Washk=?utf-8?Q?=C4=85_?=in Otoe-Missouria

Thu Sep 4 01:13:32 UTC 2014

I like that!  I don't think I've seen that exact sense for Otoe (if I have, I can't think of it off the top of my head) but it does sure seem to fit in some cases where walk, move, and always doesn't quite seem to fit (although that last one comes close).  Actually, I just thought of a possible example from Rev. Moses Merrill's History of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (1837) where he translates a decent chunk of the Bible.  Here is what he has for Luke, Chapter 2, Verse 8:

Wdnoce lketl wdhseka mlel swdra wdmenunei, hlha kerowa tlncewd wdnoce krlketl mlginei.

The Bible verse is:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

What I am after is at the end.

...wdnoce grakida mlginei.

Which in our orthography would be:

...wanusje grakida maðinye.

animals - watch-over-their-own - they-always???

This is one of those ultra rare examples of an older Otoe source using "maði" rather than "manyi".  What is the "maði" doing here?  (FYI the suffix -nye means "they").  Could it mean they are "always" watching over their flock?  I suppose.  But to me it seems like the idea is what they are doing on this particular night which really has me thinking about your "being" or "existing" senses and that maybe they could be applied here.  But can "doing" mean the same as "being"?  Not sure.  I'm going to keep this in the back of my mind...especially as it can perhaps apply to names (like my friend's) and see if anything "clicks" in my mind.

Otoe also uses "ką" for muscle.  I've also found translations of it to be artery, vein, and sinew.  I've also even found the term "aką" to mean pulse LOL.  Cool stuff :).  But along this line, I've also heard from my wife's uncle (my wife is Ponca) that he had been told that the word Ponca might mean something like "head muscle" or something to that effect.  I've never delved into what the translation of "Ponca" means but your mention of muscle reminded me of it.  I also seem to remember him saying something along the lines of "sacred head" as well.  This was several years ago though.

Thanks again for this info!  It gives me an entirely different angle to approach this term!

Sky

From: Siouan Linguistics [mailto:SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu] On Behalf Of Kathleen D. Shea
Sent: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 6:25 PM
To: SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu
Subject: Re: Washką in Otoe-Missouria

Sky,

I'm sorry to be replying so late. I'm more familiar with Ponca than Ioway-Otoe. I think that, in the case of your Ponca friend who has the name was^kaN maNthiN (I don't know how to access the special characters in e-mail that you're using, so I'm using a vowel followed by an uppercase N for a nasal vowel and a carrot for a hacek on the previous letter), maNthiN can't be taken literally but means something like 'being, existing.' A Ponca-speaking friend of mine, who prefers to remain anonymous, made friends with my brother's cat, Smoky, a couple of years ago and decided to give him a Ponca name, xude maNthiN, which he translated roughly as 'being gray,' 'going around gray,' or 'existing gray.' (By the way, Smoky Shea has his own Facebook page and announced his new name there.) I think that the English translation your friend gave you for his name, 'standing strong' probably captures the meaning fairly well, where 'standing' is also not meant to be understood in a literal sense. In Ponca, was^kaN can also mean 'muscle.'

Kathy Shea

Sent from my iPad

On Sep 3, 2014, at 12:19 PM, "Campbell, Sky" <sky at OMTRIBE.ORG> wrote:

Finally got my computer up and running this morning!  I've been going through Dorsey's names and came across this:

Wa-ckanˊma-́nyi, Tciwere notation of the Ȼegiha Wackan manȼin, Makes an Effort in Walking, or, Continues to Make an Effort.

Sky Campbell

Language Director

Otoe-Missouria Tribe

(580) 723-4466, ext. 111

sky at omtribe.org

From: Siouan Linguistics [mailto:SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu] On Behalf Of Sky Campbell
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2014 1:15 PM
To: SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu
Subject: Re: Washką in Otoe-Missouria

Thanks for the replies!  Sorry for the late reply.  Been having a few computer issues on this end and I'd hoped to be able to do more effective digging before I responded.  But my problems might not be fixed for another week (waiting on a part) so I thought I'd go ahead and respond anyway.

