Historical questions

[Jimm GoodTracks]

I'm coming in here rather late on this discussion of the name for the
Missouria People, so I'll try to pick up and insert the various comments
from the past several days.

----- Original Message -----
From: "R. Rankin" <rankin at ku.edu>
To: <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 9:31 AM
Subject: Re: Historical questions


> It's clear the language was very similar to Otoe though, since the remnant
of
> the tribe joined the Otoes and the old reservation in Oklahoma along with
the
> name of the tribe is "Otoe-Missouri" today.  They spoke one language, and
I
> think they are generally aware which families are Otoe and which are
> historically Missouria.  Jimm could clarify this I'm sure.
> Bob

The Missouria took refuge with the Otoes in 1798.  It was said that there
were about a 100 survivors who remained under their own leaders & chiefs for
about 30-40 years.  During this time, most intermarried with the Otoe, and
by mid 1850s, the Missouria were being absorbed by the Otoe.  However,
families can recall to this day who are from the Missouria, and what family
members were direct descendants.  Some of these families are identified by
surnames that identify the original Missouria ancestor, such as: Big
Soldier, Gawhega, et.al.  Truman Dailey's father, George Washington
Dailey-Xra S^age (Old Eagle) was the last recognized Missouri Eagle Clan
Chief.  There were no more than 3 or 4 Clans that survived from the
Missouria.  The official tribal name is "Otoe-Missouria".  It has an "-a" at
the end.  When old lders addressed a gathering of the people, they would say
in the language:  "Ho, Ji'were Nyu't^chi....."  (Greetings! Otoe & Missouria
People....".

>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rory M Larson" <rlarson at unlnotes.unl.edu>
> To: <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2004 4:58 PM
> Subject: Re: Historical questions
>
> > >> 6.  Do we have any language material at all from the Missouria?
> > > Very little that I know of -- some names from Lewis and
> > > Clark at least.  Maybe John and Jimm know of others.
Dorsey mentioned a few instances of Missouria dialect in his transcription
notes for his manusripts, however, as I recall, it seemed to have to do with
sentence particles.  There are word lists and kin terms that early
chroniclers completed and these were noted on my bibliography at John's
hosted site.  Some old people seem to suggest that Truman Dailey had some
peculiarities in his speech that could be attributed to some Missouria
features of his father's language.  There were some interesting uses of
words, and even there were words that he did not know, but were known by his
older sister.   His mother was half Ioway-half Otoe.  I never explored these
differences out of regard to his age and stature.  Good Native respect for
elders does not permitt such direct questioning of an elder authority.  In
reviewing several Otoe texts that he recorded, I have not picked up anything
different from the usual IOM speech patterns.  Perhaps, Louanna F or Jill
Greer, who also worked with him could share any unique Missouria dialectal
variations.

Dorsey had recorded a number of names, including:
[NOTE: First rendering ultilizes additional fonts, including the Siouian
fonts developed by John Koontz.   This may become garbled by computers
without these fonts, so I give a second rendering of the names in Net
Siouian]:

NadwáXànsheThkáyìße  (Nadwa' XaN'she Thka'yiNGe) = Young White Mule.  This
name became shortened to the surname "White".
ÚnNáhe Xánshe      (UNna'he XaN'she)    =     Big/ Great Acheiver
Múnje Xánshe      (MuN'je XaN'she)    =    Big Black Bear
MáyanKída Xánshe  (Ma'yaN Ki'da XaN'she)     =       Great Guardian of the
Country, a.k.a., Big Soldier
JédandaWahú      (Je'daN Wahu')    =    Coming From the Ocean
ChúdaWeMi        (Chu'daWeMi)    =    Light In the House Woman
AhúMàngri        (Ahu' MaN'gri)    =    Wing Above

In this sampling of names above (there are more),  the only non-Ioway/ Otoe
rendering is in the word "xaN'she" (big; great).  NOTE:  Ioway:  xaN'nye ~
xaNn~e;  Otoe:  xaN'je.
I have rendered the word as given by Dorsey, i.e., xaN'she; however, I have
since wondered if it is correct.  Some of Dorsey's IOM narrative
transcriptions use the letter "s" to denote theta sound, as in:  thi (foot)
would be written as "si".  Then he proceeds to write the phoneme "s" as "sh"
and does not seem to note instances of the phoneme "sh".  He also neglects
other features, such as glottal stops, etc.  My question now is if the the
word for Missouria "big; great" is indeed:  xaN'she (OR) xaN'se?

