Meaning of Siouan word "Shke-ma."

[Rory M Larson]

Jonathan wrote:
> Howdy,
> I realize it is difficult to translate Siouan words from songs, but I
have a question concerning the possible meaning or translation of an
Omaha-Ponca or Siouan word which may be written as "shke-ma." The word was
written in a transcription of Ponca songs sung and translated by Ponca
singers Sylvester Warrior and Lamont Brown in 1967. The quote and it's
source is listed below. Thanks in advance for any assistance you may be
able to provide.
Jonathan Holmes


>  "MoN-chu Shke-ma, that’s a Siouan name. We don’t know what it means. The
only  part  we  know is MoN-chu, that means (Grizzly) Bear. Our language is
similar. Don’t know if it’s Spotted Bear or Black Bear, it’s a Siouan name.
When  this  man  arrived  on the scene of the battle, this Sioux ran away."
(Warrior & Brown, 1967, p. 24)

It seems that the root /s^ke/ has to do with tying or untying
(Swetland 1991 "UmoN'hoN iye of Elizabeth Stabler":173,
181,276,285 dhis^ke' - 'to untie', ukki'gdhas^ke - 'to tie';
'to hook'; Quintero 2004 "Osage Grammar": 29 kaas^ke' - 'tie
[e.g., shoes]').  The -ma is probably the pluralizing
positional -ma or ama'.

The /s^ke/ root always seems to take an instrumental prefix,
though.  It may not be able to stand by itself.  And if it
does have this meaning, we would be left with something like
"The Bound (or Loosed) (plural/moving) Grizzly Bear", which
seems a little odd for a name.

Another possibility is that the vowel in "shke" was
misunderstood, perhaps in being slurred with the following
"a-" in "ama'".  /s^kaN/ is a pretty common root meaning
"moving", and it can stand alone.  In that case, we would
have something like "The Moving Grizzly Bear(s)", which
would fit the sense of that following -(a)ma' very well.

It might even be possible that the "shke" is a slurred
reduction of an original s^kaN'dhe, which would mean
"cause to move".  In that case, we would have: "Grizzly
Bears Caused to Move".  This could tie in to the hi'gaN
of "How Rabbit Killed the Black Bears", which I believe
includes a line by the Bear asking "Who is going to cause
me to move? (s^kaN'aNdhe)".

My best shots,
Rory