58 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[Bull. 196 



This is what U:ni:lo:sv says.' I stated: 'Does he truly owe you? 

 Over there they told me that he doesn't owe me/ I told him myself. 

 Sa:yani says: 'I lent him money — $0.15. With $0.05 interest, he is 

 to pay $0.20.' This is what Ula:sda^a said: 'He has paid you with 

 pelts which I sewed into clothing and which he sent you.'" 



Ula:sda^a, why did you say what you said about U:ni:lo:sv ? 

 Now I will have to examine the matter. You, U:ni:lo:sv, are to pay 

 $0.20, but he says $0.25. 



COMMENTARY 



This is a typical example of the financial tangles that inspired many 

 of The Inoli Letters; and possibly, moreover, it is admissible as 

 evidence in support of the statement of Corkran (1962, p. 11) as to the 

 "narrow Hterahiess" of the Cherokees, the Indians that have had more 

 litigation with the Government than any other tribe. 



The parties involved in the dispute must have lived in different 

 townships, for two clerks were drawn into the negotiations. One 

 notes with interest that a man, not a woman, sewed the animal skins 

 into clothes, and that Ino ill's arithmetic was shaky. 



The autograph is that of Inodi. Mooney identifies the document 

 as: "B — fox writes Jo Lowin about an old debt." Whether the 

 "Jo" is properly "J.O.," the first two initials of the "White" name of 

 the individual, or something entirely different is a mystery. At any 

 rate, the caption is incorrect. 



NO. 20.— REGULATIONS CONCERNING MARRIAGE 



now this 



a : nihne : gi ale 



they just spoke and 



1859 a?n(a)sgv:dhi 



1859 May 



tsu : n (a) del (o) gwasdi : yi 

 which to learn, they-place 



digo : we : M : sgi 

 clerk, I 



u : nagi : sdi 

 to go (flex.), it 



gi:nu:d(v)di 

 one-fourth 



a : suy6 : sge : sdi 

 will be choosing it, he 



lii?a? 

 this 



gho: 

 now 



hi 



ude : dhiy V : sadi : sv 

 year 



ghilo 

 someone 



a : sgaya 

 man 



25 



$.25 



eli:sge:sdi 

 to be thinking, he 



danu:gli(o)da 

 they just decided 



gha?l\?:hv[«] 20 



month 20th 



nahndrni ["] 

 there 



ude : svvsdi : hi 



to get married, he 



gd'i'lugersdi 

 must come, he 



a : ghuyi : [s]ge : sdi 

 to be paying, he 



ges6 : sdi 

 it will be 



nu : sdi 

 the way 



a : nisdd : yi : dd 

 they just pushed it 



da:niM:wi:gi 

 they just met 



gv:ghin6:tsi 

 they spoke to me 



gohwe : li 

 paper 



ganagl : sge : sdf 



will be getting it (flex.), he 



ghila 

 then 



di : da : tsv : sdf : sgi 

 one who marries them 



a : hi (i) tsido : h v : sgi 

 one who preaches 



ale 

 and 



" Variant of ghaflv. 



** One would expect this to be nahnd:i, but in Ino:li's period and locale it may have been pronounced as 

 written. 



