NOTES.
Note 1.
In a valuable paper On the Tribes inhabiting the N. W. Coast of America read a few weeks afterwards by Dr. J. Scouler the following-tables shewed—
1. The fact that the Nutka forms of speech were to be found on the Continent;
2. That the Wallawalla was Sahaptin.
a.
| English. | Tlaoq. & Nootka. | Columbia. |
|---|---|---|
| Plenty | Aya, | Haya |
| No | Wik, | Wake |
| Water | Tehaak, | Chuck |
| Good | Hooleish, | Closh |
| Bad | Peishakeis, | Peshak |
| Man | Tehuckoop, | Tillieham |
| Woman | Tlootsemin, | Clootchamen |
| Child | Tanassis, | Tanass |
| Now | Tlahowieh, | Clahowiah |
| Come | Tchooqua, | Sacko |
| Slave | Mischemas, | Mischemas |
| What are you doing? | Akoots-ka-mamok, | Ekta-mammok |
| What are you saying? | Au-kaak-wawa, | Ekta-wawa? |
| Let me see | Nannanitch, | Nannanitch |
| Sun | Opeth, | Ootlach |
| Sky | Sieya, | Saya |
| Fruit | Chamas, | Camas |
| To sell | Makok, | Makok |
| Understand | Commatax, | Commatax |
b.
Note 2.
This, along with the paper on the Ethnology of Russian America, was the development of a communication laid before the Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at York in the previous September, to the effect that the "line of demarcation drawn between the Eskimo and the Indian races of America was far too broad and trenchant"; wherein it was stated.—
1. That the true affinities of the Chipewyan were with the Kadiak, Unalashka, Kenay and Sitka forms of speech.—
2. That the Ugalents (Ugyalyachmutsi of Resanoff), although separated from the neigbouring Eskimo tongues so as to cause the appearance of a discontinuity in the Eskimo area could, when we dealt with the Kadiak, Unalashka, Kenay, and Sitka vocabularies as the representatives of a single language be shown to be Eskimo.—
3. That affinities of a more general kind were to be found even further southward.
4. 5. That the Atna of Mackenzie was the Noosdalum, and the Friendly Village vocabulary the Billechoola, of Mr Tolmie.
(Transactions of the Sections p. 78.—On the Southern Limits of the Eskimo race in America.)
ON THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF RUSSIAN AMERICA.
READ
BEFORE THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY
19TH FEBRUARY 1845.
The paper submitted to the Society is upon the Ethnography of Russian America. For a variety of reasons, the tribes in these parts are of paramount importance. Inhabiting the most north-western extremity of America on the coast of Behring's Straits, they are divided from Asia only by that channel, so that of all the nations of the New World they are most in contact with those of the Old. This circumstance alone puts them prominently forward in ethnology; since the primâ facie theory, as to the population of America, must certainly be in favour of the passage having taken place through Behring's Straits.
The limits of the Russian possessions in America, or of the geographical area which we are considering, are not very definitely determined: at least, the line of demarcation is, in a great degree, a political rather than a natural one. From Mount St Elias to the southernmost extremity of Prince of Wales Island, the territory in question consists of a strip of sea-coast, and islands, with the British possessions of New Norfolk and New Hanover at the back; whilst from Mount St Elias northward, as far as the Arctic Sea, the line of division is imaginary, coinciding with the 141° W. long. It can scarcely be expected, that a frontier so determined can coincide with any important divisions, either in physical or ethnographical geography. Still the area in question is a convenient one.
