62 OMAHA AND PONKA LETTERS

TRANSLATION.

When some

i)eri!;oiis

came

^yesterdayto settleone matter, I told the agentone thing.

And now

I tell yon. 1

am

verytired of the work, I snli'erexceedingly from ^it. I liave

now worked

for five years.

As

I

wish

my own

nationtoprosper,Ihave beeuoverseeingit. Icontinueto

do

my own work

(in that manner).

You

have

known me; you

have

known

very well that I wish todwell and prosperin the land of the Indians.

You

have heard

me

talkto you aboutvariouskiiulsof people atthis i)lace.

And

I ho[)e that at last, after waitingso long, I

may

obtain

some

situation orother under the agent. I ask a favorof you.

O

^iielp me. 1 have aided

you

considerably on theone hand,

and

_so

you

should aid me. There are two men, who, ^I hope, have

had

suffi- cientemployment;

and

as you oughtto

know

it,I tell you. I tell you at any rate.

They

are

White

Horse and Ibaha"bi.

They have had

theiroffice fortwenty sixyears,

and

I think that

now

they are weary.

Ifone

man

has anoffice, I hopethat the time will

come

at last

when

another

nnm

can obtain it!

White

Horseis

my

elderbrother, but^{. . .} he does notwish to be on friendlyterms with me.

He

is always

mak-

ing us go in two directions

by

his talking.

JA(j'l''-NA''PA.II

TO

T. It. TIBBLES.

Kaot'ha, u(|'a<iaca"

no

te ceta"'

WakanMa

wabfalia".

Ofiieiul, youti;ivcl"(l viiu tbo solar (iod Iliave prav^'lto

wt'iiti al)Outsonu*-

tliiiif;.

Wakau'da

wa(|-aha"-in;'H'('' l)(|'nu;a(|ti (|-aiia'a" tai.

Ucka"

^i^a

(Hid >^k'who))ray toliiiii a.l vduwillliearit. Beeil .your

aboutsometliinL:.

3 H(|'U\viliai, i(|'apalia"-niajt'(jti, iii;'i(|'a-iia" to nfinviliai'. Ani'^a

I tnllowyou Idonotknowitatall, atlamlomumi- tlio ^Ifollowyou Ilive

(|il)oMaccount ally (jil)on:ic.count

ofit, ofit.

otepi" c])(|*('<j;-a" ('na"

ucka"

iKl'i'ivvihai.

ai)t llliiiikil as died I loUow you(]d.)

onaccountclit.

TRANSLATION.

My

friend, I have i)rayed to (xod about something since you

went

aboutthe country inour behalf.

May

you hearit, all ye wiio pray to (Jod! I follow you on account ofyour

mode

of life, though I do not

know

it at all, I follow you blindly(;it random) on accountofit. 1 fol-

lowyour

ways

because I think that 1 shall ho,apt to impro\'e.

OMAHA AND PONKA

LETTJ:RS.

63

MAXEWA(j'E

TO JOHN PRIMEAU, A PONKA.

Ca"' iiKictr :>[!, ciipf ett'ga", kao\'ha. Ca"' I'e tc' t'skaiia

Well, warm when, Ireach apt, OIrieud. Well, word tlio Ohthat

you

ca"'ca" (|'ag(|'i('e(|'a"'ii ka"b(|'i'<»'a"

always you donotbteakit, Ihope, yourown

TRANSLATION.

My

^{frioiul, I ina^-}

come

tosee

you when

the weather gets warm. I

hopethat

you

will never breakyour word.

UNE-MA^(/;i''',

AN OMAHA, TO

MRS.

MINNA SCHWEDHELM, WEST

POINT, NEBR. .JANUARY 2it.

Ca°' ct'(|'ii wi;a"'bo ^. pf tefan'cli ic^ae wi4a"'])0 ])i elu' 3

"Well, youder Isot-you I atthe placp, Ispok(> Iseeyou I Isaid

wliere icacliod inthepast reach

youare there

te^a"' i(|'-ausicta" t'<j;a" (|',a"'ja, aj4-(|n' tO'di ekita"lu'), I;ig"a"(^ai

inthe Itoldalie so thou;;li, Icame when just at that Grandfather

past backheie time

aka

:^i wai' 'i(fai, ki nikaci"'g'a (|',L'ama bliigaqti cka"'i. . . .

the liouse promisedto and people these all were

Rub. j:ivethemto us, active.

tJ'a"(|;inga-mjiji ceta'" ag-fi'a ja"' ka"'bfa. ke.

Ki

ca"' a"1ja, 6

1amnot at leisure sofar Ihavenot wood Idesire the And^yet day

ttiiished Ig.oh.

my^work

\vija"'be te i(^apaha"-niaji'-(}ti-iiia"'. Wa,(|a'ta" liegaji abij'i"'.

