HIDATSA

[Jimm GoodTracks]

Actually its not even close.  It is from a "sound verb", for lack of a
better term.  It referrs to the "Whinnying of a horse in a distance".
Perhaps it is from:  naa'ga =  the young of anything, and    ho- =  as in
the IOM "hotun" =  sound of an animal or bird.   The "-sh" is often suffixed
to names of persons.  My Hidatsa is quite limited, so John B may be able to
say more.

Interestingly, I learned during the interrim of the final services, that the
reknown L&C "Bird Woman", Sakakawea [Chagaa'ga + Mia via A.W.Jones' lexicon]
is/ was indeed Hidatsa language as is/ was the woman.  This is the claim by
a number of Hidatsa informants in the 1920s/ 1930s, and further attested to
by Bull Eye [Gidabi Isda], her grandson and only living decendent in 1930s.
Her confusion as a Lehmi Shoshone, as per the L&C journal came about as a
result of her marriage to T.Charboneau and his trading espeditions to the
mountain areas, where Saka'gaMia (as per the pronunciation of the 3Tribes
Museum staffer and another speaker--a grandson of Walter YoungBear.  Wolf
Chief in a statement in the 1920s indicated that the Hidatsa would not have
ventured that far because of respect to their enemies.  He suggested that
perhaps the Crow went to Shoshone land and captured someone, but the L&C
accepted history was incorrect.  And I bet noone is willing to bet on the
present day liklihood of the US Historians rewritting their version of
history and the events even though the Hidatsa informants and other early
century documentation tends to collaborate the Native version of the
accounts.
jgt

----- Original Message -----
From: "Koontz John E" <John.Koontz at colorado.edu>
To: <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
Sent: Friday, August 13, 2004 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: HIDATSA ELDER


> On Thu, 12 Aug 2004, Jimm GoodTracks wrote:
>
> Requiscat in pacem, senior Baker.
>
> I notice that NagaraHash looks a bit like the Ioway-Otoe variant of the
> "English(man)" term.
>