[148.] The name Gwidogwido, correctly written Gwidōʹgwidoʼ, is an onomatopoetic word, designating the flicker, highholder, or golden-winged woodpecker (Colaptes auratus).
[149.] The word Djihonsdonqgwen, correctly written Djiʼhoⁿsdoñʹʻgwĕⁿʼ, is the Seneca name for the ant or emmet.
[150.] The word Djoñiaik, correctly written Djoñʹiaik, is the Seneca name of the robin redbreast (Merula migratoria). In the story it is called by the epithet of the “Laughing Man,” which refers to a certain series of notes of this bird, which resemble exultant laughter among men.
[151.] This reference to the use of the pipe calls attention to a well-known habit of reputed sorcerers of smoking in order to gain immunity from the apprehended spell or enchantment in the presence of strangers. Every sorcerer of any repute prepared his tobacco with magic herbs which were supposed to protect him from any malign influence which might be exercised by a visitor or visitors. Hence the custom of smoking when about to hear some startling information.
[152.] The expression “hindered by the lake” is a veiled reference to the fact that this lake, or rather its waters, had been charged with magic power or orenda to defend its owner. The particular method by which this orenda or magic power accomplished this object was by rendering its victims unconscious, as the epithet, Ganigonhadontha Ganiodae (i.e., Găʼnigoⁿʻäʻdoⁿʼʹtʻhăʼ Ganiōʹdaeʼ), meaning, “It it-mind to-be-lost causes,” or the “delirium-causing” lake, indicates. Thus, the haunts of the allies of sorcerers were usually made impenetrable to persons who possessed a lesser measure of orenda or magic power.
[153.] The name Ganiagwaihegowa, written Niāʼgwaiʼhegōwā, or correctly Ganiăʼgwaiʹhegōwa, is the name of a mythic monster which was described as a huge bear, being vulnerable only in the soles of its forefeet; keen of scent, it never allowed anything to escape that crossed its circular track or path; it was represented as hairless except as to its tail, and that it had over its forequarters a large ridge or fold of flesh. These characteristics sufficed to make this fanciful creature a source of abject terror. Its reputed form may have [[800]]been due to a confusion of buffalo form and that of a grizzly bear. The meaning of the sentence here is that this monster was one of the animal fetishes of the speaker. The final -gōwā, meaning “large, great,” signifies here “the well-known” or “the noted,” bear monster.
[154.] The word Hasʻhonyot, correctly written Hasʻhoñʹʼiot, is an epithet, meaning “His back stands out, is protuberant,” which is applied by story-tellers to the crawfish or lobster because its back ever seems turned toward the observer. The name Odjieqdah, correctly written Odjiʼeʹʻdăʼ, is the common designation of the lobster or crawfish and crab; the word signifies “The claw.”
[155.] The word Sʻhodieonskon, correctly written Sʻhodieʹoⁿskoⁿʼ, is the name of a fanciful creature who went about playing tricks on all kinds of people. He was reputed to be a brother of Death. He was in fact the God of Mischief.
[156.] The word sentence Hasdeaundyetʻha, correctly written Hăsdeauñdiēʹtʻhăʼ, is an epithet applied to Hiʹʼnoⁿʼ, the Thunderer, and signifies “He it to rain causes,” or the Rainmaker. But here it may possibly refer to a species of worm which bears this name.
[157.] The expression or epithet, “Complete power,” does not in the least convey the idea of a single overruling Being, but rather of a Being who possessed such exceptional power as to require no outside aid in accomplishing his purposes. In this Bloodsucker episode there is a touch of the extravaganza in story-telling.