Narragansett Vocabulary Collected in 1879

Author(s): Albert S. Gatschet

Reviewed work(s):
Source: International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan., 1973), p. 14
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1264655 .
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 NARRAGANSETT VOCABULARY COLLECTED IN 1879
ALBERT S. GATSCHETt
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
[The following vocabulary was sent to IJAL by
William Cowan; in style and content, it is as Gat-
chet wrote it, without editorial alteration. The
original manuscript is in the National Anthro-
pological Archives of the Smithsonian Institution
Ed.]
During a stay which I made in Providence,
R.I. in the summer months of 1879, I often
heard the statement repeated, that the
remnants of the Narraganset Indians, living
near Point Judith had forgotten all of their
ancient language. To ascertain the truth of
this assertion I visited the place in person
and obtained from the oldest people in the
reservation the following terms:
kuissaimp corn mixed with fish.
sisuank corn and eels boiled together.
sakwitash corn cooked with beans; our
"succotash".
n6kek (1) parched corn mashed and
pounded (2) N6kek, nickname of Gideon
Hazard, an Indian and grandfather of
one of my informants. N6k: bread.
samp corn cooked after its hull is re-
moved by pounding.
tabut ni I thank you; punkenok, tabot
ni I thank you, Sir.
wigam lodge erected on poles stuck in the
ground and forming a circle, seen by my
informant as made by Indians on Long
Island.
skwo- woman; pApus child, baby.
tchipango turtle.
wampum money; currency used as
money.
tchipoi wassaks was a war cry of those
who called for rescue, asked for quarter,
or sued for pardon. tchipoi was repeated
three times at a loud voice; wassaks said
only once.
kanfink, kentnk "I am down", said by
warriors when overpowered in battle.
kotchimbo tobacco-pipe (prob. not In-
dian).
wanak white person; compare the Nar-
14
rag. of Roger Williams: wafitacone one
that wears clothes; plur. wautaconAuog
"coatmen", white people.
sikenak (a plural form) black, colored
persons; cf. Narrag. of Roger Williams:
sucki black, suckesu he is black,
suckautacone "a cole black man".
shapfi woman's hat; (French term).
pikwatres wasp.
hushem6? how do you do? konkit-
cha! pretty well!
setcham Indian chief, sachem; Rog.
Williams: sachim
sukuish! walk in!
Quakataw and Watchaug, nom. pr. of two
ponds in Washington County, R.I.
As to their mode of life, the following
points were added: The ground was culti-
vated by women only. They made holes in
the ground with a sharpened stick, rolled the
seed in mud and put it in to these holes.
The dead were buried in graves eleven feet
deep, body in a standing position; bows;
arrows, rifles, cooking ware were buried
with them.
A myth: after God had created the cod-
fish, the Devil made an exact counterfeit of
it, but instead of calling it cod also, he called
it haddock.
The Narraganset Reservation in 1879 was
in Charlestown township, Washington
County, R.I., on the waters of the Sound
and two miles from Wood River R.R. Sta-
tion. There were about 100 people, largely
intermingled with colored elements from the
time when slavery was lawful in the North-
ern States. Historic curiosities are Nini-
gret's fort and the burying ground. Upon the
request of these Indians the tribal connec-
tion was dissolved about 1880 or 1881 by the
R.I. Legislature and the lands distributed in
severalty among them. The natives say that
their language was dropped shortly after
1800 A.D., but that it is not entirely extinct
even now is proved by the above terms col-
lected from three old people in the tribe.