The sun., 1903-05-31
THE TOMAHAWK TRULY BURIED
EVEN THE WORD DROPPED BY
WESTERN INDIANS.
Wigwam Has Also Disappeared From Their
TOngue-Indian Languages Used More
and Better Developed Than Ever
Words That Express whole Sentences

LINCOLN, Neb, May 3o.-Despite the
adoption by the Indians OF the Northwest
of the ways of the white mon in the matter
of vocations the English language is, per-.
haps, farther from being generally used by
them then ever before.
The statement is made by missionaries
and Government agents that the Indian
languages are more generally spoken and
better developed to-day than they were
fifty years ago. This is particularly true
of the Sioux, which, in two dialects, the
Teton and the Yankton, has been the means
of communication for unnumbered years
among the Indians Of the great plains
country on both sides of the Missouri River.
The law of evolution works in the Indian
language just AZ it does in the English.
The older Indians employ words and
phrases that the later generations do not
Use and do not seem to understand
The change has come about largely
through the influence Of the missionaries
who have taken the trouble to learn the
tongue, aud have then employed their
linguistic skill in systematizing it. Gram
mar had very little place in the old Ian
guagc Of the Sioux, but the missionary has
brought order to this part Of it.
One noticeable change in the character
of the Indian language of to-day is its COM
narrative purity. In the old days, when
the tribes roamed at will. each enriched
the language of the others by picturesque
phrases or words, either through the eS-
change Of greetings or the words wrung
from the lips of captive braves.
The Indian exhibits the same quickness
in grasping a new idiom or striking phrase
as the white man. although restricted nec-
essarily to Indian sources, 1t is rcmarka-
BILE fact that the slang of the English tongue
, finds little, favor with the reds. although
they are ca ger to seize upon anything good
| fnement to the bounds Of the reservations
! has had the effect Of purifying their Ian
| guage in that there is little OF the old mix
ture of other tribes to be found.
| All Indian language is spoken. in gut.
tural deep. throatv tones. with small
| syllables and much use of vowels. Words OF
! the Sioux sometimes mean whole phrases
| of English Take for instance, the old
word sa-mah- as-an-ta-g gill which eA-
| presses long sentence in English
1t means that the Indian has seen some
thing slhouetted against the sky, after
| dusk has Sc, in and that he has watched until
he could distinguish the oject by the red
| lipht Of the aft erglow Tenderfeet scarcely
ever observe this peculiar phenomenon OF
| the plains, but old plainsnien have noticed
| that always IN tne evening WHEN ud ~
ness is gathering over the land there is a
faint reappearance Of glowing red light
| as If the sun were about to rise again.
| The Indians who are great at noticing
things understood this phenomenon and
watched for it. When written the word
would have "wa-yan-ka-pi added If the
| object had been seen by more than one
The affix "pi' always signifies the plural
The old Indian word. wigwam and .oh.-
hawk have NO longer a place in the lan-
e,,aee of the reds. These and many others
are practically extinct. They were, strictly
| speaking, words ,of Eastern tribes. and in
| some caaes they were the Inventions Of
| trappers and plainsmen. The Sioux word
| for wigwam is tepee, which has a more
essentially Indian sound
BY prefixing and affixing. an Indian word
may be heightened out into meanings
that would require a whole paragraph Of
English TO fully translate, The language
Ia verv comprehensive. and In it's greater
| purity il more poetical than formerly
| shorn. as it now is, of what corresponded
| to Indian slang
1t is losing little in the way of being
| figurative. this being the result of scien.
| tiic application and standardization. The
words and phrases still deal mainly with
| the ordinary things Of the Indians simple
| life, and when the realm of metaphysics is
entered the red man is at a loss for words,
| save as he can illustrate his meaning by
| the Use Of common words Of double sig
| niication.