Considering the remote situation of these extensive and inhospitable tracts, the knowledge we possess of them is creditable to the government of Russia. From the time of Behring downward, the coasts have been accurately described; whilst the communications of the officials of the Russian American Company exhibit far more than an average amount of intelligence. For such portions of the present paper as are not purely philological, the author has drawn upon Baer's Statistische und Ethnographische Nachrichten, &c. Of a Russian settlement in New California, although American, no notice is taken. On the other hand, a nation inhabiting the extreme promontory of Asia (the Tshuktshi) are, for reasons that will make themselves apparent, dealt with as American. On the southern extremity of Russian America, the native tribes are known to their neighbours of New Caledonia, the Oregon country, and to the Hudson's Bay Company, under the names of Colooches, Tunghaases, Atnas, Coltshanies, Ugalentses, Konagis, Cadiacks, Tchugatches, and Kenays. For the north, and the shores of the Arctic Sea, they are dealt with (and that truly) as members of the great Esquimaux family. Further investigation multiplies the names of these tribes, so that we hear of Inkalites, Inkulukhlaites, Kiyataigmutis, Agolegmutes, Pashtolegmutis, Magmutis, &c. &c. To these divisions may be added the different varieties of the natives of the Aleutian islands. In the classification of these numerous tribes, it is considered that much remains to be done.
For the tribes on the shore of the Northern Ocean, and for the parts immediately south of Behring's Straits, the general character, both physical and moral, seems to be Esquimaux. The enormous line of coast over which this nation is extended has long been known. The language and manners of Greenland have been known to us since the times of the earliest Danish missionaries; so that details, both physical and moral, of no savages are better understood than those of the Greenlanders. With this knowledge, it is easy to trace the extension of the race. The shores of Hudson's Bay are inhabited by the same stock. So also is the coast of Labrador. The three forms of speech are but dialects of one language: a fact that has long been known. Hence the Esquimaux and Greenlanders have long been recognised as identical. From Hudson's Bay, northward and westward, the whole line of seacoast, as far as Mackenzie's River, is Esquimaux; and that with but little variety of type; either in physical conformation, manners, or language. The interpreter to Captain Franklin was an Esquimaux from Hudson's Bay, yet he had no difficulty in understanding the dialects west of Mackenzie's River, 137° W. Long. (See Archæologica Americana, ii. 11.) Three degrees westward, however, a change in the Esquimaux characteristics takes place; although the inhabitants of the quarters in question by no means cease to be Esquimaux. The tribes already noticed may be called the Eastern, those about to be mentioned the Western Esquimaux. The dividing line is fixed by Captain Franklin at 140° W. long. The tribes on each side of this line have at first a great difficulty in understanding each other. Now the line between the subdivisions of the Esquimaux language coincides very nearly with the boundary line of Russian America. Hence the ethnography of that territory begins with the Western Esquimaux.
It is no refinement to state, that, with the Western Esquimaux, we find a change in the social and moral type, exhibiting itself in a greater appreciation of the articles of civilized life, both as means of home use, and as instruments of commercial barter. They resort annually to the eastern boundary, and exchange articles of Russian manufacture of seals-skins, oil, and furs. This intercourse is of late date.—Archæologia Americana, ii., 11.
To Kotzebue's Sound and Behring's Straits the same race, with similar characters, is continued. Of Behring's Straits it occupies both sides, the Asiatic as well as the American. From Behring's Straits to the Peninsula of Aliaska, and from thence to Cook's Inlet (or Kenay Bay), every thing is unequivocally Esquimaux, and has long been recognized as such.
That a statement lately made was no refinement, may be proved from the third chapter of Baer's work, where he determines the character of the Esquimaux trade, and gives it as a measure of the intercourse between Asia and America. It seems referable to two centres, viz., the parts about Behring's Straits, and the parts about Cook's Inlet. For the first, the market extends from Icy Cape to the Promontory of Aliaska, and has for its stations the islands of Behring's Straits. The second district comprises the Aleutian islands, Cadiack, and the line of the sea-coast as far south as Queen Charlotte's Island. Now, whatever may be the amount of Russian civilization, in determining some of the characteristics of the Western Esquimaux, it is certain that the tribes of that race now inhabiting Asia, were occupants of their present localities, anterior to the Russian Conquest of Kamshatka.
A second deviation from the Esquimaux type, we find in the island Cadiack, and the coast of the continent opposite. The early Russian discoverers speak of a continual warfare between opposing tribes of the same stock; whilst another tribe, the Inkalite, is said to uphold itself bravely against the more numerous nation of the Kuskokwims. As a general rule, warfare, except as a defence against tribes of a different race, is as foreign to the typical Esquimaux of Greenland as to the Laplander of Europe.
