Literature of the Indian Languages / A Bibliographical Catalogue of Books, Translations of the Scriptures, and Other Publications in the Indian Tongues of the United States, With Brief Critical Notes

by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

SECTION III.—SENECA.

11.—Diahsawahgwah Gayadoshah—Reading lessons. Boston: Crocker & Brewster. 1 vol. 42 p. 8vo. A. D. 1836.

The clear and neat type and white paper of this little volume, and the exact system of notation in which the Seneca tongue appears, denote the careful labors, in this branch, of Rev. A. Wright, who has been for many years a missionary of the American Board at the Buffalo Reservation, in Western New York. There is a vocabulary of 16 pages, of concrete terms and conversational forms, at its close, which adds to its practical and philosophical value.

12.—Ne Iaguhnigoagesgwathah—The mental Elevator. Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14. 8 pages each. Cattaraugus Reservation, Mission Press. A. D. 1846. 32 p.

13.—The Mental Elevator, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. 8 pages 8vo. each.

This miscellany, being the first and only thing of the kind, which has, so far as is known, ever been attempted in a native tongue in America, was commenced by the Rev. A. Wright, missionary of the A. B. C. F. Missions among the Senecas of Western New York, at Buffalo Reservation, Nov. 30th, 1841, and continued, after the removal of the Band to Cattaraugus, in the same State, to the 31st December, 1846, which is the last number received. It embraces in 112 closely-printed pages, an amount of useful and instructive matter, which must be invaluable to those of the Senecas who can read. Besides biblical reading, and pieces of moral instruction, it embraces some matters relating to their government and business, obituary notices, statistics, &c. It appears from it that the total population of all the Senecas of New York, in 1845, was 2,630; in 1846, 2,720, denoting an increase of births over deaths in one year of 90 souls.

14.—The Gospel according to St. Luke, translated into the Seneca tongue. By T. S. Harris. New York: Printed for the American Bible Society, D. Fanshaw. A. D. 1829. 1 vol. 18mo. 149 pages.

15.—Gaa nah shoh ne Deowaahsaonyohgwah Na wen ni yuh. Hymns in the Seneca. Dosyowa, (Buffalo Creek,) Mission Press. 1 vol. 136 pages, 18mo. A. D. 1843. This translation is prefaced with Mr. Wright’s system of writing the Seneca, and terminates with a descriptive index.

16.—Sheet Ordinances, Seneca Chiefs, 4th December, 1847.

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CHAPTER II.
BOOKS AND TRANSLATIONS IN THE VARIOUS DIALECTS OF THE ALGONQUIN.

Of all the groupes of the Indian language in America, the various dialects of this stock have furnished the most inviting and best cultivated field for the translator and philologist. The French, during their early and long occupancy of the Canadas, gave great prominence to the various tribes speaking dialects of this groupe. In proportion as the principles of the languages have been investigated, the circle of the affinities of the Algonquins has been found to be extended wider and wider. It is to be traced from the ancient Powhatanic tribes of Virginia, northward and eastward along the Atlantic coast to, and beyond the Gulf of St. Lawrence, reaching to, and beyond the utmost limits of this stream at the source of the Mississippi, and descending its eastern or left bank to the junction of the Ohio, and thence to the Atlantic. From this great circle of occupation, embracing the present area of sixteen of the States, the several branches of the Iroquois, embracing the Wyandot and the Winnebago dialect of the Dacota, are the only exceptions of modern date.

In the investigation of the dialects of this important groupe, fifty-five printed works have been received, of which, twenty-eight are in the Odjibwa or Chippewa dialect, ten in the Ottawa, seven in the Pottowattomie, one in the Mohegan, one in the Montagnais, three in the Delaware, three in the Shawanoe, and one in the Abenaki. More than three-fourths of the whole number of the numerous tribes of this stock, are thus far, unrepresented by translations of the Scriptures; a species of evidence of the affinity of tribes which, as it is founded upon a fixed and accurately divided standard, affords one of the best general means of comparison. It is desirable, therefore, to collect all that has been, or may be done in this branch of literature, not only respecting the Algonquin groupes, but also in relation to each of the other groupes of our Aboriginal languages.