I.
⇒The references to authorities on Algonkin picture-writing are the Appendix to Tanner's Narrative of Captivity and Adventures, Copway's Traditional History of the Ojibway Nation, and Schoolcraft's Synopsis of Indian Symbols, in Vol. I of his History and Statistics of the Indian Tribes. I have not pursued an investigation of the symbols beyond the first chant.
1. Rafinesque translates wemiguna "all sea water." The proper form is wemmguna, "at all times" (Anthony). The symbol is that of the sky and clouds above the earth. Compare Copway, p. 134; Schoolcraft, Synopsis, Fig. 17.
2. Kwelik, a dialectic form of quenek, Z. long, stretched out. Kitanito, a compound of kehtan, great, and manito, mysterious being, is rendered by Raf. as Creator; wit is the substantive verbaffix.
Heckewelder (MSS.) distinguishes between the synthetic form, ketanittowit, which he translates "Majestic Being," and the analytic form, kitschi manito, which he renders "Supreme Wonder-doer." In the latter, the sense of manito is brought out. In the Delaware and related dialects it conveys the idea of making, or doing (maniton, to make, Zeisberger, Gram., p. 222; maranito taendo, make a fire, Campamus; Chipeway, win ma-nitawito he himself makes it, or, can make it).
The idea of making or creating is at the bottom of many native titles to supernatural powers, as the Shawnee We-shellaqua, "he that made us all." (Rev. David Jones, Journal of Two Visits, etc., p. 62.) See notes to line four. The Algonkin root, etu, he does, he acts, he makes, would therefore seem to be a radical of the word. (See Howse, Gram. of the Cree Lang., p. 160.)
Dr. Trumbull, on the other hand, believes the only radical to be an, = el or al, in the sense of "to be more than," "to surpass," "to exceed;" and maintains that the syllable it, of the theme manit, is a formative suffix. (In Old and New, March, 1870.)
Heckewelder, in his translation "wonder-doer," recognizes the force of both elements, and from the analogous expressions I have quoted, is probably correct. The element an is thus an intensive prefix to the real root it, and the compound radical thus formed in the third person, singular, månito, means "he or it does or acts in a surpassing or extraordinary manner."
Essop, pl. essopak, frequently recurring words, are suppositive ([see p. 90]) forms of the verb lissin, "to be or do so, to be so situated, disposed, or acting" (Zeisberger, Gram. p. 117). The terminal p is the sign of the preterite. They are dialectic for elsitup and elsichtitup.
The symbol of a head with rays represents a manito. Schoolcraft, Synopsis, Fig. 10.
3. Squier omits the word elumamek. These terms are formal epithets applied to the highest divinity. [See page 158].
Squier also adds that Fig. 3 represents the sun, and is the symbol of the Great Spirit. Both these statements are incorrect. The oval is the earth-plain, with its four cardinal points, and the dot in the centre signifies the spirit. See Copway, p. 135.
4. Sohalawak is not a Delaware form, but is a true Algonkin word, as seen in the Cree ooseh-ayoo, animate, ooseh-taw, inanimate, he, it, makes, produces. (Howse, Cree Grammar,p. 166.) It appears in the Shawnee w'shellaqua, quoted in notes to verse 2; in the Minsi dialect the corresponding word is kwishelmawak; owak is a mistake for woak, and Rafinesque translates it "much air." Awasagamak, heaven, sky, literally, "the land or place beyond," from awossi, beyond; but Dr. Trumbull prefers a derivation from a root signifying "light," Del. waseleu, it is clear or bright (Trans. Am. Philol. Soc., 1872, p. 164); this latter appears to me overstrained. The symbol is the earth surmounted by the sky.
5. The symbol represents the sun, moon and stars in the sky, which is repeated with change of relative positions in the next verse. In Minsi, the fifth line would read, Kwishelmawak kischohk nipahenk alankwewak.
7. On the termination wagan [see page 101]. The prefix ksh, properly k'sch, is intensive, as it is an abbreviation of kitschi, great, large. Thus sokelan, it rains, k'schilan, it rains very hard.
The symbol seems to indicate the waters flowing off.
8. Mr. Anthony renders this line in Minsi:—
Pilikin ameni-menayen epit,
Grew-clean groups of islands where they are,
That is, that the islands rose dry and clean from the water, as they now are found.
Delsin-epit; the first part of this compound, properly w'dell-sinewo, is the indicative present, 3d p. pi., of lissin, to be thus, or so situated; epit is what Zeisberger (Gram. p. 115) calls the "adverbial" form of achpin, to be there, in a particular place. This adverbial is really the suppositive form of the verb, after the vowel-change has taken place. ([See above, page 107].)
Former renderings of the line are: "It looks bright, and islands stood there" (Rafinesque). "All was made bright, and the islands were brought into being" (Squier).
The symbol is a three cornered point of land, rising above the water under the sky.
9. Manito manitoak, "made the makers'," Raf.; "made the Great Spirits," Squier. Either of these renderings is defensible, as will appear from the senses of manito, above given.