Measured by another test, and that of the psychological sort (viz., the capacity for religious instruction), the Western Esquimaux coincides with the Esquimaux of Greenland. With the exception, perhaps, of the Negro, the race, in general, is the most docile in respect to the influences of Christianity. The religious history of extreme points of the Aleutian Islands and Greenland verifies this statement.
The extent to which a mixed breed has been propagated under the government of Russia, may be collected from the following tables. In New Archangel the population is as follows:—
| Europeans, | 406 |
| Creoles or half-breeds, | 307 |
| Aleutians, | 134 |
In the remaining part of the territory it is as follows:—
| Europeans, | 246 |
| Half-breeds, | 684 |
| Natives, | 8882 |
Of places of trust in New Archangel, a very large proportion is held by Half-breeds. We find them as overseers, police-officers, clerks, watchmakers, medical students.
Such seem the most remarkable points connected with the Russian Esquimaux in general. They are few in number, because it is the plan of the writer not so much to exhibit the whole details of the race to which they belong, as to put forward prominently such characteristics as are differential to them and the Esquimaux of Greenland and Labrador.
It is now proper to give a brief notice of the more important tribes, these being mentioned separately.
1. The Tshuktshi.—This is the name of the Esquimaux of Asia. It is generally accompanied by the epithet sedentary, so that we speak of these people as the sedentary or settled Tshuktshi. This distinguishes them from the so-called Reindeer Tshuktshi, a tribe of the Koriak family. For either one or the other of these tribes the name of Tshuktshi should be abolished. It is my impression that the differences between the Esquimo of Asia and America do not represent more than a few centuries of separation.
2. The Kuskokwim.—This tribe, which occupies the banks of the river from which it takes its name, may stand as the representative for the tribes between Cape Rodney and the Peninsula of Aliaska. Its numbers are estimated at upwards of 7000. Transitional in character to the tribes of the coast and interior, its manners coincide with its geographical position. In the use of certain so-called ornaments, it agrees with the other Esquimaux tribes; as it agrees with the Esquimaux and Finn tribes in the use of the sweating-bath. The Kuskoquimers count distance by the number of nights requisite for the journey. Of the constellation they have a detailed knowledge, founded upon observations. The most prominent of their institutions is the Kahim; a building found in every village; erected like an amphitheatre, capable of containing all the males of the place, and which, over and above many peculiar domestic purposes connected with its erection, serves as a council-hall for the males of the population.
3. The Tshugatsh.—Natives of Prince William's Sound, and closely allied to the islanders of Cadiack, with whom they agree in language. Their historical traditions are, that they came from the coast, and from the north; their mythological ones, that they are descended from the Dog.
These three divisions are not only indubitably Esquimaux, but have also been recognised as such.
Those that follow are generally referred to another ethnological group. In the parts about Cook's Inlet (Bay of Kenay) and Mount St Elias, a second race is said to make its appearance, and this is generally separated from the Esquimaux by a broad line of demarcation. It is called the Kolooch race or family, and is generally placed in contrast with the Esquimaux. Isolated tribes akin to the Kolooches, and worthy of special notice, are the following:—
1. The Ugalyachmusti or Ugalentses, consisting of about 38 families.—They change their localities with the season, and are Kolooch in manners and conformation. Living around Mount St. Elias they are frontier tribes to the Tshugatshes.
2. The Kenays, inhabiting the coast of Cook's Inlet, 460 families strong.—Historically, they assert that their origin is from the hills of the interior, from whence they descended coastward. Their mythological and ultimate origin is from the raven, connected with which they have a complex cosmogony. Descent from the raven, or descent from the dog, is considered, for these tribes we are speaking of, as an instrument in ethnological criticism. Like the Ugalentses, they are in contact with Tshugatsh Esquimaux.
