PAIUTE GLOSSARY

Agai′h-tĭka′ra—“fish eaters;” the distinctive name of the Paiute of Walker lake, Nevada.

Bai′-yo—it is broken.

Ba′wă—going around in a circle.

Dĕna—for Tĭ′na.

Do—black.

Dombi′na—for Tĭ′mbi or Tübi.

Do′roni—rolling on the ground, wallowing.

Do′yon or Do′yonji—it is growing tall.

Ga′yon or Ga′yoni—slender, tall and slender.

Gosi′pa—the Milky Way, the road of the dead. See Paiute song 1.

Hävi′gĭnû—it lies there, it lies there asleep; hävi′kwă, sleep.

Hogăpä′goni—“rush-arrow people;” the Shoshoni name for the Paiute; from hogăp, a small water reed; pägă, arrow, and ni, the tribal suffix.

Hutsi—the sage-hen (Centrocercus urophasianus).

Ĭbidsi′ĭ—“our mother;” the mythic maternal ancestor of the Paiute.

Jack Wilson—see Wovoka.

Ka—the root of the verb sit; yä′nakatü′, I am sitting down.

Kai-va—mountain.

Kosi—for Kosi′ba.

Kosi′ba—dust.

Kotso′-tĭka′ra—“buffalo eaters;” the Paiute name for the Bannock. Compare Ko′tso-tĕ′ka, a Comanche division.

Kura′ngwa—“very high peak;” applied to Mount Grant, the sacred mountain of the Paiute, west of Hawthorne and near the southwestern end of Walker lake, Nevada.

Kwohi′tsauq or Ќwijau′h—“big rumbling belly,” one of the names assumed by Wovoka the messiah. It was originally the name of his paternal grandfather.

Nänigü′kwa—the Paiute name of the Ghost dance. The word signifies the “dance in a circle;” nüka, a dance.

Noyo′ä—to come gliding or creeping; the verb is applied to the movement of a snake or of an object which progresses without the aid of feet.

Noyo′wana—for Noyo′ä.

Nümä—“people,” or “Indians,” the name used to designate themselves by the Paiute, Shoshoni, and Comanche.

Nümĭ′-naă′—“our father;” the mythic ancestor of the Paiute.

Nüvä—for Nüvä′bi.

Nüvä′bi—snow.

Nüvä′-ri′pă—snowy earth, snow-covered earth (compound word); from nüvä′bi, snow, and ri′pă or ti′pă, earth.

Pägü′nävä—fog.

Paiute or Piu′te—(Pai-yu′t) the name by which the Nüma of Nevada and the adjacent region are popularly and officially known. It has been rendered as “true (pai) Ute” or “water (pä) Ute.” They themselves pronounce the word in three syllables, Pai-u′-ti.

Pai-yu′chimŭ—the Hopi name for the Paiute.

Pai-yu′tsĭ—the Navaho name for the Paiute.

Palŭ—the Washo name for the Paiute.

Päsü′—for Päsü′bi.

Päsü′bi—willow.

Pavio′tso—the proper tribal name of the Indians of Walker River and Pyramid Lake reservations in Nevada, according to Powell, who considers them distinct from the Paiute.

Pu′i—for Pu′igai′-yu.

Pu′igai′-yu—verdant, green (applied to growing plants).

Ro′răni—an unmeaning word used to fill out the measure of the songs.

Ro′yon or Ro′yonji—other forms of Do′yon.

Snake Indians—a name loosely applied to various northern bands or tribes of Shoshonean stock, including Paiute, Bannock, Shoshoni, and sometimes even the Comanche.

Sowi′na—ringing like a bell, roaring.

Sû′ng-ä—for Sû′ng-äbi.

Sû′ng-äbi—cottonwood.

Taivo—the Paiute, Shoshoni, and Comanche name for a white man. See Tä′vibo.

Tăkwû′kwij—lightning.

Tä′vibo—“white man,” the father of Wovoka the messiah. The word has a connection with täbi or tävi, the sun; tävä′năgwăt, the east or sunrise place, and tai′-vo, the Shoshoni and Comanche name for a white man.

Tĭ′mbi or Tĭ′mbin—a rock; another form is tübi.

Tĭ′na—antelope.

Tûngwü′kwiji—for Tăkwû′kwij.

