 |
"J'ai affirme que nos deux grandes langues du Nouveau Monde [the Iroquois and the Algonkin] etaient tres claires, tres precises, exprimant avec facilite non seulement les relations exterieures des idees, mais encore leur relations metaphysiques. C'est ce qu' out commence de demontrer mes premiers chapitres de grammaire, et ce qu'achevera de faire voir ce que je vais dire sur les verbes."—Rev. M. Cuoq, Jugement Errone de M. Ernest Renan sur les Langues Sauvages. p. 32 (2d Ed. Montreal, 1869.)
"Affermo che non e facile di trovare una lingua piu atta della Messicana a trattar le materie metafisiche; poiche e difficile di trovarne un' altra, che tanto abbondi, quanto quella, di nomi astratte."—Clavigero, Storia Antica del Messico, Tomo IV, p. 244. (Cesena, 1781.)
"Todos los bellisimos sentimientos que se albergan en los nobles corazones en ninguna otra de aquellas lenguas (Europeas) pueden encontrar una expresion tan viva tan patetica y energica como la que tienen en Mexicano. ?En cual otra se habla con tanto acatamiento, con veneracion tan profunda, de los altisimos mysterios de ineffable amor que nos muestra el Cristianismo?"—Fr. Agustin de la Rosa, in the Eco de la Fe. (Merida, 1870.)
Alcide d'Orbigny argues forcibly to the same effect, of the South American languages:—"Les Quichuas et les Aymaras civilises ont une langue etendue, pleine de figures elegantes, de comparaisons naives, de poesie, surtout lorsqu'il s'agit d'amour; et il ne faut pas croire qu'isoles au sein des forets sauvages ou jetes au milieu des plaines sans bornes, les peuples chasseurs, agriculteurs et guerriers, soient prives de formes elegantes, de figures riches et variees."—L'Homme Americain, Tome I, p. 154.
For other evidence see Brinton, American Hero Myths, p. 25. (Philadelphia, 1882.). Horatio Hale, The Iroquois Book of Rites, p. 107. (Philadelphia, 1883.)]
[Footnote 3: Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians, p. 18.]
[Footnote 4: The Tribes of California, p. 73. (Washington, 1877.)]
[Footnote 5: "Il n'est pas rare de trouver des individus parlant jusqu'a trois ou quatre langues, aussi distinctes entr'elles que le francais et l'allemand."—Alcide D'Orbigny, L'Homme Americain, Tome I, p. 170. The generality of this fact in South America was noted by Humboldt, Voyage aux Regions Tropicales, T. III, p. 308.]
[Footnote 6: "Hay muchos de ellos buenos gramaticos, y componen oraciones largas y bien autorizadas, y versos exametros y pentametros."—Toribio de Motilinia, Historia de los Indios de la Nueva Espana, Tratado III, cap. XII.]
[Footnote 7: Menologio Franciscano de los Varones mas Senalados de la Provincia de Mexico, Tomo IV, pp. 447-9. (Mexico, 1871.)
In the Prologue to the Sermonario Mexicano of F. Juan de Bautista (Mexico, 1606), is a well-written letter, in Latin, by Don Antonio Valeriano, a native of Atzcaputzalco, who was professor of grammar and rhetoric in the College of Tlatilulco. Bautista says of him that he spoke extempore in Latin with the eloquence of a Cicero or a Quintilian; and his contemporary, the academician Francisco Cervantes Salazar, writes: "Magistrum habent [Indi] ejusdem nationis, Antonium Valerianum, nostris grammaticis nequaquam inferiorem, in legis christianae observatione satis doctum et ad eloquentiam avidissimum."—Tres Dialogos Latinos de Francisco Cervantes Salazar, p. 150 (Ed. Icazbalceta, Mexico, 1875).]
[Footnote 8: Francisco de Paula Garcia Pelaez, Memorias para la Historia del Antiguo Reyno de Guatemala, Tomo III, pp. 201 and 221 (Guatemala, 1852).]
[Footnote 9: Ritos Antiguos, Sacrificios e Idolatrias de los Indios de la Nueva Espana, in the Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos para la Historia de Espana, Tom. 53, p. 300.]
[Footnote 10: A Study of the Manuscript Troano. By Cyrus Thomas, Ph.D., with an Introduction by D.G. Brinton, M.D., p. xxvii. (Washington, 1883.)]
[Footnote 11: "Tenian libros de pergaminos que hacian de los cueros de venados, tan anchos como una mano o mas, e tan luengos como diez o doce passos, e mas e menos, que se encogian e doblaban e resumian en el tamano e grandeza de una mano por sus dobleces uno contra otro (a manera de reclamo); y en aquestos tenian pintados sus caracteres o figuras de tinta roxa o negra, de tal manera que aunque no eran letura ni escritura, significaban y se entendian por ellas todo lo que querian muy claramente."—Oviedo, Historia General y Natural de Indias, Lib. XLII, cap. I.]