3. The Atnahs, dwelling on the Copper River, 60 families strong, hunters of rein-deer, and workers in iron as well as copper.—They coincide with the typical Kolooches in burning their dead, in ascribing the origin of their race to the raven, and in most other particulars.
These three tribes are unequivocally connected closely with each other, and with the other members of the Kolooch group. The position of the following is less definite:—
1. The Kolshani.—These represent the natives of the interior. They fall into two divisions, whereof the nearer can make itself intelligible to the Atnas and Kenays. The more distant one is savage, inhospitable, unintelligible. Cannibalism is one of their real or accredited characteristics.
2. The Inchulukhlaites, dwelling on the Chulitna River.—They are stated to be akin to the Magimuts, who are allied with,
3. The Inkalites.—In one village alone they are 700 strong. Their language is said to be a mixture of the Kenay, Unalashkan, and Atna.
It is hoped that the true character of the ethnological difficulty involved in the classifications of the tribes enumerated, along with several others in the same territory, has suggested itself to the mind of the reader: viz. the position of the undetermined tribes, and the relations of the Esquimaux and the Kolooch groups to each other. These problems seem capable of being solved by means of the evidence of languages. Previous, however, to the enumeration of our data upon this point, it must be observed, that members of a third ethnographical division, in all probability, form part of the native population of Russian America. From the Lake Athabasca, as a centre, to the Atlantic on one hand, and to the Pacific on the other, languages of this group are spoken; so that the Athabascan area in its extension from east to west, is second only to the Esquimaux. Now both the Kolooch and Esquimaux languages have fundamental affinities with the Athabascan, and vice versa; whilst it is generally the case in Ethnology, that two languages radically connected with a third, are also radically connected with each other. With this premise, we may enumerate in detail, our data in the way of philology. This method will introduce new names and new localities, since we have often vocabularies where we have nothing else besides.
1. Beechey's Esquimaux.—The most northern specimen of the western Esquimaux. Spoken in Kotzebue's Sound.
2. The Aglimut vocabulary of the Altas Ethnographique.
3. The Esquimaux of the Island of St Lawrence.—Ibid.
4. The Asiatic Esquimaux of the Tshuktshi of Tshuktshi-Noss. Klaproth's Asia Polyglotta.
5. The Asiatic Esquimaux of the Tshuktshi of the mouth of the river Anadyr.—Ibid.
6. The Esquimo of Norton Sound.—Cook's Voyages.
7. The Kuskokwimer vocabulary of Baer's Beiträge.
8. A vocabulary of the Island of Nuniwock in the Atlas Ethnographique, is unequivocally Esquimo. So also are the dialects of the Peninsula of Aliaska. Having seen, however, no vocabulary, I am unable to state whether they most resemble those of the Aleutian Islands, (a prolongation of its western extremity), or of those of the Island Cadiack on its south-eastern side. At any rate, the languages akin to the Cadiack, and the languages of the Aleutian group, form separate divisions of sub-dialects. Beginning with the Aleutian class, we have the following materials:—
9. Unalashkan vocabularies by Lisiansky, Wrangell, Resanoff, and others.
10. The Andreanowsky Isles.—Robeck's vocabulary.—See Mithridates.
There is external evidence that the language for the whole Aleutian group is radically one, the differences, however, being, as dialectal differences, remarkable. The natives of Atchu and Unalashka have difficulty in understanding each other.—Mithridates.
11. Cadiack vocabularies by Resanoff, Lisiansky, and Wrangell.
12. Tshugatshi vocabularies by Resanoff and Wrangell.
13. The Lord's Prayer in Jakutat, by Baranoff.—Mithridates.
Notwithstanding the statement that only 19 words out of 1100 are common to the Unalashkan and Cadjak, the affinity of these languages to each other, and their undoubted place in the Esquimaux class, has long been recognised.
14. The Inkuluklaities.—This tribe is akin to the Magimut and the Inkalaite. We possess a few words of the language, which are sufficient to prove that although its definite place is undetermined, it has miscellaneous affinities to the Atna, Kenay, and Esquimaux.
