Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/624

 276 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.

literally "to be elevated above the ground," "to have the body {-na) extended horizontally above the ground and projecting forward [all this in the radical Us-]." Tesanakwe, according to Cuoq, is "a woman who has her body above the earth, whose body being ex- tended does not touch the earth ; a woman who has nothing to do carnally with men, — qncz ccelibalem agit vitam." The Virgin Mary is styled Kakik taiesanakwewitc Mani=" the ever Virgin Mary." This word tesanakwe (which contains the root ikwe, "woman") is evidently built up in contrast with agonakzvcns, the name the pagan Indians gave to the young woman who was immolated on an elevated platform as a sacrifice before entrance upon a war expedition (see No. 1). Cuoq calls agonakwens, " the pagan virgin," and tesanakwe, "the Christian Virgin." The history of these two words is very suggestive. The word for " virginity, chastity," used of both sexes, is from the same root tesanawiwin.

47. Waban, "it is day, it is getting light" (p. 413). The radical j of the word is wab, "white." As Cuoq points out, it is interesting I to note how "these Indians attribute the color white to the light of ' day [compare the Latin a/bescere], while most European tongues

ascribe the color black or dark to the shades of night." In French, e. g., one can say indifferently il fait noir or il fait unit. The Aryans seem to have emphasized night as much as some primitive peoples (the Algonkins, e. g.) have emphasized day.

48. Waceiabi, "to have a speck or white spot on the eye " (p. 416), — from wace, "to shine," and -ab "to see." As Cuoq notes, it is hard to see the justice of this name, since such a spot must obscure rather than enlighten the eye. He informs us further that the Iro- quois call such a speck in the eye a " star." This may suggest the origin of the appellation.

49. Windigo, " an anthropophagous giant, and fabulous monster " (p. 440). From the windigo have been named windigo-wakon, " a sort of edible moss, the famous tripe de roche," — wakon = il moss ;" and windigo-pinecinjic, a bird so called from its voracity and the way in which it attacks and devours other birds.

50. Wingzvak (plural of an obsolete wing), "the winged genii of sleep ; a sort of somniferous butterflies, which figure in Algonkian mythology" (p. 441). Among the sayings in which the word wing- tvak appears are the following : Ni nisigok wingwak (literally, " the zvingzvak kill me "), " I am overwhelmed with sleep ; " zvingwak ondjita manek (literally, " there are many wingwak "), " everybody is asleep." According to some of the Indians the wingzvak (butter- flies or flies), which cause sleep, are ordinarily five for each indi- vidual. Cuoq cites from Mathevet, a missionary of the middle of the last century, this legend : "The Indians say that a man playing in

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