Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-04-02

an idea OF the tradition embodied In the
Indian poetry. Having made giant
moose the demi- god called the animal to
him and asked what the latter would do,
If II should see 4 man coming
Answered the monstrous Team,
II would tear the trees down on him.
Then the Lord Kuoskap
Saw that the moose was too strong
SO he made him smaller and weaker
SO that the Indians could XIII MN.
Another extract is the following, show
ing the divine side of kuloskap
He greatly loved mankind,
And wherever he might be,
Though afar in the wilderness,
He never was far away,
Away from his Indian children.
He dwelt in a lonely land.
But whoever went to seek him.
The mastereevcr found.
This Is n more concrete conception of
the Great Spirit so conspicuous in Indian
thought Of the happy hunting groun'i
than we are wont TO attribute to the red
man, and it is difficult to conceive of a
child of the forest writing poetry of this
character in the picture language of his
will serve to recall the fact that the typi-
cal language of the Indian was almost
Invariably ngurative to degree APP
preached by the speech of no civilized
people, and that all conditions Of life were
highly conducive to the development OF
the imagination. every tree and plant
| being invested with u spirit
If we attach SO much to the nomencla
| ture and the poetry of the American abo
| rhymes, what shall we say of any project
! that would deprive the Indian not only oil
| the significance Of his picturesque name
but of his very name itself? Yet this i:
the step now being seriously considered
by the Indian bureau at Washington. Ac
cording TO this programme the depart
ment will rechristen all Of the Indian:
in the United States that have not al
ready adopted modern names. The In
dams will not be consulted as to whether
they wish to substitute American names
| like John Doe and James Jones anC
| Thomas White for the poysyllablic cog
nomens which to us are as meaningless Il;
they are unpronouncablc in the Indian
tongue but which to them are almost in
variably hgurative, being typical Of some
quality. characteristic or idiosyncrasy OF
the bearer
The Indian records will thus he deprived
Of those names which being interpreted
read Rain in the Face" Eagle Heart,
son Of the Winds" al well as of the les.
poetic but none the less expressive names
of jumping Bear" Double Heart" ant
| Chief Who Beats Ills Motherin-law.
While some Of the Indian names appear
ridiculous to us as translated they ar,
almost invariably liquid and pleasing t,
the car in the original, and they are th'
oNcmpliflCation of that tendency to dca
in metaphorical language in even til,
most prosac relations of life SO charac
tcrstic of the untutorcd son OF the forcs
and of the prairie.
The necessity which dictates the sub
stltution of modern names for those :,
long borne by the red men is typical o
our practical age. Though taking mucl
that is sdVaScly poetic out of Indian life
it will enable members of families to trac,
their relationship and also make it posi-
bic for the Indian department to keel
clear on the government records all title
and allotmcnts While the change vii
rob the Indian OF one means of cultivatin,
his propensity to indulge in hgurativ
speech. it will also cut him off from
much that is repulsive i'll his past Tn
transformation, while having its pathoti
features will yet mark another step for
ward in the slow but steady progress o
the civilization of the American Indian.