The Iroquois Book of Rites by Horatio Hale
page 152 of 271 (56%)
page 152 of 271 (56%)
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was divided, see _ante_, p. 53. _Anowara_ is the word for
tortoise, but _raniahten_ (or, in the orthography of the text, _ranyaghdengh_) signifies, "he is of the Tortoise clan." 7. _Jadadeken roskerewake_, "thy brother of the Bear clan." _Okwari_ is bear, but _roskerewake_ signifies "he is of the Bear clan." _Rokwari_, "he is a Bear," might, however, be used with the same meaning. 8. _Onghwa kehaghshonha_, "now recently." It is possible that _onghwa_ is here written by mistake for _orighwa_. The word _orighwakayongh_, which immediately follows, signifies "in ancient times," and the corresponding word _orighwake-haghshonha_ would be "in younger times." The period in which these additions were made, though styled recent, was probably long past when the "Book of Rites" was committed to writing; otherwise many towns which are known to have existed at the latter date would have been added to the list. In fact, the words with which the catalogue of towns closes--"these were the clans in ancient times,"--seem to refer these later additions, along with the rest, back to a primitive era of the confederacy. 9. _Rawenniyo raweghniseronnyh_, "God has appointed this day," or, literally, "God makes this day." In these words are probably found the only trace of any modification of the Book of Rites caused by the influence of the white visitors and teachers of the modern Iroquois. As the very fact that the book was written in the alphabet introduced by the missionaries makes us certain that the person who reduced it to writing had been under missionary instruction, it might be deemed surprising that more evidences of this influence are not apparent. It is probable, however, that the conservative feeling of the Council would |
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