Chair

[Rory M Larson]

So what can we agree on now regarding the chair inscription?
I think we're debating at least three general questions:

  1. What does the inscription intend to say?

  2. What language is it supposed to be written in?

  3. Who wrote it?

Carolyn and I are in substantial agreement on point 1), with
a possible quibble over whether MO-NI should be second or
third person.  John has a different view of the meaning of
KO(n)ONTHA, which would alter the message radically.  We've
considered Louis Garcia's suggestion that Curtis' Indian name
should be in there; Bob is looking into what that name may
have been.  Nevertheless, we all seem to agree that the first
part reads:

  KOTHA   UGASHE  THI(n)GE XTSI MONI

  Friend, ailment none     very walk

  Friend, (you?) walk with absolutely no ailment/trouble...

Point 2 seems to be up in the air.  We've had claims for
every Dhegihan language but Quapaw.  Considerations are:
Curtis' tribal affiliation was Kaw, so we would expect it
to come from them.  Some of the words and spelling appear
to be Osage.  Some of the grammar and spelling appears to
be Omaha.

(Regarding the words, Mark and I visited with our Omaha speakers
last night, and we tried out some of them.  They definitely do
not recognize either /kodha/ or /kudha/ as "friend", or as
anything else.  For /ugashe/, they kept relating it to the
Omaha word /uga'shoN/, meaning to travel.  They did not
recognize /koN oNdha/ either.  It seems that all three of
these words are Osage, but not Omaha.)

Point 3 hasn't been argued too vigorously.  I suggested that
it might have been Francis La Flesche, and Bob at least seems
open to the idea.  At any rate, the redactor appears to have
been a native speaker who approached the task from an Omaha
or Ponka orthographical, and probably grammatical, background.

Any additions or disagreements with this summary?

Rory