[Footnote 12: "Une ecriture consistant en raies tracees sur de petites planchettes."—Alcide D'Orbigny, L'Homme Americain, Tomo L, p. 170, on the authority of Viedma, Informe general de la Provincia de Santa Cruz, MS.]
[Footnote 13: Legends and Tales of the Eskimo. (Edinburgh and London, 1875.)]
[Footnote 14: Pok, Kalalek avalangnek, etc., Nongme, 1857; or, Pok, en Groenlaender, som har reist og ved sin Hjemkomst, etc. Efter gamle Handskrifter fundne hos Groenlaendere ved Godthaab. Godthaab, 1857.]
[Footnote 15: Kaladlit Assilialit, etc. See Thomas W. Field, Indian Bibliography, p. 199. (New York, 1873.)]
[Footnote 16: First printed in The American Whig Review, New York, Feb. 1849; reprinted in The Indian Miscellany, edited by W.W. Beach, Albany, 1877. I have not been able to find the original.]
[Footnote 17: Horatio Hale, The Iroquois Book of Rites. (Philadelphia, 1883.) It is No. II of my "Library of Aboriginal American Literature."
The introductory essay, in ten chapters, treats at considerable length of the ethnology and history of the Huron-Iroquois nations, the Iroquois League and its founders (Hiawatha, Dekanawidah, and their associates), the origin of the Book of Rites, the composition of the Federal Council, the clan system, the laws of the League, and the historical traditions relating to it, the Iroquois character and public policy, and the Iroquois language. A map prefixed to the work shows the location of the United Nations and of the surrounding tribes.]
[Footnote 18: Recit de Francois Kaondinoketc, Chef des Nipissingues (tribu de race Algonquine) ecrit par lui-meme en 1848.—Traduit en Francais et accompagne de notes par M.N.O., 8vo. pp. 8. (Paris, 1877.)]
[Footnote 19: The National Legend of the Chata-Muskokee Tribes. By Daniel G. Brinton, M.D. Morrisania, N.Y., 1870. 4to. pp. 13. Reprinted from The Historical Magazine, February, 1870.]
[Footnote 20: "Les chefs des vieillards m'avoient souvent parle de leurs ancetres, des courses qu'ils avoient faites, et des combats qu'ils avoient eu a soutenir, avant que la nation put se fixer ou elle est aujourd'hui. L'histoire de ces premiers Creeks, qui portoient alors le nom de Moskoquis, etoit conservee par des banderoles ou chapelets," etc.—Memoire ou Coup-d'Oeil Rapide sur mes different Voyages et mon Sejour dans la Nation Creck, Par le Gen. Milfort, pp. 48, 229. (Paris, An. XI, 1802).]
[Footnote 21: "We burned all we could find of them," writes Bishop Landa, "which pained the natives to an extraordinary degree."—Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, p. 316. For a discussion of what was destroyed at Mani see Cogolludo, Historia de Yucatan, 3d Ed., Vol. I, p. 604, note by the Editor. The efforts which have of late been made by Senor Icazbalceta and the Reverend Canon Carrillo to modify the general opinion of these acts of vandalism cannot possibly be successful. The ruthless hostility of the Church to the ancient civilization, an hostility founded on religious intolerance, could be proved by hundreds of extracts from the early writers.]
[Footnote 22: Boturini's work is entitled Idea de una Nueva Historia General de la America Septentrional fundada sobre material copioso defiguras, Symbolos, Caracteres, y Geroglificos, Cantares y Manuscritos de Autores Indios. Madrid, 1746. The fate of his collection is sketched by Brasseur de Bourbourg, in the introduction to his Histoire des Nations civilisees de Mexique et de l'Amerique Centrale, Vol I.]
[Footnote 23: The following extract from Ixtlilxochitl sums up the native authorities on which he relied for the particulars of the life of the last prince of Tezcuco, and merits quotation as a bit of literary history:—
"Autores son de todo lo referido, y de los demas de su vida y hechos los infantes de Mexico Ytzcoatzin y Xiuhcozcatzin, y otros Poetas y Historicos en los anales de las tres cabezas de esta Nueva Espana, y en particular en los anales que hizo el infante Quauhtlazaciulotzin, primer Senor del pueblo de Chiauhtla; y asimismo se halla en las relaciones que escribieron los infantes de la ciudad de Tezcuco, Don Pablo, Don Toribio, Don Hernando Pimentel y Juan de Pomar hijos y nietos del Rey Nezalhualpiltzintli de Tezcuco, y asimismo el infante Don Alonso Axiaicatzin Senor de Itztapalapan, hijo del rey de Cuitlahuac, y sobrino del rey Motecutzomatzin."—Ixtlilxochitl, Historia Chichimeca, cap. XLIX.]
[Footnote 24: In the celebrated library of J.F. Ramirez, were two folio volumes, containing 1022 pages, entitled Anales Antiguos de Mexico y sus Contornos. They included, besides various Spanish accounts, 27 fragments in the Nahuatl language, some translated and some not. The titles of all are given by Don Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, in his valuable and rare Apuntes para un Catalogo de Escritores en Lenguas Indigenas de America, pp. 140-142. (Mexico, 1866.)]
