W718 THE (EGIHA LANGUAGE—MYTHS, STORIES, AND LETTERS. 
NOTES. 
This letter was sent by Ta™wa»-gaxe-jinga, ga¢i"-na™pajl, Two Crows, Hupet¢a, 
Mazi-kide, Matthew Tyndall, yje-uya"ha, and Na*pewa¢é, Omahas of the civilization 
party, to A. B. Meacham, editor of ‘The Council Fire,” at Washington, D.C. Though 
addressed to Colonel Meacham, it was intended for the President, the Secretary of the 
Interior, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Part was not written in Omaha, 
but in English, as the author found it easier to make a translation as fast as he wrote. 
See the third line of the text, where a hiatus occurs. 
717, 1, et passim, ka*b¢a, I wish, spoken by one man, but intended for the expres- 
sion of all. 
717, 6. tat eska"b¢ega®, in full, tate eska"b¢ega". 
717, 12. Ede teda™ eb¢ega", ete. When pronounced rapidly, ‘a®” was dropped 
before “‘eb¢ega™.” L. agreed with Ta"wa"-gaxe-jinga in the use of ‘* Ede,” though that 
is3d.s. L. gaveas the equivalent poiwere, Taku écera ihare arinago® (hamina) hniye ké, 
what you Ithink I hear you I sit will . 
say 
TI think, “ What will you say?” I will (sit, waiting to) hear it from you. But W. (1888) 
changed Ede teda*, etc., to Edéce taté awina‘a® ta minke ha, I will hear from you 
What shall Lhearyou will I who 
you say 
what you shall say. 
717, 13 and 14, tat eska™ a™¢a™¢ai, in full, tate eska™ a™¢ar¢al. 
TRANSLATION. 
Grandfather, we wish pay for the horses which the Winnebagos have stolen from 
us. They have stolen from us more than a hundred horses. Grandfather, we also 
desire pay for the hundred and eighty horses which the Santees stole from us formerly. 
(The former agent, Dr. Graff, wrote to Washington about it; and he said to us, “You shall 
be paid; the Grandfather has promised it.” We have been expecting it ever since, 
and if it ever came we suspect that the chiefs devoured it.) O Grandfather, we wish 
to hear correctly about it. We work the land, and we wish to have good titles to it. 
We have already spoken to the agent who has gone to you, telling him of all this, and 
getting him to take it back to you. And now we send it to you in a letter. When 
plowing time arrives we think that we shall have trouble; yet we hope that then 
you will show us some: money. We have told you enough on this point, O Grand- 
father! We hope that you will do for us just as we have told you. O Grandfather, 
we petition to yoa! We petition to you, O you who govern the Indians! Now, we 
have petitioned to you enough on that subject. And we will tell you about something 
else. We hope that we may be allowed to see you face to face and speak to you about 
the things which give us trouble. We hope that you will think favorably of this and 
do accordingly for us. We think, “‘ What will he have to say?” We sit awaiting your 
reply. We hope that you accept these words. And if you have anything to say to 
us we hope that you will send it back to us very soon, 
