was made by Albert Cusick, and is for the most part closely literal: The
discourse commences with a "text," after the fashion which the pagan
exhorter had probably learned from the missionaries:--
Naye ne iwaton ne gayanencher:
Onen wahagwatatjistagenhas ne Thatontarho. Onen wagayengwaeten, naye ne
watkaenya, esta netho tina enyontkawaonk. Ne enagenyon nwatkaonwenjage
shanonwe nwakayengwaeten netho titentyetongenta shanonwe
nwakayengwaeten, ne tokat gishens enyagoiwayentaha ne oyatonwetti.
Netho hiya nigawennonten ne ongwanencher ne Ayakt Niyongyonwenjage ne
Tyongwehonwe.
Ottinawahoten ne oyengwaetakwit? Nayehiya, ne agwegeh
enhonatiwagwaisyonk ne hatigowanes,--tenhontatnonongwak gagweki,--oni
enshagotino-ongwak ne honityogwa, engenk ne hotisgenrhergeta, oni ne
genthonwisash, oni ne hongwagsata, oni ne ashonsthateyetigaher ne
ongwagsata; netho niyoh tehatinya agweke sne sgennon enyonnontonnyonhet,
ne hegentyogwagwegi. Naye ne hatigowanens neye gagwegi honatiiwayenni
sha oni nenyotik honityogwa shanya yagonigonheten. Ne tokat gishen naye
enyagotiwatentyeti, negaewane akwashen ne honiyatwa shanityawenih.
_Translation._
"The law says this:
"Now the council-fire was lighted by Atotarho. Now the smoke rises and
ascends to the sky, that everybody may see it. The tribes of the
different nations where the smoke appeared shall come directly where the
smoke arises, if, perhaps, they have any business for the council to
consider.
"These are the words of our law,--of the Six Nations of Indians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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