3 
736 THE (GEGIHA LANGUAGE—MYTHS, STORIES, AND LETTERS. 
g¢i. Gi'¢a-baji teabe, nikaci”ga uké¢i". Waya™be, Pan‘ka ¢anké. Tena! 
have They are sad very, Indian common. T have seen Ponka the ones Fie! 
come é them, who. 
back. 
, Lee , a / ~n/ J —~ ~~ 
ucka" ¢i¢ija ibaha" da™be ga” ¢ai ¢anka edta" t'é we¢écka™naf A. 
deed your to know to see they wish the ones why to die do you wish for them ? 
who 
Wakan‘da ¢inké wi éskana fe ¢and‘a%i é@di-macé, Wakan‘da ¢inké fe 
God the one I oh that word youhearit 0 vou who are God theone word 
who there, who 
“Ly . . , ~ , see v 
é¢ana‘a"-baji'qtia"i. Wag¢ate¢é cté tepaha-baji éska"b¢éga", wAqe-micé. 
you do not obey him at all. Pity even you do not know it it may be, I think it, O ye white people 
Nikaci”ga uké¢i" ¢anka wayig¢ita’qti ga’¢ai éde waniytiwi'xe wani" 
Indian — common the ones to work hard for them- they but you have led them you have 
who selves wished around kept them 
Za ae : EO a . 5 , . 
Pan‘ka ¢anka. Wagqi™ha cuhi té’di, waqi”ha-gawa baxt-de ca” maja™ 
Ponka the rae Paper reaches . when, paper spread open written when and land 
who you 
, Pico mice — | ON) Peay Lon fe ~ 
b¢uga u¢ffai té, gan’yi wi ian’ki¢d-ga. 
whole scattered the, and then one send hither to me! 
in 
NOTES. 
The translation of this letter appeared in The Council Fire of 1879. 
734, 4. Nikacitga uke¢i™ aNga¢i", does not include the Omahas; so the phrase 
may be rendered by ‘‘The Indians who are like us,” ete. But in 734, 5, afguona™ 
- . Umatha" afigatat, refers to the Omahas alone. 
TRANSLATION. 
My friend, we have done the deeds of which you told us when you sent hither. 
We have attempted the various kinds of work that you have done, and we have suc- 
ceeded. When God first made us, we Indians did not know anything whatever. My 
friend, I send to you to tell you that we have finished the work on this very day. The 
wild Indians of our race do not know anything about your ways; but we Omahas 
alone know about them. My friend, the other Indians are very sad throughout the 
day; but we do not wish to follow them. We hope that you will aid us. The white 
people do not wish us Indians to wear any part of our own clothing. O ye white peo- 
ple! we desire all the things which you have. Formerly, when we lived as wild 
Indians, we continued in great darkness. But to-day as we have seen you, we can 
perceive by steady gazing a very good day at a great distance. O ye white people ! 
God caused the Indians to own the land on this island. We did not regard you as 
being in our way at all! You came to my land because the land on the other side of 
the water was insufficient for you all. You came to my land in order to live, and so 
you have improved. Since you have come to my land, I have seen in my land very 
fat horses and cattle, as well as from forty to fifty bushels of wheat sown (by one 
man). I have seen forty bushels of corn planted; excellent fences, stables, and 
dwellings. One hog has, perhaps, increased (in a few years) to fifty. The white 
people have acquired these things for themselves from my land; and they are always 
very glad. But I was ever sorrowful. Now I am glad, therefore I write to you about 
