Sunday, January 2, 2011

Indian Words

Hi friends,

I enjoy writing very much. I never have a problem coming up with a subject to write about. I have a vast interest that really has few limits. I find most any topic of conversation interesting and will jump right in. One of my editors at a newspaper I used to write for says I'm windy ...guess I am. But I do like to write and love words.

I just wish I could write a little more poetic. I read some folk's writings and the words flow like butter on hot bread. That's a talent that I just don't see in me. ...But again, I do like to write.

The American Indian is usually shown on TV or the Movies speaking in much the same way I sometimes write; Ideas kinda thrown together to attempt to get a point across to someone else. TV and the Movies sometimes lie to you. Unlike me, the Indians had a very poetic grasp of their language. To prove my point, here are a few descriptive Indian phrases translated into English, which illustrates the beauty of their speech:

*The painted leaves danced with the North Wind
*The leaves whispered to the stars
*Soon the keen knives of winter will cut the air
*Fifteen snows (years)
*Two suns and two sleeps (2 days and two nights)
*When the sun looks over the edge of the Earth
*When the sun is half way on it's journey
*Farther than a pony could run from moon to moon
*The forest was covered by the dark blanket of night
*As long as the grass grows and the water runs
*The star that does not move (North Star)
*The tree that whispers to itself (Aspen)
*I have only good things in my heart about you.

All these phrases were used in history in `Peace Treaty' Documents or in letters to the existing President of the United States of America. It might first seem possible that they were used to simply `impress' who the document was being sent to. That would not be true. The Indian language was that picturesque. For example, all you have to do to prove that is listen to the phrases the Indians used to name the months of the year. For example - their `Namings' are much prettier than calling
March .. March.

The Blackfoot tribes used the following descriptions to name the months of the year.
*January - The Snow Moon or Middle Winter Moon
*February - The Hunger Moon or the Moon of the Wolves
*March - The Moon When Waterfowl Come *April - The Moon When Grass Starts
*May - The Moon When Trees Leaf
*June - The Thunderbird Moon
*July - The Moon of Ripen Berries
*August - The Hot Sun Moon
*September - The Leaves Will Fall Moon
*October - The Leaves Have Fallen Moon
*November - The Good Robes Moon
*December - The Moon When Winter Has Arrived

I love the ways they used their words. But then, I think, would I really want to put the `Indian Date' at the top of my checks? It would be something like - `Ten Suns' of the `Moon of the Ripen Berries' in the year of the `Great Running Water'.

Guess I had best stick to `our' date system.

Still, I do like the way they used their words ...and I do like to write

No comments:

Post a Comment