How

[VOORHIS at BrandonU.CA]

>         Two comments.  First, greetings don't seem to be important to many
> of the people I've talked to.  In Wichita you can say either acs
> tisa:khir7i 'it's a good day' or 'e*:si:rasi:ci*is', literally 'how are
> you' -- but both are considered kind of awkward.
>         Violet tells me her preferred greeting in Lakhota is "wahi" 'I
> have arrived'.  If the other person sees you first, that person can say
> instead "yahi", 'you have arrived'.  That seems to match some of the
> things some of the others of you have been saying (and of course takes us
> back to the motion verb discussion by another route....)
>         David

A Winnebago informant years ago was at a loss to suggest any greetings beyond
comments on the weather, and Mesquakie (= Fox) informants couldn't think of
anything at all except "Where are you going?" which they said was obsolete as a
greeting.  But the Mesquakie language was still in daily use in their community
at that time, so I could observe what actually happened.  Remarks about the
weather were regularly the first words spoken when Mesquakie speakers
encountered one another outside their homes.

On approaching a native-style house, whether wigwam or teepee, it seems to me
that people make a point of conversing loudly enough that those inside will be
made aware of someone coming.  Sound passes easily through the walls of such
dwellings.  The people in the house then usually shout out something to those
approaching; whether it's "Come on in!" or "Wait a minute!" or "Who's there?"
or a joking reference to the visitors depends on the situation.  No greetings
are really needed here nor is there a place for them.

A widespread Central Algonquian remark on departure is the word for 'already'.
It may be followed by an independent 1st person pronoun.  It is more an
announcement that one is leaving than a goodbye, though some seem to feel that
it's required at the end of a visit.  The Dakota equivalent would be "wana",
"wana miye", or "wana uNkiyepi", but I have never heard these words used in the
same way in Dakota.  People tell me "wana wahde-kte" 'I'll go home now' or
"wana uNhdap-te" 'we'll go home now' could be so used but I haven't heard those
either out in the real world.

The usual response to the 'already' of departure is the local expression for
'all right', which could even be the word "hau" that started this discussion.
	Paul