Hocąk Text — A Prophecy About the First School

Hocąk Text — A Prophecy About the First School

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

Stella Stacy

00:09.5									00:17
Žáwánų̀	wigeáną́ka,*	že’e	Wą́kšík	honįhé	že’e,	éjaxjį	že’e	écónı̨́šge	ho…réšgų́nįre†
Prophet	he said,	there	Indians	to gather	there,	right there at that spot	there	the very first	the time when they must have started to go (?)

* or howigeáną́ka ?
† réšgų́hire ? The end of the previous word runs into the beginning of the next: écónı̨́šgeo, followed by an intersyllable pause of .13 seconds. The next sound appears to be réšgų́nį, with an uncertain concluding syllable. The initial ho- is probably a prefix used to nominalize verbs, meaning, "the place where," "the time when"; réšgų́nį can be analyzed as re-, "to start going", and -šgųnį, a suffix marking something as being imagined or speculative, and translated as, "must be, got to be, etc." (Helmbrecht-Lehmann). So this should mean at least, "the time when they must have started to go ..."

	00:22		00:23.6
wágáx hajáireže.	Wágáx hajáireánąga,	egi	wágáǧikjézireánąga*	égi,	ų́sge,	Mą́įxeit’era†
they were going to school.	They were going to school, and	[here]	they were going to learn to write, and	[here,]	well,	English

* wágáǧikjéžeireánąga ? Shigley comments on this difficult reading: "It may be: wagax-ikje-[?]-ireanaga, something like, "they wanted to read (or write)?" The part I don't understand is the "z" sound, but sometimes her /ž/ can sound like /z/, so I wondered if it was: wagax-ikje-ž(e)-ireanaga."
† this appears to be a contraction of Mą́įxete hoit’éra, "Big Knife talk".

	00:30
warapı̨́nį,	že’e,	Žáwánų̀	(ho?)wigeánąką,	že’e	Wą́kšígᵉra	wác	áhínąk*	hacı̨́ja	mı̨́ną́giregi,	éja
not to know well,	there	the Prophet	he said,	those	Indians	canoe	arriving,	wherever	they would be siting,	there

* < háhínąk, the initial /h/ having been lost due to external sandhi.

	00:40				00:43.5
úireahíres’aže.*	Wą́kšígᵉra	wíráhire,	wác	hahíres’aže.	Že’e	wą́giyą	éja	wórágᵉnąką	že’e,
they would come and do it.	The man	they would come to him,	canoes	they would come.	So	one man	there	that story	[this one],

* hóireahíres’aže ?

					00:50			00:51.8
wórák	hoxéteaxjı̨́žire,	nąga	Wą́kšígᵉra	[hąjąjrogųnįzere (?)].*	(E)gi	éja,	é	wíreahíres’aže.
story	very big one he was making,	and	the Indians	?	And	there, in that place,	they	they would come to them.

* cf. hajajéra, "that saw it".

Source:

Reading by Sheila Shigley, from the audio tape in the American Philosophical Society: 10-04. Fraenkel, Gerd. Stacy, Stella. "Deeds of tribes whose youngsters go to school to get an education," recorded 12 July 1959, 1 .mp3; 00:00:09.5 - 00:00:51.8. 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.