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Waheenee: An Indian Girl's Story cover

Waheenee: An Indian Girl's Story

Chapter 23: GLOSSARY OF INDIAN WORDS
By Waheenee
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About This Book

A Hidatsa woman recounts her childhood and the daily, seasonal, and ceremonial practices of her community, describing life in earth lodges, kinship and clan relations, child-rearing, games, agricultural work such as planting and husking corn, dog training, marriage customs, buffalo hunts and hunting camps, travel and village relocation after epidemic losses, and practical skills like camp-making and cooking. Presented as first-person reminiscences with illustrative sketches and ethnographic notes, the narrative blends personal memory with practical instructions and cultural explanation of Hidatsa lifeways.

GLOSSARY OF INDIAN WORDS

English equivalents are in italics
Ä hä he̱y´ An exclamation; Ho there!
Ä hä hṳts´ They come against us.
Ä kēē´ kä hēē Took-from-Him; name of a dog.
Ä lä lä lä lä´ Cry of triumph by women; made by curling the tip of the tongue backward and vibrating it against the roof of the mouth.
Ä mä hēēt´ sēē kṳ mä Lies-on-Red-Hill; name of a woman.
Ēē´ kṳ pä Chum.
Ēē nä´ An exclamation.
Ēēt sēē pä däh´ pä kēē Foot moving; name of a game.
Ēēt sṳ´ tä Name of the large tendon of a buffalo’s neck.
E̱y An exclamation.
E̱y dēē äh´ kä tä Name of an Indian.
Hau (how) The Indian salutation.
He̱y dä e̱y´ An exclamation of pleasure.
Hwēē Hasten; an exclamation.
Mä hō´ hēē shä A species of willow.
Mä kṳt´ sä tēē Clan cousin.
Mä pēē´ Meal made by pounding.
Mä pṳk´ sä ō kï hĕ Snake Head-Ornament; a man’s name.
Mēē dä´ hēē kä Gardeners’ songs.
Mēē dēē päh´ dēē Rising water; name of a Hidatsa clan, or band.
Näh Go, come.
Nä kä päh´ Mush.
O kēē mēē´ ä Head-Ornament Woman; a woman’s name.
Shēē´ pēē shä Black.
Sŭk´ kēēts (or Sŭkkēē) Good.
Tsä käh´ ka Sŭk´ kēē Name of Waheenee’s son; from tsakahka, bird, and sukkee, good.
Tsïst´ skä Prairie chicken.
Ṳ´ ï The Hidatsa war whoop.
Wä hēē´ nēē Cowbird, or Buffalo-bird; name of the Indian woman whose story is told in this book.
Wē´ä Woman.
Wṳ ṳ ṳ Imitation of a dog’s bark.
Yĭ yĭ yĭ yĭ yäh´  A war cry of triumph, made with hand vibrated over the mouth or against the throat.
Wē´ äh tēē A woman’s name.