The First School

by Stella (Blowsnake) Stacey, a.k.a. Mountain Wolf Woman
transcribed and translated by Sheila Shigley


Hocąk Interlinear Text


(00:09.5) The Prophet said, there where the people (Indians) gathered, right there at that spot where the very first time when they must have started to go (?), they were going to school. they were going to school, and were going to learn to write, and ų́sge, they didn’t know English well, so there, the Prophet said, those Indians arriving in canoes, wherever they would be sitting, there they would come and do it [?]. The man, they would come to him, come in canoes. So there, one man [was telling] a story, a very big story he was making, and the Indians [... ?]. And there in that place, there they would come to them.1


Commentary."Prophet" — the Hōcąk here is Žáwánų̀. This word comes from Šawáno, "Shawnee," who were famous among the Hōcągara for having produced the Shawnee Prophet, Tenskatawa. So the word for Shawnee came to mean "prophet" rather like the name Cæsar came to mean "emperor" (cæsar, czar, kaiser). However, it is highly unlikely that this prophet is Shawnee Prophet, since Tenskatawa was intensely opposed to any kind of interaction with the Big Knives (whites), and he prophesied a renaissance of native culture in sharp contradistinction to that of the white Americans. Nor does Žáwánų̀ refer here to the teacher, since he is in the penultimate sentence identified as merely "a man" (). Therefore, we do not know who this prophet was who prophesied that their children would one day attend an English language school. Nevertheless, Stella has found this of interest since his prediction eventually came true.

"Indians"the Hōcąk word for Indians is Wą́kšík, plural, Wą́kšígᵋra. Unfortunately, the word is ambiguous, meaning also, "male, man, person, people."

"when they must have started to go" — this is an uncertain reading.

"English"Mą́įxeit’era, likely from a radical contraction of Mą́įxete hoit’éra. Hoit’é-ra means, "the talk"; and Mą́įxete means, "Big Knife," the standard term for a white American. So she is literally saying, "they didn't know Big-Knife-talk well."

"there in that place"we are not told what this place is.


Comparative Material.


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Notes

1 Reading by Sheila Shigley, from the audio tape in the American Philosophical Society: 10-04. Fraenkel, Gerd. Stacy, Stella. "7249-Deeds of tribes whose youngsters go to school to get an education," recorded 12 July 1959, 1 .mp3; 00:01:15 - 00:02:04. Copy made by Gerd Fraenkel of an original tape held at the Archives of Languages of the World, Indiana University. This program comes from original tape 527.2. APS accession number 7249; APSdigrec_0955; Recording Number: 02; Program Number: 16.