>>From the Journal of L&C we have:
The Cheifs & Principal men of the Ottoes & Missouris made by M L. & W C the
3rd August 180410


Viz.


            Indian Names                           Tribe
English Signifiation


l.We-ar-ruge-nor                                  Ottoe               Little
Thief

2.Shingo-ton go                                    Otto                 Big
horse

   We tha a                                          Missourie
Hospatallity

3.wau-pc-m                                         Miss:

   Au-ho-ning ga                                   M

   Ba Za con ja                                      Ottoe

  Au-ho-ne-ga                                      Miss.


> > In a quick scan of Lewis and Clark on their way upstream,
> > I found one (p. 65):
> >   Wethea    'Hospitality'
> > In net-Siouan, I suppose this would be Wi0ia (0 = thorn)?
> > Rory
Perhaps this is an old term, however, I am unable to make anything of it at
the moment.  There seems to be some elements missing, as the combination of
"i+a" in "Withia" is unlikely.  I note that their English spelling is not
too sharp either.

 >    But we also have the Pani-maha,
> >     who are usually Loup or Skidi Pawnee, but seems
> >     sometimes to be used (or confused) for the Omaha
> >     or Arikara as well.
I am not familiar with the above term.  Pawnee in IOM is:  PaNYi;  Arickara/
Aricakaree is:  PaNyi Busa  ~  Butha  (Sand Pawnee:  I haven't a clue for
the term).
>
> The element here is *maNhaN 'upstream, against the flow'.  This is well
> attested in Dhegiha, .  In Ioway-Otoe you find iroma(N)ha(N) and
> uma(N)'ha(N) 'upstream',
> , IO maN'ha 'earth, muddy',

maN'ha:    earth; dirt; (perhaps mud)
maN'hathriN:    mud;    maN'hathriNthriN:    muddy
nyi'mahaN:    dirty water (Nemaha River).  However, the term nyi'soje (smoky
waters) is used as well for muddy waters.
And then, there is Nyi'Suje (Otoe)/  Nyi'Shuje (Ioway) (Red or Smoky Waters)
.  This is the name for the Missouri River.

> Ni-u'-t?a- almost certainly means 'drowned',
> and the (a)tci is probably equivalent to OP athi',
>
> Presbyterian missionary, Rev. Wm. Hamilton, in
>  ne-o-cha-ta.  Explanation 1 says it means they
> were camped at the mouth of a stream
> of a river' in Chiwere); explanation 2 given by
> Le Fleche [sic] says some men were in a canoe
> and were drowned.  This goes along with both
> Illinois canoes and Siouan drowning, but it begs
> for very interesting story to explain it!
>
I imagine the drowning is pioneer~trader folk etymology.
Ñút^achi  (N~u't?achi)  means quite simply that they Dwell at the River
Fork.  (ñi [nyi/ n~i] water; ut?a'  river fork/ branch;  chi   dwell;
reside; live).

> >> Is there any independent reason to believe that the
> >> Missouria were once noted for their outstandingly
> >> big canoes?  If not, this label seems a little odd.
Current discussions on the Algonquin source of the name Missouria has
rendered the gloss or reference to either dugout canoes or even birchbark
canoes.  I am not aware of any historical documentations that the Missouria
made dugouts or birchbark canoes.  Tribal references in traditional stories
simply use the term:  "ba'je" (boat), and make no further distinction.
However, does anyone know if the birch tree used for canoe making grows
presently or historically in northern Missouri State?

Jimm


>