62 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
the Huron “Nation of the Bear,” among whom he resided. “They 
have,” he declares, “a gentleness and affability almost incredible for 
barbarians.” They keep up ‘‘this perfect goodwill,” as he terms it; 
“by frequent visits, by the aid which they give one another in sickness, 
and by their festivals and social gatherings, whenever they are not occu- 
pied by their fields and fisheries, or in hunting or trade.” “ They are,” 
he continues, “less in their own cabins than in those of their friends. 
If any one falls sick, and wants something which may benefit him, every- 
body is eager to furnish it. Whenever one of them has something 
specially good to eat, he invites his friends, and makes a feast. Indeed, 
they hardly ever eat alone.” Of the Iroquois the missionaries give 
accounts which are precisely similar, and therefore need not be quoted. 
The keynote of the hymn may be said to be struck-by its first line, 
which consists of but two words, though these require several words of 
English to translate them. The two words are “ Kayanerenh teskenon- 
hweronne,’ which are commonly translated, ‘“ We come” (or rather “I 
come,” the speaker being understood to represent his whole party) “to 
salute the League.” This rendering, however, is really inadequate 
The word kayanerenh, as has been already said, means properly 
“peace,” in which sense it is used throughout the Iroquois version 
of the English prayerbook, in such expressions as “the Prince of 
Peace,” “ give peace in our time.” Here it is a contracted form of 
th longer term Kayanerenh-kowa, “Great Peace,” which is the 
regular and, so to speak, official name of their league or constitution. 
Thus the speaker, or rather singer, begins by saluting the League of 
Peace, whose blessings they enjoy. The next following word, which is 
often repeated in the hymn, has been deemed important enough, as char- 
acteristic of the language, to deserve a fuller analysis.’ ‘‘ Teskenon- 
hweronne is a good example of the comprehensive force of the Iroquois 
tongue. Its root is nonhwe or nonwe, which is found in kenonhwes, I 
love, like, am pleased with—the initial ke being the first personal pro- 
noun. In the frequentative form this becomes kenonhweron, which has 
the meaning of ‘I salute and thank,’ 7.e., I manifest by repeated acts 
my liking or gratification. The s prefixed to this word is the sign of 
the reiterative form— again | greet and thank.’ The terminal syllable 
ne and the prefixed te are respectively the signs of the motional and the 
cis-locative forms— I come hither again to greet and thank.’ A word 
of six syllables, easily pronounced (and in the Onondaga dialect reduced 
to five), expresses fully and forcibly the meaning for which eight not very 
euphonious English words are required. The notion that the existence of 
these comprehensive words in an Indian language, or any other, is an 

1 This passage from my ‘‘ Iroquois Book of Rites” has been quoted in my essay 
on ‘Language as a Test of Mental Capacity,” in vol. ix. of these Transactions. As 
it properly belongs to the present paper, I have ventured to repeat it here. 