15. The Ugalyachmutsi of the Mithridates.
16. The Ugalents of Wrangell.—See Baer's Beiträge. These two vocabularies represent the same language. The Ugalyachmutsi, although left by Resanoff as an isolated language, is unequivocally stated by Baer to be Kolooch. Its contrast with the Esquimaux of the Tshugatshes, has always been insisted on.
17. Kenay vocabularies by Davidoff, Resanoff, Lisiansky, and Wrangell; also an anonymous one from a native. Gallatin, in the Archæologia Americana, goes so far as to separate the Kenay even from the Kolooch language.
18. The Atna of Wrangell.—See Baer's Beiträge. Now, another American language, spoken some hundred miles south of the Copper River, of which we find a vocabulary in Sir Alexander Mackenzie's Travels, is called Atna. It has no direct affinity with the present tongue. A hypothetical solution of this coincidence lies in the fact, that in the Athabascan languages the root d-n, or t-n = man. That the Kenay call themselves Tnai, or Tnaina = men, is specially stated by Baer, p. 103.
19. The Koltshany vocabulary of Wrangell.—See Baer's Beiträge. The tables of the work in question shew the language to be undoubted Kolooch.
20. The Sitca vocabularies—numerous. Cook's Norfolk Sound; the Sitca of Lisiansky; the Sitca of Davidoff (see Archæologia Americana); the Sitca of Wrangell. According to Captain Bryant, it is spoken from N. lat. 59° to 5° S. by twenty tribes. The number of individuals who speak it reckoned by Mr Green, an American missionary, at 6500—see Archæologia Americana. The standard Kolooch is that of Sitca or Norfolk Sound.
21. The Tunghaase of Mr Tolmie. Of this, the most southern dialect of Russian America, we find a short vocabulary in the Transactions of the Royal Geographical Society. It is truly stated to be closely allied to the Sitca.
That there are no more than two groups required for the classification of the above-mentioned languages, and that these are the Esquimaux and the Kolooch, seems evident. That these groups are of no high value may be shewn. It is undoubtedly true, that if we only compare isolated vocabularies with each other we shall find little but points of contrast. And we find less than might be expected even when we compare groups of vocabularies.
1. The tables of Baer, exhibiting three languages for the Esquimaux and five for the Kolooch group, give scarcely half a dozen words common to the two.
2. The table of Lisiansky, with the Unalashkan and Cadiack on the one side, and the Kenay and Sitca on the other, presents but little more.
3. The earliest language with which the Ugalyatmutsi was compared were Esquimaux, and the contrast was insisted upon from the first.
It is only when we apply what may be called the indirect method that the true value of the Esquimaux group becomes recognised.
1. Each has affinities with the Athabascan tongues, and perhaps equal affinities.
2. Each has affinities with the Oregon languages, and each perhaps equally.
3. Each has definite affinities with the languages of New California, and each perhaps equal ones.
4. Each has miscellaneous affinities with all the other tongues both of North and South America.
These facts that connect the Esquimaux languages with those spoken to the south of them involve, as may be easily seen, a theory of much higher importance than the position of groups like the Kolooch. They are taken along with the geographical position of the Esquimaux race in respect to Asia, and point to the parts in question as the starting-points for the population of the New World. Upon this latter I can only say at present, that I find Esquimaux words in the following languages:—
1. The Koriack.
2. The Kamskadale.
3. The Aino of the Curulian Isles. In respect to this last group, it is remarkable that whilst I only find two words (the names for house and eye) common to the Western Esquimaux vocabularies of Lisiansky and the Aino ones of Langgsdorf, I find between the latter and the Eastern Esquimaux of Parry a considerable number.
4. The Corean.
5. The Japanese.
This is in the way of direct evidence. The Oregon and Kolooch languages have similar and equal affinities; whilst the Asiatic languages enumerated have themselves affinities in the Old World known and recognised.
From what has been laid before the Society, it may be seen of how great importance it is to determine, whether the languages of Russian America pass into each other gradually, or are divided by trenchant lines of demarcation.