[Footnote 25: Memorial del Pueblo de Teptlaustuque, en la Nueva Espana; en que se refiere su Origen i Poblacion, i de los Tributos i Servicios, antes i despues de la Conquista; todo pintado, i M.S. En la Libreria del Rei. Antonio de Leon i Pinelo, Bibliotheca Occidental. The district of Tepetlaoztoc belonged to Tezcuco.]
[Footnote 26: "Don Gabriel Castaneda, Indio principal, natural de Michuacan Colomocho en la Provincia de Mejico. Escribio en Lengua Megicana, Relacion de la Jornada que hizo Sandoval Acaxitli, Cacique y Senor de Tlalmanalco, con el Sr. Visorey Don Antonio de Mendoza en la Conquista de los Chichimecas de Xuchipila, 1541."—Beristain y Souza, Biblioteca Hispano-Americana Septentrional, s.v.]
[Footnote 27: For testimony to this interesting fact see The Maya Chronicles, Introduction, p. 28, note.]
[Footnote 28: The Books of Chilan Balam, The Prophetic and Historic Records of the Mayas of Yucatan. By Daniel G. Brinton, M.D., Philadelphia, 1882. Reprint from the Penn Monthly, March, 1882.]
[Footnote 29: Library of Aboriginal American Literature, Vol. I, p. 189. (Philadelphia, 1882.)]
[Footnote 30: An intelligent appreciation of the linguistic labors of Pio Perez was written by Dr. Berendt, in 1871, and printed in Mexico.—Los Trabajos Linguisticos de Don Juan Pio Perez. 8vo. pp. 6.]
[Footnote 31: Disertacion sobre la Historia de la Lengua Maya o Yucateca. Por Crescencio Carrillo. Published in the Revista de Merida, 1870.]
[Footnote 32: A fine manuscript of Vico's work, as well as a number of other productions in Cakchiquel, by the missionaries, are in the library of the American Philosophical Society, at Philadelphia.]
[Footnote 33: Tecpan Atitlan is a village on the shore of Lake Atitlan, in the province of Solola, Guatemala.]
[Footnote 34: Don Domingo Juarros, Compendio de la Historia de la Ciudad de Guatemala, Tomo, II pp. 6, 7, 12, 16, et al. (Ed. Guatemala, 1857). A copy of Tzumpan's writings is said to be in a private library in the United States.
The native Cakchiquel writers were also the authorities on which Father Vazquez depended, in part, in composing his history of Guatemala. He gives a partial translation of one, beginning the passage: "Los Indios de Zolola dizen en sus escritos," etc.—Fray Francisco Vazquez, Cronica de la Provincia de Guatemala, Lib. III, Cap. XXXVI. (Guatemala, 1714, 1716.)]
[Footnote 35: Brasseur de Bourbourg, Bibliotheque Mexico-Guatemalienne, p. 142. (Paris, 1871.)]
[Footnote 36: Titulos de la Casa de Ixcuin-Nehaib, Senora del Territorio de Otzoya. Guatemala, 1876. 8vo. pp. 15. Reprint from the Boletin de la Sociedad Economica de Guatemala.]
[Footnote 37: Las Historias del Origen de los Indios de esta Provincia de Guatemala, traducidas de la lengua Quiche al Castellano. Por el R.P.F. Francisco Ximenez. 8vo. Vienna, 1857.]
[Footnote 38: Popol Vuh. Le Livre Sacre et les Mythes de l'Antiquite Americaine, avec les livres heroiques et historiques des Quiches. Par l'Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg. (Paris, 1861.)]
[Footnote 39: The Names of the Gods in the Kiche Myths of Central America. By Daniel G. Brinton, M.D. 8vo. pp. 37. (Philadelphia, 1881.) Reprint from the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1881.]
[Footnote 40: Boturini, Idea de una Nueva Historia de la America Septentrional, p. 115.]
[Footnote 41: Cabrera, Teatro Critico Americano, p 33.]
[Footnote 42: American Hero-Myths, pp. 213-217. (Philadelphia, 1882.)]
[Footnote 43: On this Qquichua MS. see Marcos Jimenez de la Espada, Tres Relaciones de Antiguedades Peruanas. Introd. p. 34.]
[Footnote 44: Relacion de las Costumbres Antiguas de los Naturales del Piru, printed in the work last quoted, p. 142, note.]
[Footnote 45: "En cabildo de 29 de Julio de 1692, el capitan Don Antonio de Fuentes y Guzman trajo a esta sala siete peticiones escritas en cortezas de arboles."—Francisco de Paula Garcia Pelaez, Memorias para la Historia del Antiguo Reyno de Guatemala, Tom. II, p. 267. (Guatemala, 1852.)]
[Footnote 46: O Selvagem. Trabalho Preparatorio para aproveitamento de Selvagem e de solo por elle occupado no Brazil. Rio de Janeiro, 1876.]