Iseeyou the Idonotknowatall. Word notalittle Ihave.it.

Ca°' gf^ajia'ji-g-a. le fiita^qti uwi'lxfa cnfeA^.e Tet do not besad! Word verycor- Itell^itto Isenditto

rectly you .you.

Can'ge-ma

cti wa(|*ita°i. ... 9

Thehorses too are workinj;.

TRANSLATION.

When

I

went

to see you and said that 1 would

come

to sec you and speak to

you

aj^tiiii, I told alie (butunintentionally); butas soon as I

came home

the President promised to give us houses; hence all these Indians have been stirring. ^I have not yet had any leisure; I have not yettinished

my

work. 1 refer to the logs which I desire(for

my

liouse). Ido not

know

at all on

what day

^I can see you. I have an abundanceof work. Yet, <1() notbe displeased! I send totell you a corre(;taccount (of affairs here).

The

horses, too, are woiking.

64 OMAHA AND

I'ONKA LET'l'KRS.

GAHIGE TO

HIS

SON

SILAS

WOOD. NIOBRARA,

NEBR.

FEBRUARY

7, isso.

AV;icp;'i\ii 1i(|';i(|*('

f-<\" ;iii;'i';i" ('d(^ ii'a"'(|'iriy-('. (pita"' ta aiiia

YouwI'otf. youscut flu- 1hcaiilit but inv:iiii. Thosewhowillwork

sonietliiiig itliein oh.

wasiiin'dai.

Ki

ca"' jii,i;J» wintci \vc(|'i5j;(|*.a" U' u(la"qti

daxe

arc slow. ^Audyct body I inxsclf pl:in tlu' verygood Iniailcil

.') c'dega" l)(|'i'a t;'i iiiinke. (piiia'a" t('i>a" inYil)(|'a. cu(|'ea^-e

hut ^IshallI'.iil Vouhcarit: iuonhT ^{I tell}it,to Iscn.liMo

tliat you you.

Uki't'e-ma ^Yi"' ';a"'be tc'di cka"' a"wa"'so>|a," c'dc^ i"'t(vji Ca"'

The^{f'oreii;]) one I}sawit wlicii motion 1wasrai)iil hut difiicult AVell.

Jiations lorlue.

uda" t6'4a

wackau'-ga.

I^skaiia uda" to i"(|H'sir|'e ka'MxI'ega".

f;ooil withre- makeauetiort. Ohthat ijood the yourenu'in- Ihope,

gardtothe lieritformo

G 8iiido-g-(|'.ecka o

awake.

(Ja"' waqi"'lKi 8indc-_n-(|'.eck;i ev'i

SpottcflTa.il hun I'uean him. Well, paper SpottedTail his

ja"'l)e >[I, i"'(|'C', u'a"'(|*inL;T' i"'(|'o. Uma"'lia" ania wc(|'i!H'd('

Isecit it'. lam tornoicason lam Omaha thepi. iniiilement

glad, -lad. .-uh.

ko' cti (['izo ta aina lia, inacti' todi'hi >[i, ga"' iia'ari'-<j;a: wo'i",

the too willreceive . waini hythetime atany hearitI horse-

oh. when, rate collar,

*) ja"iDa"'fi", wo'e, wa>[u.

Nio

a"(|*.iri'g-o-(|ti-ma"' lia. Iu(^a

wagon, plow, pitchl'ork. Pain Ihave nonewhatever . News

a"(|'in'<4'e. . . .

1havenone.

NOTE.

64,0. Wa>(ii jjenerally means, a;? ^(/r/; l»nt in this case it jcfVrs to pitchforks^ wliich are usually calletl, "qad-ibiupipi,'" or "qa(l-i<|'i/.e."

\Va>|U ja^a, ^{"^}forked awl,"isa tdhlefork,

and

wa>|UJinga, "small awl,'' ainn orneedle.

'I'RANSLATION.

1 have heard

what

you wrote and sent hitlier, but it- is in vain.

Those

who

will transact the business are delayiu,ij. I myself

have

formed a very good plan, but T shall fail. 1 send totell you,

When

I

saw

one of theforeign nations I was rapid in

my

movements, but it

was

difticult for me. Persevere with regard to the good! Ihoi)e that, for

my

sake, you will

remember what

^is good. I refer to Spotted Tail.

I

am

glad

when

I seealetter' from him,though ^it is to no ])urpose. (It is said that?) the

Omahas

will receive \arious iin])lciiieiits against tiie

summer

comes, including horsecollars, wagons, plows, and i)itchforks.

Hear

it-atanyrate(whether you intend coming back togt't your share or not). I

am

vciy well. 1 hax'c no news.