MISCELLANEOUS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF NORTH AMERICA.
READ
BEFORE THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY,
JANUARY 24, 1845.
The present state of American Ethnography is the excuse for the miscellaneous character of the following notices. What remains just now to be done consists chiefly in the addition of details to an outline already made out. Such communications, however, are mainly intended to serve as isolated points of evidence towards the two following statements:—
1. That no American language has an isolated position when compared with the other tongues en masse, rather than with the languages of any particular class.
2. That the affinity between the languages of the New World, as determined by their vocabularies, is not less real than that inferred from the analogies of their grammatical structure.
Modifications of the current doctrines, as to the value of certain philological groups and classifications, are involved in the positions given above.
The Sitca and Kenay Languages.—That these languages are Esquimaux may be seen by reference to the comparative vocabularies in Lisiansky's Voyages and Baer's Statistische und Ethnographische Nachrichten, &c.
The Ugalyachmutsi.—In the work last quoted this language is shown to be akin to the Kenay. It is termed Ugalenz, and is spoken in Russian America, near Mount St. Elias. It has hitherto been too much disconnected from the Esquimaux group.
The Chipewyan and Nagail.—That these were Esquimaux was stated by the author in the Ethnological subsection of the British Association at York. The Taculli is also Esquimaux. The Sussee, in the present state of our knowledge, is best left without any absolute place. It has several miscellaneous affinities.
The bearing of these notices is to merge the groups called Athabascan and Kolooch in the Esquimaux.
It has been communicated to the Ethnological Society, that a majority of the languages of Oregon and New Caledonia are akin to each other and to the Esquimaux; a statement applying to about forty-five vocabularies, amongst which are the three following, hitherto considered as isolated:—
1. The Friendly Village vocabulary of Mackenzie. See Travels.—This is a dialect of the Billechoola.
2. The Atna of Mackenzie.—This is a dialect of the Noosdalum.
3. The Salish of Duponceau. See Archæologia Americana.—This is the Okanagan of Mr Tolmie. See Journal of Geographical Society.
The Ahnenin.—In this language, as well as in two others hereafter to be noticed (the Blackfoot and Crow), I have had, through the courtesy of Dr. Prichard, an opportunity of using valuable vocabularies of Gallatin's, collected by Mr Mackenzie, an agent for the American fur-company on the Yellow-stone river; by whom also were drawn up the shorter vocabularies, in Mr. Catlin's work on the American Indians, of the Mandan, Riccaree and other languages. The table also of the Natchez language is chiefly drawn from the comparative catalogues of Mr. Gallatin. That the MS. vocabulary of the Ahnenin represents the language of the Fall Indians of Umfreville, and one different from that of the true Minetares (with which it has been confounded), may be seen from the following comparison.
The Ahnenin language, without being at present referable to any recognized group, has numerous miscellaneous affinities.
The Blackfoot.—Of this language we have three vocabularies; a short one by Umfreville, a short one in Mr. Catlin's work, and the longer and more important one in Mr. Gallatin's manuscripts. The three vocabularies represent the same language. Its affinities are miscellaneous; more however with the Algonkin tongues than with those of the other recognized groups.
The Blackfoot numerals, as given by Mackenzie and Umfreville, slightly differ. The termination in-um runs through the numerals of Fitz-Hugh Sound, an Oregon language.
| English. | Blackfoot of Umfreville. | Blackfoot of Mackenzie. | Fitz-Hugh Sound. |
|---|---|---|---|
| one | tokescum | sa | nimscum. |
| two | nartokescum | nahtoka | malscum |
| three | nohokescum | nahhoka | utascum. |
| four | nesweum | nasowe | moozcum. |
| five | nesittwi | nesitto | thikaescum. |
| six | nay | nowwe | kitliscum. |
| seven | kitsic | akitsecum | atloopooscum. |
| eight | narnesweum | nahnissowe | malknaskum. |
| nine | picksee | pakeso | nanooskim. |
| ten | keepey | kepo | highio. |
2. nekty, Tuscarora; tiknee, Seneca; teghia, Oneida; dekanee, Nottoway; tekini, Otto.