[Footnote 47: Notes on the Lingoa Geral, or Modern Tupi of the Amazonas, in the Transactions of the American Philological Association, for 1872.]
[Footnote 48: Boturini, Idea de una Nueva Historia, etc., App. pp. 57 et seq.; Didacus Valades, Rhetorica Christiana, Pars Secunda (Perusia, 1579); Gemelli Carreri, Giro del Mundo.]
[Footnote 49: Stephens, Travels in Yucatan, Vol. I, p. 449 (London, 1843).]
[Footnote 50: Relacion de las Ceremonias y Ritos de Mechoacan. The MS. of this work, in the Library of Congress, does not contain the Calendar which the author, in the body of the work, promises to append; nor apparently does the copy in Madrid, from which the work was printed, in Vol. 53 of the Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos para la Historia de Espana.]
[Footnote 51: Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de Mexico. Codex en Geroglificos Mexicanos y en lengua Castellana y Azteca. First published at Madrid, 1878. A specimen of the map, "Carte Geographique Azteque," is given by Professor Leon de Rosny, in Les Documents Ecrit de l'Antiquite Americaine, p. 70 (Paris, 1882).]
[Footnote 52: Stephens, Travels in Yucatan, Vol. II, p. 265, gives a Maya map of Mani. A more complete study of the subject is that of Carrillo, Geografia Maya, in the Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico, Tom. II, p. 435.]
[Footnote 53: Silabario de Idioma Mexicano, dispuesto por el Lic. Faustino Chimalpopocatl Galicia, Mexico, 1849, 8vo. pp. 16. Second edition, Mexico, 1859, 8vo. pp. 32. Also Epitome o Modo Facil de Aprender el Idioma Nahuatl, 12mo. pp. 124, Mexico, 1869.]
[Footnote 54: Elementos de la Gramatica Megicana, por Don Antonio Tobar Cano y Moctezuma. Written about 1642.]
[Footnote 55: Confessionario Mayor y Menor en Lengua Mexicana, y Platicas contra las Supersticiones de Idolatria, que el dia de oy an quedado a los Naturales desta Nueva Espana. Ano de 1634. Mexico. A copy of this scarce volume is in my library.]
[Footnote 56: Dr. Couto de Magalhaes remarks: "Como o nome indica, este missionario devia ser algum mestico que, com o leite materno, beben os primeiros rudimentos da grande lingua Sul-Americana."—Origens, Costumes e Regias Selvagem, p. 62 (Rio de Janeiro, 1876). In 1876 M. Varuhagen published, at Vienna, a Historia da paixao de Christo e taboa dos parentescos em lingua Tupi, written by Yapuguay, an extract, apparently, from the volume mentioned in the text. The edition was only 100 copies.]
[Footnote 57: C.F. Hartt, On the Lingoa Geral of the Amazonas, p. 3, in the Transactions of the American Philological Association, 1872.]
[Footnote 58: Tah-gah-jute; or, Logan and Cresap. An Historical Essay. By Brantz Mayer. (Albany, 1867.)]
[Footnote 59: History of the American Indians, pp. 52, 63. (London, 1775.)]
[Footnote 60: James Howse, A Grammar of the Cree Language, p. 11. (London, 1865.)]
[Footnote 61: "Piensan que un hombre que habla sin cortarse y con soltura debe ser de una naturaleza superior y privilegiada. Por solo esta circumstancia ascienden el grado de Ghulmenes o caciques, u hombres notables." Federico Barbara, Manual o Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampa, p. 164. (Buenos Aires, 1879.)]
[Footnote 62: Rev. Cyrus Byington, Grammar of the Choctaw Language, p. 20 (Philadelphia, 1870.)]
[Footnote 63: Huehue, ancient; tlatolli, words, speeches. A special variety were the calmecatlatolli, the declamations which the youths of noble families were taught to deliver in the spacious halls of the calmecac, or public schools. "Calmeca tlatolli, palabras dichas en corredores largos. E tomase por los dichos y fictiones de los viejos antiguos." Molina, Vocabulario de la Lengua Mexicana, sub voce. The word calmecac is a compound of calli, house, and mecana, to give, it being the building furnished by the State for purposes of public instruction.]
[Footnote 64: Fr. Juan Baptista (or Bautista), Platicas Morales en Lengua Mexicana, intitulados Huehuetlatolli, 8vo. Mexico (1599? or 1601?). This work is not mentioned by Icazbalceta, but is described in Berendt's notes, and a copy was sold in Paris in 1869. It is enumerated by Vetancurt, Menologio Franciscano, p. 446 (2d ed.).]
[Footnote 65: Olmos, Grammaire de la Langue Nahuatl, pp. 231 sqq. (Paris 1875.)]
[Footnote 66: Narratives of the Rites and Laws of the Incas. Translated by C. R. Markham. Printed for the Hackluyt Society (London, 1873).]
