The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1896-04-02
The En- nglish of the Indians.

Lieut.. Grote Hutcheson, aide de camp
to Gen. Coppinger, is in receipt of a
highly interesting letter from one Of his
brother officers now in camp at Fort
Hall agency in Idaho the home Of the
Indians who were mixed up in the re-
cent Jackson's Hole trouble. The let
ter is interesting because it has moth
ing to say of Jacksons Hole which is
a relief. Instead. ii Geals largely with
conditions al Fort Hall from the stand
point of student Of ethnology.
Il am taken" says the writer, whose
name Lieut.. Hutcheson does not feel
at liberty to mention, with the speech
of the Indians in their communication
with the whites. Having little to oc-
cupy time. / have bothered to look in
to the origin of the kind Of language
which l hear used by Indians and trad
ers in their talk with one another. 1t
suggests the slang Of the BoweFy, be-
ing a purely artificial adjunct to both
the Indian and the English language.
1t suggests, too, the baby talk OF young
mothers, who insist on placing verbs
where nouns should be, and who prefer
mixing up their first, second, and third
persons to taking them straight For
instance, there is the word 'mebbe.'
AT first l thought this to be q sort Of
corruption of may be, meaning perhaps,
or used in doubling way. This is not
true. The Indian and the white in con-
versation use 'mebbe' as an affirma-
tive. 'Mebbe get wagon is the strong
est way of declaring that you will get
a wagon. You eat mebbe' brings de-
light to the Indian. for that is a prom
Use of giving him food, promise which
may by no means be evaded A white
man. too, in conversing with an Indian
when an Indian will converse. and
when he knows even this patois, injects
'mebbe' into his talk at every fourth
word, or If he gets excited he puts it in
at the third.
There is no pronoun in the mixed
vocabulary of the reservation. The
words white man and Injun' will fill
in for all the persons and all the cases,
too, by the way. Somebody will write
an Indian English grammar some day,
and it will be comprised in less than a
hundred words. Simplicity takes the
place of explicitness, 1 am bound to
say, and sometimes you have to use a
carefully trained ear to know whether
it is a threat, command, a promise,
or request that is being flung at you.
Moou is uuhHOWH III lue SrdHlinur "a
the Bannack.
II discover that the English language
of Fenimore Cooper and OIL Coomes are
non-existent. 1 have dug profoundly
into the Ugh and the three word SEN
tences of the novelist, and find they
are out of fashion. If you succeed In
getting an Indian to talk to you at all
he will not shut off with three words
{,, Npt
er will he use the expression pale
face. No self-respecting Indian says
pale face now.
Although the language is a study
worth attention. Seriously, 1 imagine
! a text book could be compiled which
would really result in a great good foI
! the Government in bringing the Indians
to something like civilized habits. AS
it is. the instruction is based on the
same conditions as prevail in the Eng
lish language and with English-speak-
ing persons. This does not fit the In
dian. His language is simplicity itself
and there are two twists of case, tense
of the like. AS to tense, one illustra-
tion will show Take the word Go.
We have it go, went, gone, going, will
co. while the Indian puts in two cases
go and was co. If he wishes tc
make il future tense he simply puts
in the specific time, as He go to-mor'
row. mebbe, which to my mind Is quite
expressive of the idea. / seriously be.
lieve attention might be called to this
situation among scholastic men anC
perhaps we would be able to get along
without rascally and incompetent in
terpreters One hundred words woulC
be a good vocabulary. Bluffs
Daily Nonpareil