The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1894-08-22
A REMARKABLE LIBRARY.
QUEER ABORIGINAL BOOKS OWNED
By AN ETHNoLoGIST.
Origin Of Printing Books for the In
dians, With Interesting Facts
About the Cherokee Alphabet.

About the Cherokee Alphabet.
TNERHAPS the most remarkable
- small library in this country
is the property of James G.
Pilling, the well-known eth
nologist of Washington. 1t is the
largest existing collection of books in
Indian languages, and of these Ian
guages there are no less than fifty-five
in North America north of Mexico.
All of them are distinct tongues, as
different from one another as Chinese
and English.
More than one-half of the 500 dia.
lects into which the fifty-hve languages
referred to are divided are preserved
in books. 1t is believed that the first
book printed on this continent was in
an Indian language-the "Nahuati"--
published at the City of Mexico in
1889. The first Bible printed in
America was in an Indian tongue-the
celebrated Eliot Bible. This is one
of the most costly OF ell rare books.
About forth copies of it were specially
prepared with dedication to Charles
III. One of these, in good condition,
is now worth about $4,000.
The first printing done west of the
Rocky Mountains was in the Nez
Perce language. 1t was primer for
Indian children, turned out from the
mission press at Clearwater, Idaho,
in 1899. The press that did the work
had been brought by the missionaries
oil hn f..,, bn Iala lu
The first book printed in Dakota
was dictionary ofthe Sioux language,
produced in 1866 at Fort Laramie.
1t was prepared by two officers of the
United States army, Lieutenants Hyde
and Starring, to pass away the weary
hours during @ long and cold winter
at that lonely outpost of civilization.
They were aided in the work by an in-
terpreter and by the Indians who
loafed about the fort. The type was
set up by the soldiers, and fifty copies
were struck off on crude hand press.
Only two copies are now known, one
of them belonging to General Star
ring, of New York, brother of the
author, and the other to Mr.. Pilling.
The only existing alphabet that is
the product of one mans mind and in
which literature has been printed
was the invention of half-breed
Cherokee Indian. His name was
Se-quo-yah, and he had no education
whatever, but it occurred to him that
he could express all the syllables in
the Cherokee tongue by characters.
Finding that there were eighty-six
syllable sounds in the language he
devised for each one of them Pc
culiar mark. For some of the marks
he took characters OF our own alpha
bet, turning them upside down. With
these symbols he set about writing
letters, and by means of them n cor
respondence was soon maintained be-
tween Indians of his race in Georgia
and their relatives 500 miles away.
At present this alphabet more
properly speaking, syllabary--is in
general use among the Cherokees. In
no other language can the art of read
ing be learned so quickly. Whereas
a fairly bright child learns to read
well in English in two and half years,
Cherokee youngster is able to ac-
quire fiuency in reading books writ
ten in this syllabary within two
months and half. In 1927 the Amer
ican board of foreign missions de-
frayed the cost of casting a font of
type of the characters. The literature
composed with them is now very ex.
tensive, numerous books and some of
the newspapers of the Cherokees be-
ing published in the syllabary.
Later, in 1910, an improved sylla-
barry was devised by the Rev. James
Evans, a missionary among the
Crees. 1t was phonetic, and the char
acters were simpler, being composed
of squares and parts of squares aud
circles and parts of circles. The zeal
GUS clergyman cut his type out of
wood and made casting from the orig
inal blocks with lead from tea chests,
which he begged from officers of the
Hudson Bay Company He manufac-
tured ink out of SCOT and on a hand
press of his own construction printed
many little tracts and leaflets for the
benefit of the Indians. With some mod
itieations his characters have come
into general use, not only among the
Crees, but also among many tribes of
the Northwest which speak languages
in no wise akin TO that of the Crees,
and scores of books have been printed