[138.] In story and tradition the fungus growing on trees and rocks was a favorite substance with which those who sought to deceive intended victims, in the matter of food, prepared dishes inviting to the eye but deadly when eaten. Puffballs, mushrooms, and lichens, especially Umbilicaria arctica, or rock tripe (i.e., the tripe de roche of the French voyageurs) were not infrequently made into stews and soups for food, and so they readily lent themselves as a means of deception of the unwary.
[139.] Djidjoʹgwen, correctly written Djidjōʹgwĕⁿʼ, or as pronounced by some, Djidjōñʹkʻhwĕⁿʼ, is the fishhawk or osprey, Pandion haliaetus. The Seneca term is apparently a compressed form of a sentence word meaning, “What habitually takes fish out of the water.”
[140.] A “gift in payment” is required because the magic power of the thief has been overcome by the wronged individual and the life of the culprit is forfeited to him.
[141.] Dediosteniagon, correctly written Dediioʻstĕñniăʹʼgoⁿ, is a name of the Seneca for Wolf Run, New York. The name signifies literally “There in-two [[799]]it-it rock has broken,” and is a common descriptive appellation of rock cliffs or steep precipices or deep chasms of broken rocks.
[142.] The Seneca, like all the other Iroquoian peoples, apply the term oñʹgweʻ, “man,” “human being,” not only to human beings like themselves but also to such beings as arise from the personification of the phenomena of nature and life which assume the form and faculties and activities of human beings. It was a habit of these languages to qualify this term oñʹgweʻ by the adjective oñʹweʻ, meaning “native, original, true, natural,” to distinguish the real human beings from the creations of their poetic fancy; and upon the advent of trans-Atlantic peoples the term oñgweʹʻoñweʻ remained to distinguish the Indian man from the newcomer.
[144.] The word “opening” is a literal rendering of the Seneca for a “clearing” surrounding a lodge or village; in formal or ceremonial language it is sometimes used for “village” or “settlement.”
[145.] The meaning of the Seneca words of this song is, “Now, the game animal has come in to visit us”; a cannibalistic reference.
[146.] The correct written form of Gaintho is Gāĕñʹtʻhoʻ; it signifies, “Let the wind cease blowing,” “Let there be a calm.”
[147.] The correct form of “Hwu” is hwuʹʼ; it is an exclamation indicating that the act of a sorcerer is recognized in whatever may have taken place, expressing surprise at the power exhibited.