Wai′va—the sand grass or wild millet of Nevada (Oryzopsis membranacea). In composition the word becomes wai. See Paiute song 4.

Wa′siu—the name by which the Washo call themselves.

Wĭ′kiup—the popular name of the Paiute dwelling, made in conical form, about 8 or 10 feet high, and open at the top, of tulé rushes woven over a framework of poles. The word is of uncertain origin.

Wĭ′noghän—shaken by the wind, waving in the wind.

Wo′voka or Wü′voka—“the cutter,” the proper name of the Paiute messiah, known to the whites as Jack Wilson. A few years ago he assumed also the name of Kwohi′tsauq, “big rumbling belly,” from his paternal grandfather. See [chapter ix] ante.

Wûbi′doma—whirlwind, hurricane. Hi′gwă, wind; pitä′nägwă-higwă′, the south wind.

Wûmbe′doma—for Wûbi′doma.

Wûmbĭ′ndomän—for Wûbi′doma.

THE SIOUX

TRIBAL SYNONYMY

Chahrarat—Pawnee name (Grinnell).

Dakota, Nakota, or Lakota—proper tribal name, according to dialect, “allies, friends;” sometimes also they speak of themselves as Oceti Sakowin, the “seven council fires,” in allusion to their seven great divisions.

Itahatski—Hidatsa name, “long arrows” (Matthews).

K̔odalpä-K̔iñago—Kiowa name, “necklace people,” perhaps a misconception of neck-cutting people, i. e., beheaders.

Maranshobishgo—Cheyenne name, “cut-throats” (Long). The name is plainly incorrect, as the Cheyenne language has no r.

Nadowesi or Nadowesiu—“little snakes” or “little enemies,” Nadowe, “snake” and figuratively “enemy,” being the common Algonquian term for all tribes of alien lineage. The Ojibwa and others designated the Iroquois, living east of them, as Nadowe, while the Sioux, living to the west, were distinguished as Nadowesi or Nadowesiu, whence come Nadouessioux and Sioux.

Natnihina or Natni—Arapaho name; Hayden gives the form as Natenehina, which he renders “cut-throats or beheaders,” but it may be derived from Nadowe, as explained above.

Niake′tsikûtk—Kichai name.

Pambizimina—Shoshoni name, “beheaders.”

Papitsinima—Comanche name, “beheaders,” from papitsi, signifying to behead, and nĭma or nüma, people.

Shahañ—Osage, Kansa, Oto, etc, name (Dorsey).

Sioux—popular name, abbreviated from Nadouessioux, the French form of their Ojibwa name.

Tsaba′kosh—Caddo name, “cut-throats.”

TRIBAL SIGN

A sweeping pass of the right hand in front of the neck, commonly rendered “cut-throats” or “beheaders,” but claimed by the Kiowa to refer to a kind of shell necklace formerly peculiar to the Sioux.

SKETCH OF THE TRIBE

The Sioux constitute the largest tribe in the United States, and are too well known to need an extended description here. Although now thought of chiefly as a prairie tribe, their emergence upon the plains is comparatively recent, and within the historic period their range extended as far eastward as central Wisconsin, from which, and most of Minnesota, they have been driven out by the westward advance of the Ojibwa. There is ground for believing that the true home of the whole Siouan stock is not in the west, or even in the central region, but along the south Atlantic slope. (See the author’s Siouan Tribes of the East.)

The Sioux language has three well-marked dialects—the eastern or Santee, the middle or Yankton (including the Asiniboin in the north), and the western or Teton. The tribe consists of seven great divisions, each of which again has or had subdivisions. Dorsey enumerates over one hundred in all. Each grand division had its own camping circle, and when two or more such divisions camped together they usually camped in concentric circles. (Dorsey.) The seven great divisions are: 1. Mde-wakañ-toñwañ (Medewacanton), “village of the Spirit lake;” 2. Waqpekute (Wahpacoota), “leaf shooters;” 3. Waqpetoñwañ (Wahpeton), “leaf village;” 4. Sisitoñwañ (Sisseton), variously rendered “slimy village” or “swamp village;” 5. Ihanktoñwañ (Yankton), “end village;” 6. Ihanktoñwañna (Yanktonais), “upper end village;” 7. Titoñwañ (Teton), “prairie village.”