3. noghoh, Mohican; nakha, Delaware.
5. nthsysta, Mohawk; sattou, Quappa; satta, Osage, Omahaw; sata, Otto; sahtsha, Minetare.
7. tzauks, Kawitchen, Noosdalum.
10. kippio, Chimmesyan.
The Crow and Mandan Languages.—Of the important language of the Upsarokas or Crows the Archæologia Americana contains only thirty words. Of the Mandan we have, in the same work, nothing beyond the names of ten chiefs. In Gallatin's classification these tribes are dealt with as subdivisions of the Minetare nation. Now the Minetare are of the Sioux or Dacota family.
Between the Mandan vocabulary of Mr. Catlin and the Crow vocabulary of Gallatin's MSS. there are the following words in common. The affinity seems less close than it is generally stated to be: still the two languages appear to be Sioux. This latter point may be seen in the second table.
The Riccaree Language.—In Balbi and in the Mithridates, the Riccaree is stated to be a dialect of the Pawnee; but no words are given of it: hence the evidence is inconclusive. Again, the term Pawnee is equivocal. There are tribes called Pawnees on the river Platte, and tribes called Pawnees on the Red river of Texas. Of the last nation we have no vocabulary; they appear however to be different from the first, and are Pawnees falsely so called.
Of the Riccaree we have but one vocabulary (Catlin's North American Indians, vol. ii.); it has the following words common with the true Pawnee list of Say in the Archæologia Americana, vol. ii.
The special affinities of the Riccaree are not very decided. It is anything rather than an isolated language; and will, probably, be definitely placed when we obtain vocabularies of the Indian languages of Texas.
The Creek and Choctaw Languages.—That the question as to the affinity between the Creek and the Choctaw languages is a question of classification rather than of fact, may be seen from the Archæologia Americana, vol. ii. p. 405; where it is shown that out of six hundred words, ninety-seven are common to the two languages.
The Caddo.—That this language has affinities with the Mohawk, Seneca, and the Iroquois tongues in general, and that it has words common to the Muskoge, the Catawba, the Pawnee, and the Cherokee languages may be seen from the tables of the Archæologia Americana. The illustrations however of these languages are to be drawn from a knowledge of the dialects of Texas and the Oregon districts, tracts of country whereon our information is preeminently insufficient.
The Natchez.—This language has the following miscellaneous affinities, insufficient to give it a place in any definite group, but sufficient to show that it is anything rather than an isolated language.
The Uche, Adaize, &c.—See Archæologia Americana, vol. ii. p. 306. For these languages, tables similar to those of the Natchez have been drawn up, which indicate similar affinities. The same can be done for the Chetimacha and Attacapa.
New Californian Languages.—The dialects of this district form no exception to the statements as to the unity of the American languages. In the Journal of the Geographical Society (part 2. vol. ii.) we find seven vocabularies for these parts. Between the language of the diocese of San Juan Capistrano and that of San Gabriel, the affinity is palpable, and traces of a regular letter change are exhibited, viz. from l to r:
| English. | San Juan Capistrano. | San Gabriel. |
|---|---|---|
| moon | mioil | muarr. |
| water | pal | paara. |
| salt | engel | ungurr. |
Between the remaining vocabularies, the resemblance by no means lies on the surface; still it is unquestionable. To these data for New California may be added the Severnow and Bodega vocabularies in Baer's Beiträge &c. These two last, to carry our comparison no further, have, amongst others, the following terms in common with the Esquimaux tongues:
The concluding notices are upon languages which have already been placed, but concerning which fresh evidence is neither superfluous nor misplaced.
Sacks and Foxes.—Cumulative to evidence already current as to the tribes of the Sacks and Foxes belonging to the Algonkin stock, it may be stated that a few words collected by the author from the Sack chief lately in London were Algonkin.
