260 TRIBES AND DIALECTS OF CONNECTICUT [eth. ann. 43 



AN ADDENDUM TO MOHEGAN-PEQUOT FOLKLORE 



A considerable period of time has elapsed since any writer has given 

 an account of the beliefs of the tribes in the now thickly settled 

 Atlantic seaboard. From the score of Indians who still inhabit 

 Mohegan I have gotten the following few beliefs and superstitions, 

 which somewhat extend our body of knowledge available for com- 

 parison with that of neighboring groups. A list and brief discussion 

 of folklore and medicines, collected with the aid of Miss Gladys 

 Tantaquidgeon, was published in 1915. Since then her efforts have 

 continued, and Mr. J. R. Skeesucks (pi. 30, c, d), of the same tribe, 

 has contributed, to both of whom I am indebted for additions. 



In one of my other papers ' on the Mohegan-Pequot I gave a 

 fragment of a song from a story, which I am now able to correct. 

 The proper version of this little verse, the only sample of native 



lyrics, is: 



pe'tikado'.s gn'gaiiO's 

 ka'ijgayai ntu'lipo's 



The attempted translation at the time for this was, "My grand- 

 father brings it, my turtle carries it."^ Since this jingle was first 

 recorded I have learned that among children the grasshopper was 

 called gu'ganos (possibly also "your grandfather"). This makes 

 a change in the translation, which comes forth more clearly with 

 the help of Penobscot verb stems, changing pe'tikado's to mean "he 

 comes jumping in," and ka'qgayai to mean "he goes swiftly" 

 (Penobscot kai]ga'wile = ka'qgayai, substituting y in Mohegan- 

 Pequot for J). So we would have for this a more figurative 

 meaning, "Grasshopper (or grandfather) jumps in, my turtle goes 

 swiftly by." 



Perhaps some connection with the myth to which this recitation 

 belonged will still be found in the mythology of the Wabanaki, or 

 even among the Central Algonkian. 



From one of the earlier accounts ^ I quote the following narratives 

 concerning the forest spirits believed in at Mohegan, to which some 

 further information may now be added: 



"It seems characteristic of the Algonkian tribes, in particular, to 

 believe in numerous varieties of fairies, forest elves, and river elves. 

 The Mohegan claim to have believed in the existence of many of 

 these in former times, but only one kind is now remembered. 

 These are the makia'wisag 'little people' (singular makki's). 



' Notes on the Mohegan and Niantic Indians. .Vnthropological Papers of the American Museum of 

 Natural History, N. Y., vol. m (1909), p. 202. 



s Professor Prince suggested this rendering a number of years ago. He was quite as successful as he was 

 with his famous treatment of "mene mene tekel upharsin," 



' Speck, ref. i, pp. 201-202. 