This line can be read in Minsi, Lapi-up Kehtanitowit man'ito mani'towak, Again-he-spake, Great-Spirit, a spirit, spirits. The symbol represents the communion of the spirits. Compare Tanner, Narrative, p. 359, fig. 24.
10. Raf. and Squier absurdly translate angelatawiwak, angels. It is from a familiar Del. verb, angeln, to die. Compare Abnaki 8anangmes8ak, "revenants," Rasles, and w'tanglowagan, his death, Zeis. The form in the text, according to Mr. Anthony, has the sense, "things destined to die," mortal, perishable. He gives the line in Minsi as follows:—
Aweniwak angelatawawak wtschitsch'wankwak wemiwak,
Beings mortals souls and all
The wak of the last word is not the plural but the conjunction "and;" as in the Latin, omniaque.
11. Raf. translates jinwis as "man-being," and Squier thinks it the Chipeway inini, men; but it appears to be the adverb janwi, ever, always. The symbol is apparently that of birth, or being born. Compare Tanner, Narr., p. 351, fig. 1, with that meaning, an armless figure with wide spread legs.
12. The pictograph is a woman, with breasts, but armless. The "first mother" here represented was an important personage in the mythology of the Chipeways and neighboring tribes. She was called "the grandmother of mankind" (Me-suk-kum-me-go-kwa, in Dr. James' orthography), and it was to her that Nanabush (Manibozho), imparted the secrets of all roots, herbs and plants. Hence, the medicine men direct their songs and addresses to her whenever they take anything from the earth which is to be used as a medicine. Tanner's Narrative, p. 355.
13. The figure of a square, the world, with the four varieties of animals named.
14. The bad spirit was, in Algonkin mythology, the water god, and was represented as a serpent-like figure. See Copway, pp. 134, 135. Schoolcraft, Synopsis, figs. 93, 100.
Amangamek, plural form of the compound amangi, great; namaes fish; but amangi has the associate idea of terrifying, frightful, hence the reference is to some mythical water monster (Cree, am, faire peur, Lacombe).
Raf. translates both nakowak in this line, and nakowa, in II, 6, as "black snake." They can have no such meaning, black, in Lenape, being suckeu, and in none of the Algonkin dialects does nak mean black.
16. The figure represents the earth-plain under the form of the area of a lodge, with central fire and the people in it, typifying friendliness. Comp. Tanner, Narr., p. 348, fig. I.
V. 16 pursues the topic of v. 13, and it looks as if v. 14 and 15 should be transposed to follow v. 20.
17. The former renderings are.—
"Thou being Kiwis, good God Wunand, and the good makers were such."—Rafinesque.
"There being a good god, all spirits were good."—Squier.
Rafinesque mistook the adverb kiwis for a proper name.
18. Raf. translates nijini, the Jins, and nantinewak, fairies, and Squier follows him in the latter, but could not go as far as the former! As seen in the vocabulary, I attach wholly different notions to these words. The two figures united refer to the sexual relation. Compare Tanner, Narr., pp. 371, figs. 8, 9.
19. Gattamin cannot mean "fat fruit," as Raf. translates it. He has evidently mistaken the explanation given by Heckewelder, of Catawissa, Gattawisu, becoming fat, and thought that gatta, was fat, whereas wisu is "fat." (Zeis. Gram., p. 229.) Wakon is understood by Rafinesque as the proper name of the evil spirit, connecting it with the Dakota wakan, divine, supernatural.
20. The dream of "the good old times," the happy epoch of yore, when men dwelt in peace and prosperity, was, as I have shown, page 135, a myth of the Delawares, and George Copway tells us that the Chipeway legends also recalled it with delight. (Traditional History of the Ojibway Nation, pp. 98 and 169-175.)
21. The symbol is the same as that of the "bad spirit under the earth," given by Copway, p. 135.
A similar figure is given by Copway to signify "bad," p. 135. I do not understand its allusion.
22. Mattalogas; the prefix is the negative matta, no, not, and generally conveys a bad sense, as matteleman, to despise one, mattelendam, to be uneasy. Zeis.
Pallalogasin, to sin, from palli, elsewhere, other than, hence pallhiken, to shoot amiss, to miss the mark, to go wrong.
Maktaton, unhappiness. There is a relation in Lenape between the negative matta, in Minsi, machta, and the words for bad, ugly, evil, and the like; machtisisu, here it is bad, or ugly. Zeisb. It would seem to be an intuitive recognition of the profound philosophical maxim that evil is ever a negation; that Mephistopheles is, as he says in Faust—
"Der Geist der stets vernemt"
23. The symbol is apparently trees on hills, bent by a storm, and beneath a death's head.
24. The picture seems to be two countries connected by a bridge.
Atak kitahican, = attach, beyond, above; kitahican, the ocean, literally "the great tidal sea." It is possible this has reference to the deluge, which is described in the next section; but usually kitahican meant the ocean.