The Ojibbeways.—A fuller vocabulary, taken from the mouth of the interpreters of the Ojibbeway Indians lately exhibited, identifies their language with that represented by the vocabularies of Long, Carver, and Mackenzie.
The Ioway.—Of the Ioway Indians, Mr. Gallatin, in 1836, writes as follows:—"They are said, though the fact is not fully ascertained, to speak the same dialect," i. e. with the Ottoes. Again, he writes, "We have not that [the vocabulary] of the Ioways, but nineteen words supplied by Governor Cass seem to leave no doubt of its identity with the Ottoes."—Archæolog. Amer. ii. 127, 128. Cass's vocabulary is printed in p. 377.
In 1843, however, a book was published in the Ioway language, bearing the following title page, "An Elementary Book of the Ioway Language, with an English Translation, by Wm. Hamilton and S. M. Irvine, under the direction of the B. F. Miss; of the Presbyterian Church: J. B Roy, Interpreter; Ioway and Sac Mission Press, Indian Territory, 1843." In this book the orthographical principles are by no means unexceptionable; they have the merit however of expressing simple single sounds by simple single letters; thus v = the a in fall; x = the u in tub; c = the ch in chest; f = th; g = ng; j = sh. Q however is preserved as a double sound = qu. From this alphabet it is inferred that the Ioway language possesses the rare sound of the English th. With the work in question I was favoured by Mr. Catlin.
Now it is only necessary to pick out from this little work the words selected by Balbi in his Atlas Ethnographique, and to compare them with the corresponding terms as given by the same author for the Sioux, the Winebago, the Otto, the Konza, the Omahaw, the Minetare, and the Osage languages, to be convinced the Ioway language belongs to the same class, coinciding more especially with the Otto.
With the book in question Cass's vocabulary coincides.
ON A SHORT VOCABULARY OF THE LOUCHEUX LANGUAGE.
BY J. A. ISBISTER.
READ
BEFORE THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY,
JANUARY 25TH 1850.
This notice, being communicated by myself, and making part of the subject illustrated by both the papers that precede and the papers that follow, is here inserted.
The Digothe, or Loucheux, is the language of the North American Indians of the lower part of the river Mackenzie, a locality round which languages belonging to three different classes are spoken—the Eskimo, the Athabaskan, and the Koluch (Kolosh) of Russian America.
To which of these classes the Loucheux belongs, has hitherto been unascertained. It is learned with equal ease by both the Eskimo and Athabascan interpreters; at the same time an interpreter is necessary.
The following short vocabulary, however, shows that its more probable affinities are in another direction, i. e. with the languages of Russian America, especially with the Kenay of Cook's Inlet; with which, whilst the pronouns agree, the remaining words differ no more than is usual with lists equally imperfect, even in languages where the connexion is undoubted.
| English. | Loucheux. | Kenay. |
|---|---|---|
| white man | manah-gool-ait. | |
| Indian | tenghie[34] | teena = man. |
| Eskimo | nak-high. | |
| wind | etsee. | |
| head wind | newatsee. | |
| fair wind | jeatsee. | |
| water | tchon[35] | thun-agalgus. |
| sun | shethie | channoo. |
| moon | shet-sill | tlakannoo. |
| stars | kumshaet | ssin. |
| meat | beh | kutskonna. |
| deer | et-han. | |
| head | umitz | aissagge. |
| arm | tchiegen | skona. |
| leg | tsethan. | |
| coat | chiegee. | |
| blanket | tsthee. | |
| knife | tlay | kissaki. |
| fort | jetz. | |
| yes | eh. | |
| no | illuck-wha. | |
| far | nee-jah. | |
| near | neak-wha. | |
| strong | nehaintah. | |
| cold | kateitlee | ktckchuz. |
| long | kawa. | |
| enough | ekcho, ekatarainyo. | |
| eat | beha. | |
| drink | chidet-leh. | |
| come | chatchoo. | |
| go away | eenio. | |
| I | see | su. |
| thou | nin | nan. |
| (my) father | (se) tsay | stukta. |
| (my) son | (se) jay | ssi-ja. |