[Footnote 67: Chrestomathie de la Langue Maya, in Etude sur le Systeme Graphique et la Langue des Mayas. (Paris, 1870.)]
[Footnote 68: Bernal Diaz gives an interesting account of this "black sermon," as he calls it. The incident is significant, as it shows that the natives were accustomed to gather around their places of worship, to listen to addresses by the priests. See the Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espana, Cap. XXVII. (Madrid, 1632.)]
[Footnote 69: Some judicious remarks on the origin and development of aboriginal poetry are offered by Theodore Baker, in his excellent monograph on the music of the North American Indians, but his field of view was somewhat too restricted to do the subject full justice, as, indeed, he acknowledges. Ueber die Musik der Nord-Americanischen Wilden, von Theodor Baker, pp. 6-14. (Leipzig, 1882.)]
[Footnote 70: Schoolcraft, History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States, vol. V, p. 559.]
[Footnote 71: Grammaire et Vocabulaire de la Langue Taensa, avec Textes traduits et commentes. Par J.D. Haumonte, Parisot, et L. Adam. Paris, 1882.]
[Footnote 72: "Or, i'ay assez de commerce avec la poesie pour juger cecy, que non seulement il n'y a rien de barbaric en cette imagination, mais qu'elle est tout a faict anacreontique."—Essais de Michel de Montaigne, Liv. I, cap. XXX, and comp. cap. XXXVI.]
[Footnote 73: "Chez les Guarayos, ces hymnes religieux et allegoriques, si riches en figures.—Il est impossible de trouver rien de plus gracieux."
"Quant a leurs poetes, le charme avec lequel ils peignent l'amour, annonce, certainement en eux, une intelligence developpee et autant d'esprit que de sensibilite."—Alcide D'Orbigny, L'Homme Americain, Tome I, pp. 155, 170.]
[Footnote 74: "Negli avanci, che si restano della lor Poesia, vi sono alcuni versi, ne'quali tra le parole significative si vedono frapposte certe interjezioni, o sillabe prive d'ogni significazione, e soltanto adoperate, per quel ch'appare, per aggiustarsi al metro. Il linguaggio della lor Poesia era puro, ameno, brilliante, figurato, e fregiato di frequenti comparazioni fatte colle cose piu piacevoli della natura, siccome fiori, alberi, ruscelli, &c."—Clavigero, Storia di Messico. Tom. II, p. 175.]
[Footnote 75: The originals of some of these poems were in the hands of Ixtlilxochitl, as is evident from his Historia Chichimeca, cap. XLVII.]
[Footnote 76: Sahagun, Psalmodia Xpiana. (Mexico, 1583?) An extremely rare book, which I have never seen. Clavigero saw a copy, and thinks it was printed about 1540. Storia di Messico, Tom. II, p, 178, Note.]
[Footnote 77: It is mentioned by Icazbalceta, Apuntes para un Catalogo de Escritores en Lenguas Indigenas de America, p. 146. (Mexico, 1866.) There are, however, two copies of it extant, somewhere.]
[Footnote 78: See Mr. Clements R. Markham's Introductions to his edition of the Ollanta drama (London, 1871); and to his Qquichua Grammar and Dictionary (London, 1864).]
[Footnote 79: "I'en demeurai tout rauy; mais aussi toutes les fois qu'il m'en ressouuient, le coeur m'en tressaillant, il me semble que ie les aye encor aux oreilles."—Jean de Lery, Histoire d'un voyage faict en la terre du Bresil, autrement dite Amerique, pp. 258, 286. (Geneve, 1585.)]
[Footnote 80: See his Origens, Costumes e Regiaeo Selvagem, pp. 78-82, 140-147. (Rio de Janeiro, 1876.)]
[Footnote 81: Spix and Martius, Reise in Brasilien, Brasilianische Volkslieder und Indianische Melodien, Musikbeilage.]
[Footnote 82: Une Fete Bresilienne celebree a Rouen en 1550 suivie d'un Fragment du XVI'e Siecle roulant sur la Theogonie des anciens Peuples du Bresil et des Poesies en Langue Tupique, de Christovam Valente. Par Ferdinand Denis, pp. 36-51, 98, sqq. (Paris, 1850.)]
[Footnote 83: The Arawack language, which is now spoken in Guiana only, at the time of the discovery extended over the Greater and Lesser Antilles and the Bahama Islands, as I have shown in an essay on The Arawack Language of Guiana in its Linguistic and Ethnological Relations, in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 1870.]
[Footnote 84: The Memoirs of Lieutenant Henry Timberlake, p. 80 (London 1765).]
[Footnote 85: In the ancient Qquichua literature the tragic dramas were called huancay; those of a comic nature, aranhuay. Both were composed in assonant verses of six and eight syllables, which were not sung or chanted, but repeated with dramatic intonation.]
[Footnote 86: On the bibliography of the drama see Zegarra, Ollantai, Drame en Vers Quechuas du temps des Incas, Introd. p. CLXXIII. (Paris, 1878.) The English translation is by Clements R. Markham, Ollanta, an Ancient Ynca Drama (London, 1871).]
