Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/82

 jo On the defcent of the American Indians from the Jews.

fingular, but they have not a particular pronoun for the third, they diftin- guilh it by cuftom. Si-a, or Sy-ab, is " I am -," Cbee-a, or Cby-ah, " you are ;" and foo-wah, " he is." Ay-ab fignifies " to go ;" Ay-a-fa, " I remain-," IJh-i-a-fa^ " you remain ;" y/-/0, " he remains." A-OO-E-A is a ftrong religious emblem, fignifying " I climb, afcend, or remove to another place of refidence." It points to A-nb-wah, the firft perfon fingular, and O-E-A, or YO HE WAH j and implies, putting themfelves under his divine patronage. The beginning of that moil facred fymbol, is, by ftudious (kill, and a thorough knowledge of the power of letters, placed twice, to prevent them from applying the facred name to vain purpofes, or created things. In like manner they fay, Naf-fap-pe-O IJh-00-E-A^ " You are climbing a very great acorn-tree," meaning an oak ; for Naf-fe is the name of an acorn ; and the mid part of that triple compounded word, is derived from Ap-pe-Ia, " to help i" Che-ap-pe-la A-wa> " I do not help you." The termination, according to their fixed idiom, magnifies it to a fuperlative. Quoo-ran-he-qua* a noted old camping place, fourteen miles above the fettlement of Ninety -fix* and eighty-two below the Cheerake, fignifies, in their dialed:, " the large white oaks." Oof-fak is the name of a " hickory-nut," and Ocf-fak Ap pe-0* as above. Qot-te fignifies " a chefnut ;" Noot-te, " a tooth ;" Soot-te, a a pot ;" and Oo-te, " to make a fire," which may be called an Indian type for eating boiled chefnuts.

When they fay, " He is removing his camp," they exprefs it in a moft religious manner, Al-be-na-OO-E-A* Al-be-nds-le fignifies " I camped -," Al-be-nas-le-chu; " I fhall, or will, camp : J> but, according to their religious mode of fpeaking, At-ke-na A-00-E-A-re^ exprefles the former, and Al-be- na A-00-E-A-rd-cM) the latter phrafe ; likewife, Al-be-naOO-E-As fignifies Caftra Moveto^ imperatively. It is worthy of notice, that as they have no pronoun relative to exprefs the third perfon fingular, they have recourfe to the firft fyllable of the eflential word, Toowah^ " He is." In allufion to that word, they term the conjunction copulative, Ta-wah, and ^tee-U-Wah^ " reft- ing." So mixed a train of nice and exact religious terms, could not be invented by people, as illiterate and favage as the Indians now are, any more than happen by accident.

Though they have loft the true meaning of their religious emblems, ex cept what a very few of us occafionally revive in the retentive memories of their old inquifitive magi ; yet tradition directs them to apply them pro perly.

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