The Walks Strong or Always Strong definitely fits with what I am thinking for that name.  However I'd feel much better about that if I found more info on it.  Perhaps Dorsey has a few more "washką/iragrį washką" terms attached to other terms in his vocabulary slips.  Still, old translations of Great Walker or Great Marcher have me thinking that that is correct.  However I still can't ignore the old translation of Fast Dancer which I can JUST see could be formed out of Washką Manyi (wasi/washi (dance) + kąntha (fast) + manyi (always)).  While I am leaning heavily towards Always Strong (and other similar translations), there is the possibility that Fast Dancer could also be correct.  And I'm not one to declare a "winner" in a situation like this.  My determination is irrelevant.  The term/name means what it means and so long as there is a possibility of another translation, I am loathe to say "Yep, this is what it means."  I like to qualify things like that with "This is what it looks like it says, however it could also mean this..."  That's a hard line to walk in a field that likes answers to this sort of thing LOL.

But again, thanks for the replies and if anyone has any other information, I'd love to hear it.

Sky

From: Siouan Linguistics [mailto:SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu] On Behalf Of Ardis Eschenberg
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2014 1:52 PM
To: SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu
Subject: Re: Washką in Otoe-Missouria

In addition to ʻDo one’s best,ʻ washkoN is also often translated as ʻbe strong’ (for example, said to one who is grieving) and is used to connote strength, such as in ʻWashkoN tonga,’ meaning strong or muscular.  

So, could also mean ʻWalks Strong’ or ʻAlways Strong’ for the name given.

Ardis Eschenberg, Ph.D.

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Windward Community College

(808) 235-7443

ardise at hawaii.edu

On Aug 11, 2014, at 7:51 AM, Catherine Rudin <carudin1 at WSC.EDU> wrote:

Common in Omaha too.  At one time it was the UmoNhoN Nation School's sports teams cheer; maybe still is. 

>>> "Mcbride, Justin" 08/11/14 11:01 AM >>>

Just means 'do one's best' in Dhegiha, a far as I've ever seen. It's very common in Osage in particular; it used to be written on the back of all the Language Dept. t-shirts. 

On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 9:34 AM, Campbell, Sky <sky at omtribe.org> wrote:

A few weeks ago there was a discussion about the Ioway name "Washką Manyi" and the given translations such as Fast Dancer and Great Walker from historical documents.  I also mentioned a Ponca friend of mine with the name Washką Mathi which he translated as Stands Strong.  So I've been really interested in the term "washką" and if there was any Otoe equivalent.  The closest lead I found was Dorsey giving the Jiwere equivalent of washką as brixe in his Omaha/Ponca slips.

But poking through Dorsey's material a while ago I found this term:

nan-wañ-́e i-ra-́krin-wa-́shkan - to do his best to dodge or evade the blow, weapon, or pursuer

Then I was talking with my assistant today who is pretty knowledgeable in Osage and he mentioned in passing that Osages use "washką" to refer to doing their best.  So I looked in Dorsey's material again and found this by itself:

nan-wañ-́e - to dodge a blow or weapon; to evade the enemy, or pursuer

So that leaves us with  i-ra-́krin-wa-́shkan which Dorsey also has a separate slip for.  Unfortunately he doesn't translate it here but he does give this phrase:

irákrinwashkanˊwi hó

Based on what I've seen so far, it looks to be a command to "do your best".  But what is really interesting is Dorsey gives this afterward:

(eq. to Dh. washkan i-gă)

So now we have a direct comparison of the Otoe "iragrį washką" and Dhegiha "washką".  Has anyone else seen something like this floating around their respective languages?  I'm curious what the "iragrį" is doing here and why it is omitted for its Dhegiha equivalent.  And now because of the idea of "best" it has me wondering if this term is related to "wexa" (best).

Anyone have any thoughts?  If this term does in fact refer to doing your best, then the name "Washką Manyi" could perhaps roughly translate to "He Always Does His Best."

Sky Campbell

Language Director

Otoe-Missouria Tribe

(580) 723-4466, ext. 111 <tel:%28580%29%20723-4466%2C%20ext.%20111> 

sky at omtribe.org

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