Washk=?UTF-8?Q?=C4=85_?=in Otoe-Missouria

Wed Aug 20 18:15:03 UTC 2014

Thanks for the replies!  Sorry for the late reply.  Been having a few computer issues on this end and I'd hoped to be able to do more effective digging before I responded.  But my problems might not be fixed for another week (waiting on a part) so I thought I'd go ahead and respond anyway.

The Walks Strong or Always Strong definitely fits with what I am thinking for that name.  However I'd feel much better about that if I found more info on it.  Perhaps Dorsey has a few more "washką/iragrį washką" terms attached to other terms in his vocabulary slips.  Still, old translations of Great Walker or Great Marcher have me thinking that that is correct.  However I still can't ignore the old translation of Fast Dancer which I can JUST see could be formed out of Washką Manyi (wasi/washi (dance) + kąntha (fast) + manyi (always)).  While I am leaning heavily towards Always Strong (and other similar translations), there is the possibility that Fast Dancer could also be correct.  And I'm not one to declare a "winner" in a situation like this.  My determination is irrelevant.  The term/name means what it means and so long as there is a possibility of another translation, I am loathe to say "Yep, this is what it means."  I like to qualify things like that with "This is what it looks like it says, however it could also mean this..."  That's a hard line to walk in a field that likes answers to this sort of thing LOL.

But again, thanks for the replies and if anyone has any other information, I'd love to hear it.

Sky

From: Siouan Linguistics [mailto:SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu] On Behalf Of Ardis Eschenberg
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2014 1:52 PM
To: SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu
Subject: Re: Washką in Otoe-Missouria

In addition to ʻDo one’s best,ʻ washkoN is also often translated as ʻbe strong’ (for example, said to one who is grieving) and is used to connote strength, such as in ʻWashkoN tonga,’ meaning strong or muscular.  

So, could also mean ʻWalks Strong’ or ʻAlways Strong’ for the name given.

Ardis Eschenberg, Ph.D.

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Windward Community College

(808) 235-7443

ardise at hawaii.edu

On Aug 11, 2014, at 7:51 AM, Catherine Rudin <carudin1 at WSC.EDU> wrote:

Common in Omaha too.  At one time it was the UmoNhoN Nation School's sports teams cheer; maybe still is. 

>>> "Mcbride, Justin" 08/11/14 11:01 AM >>>

Just means 'do one's best' in Dhegiha, a far as I've ever seen. It's very common in Osage in particular; it used to be written on the back of all the Language Dept. t-shirts. 

On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 9:34 AM, Campbell, Sky <sky at omtribe.org> wrote:

A few weeks ago there was a discussion about the Ioway name "Washką Manyi" and the given translations such as Fast Dancer and Great Walker from historical documents.  I also mentioned a Ponca friend of mine with the name Washką Mathi which he translated as Stands Strong.  So I've been really interested in the term "washką" and if there was any Otoe equivalent.  The closest lead I found was Dorsey giving the Jiwere equivalent of washką as brixe in his Omaha/Ponca slips.

But poking through Dorsey's material a while ago I found this term:

nan-wañ-́e i-ra-́krin-wa-́shkan - to do his best to dodge or evade the blow, weapon, or pursuer

Then I was talking with my assistant today who is pretty knowledgeable in Osage and he mentioned in passing that Osages use "washką" to refer to doing their best.  So I looked in Dorsey's material again and found this by itself:

nan-wañ-́e - to dodge a blow or weapon; to evade the enemy, or pursuer

So that leaves us with  i-ra-́krin-wa-́shkan which Dorsey also has a separate slip for.  Unfortunately he doesn't translate it here but he does give this phrase:

irákrinwashkanˊwi hó

Based on what I've seen so far, it looks to be a command to "do your best".  But what is really interesting is Dorsey gives this afterward:

(eq. to Dh. washkan i-gă)

So now we have a direct comparison of the Otoe "iragrį washką" and Dhegiha "washką".  Has anyone else seen something like this floating around their respective languages?  I'm curious what the "iragrį" is doing here and why it is omitted for its Dhegiha equivalent.  And now because of the idea of "best" it has me wondering if this term is related to "wexa" (best).

Anyone have any thoughts?  If this term does in fact refer to doing your best, then the name "Washką Manyi" could perhaps roughly translate to "He Always Does His Best."

Sky Campbell

Language Director

Otoe-Missouria Tribe

(580) 723-4466, ext. 111 <tel:%28580%29%20723-4466%2C%20ext.%20111> 

sky at omtribe.org

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