[Footnote 87: The recent attempt of General Don Bartolome Mitre, of Buenos Ayres, to discredit the antiquity of the Ollanta drama (in the Nueva Revista de Buenos Ayres, 1881), has been most thoroughly and conclusively refuted by Mr. Clements R. Markham, in the volume of the Hackluyt Society's Publications for 1883.]
[Footnote 88: Rabinal-Achi, ou le Drame Ballet du Tun, published as an appendix to the Grammaire de la Langue Quiche (Paris, 1862). The Abbe Brasseur asserts that he wrote down this drama from verbal information, at the village of Rabinal in Guatemala; but a note by Dr. Berendt in my possession characterizes this statement as incorrect, and adds: "Brasseur found the MS. all written, in the hands of an hacendado, on the road from Guatemala to Chiapas. The original exists still in the same place." It was a weakness with the Abbe to throw, designedly, considerable obscurity about his authorities and the sources of his knowledge.]
* * * * *
INDEX.
Names of native authors and productions are in italics.
Abolachi Adair, James Adam, L. Algonkins Alva, B. de Anales de Cuauhtitlan Anales del Museo Nacional Apes, Rev. Wm. Araucanians Arawacks Atitlan, Lake Aubin, M. Avila, F. de Ayala, G, de Aymaras Aztecs
Baker, T. Barbara, Fed. Bautista, J. de Beach, W.W. Beaver Indians Berendt, C.H. Beristain y Souza Book of the Jew Book of Rites Books of Chilan Balam Boturini, L. Boudinot, Elias Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbe Brinton, D.G. Byington, Rev. C.
Cabrera, P.F. Cakchiquels Californian Indians Camargo, D.M. Carochi, H. Carreri, G. Carrillo, Rev. C. Cartas de Indias Castaneda, G. Chac Xulub Chen, Chronicle of Chahta-Muskokees Chapanec language Chekilli Cherokee Phoenix Cherokees Chiapas Chichimecs Chignavincelut Chilan Balam, Books of Chili, Tribes of Chimalpain, D. Munon Chimalpopoca, F, Lic. Chippeways Choctaws Chorotegan language Clark, P. Dooyentate Clavigero, F.S. Codex, Aztec Codex, Chimalpopoca Cogolludo, D. Copway, George Couto de Magalhaes, Dr. Coy, Domingo Creeks Crees Cuoq, M. Cushing, F.H. Cusick, David
Dakotas Delawares Denis, F. Diaz, B. D'Orbigny, A. Dorsey, J.O.
Eskimo
Field, T.W. Franca, Dr. E.F. Fuentes y Guzman
Garcia, A. Gatschet, A.S. Gavarrete, Sr. Gomez, F. Guarani language Guarayos Gueegueence, The
Hale, H. Hartt, C.F. Hiawatha Hidatsa Indians Howse, J. Humboldt, A. Humboldt, W. von Huron-Iroquois
Icazbalceta, J.G. Iroquois Iroquois Book of Rites Ixtlilxochitl, F. de A. Izquin, F.
Japuguay, Nic. Jew, The Book of the Jimenez de la Espada Johnson, Elias Jones, Rev. Peter Juarros, Dom.
Kaladlit Kaondinoketc, F. Kekchi language Kiches Klamaths
Landa, Bishop Latinists, Indian La Vega, Garcilasso de Leon i Pinelo, Ant. Lery, Jean de Lingoa Geral Loaysa, F. de Logan's Speech Logas, The Luis Inca
Macario, J. Macho-Raton, The Mangue language Maps, Native Matthews, Dr. W. Mayer, Brantz Markham, C.R. Martius, C. von Mayas Maya Chronicles, The Mendoza, Ant., de Mendoza, G. Mexicans Michoacan Milfort, Gen. Mitre, B. Molina, A. Montaigne, M. Motolinia, T. de Moxos Muskokees Muyscas
Nahuatl Language Nahuatl-Spanish Dialect Nakuk Pech Nehaib, Titles of Nezahualcoyotl Nezahualpilli Nicaraguans Nipissings Nunez de la Vega.
Ojibways Ollanta, The Ollita, The Olmos, Andre de Omahas Oviedo, F.
Pachacuti, Don J. Pampas, Tribes of Pasiones, Las Pelaez, F.P. Garcia Pequods Perez, Juan Pio Peruvians Pimentel, Ant. Pimentel, H. Pipils Pocomans Pok Ponce, Pedro Pomar, J. de Popol Vuh, The Powers, S. Prophecies of Mayas
Queh, F.T.G. Quiches, see Kiches Qquichuas Quipus
Rabinal Achi Rafinesque, C.S. Ramirez, J.F. Rink, Dr. H. Rosa, A. de la Rosny, Leon de
Sahagun, B. de Salazar, F.C. San Antonio, J. de Sanchez Solis, F. Scherzer, C. Schoolcraft, H.R. Sequoyah Simeon, Remi Sioux Six Nations Smith, B. Solola, Province Squier, E.G.
