Chair

[Rankin, Robert L]

This is an interesting suggestion.  It would have to be the bottom line of
the inscription, as I think we've nailed the top line.

If Curtis had an Indian name (his Kaw blood quantum was pretty small), then
"Charger" or something like that could easily be it.  If this is not his
name, then I'm a little unhappy with the "charge, menace" translation.  We
shouldn't forget that, where you have a G in Omaha and Ponca, you have a K
in Osage.  I've been operating under the assumption that the two could be
mixed orthographically if someone conversant with Omaha-Ponca were given an
Osage utterance and asked to write it.  it's possible that the Curtis family
approached someone to provide a proper inscription for the chair and were
directed to Francis Laflesche.

The Kaw for 'we want it' is /oNgoNyabe/.  I'd have to find it in the
recordings to determine whether the second /oN/ is long or short, but the
inclusive/plural pronominal is definitely prefixed at least.

So I'm a little uneasy with a 'threatened' translation unless it can be
shown to relate to something specific in the history of Curtis's vice
presidency or unless we can take it as a proper name.  I wonder if it could
possibly mean 'charge' in the sense of 'commission'?

And I wonder if the apostrophe between the vowels could be the glottal
articulation that sometimes "breaks" long vowels with falling pitch?

All in all, I think you guys are doing a terrific job.  We'll have quite a
bit to tell this researcher.  I don't know if he is an employee of the U.S.
Senate or someone doing historical research under their auspices.

Bob

>Hi gang:
Part of the inscription must be Curtis's Indian name.
I know if I was presenting a gift like a chair i would put his Indian name
on it.
LouieG