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<div>I have also explored all of these sources and came up with what
you kindly shared from Lakota/Dakota sources but the Osage words I
did not know. There is really a derth of linguistic material, as far
as I can tell, on words for varieties of stone, clay, and mineral in
Lakota and Dakota dictionary sources. In this regard, I
have been trying to track down the term<i> icage,</i> which
Walker (1983, pp. 220-221, 222-223, 227-228) gives to describe 'white
fruits' growing under the earth, suggesting the crystalline
formations in caves. In Walker's literary rendition of the Lakota
genesis story,<i> Taku Skan Skan</i> made entrails from these fruits
and molded a male and a female figure (pp. 225-226). Like the
Cheyennes, the Lakotas sprinkled powdered gypsum on the ground to
mark off the altar at their Sun Dance (Densmore 1918, p. 122. The
Cheyenne sometimes refer to gypsum as "frost."
Could<i> icage </i> come from the word<i> caga</i> (Riggs 1968,
p. 84; Buechel 1970, p. 113).<i> Icage</i> means "something to
make with" (Riggs (Riggs 1968, p.171; Buechel 1970, p.
199). Another and probably related word,<i> icago,</i> refers
to a mark or line that is drawn or sketched on something (Buechel, p.
199),and Buechel also gives<i> wakicaga</i> as a name for a sacred
ceremony (Buechel 1970, p. 835). </div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>Yes,
yuwi'pi are transparent stones,including the crystalline ones that
ants push up from their underground tunnels. Another word used
for stones with transparent qualities was<i> Inyan zanzan</i> in
Williamson and also in one of the texts in the Buechel
collection.</div>
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<blockquote type="cite" cite>On Thu, 8 Aug 2002, Patricia Albers
wrote:<br>
> Would anyone on the listserve happen to know the Lakota word
for<br>
> gypsum, also loosely called mica?<br>
<br>
Interesting! I'd never heard of a connection in English
terminology.<br>
When you read of mica as something traded, say, within the
Hopewell<br>
Interaction Sphere (term?), which do they mean?<br>
<br>
Here are a few ideas struggling toward being a non-answer.<br>
<br>
I checked in Ingham, Buechel, and Williamson without any luck.
I suspect<br>
this simply reflects a hole in these dictionaries' coverage.
(See Osage<br>
below.)<br>
<br>
The only minerals listed in Buechel (under stones) are:<br>
<br>
khaNghi't[h]ame 'black shale' (a black. smooth stone found along the
White<br>
River)<br>
wahiN ~ waNhi 'flint'<br>
<br>
Yuwi'pi is defined as 'transparent stones' in the same article, which
to<br>
me suggests quartz or some other mineral at least translucent, but I
am<br>
not a student of yuwipi. I did notice yuwi'pi was^i'c^uN 'a
sacred round<br>
hard stone that is supposed to have power in the hands of those who
have<br>
dreamed' - for those who have been following the was^i'c^uN
discussion.<br>
<br>
A syllable like 'me' is quite unusual in Lakota. It reflects<br>
Proto-Mississippi Valley *W ((as opposed to *w), which normally
becomes b<br>
in Santee as depicted in Riggs and turns up as w or m in
Buechel. I don't<br>
know why sometimes m (maybe when the underlying stem is BaN? - cf.
Riggs).<br>
<br>
Since Riggs gives be 'to hatch, as fowls. Same as maN" I
assume that me<br>
(mAN, a nasal ablauting stem?) had a similar gloss at some point, but
is<br>
now moribund. It doesn't occur in Buechel - and neither does we
or maN.<br>
That suggests that khaNghi' ['crow'] tha [ALIENABLE] me {cf. be or
baN?)<br>
means something like 'crow('s) egg(s)' or 'crow('s) hatchling(s)'.<br>
<br>
The root hiN in 'flint' is pan-Siouan and tends not to change much,
except<br>
that it is sometimes hard hit by contracting and largely hidden in<br>
compound terms for 'knife' or 'projectile point'.<br>
<br>
===<br>
<br>
I found both terms in LaFlesche's Osage Dictionary:<br>
<br>
moNiN'hka ska 'gypsum' (literally 'white earth' or 'white clay')<br>
<br>
iN'hkoNpa 'mica; a tumbler for drinking water'<br>
(literally iN 'stone' + hkoNpa 'be light,
transparent')<br>
The stem hkoNpa is not listed separately.<br>
<br>
I also noticed:<br>
<br>
iN'hkoNhkoNdha 'friable rock or stone. A symbol used in
rituals.'<br>
<br>
===<br>
<br>
Back tracking these in Lakota, I did find in Buechel:<br>
<br>
ma[n]k[h]a saN 'whitish or yellowish clay' (Vermillion is 'red
clay')<br>
<br>
And then, of course, yuwi'pi is/are described as (a) transparent
stone(s).</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
===<br>
<br>
The Omaha Pebble Society refers to the pebble as iN'kkugdhi
'translucent<br>
stone'. The form kku'gdhi is cognate with Lakota khogli
'translucent,<br>
clear'.<br>
<br>
I apologize for the use of "NetSiouan" orthogaphy. I
can clarify it if<br>
you need to know more standard lettering.<br>
<br>
JEK</blockquote>
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