Taensas Tanner, J. Tarascos Tecpan Atitlan Tezcuco Tezozomoc, F. de A. Theologia Indorum Thomas, C. Timberlake, H. Timucuana Tlatilulco, College of Tlaxcallan, History of Tobar, Ant. Tomar, J.B. de Tonalamatl, The Torres, J. Tupis Tuscaroras Tzolante, The Tzendals Tzumpan, F.G.C.
Valades, D. Valeriano, Antonio Varnhagen, M. Vazquez, F. Vetancurt, A. de Vico, Domingo de Viracocha Votan
Walum Olum Ward, Dr. Wyandotts
Xahila, F.E.A. Ximenez, F.
Zacicoxol, the Zapata y Mendoza, J.V. Zapotecs Zegarra, G.P. Zoque language Zunis
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Library of Aboriginal American Literature.
General Editor and Publisher, DANIEL G. BRINTON, M.D.,
115 South Seventh St., Philadelphia, Pa., United States.
The European Market will be supplied by
NICHOLAS TRUeBNER & CO., 57 & 59 Ludgate Hill, London, England.
The aim of this series is to put within the reach of scholars authentic materials for the study of the languages, history and culture of the native races of North and South America. Each of the works selected will be the production of a native author, and will be printed in the original tongue, with an English translation and notes. Most of them will be from unpublished manuscripts, and they will form a series indispensable to the future student of American archaeology, ethnology or linguistics. They will be printed FROM TYPE, AND IN LIMITED EDITIONS ONLY. The volumes will be sold SEPARATELY, at moderate prices, either in paper or bound in cloth. They will all be planted on heavy laid paper, of the best quality. The following have already appeared:—
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NO. I. THE MAYA CHRONICLES.
Edited by DANIEL G. BRINTON, M.D.
1 vol., 8vo, pp. 279. Price, paper, $3.00; cloth, $3.50.
This volume contains five brief chronicles in the Maya language of Yucatan, written shortly after the Conquest, and carrying the history of that people back many centuries. To these is added a history of the Conquest, written in his native tongue, by a Maya Chief, in 1562. The texts are preceded by an introduction on the history of the Mayas; their language, calendar, numeral system, etc.; and a vocabulary is added at the close.
NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
"We hope that Dr. Brinton will receive every encouragement in his labors to disclose to Americans these literary antiquities of the Continent. He eminently deserves it, both by the character of his undertaking and the quality of his work."—The American (Phila.)
"It would be difficult to praise too highly the task Dr. Brinton has set before him. Prepared by long studies in the same field, he does not undertake the work as a novice. ... There should be no hesitation among those who wish well to American antiquarianism in subscribing to the series edited and published by Dr. Brinton."—The Critic.
"Dr. Brinton's work upon the history of the Mayas or Aborigines of Yucatan [the "Maya Chronicles"] is a most important contribution to the literature of American antiquities. ... Comparative linguists, as well as archaeologists, will find a new and very interesting subject of study in these remains."—The Saturday Review (London).
"The efforts of Dr. Brinton will be welcomed by all antiquarian students, for they are not only original contributions, but are also presented in a readable and interesting manner."—The American Antiquarian.
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No. II. The IROQUOIS BOOK OF RITES.
Edited by HORATIO HALE, Esq.
1 vol., 8vo. Price, paper, $3.00; cloth, $3.50.
The "BOOK OF RITES" is a native composition, which was preserved orally for centuries, and was written down about a century ago. It gives the speeches, songs and ceremonies which were rehearsed when a chief died and his successor was appointed. The fundamental laws of the League, a list of their ancient towns, and the names of the chiefs who composed their first council, are also comprised in the work. It may be said to carry the authentic history of Northern America back to a period fifty years earlier than the era of Columbus. The introductory essay treats of the ethnology and history of the Huron-Iroquois League and its founders, the origin of the Book of Rites, the composition of the Federal Council, the clan system, the laws of the League, and the Iroquois character, public policy, and language.
NOTICES OF THE PRESS AND OF EMINENT WRITERS.
"This work may be said to open a field of Indian research new to ethnologists. ... These precious relics of antiquity are concise in their wording, and full of meaning. ... The additions made by Mr. Hall are almost as valuable as the texts themselves." —The Nation New York, September 13, 1883.
"The reputation of the author, added to this fascinating title, will insure its favorable reception, not only by ethnologists, but also, the reading public. ... A remarkable discovery, and indisputably of great ethnological value. ... A book which is as suggestive as this must bear good fruit."—Science, August 31,1883.
"The work contains much new material of permanent interest and value to the historical scholar and the scientist. ... "—The Magazine of American History, September, 1883.
"In this Book of Rites we have poetry, law, history, tradition and genealogy, interesting and valuable for many reasons...."—Good Literature, August 18, 1883.
