The Lenâpé and Their Legends: With the complete text and symbols of the Walam olum, a new translation, and an inquiry into its authenticityBrinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
History
The Lenâpé and Their Legends: With the complete text and symbols of the Walam olum, a new translation, and an inquiry into its authenticity
Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Delaware Indians; Delaware language -- Texts; Picture-writing, Indian
Some small works for the schools of the Baptist missions among the
Delawares in Kansas were prepared by the Rev. J. Meeker. They appear to
be entirely elementary in character.
It will be observed that in this list not a single native writer is
named. So far as I have ascertained, though many learned to write their
native tongue, not one attempted any composition in it beyond the needs
of daily life.
To make some amends for this, and as I wished to obtain an example of
the Lenape of to-day, I asked Chief Gottlieb Tobias, an educated native
on the Moravian Reservation in Canada, to give me in writing his
opinion of the Delaware text of the WALUM OLUM, which I had sent him.
This he obligingly did, and added a translation of his letter. The two
are as follows, without alteration:--
MORAVIANTOWN, Sept. 26, 1884.
I, GOTTLIEB TOBIAS,
Nanne ni ngutschi nachguttemin, jun awen eet ma elekhigetup.
Woak alende nenostamen woak alende taku eli wtallichsin
elewondasik wiwonalatokowo pachsi wonamii lichsu woak pachsi
pilli lichsoagan. Taku ni nenostamowin. Lamoe nemochomsinga
achpami eet newinachke woak chash tichi kachtin nbibindameneb
nin lichsoagan. Mauchso lenno woak mauchso chauchshissis woak
juque mauchso chauchshissis achpo pomauchsu igabtshi lue
wiwonallatokowo won bambil alachshe. Woak lue lamoe ni enda.
Mimensiane ntelsitam alowi ayachichson won elhagewit woak ehelop
ne likhiqui. Gichgi wonami lichso shuk tatcamse woak gichgi
minsiwi lichso.
TRANSLATION.
Then I will try to answer this (which) some one at some time
wrote. And some I understand, and some not, because his language
is called Wonalatoko, half Unami and half another language. I
do not understand it. Long ago my grandfather about 48 years
ago I heard it that language. One man and one old woman and
now another old woman here lives yet who uses this Wonalatoko
language just like this book and she said, I of old time when
I was a child heard more difficult dialect than the present,
and many at that time partly Unami he speak, but sometimes also
partly Minsi he speak.
The drift of Chief Tobias' letter is highly important to this
present work, though his expressions are not couched in the most
perfect English. It will be noted that he recognizes the text of the
WALUM OLUM to be a native production composed in one of the ancient
southern dialects of the tongue, the Unami (Wonami) or the Unalachtgo
(Wonalatoko). I shall recur to this when discussing the authenticity of
that document on a later page.
§ 2. _General Remarks on the Lenape._
The Lenape language is a well-defined and quite pure member of the
great Algonkin stock, revealing markedly the linguistic traits of this
group, and standing philologically, as well as geographically, between
the Micmac of the extreme east and the Chipeway of the far West.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account