"The Book of Rites is edited by the eminent philologist, Mr. Horatio Hale, who has done so much to elucidate the whole subject of Indian ethnography and migrations, with the argument derived from language in connection with established tradition; and especially to disentangle Iroquois history from its complications with the legends of their mythology."—Auburn Daily Advertiser, July 21, 1883.
"The book is one of great ethnological value, in the light it casts on the political and social life, as well as the character and capacity, of the people with whom it originated."—Popular Science Monthly, November 1883.
"It is a philosophical and masterly treatise on the Iroquois league and the cognate tribes, their relations, language, mental characteristics and polity, such as we have never had of any nation of this Continent...."—Dr. J. Gilmary Shea.
"It is full of instructive hints, particularly as bearing on the state of so-called savages before they are brought in contact with so-called civilized men. Such evidence is, from the nature of the case, very difficult to obtain, and therefore all the more valuable...."—Prof. F. Max Mueller.
"It gives us a much clearer insight into the formation and workings of the Iroquois league than we before possessed."—Hon. George S. Conover.
"It contains more that is authentic and new, of the Iroquois nations, than any other single work with which I am acquainted."—Rev. Charles Hawley, D.D.
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No. III. THE COMEDY-BALLET OF GUeEGUeENCE.
Edited by DANIEL G. BRINTON, M.D.
1 vol., 8vo. Paper, $2.00; Cloth, $2.50.
A curious and unique specimen of the native comic dances, with dialogues, called bailes, formerly common in Central America. It is in the mixed Nahuatl-Spanish jargon of Nicaragua, and shows distinctive features of native authorship. The Introduction treats of the ethnology of Nicaragua, and the local dialects, musical instruments, and dramatic representations of that section of our continent. A map and a number of illustrations are added.
Other important works, in various native languages, are in the course of preparation, under competent editorship.
Of these may be mentioned—
THE NATIONAL LEGEND OF THE CREEKS. Edited by A.S. GATSCHET.
The original account, written in 1735; an English translation, and a re-translation into the Creek language, in which it was originally delivered, by an educated native, and into the Hitchiti, a dialect cognate to the Creek.
THE ANNALS OF THE KAKCHIQUELS. By ERNANTEZ XAHILA.
These chronicles are the celebrated Memorial de Tecpan Atitlan so often quoted by the late Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg. They are invaluable for the ancient history and mythology of Gautemalan nations, and are of undoubted authenticity and antiquity.
THE ANNALS OF QUAUHTITLAN. Edited by A.F. BANDELIER.
The original Aztec text, with a new translation. This is also known as the Codex Chimalpopoca. It is one of the most curious and valuable documents in Mexican archaeology.
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN ANTHOLOGY. Edited by DANIEL G. BRINTON, M.D.
A collection of the songs, chants and metrical compositions of the Indians, designed to display the emotional and imaginative powers of the race and the prosody of their languages.
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The following two works are not portions of the series, but are related to it by their contents. They may be obtained from the same publishers.
AMERICAN HERO-MYTHS.
A STUDY in the NATIVE RELIGIONS of the WESTERN CONTINENT.
By DANIEL G. BRINTON, A.M., M.D., etc.
1 vol., 8vo, pp. 251. (Philad'a, 1882.) Cloth, Price, $1.75.
NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
"Dr. Brinton writes from a minute and extended knowledge of the original sources. ... His work renders a signal service to the cause of comparative mythology in our country."—The Literary World (Boston).
"This study of certain of the most remarkable stories of American mythology is exceedingly interesting."—The Saturday Review (London).
"In his 'American Hero-Myths' Dr. Brinton gives us the clue to the religious thought of the aboriginal Races. ... It is a learned and careful book, clearly written, popular in style though scientific in method, and must be a good deal fresher than a novel to most readers."—The American (Philadelphia).
"This volume is the first attempt at what is entitled to be regarded as a critically accurate presentation of the fundamental conceptions found in the native beliefs of the tribes of America."—The New England Bibliopolist.
"This is a thoughtful and original contribution to the science of comparative religion."—The Boston Journal.
"We regard the 'Hero Myths' as a valuable contribution to the history of religion and to comparative mythology."—The Teacher (Philadelphia).
"...These few extracts give no idea of the mass of legends in this volume, and the queer, out-of-the-way information it supplies concerning the ideas and usages of races now extinct or hastening to extinction."—The Dublin Evening Mail.
"Dr. Brinton, in his 'American Hero-Myths,' has applied the comparative method soberly, and backed it by solid research in the original authors."—The Critic (New York).
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN AUTHORS, AND THEIR PRODUCTIONS.
Especially those in the Native Languages. A Contribution to the History of Literature.
By DANIEL G. BRINTON, A.M., M.D., etc.
1 vol., 8vo, pp. 63. Boards. Price, $1.00.
An essay founded on an address presented to the Congress of Americanists, at Copenhagen, in 1883. It is an extended review of the literary efforts of the red race, in their own tongues, and in English, Latin and Spanish (both manuscript and printed). An entirely novel field of inquiry is opened to view, of equal interest to ethnologists, linguists and historians.
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