[From the Proceedings of the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science, vol. xliv, 1895.] 
The Cosmogonic Gods of the Iroquois. By J. N. B. Hewitt, Bureau 
of Ethnology, Washington, D. C. 
With the exception of that of the learned Lafitau in the early part of 
the eighteenth century and that of Dr. Daniel G. Brinton in the middle of 
our century, no serious attempts have been made to define and interpret 
the subjective creations—the cosmogonic gods—of Iroquoian philoso- 
phy. 
The former attempted little more than a characterization of the chief 
cosmogonic gods of this cult, while the latter endeavored to show what 
phenomena in nature these gods impersonated, but his essay is vitiated 
by an unsuccessful attempt to make the facts in the case support an er- 
roneous preconceived theory. 
In the protology of this people, we see in full operation the effect of 
the imputative method of explaining the phenomena of nature, in the en- 
dowment with subjective attributes of the bodies and powers in nature. 
Herein lies the key to the entire cosmology of the Iroquoian people. 
If the evidence of language may be trusted, it seems safe to regard 
these gods as creations indigenous to the primitive philosophy of the Iro- 
quois regarding the origin of themselves and their environment—the pro- 
tology of their existence and that of the earth and the heavens. 
The character and functions of the various bodies and forces in nature 
determined the rank they hold in this cosmology. 
A brief outline of the cosmology of the Iroquois may aid in understand- 
ing the analyses of the names of the cosmogonic gods of this cult. 
The Iroquoian account, as told by the Onondaga shamans, relates that 
before the formation of this earth there existed in the sky a world similar 
in every respect to this and inhabited by people endowed with faculties 
similar to their own. That sky-world had no need of the light of the sun 
or of the moon. Fast by the lodge of the chief of the sky-people stood a 
huge celandine-tree and its golden yellow blossoms lighted the firmament 
of the sky-world. The sun and the moon are peculiar to this world. The 
chief of the sky people is called by the Iroquois in general Tha-ron-hya- 
iod’'-ko" and by the Onondagas by this and in particular by the name Ha- 
oh-hwen-tcya-wd’'-kon. In the course of time Tha-ron-hya-wd’’-kon received 
an offer of marriage from the daughter of the first of the sky-people to 
241 242 
taste death. Both the father and mother of this girl were born with 
cauls and so both were “hidden ” until the age of puberty. 
Tha-ron-hya-wd”-kon after subjecting her to a severe probation accepted 
the girl in marriage, and to solemnize the espousals he caused corn to 
fall like rain into the houses of her patrial people so abundantly as to All 
them. Then after a visit to her people his wife returned to him, but 
noticing that she was “ cinctured” (6ncient6), Tha-ron-hya-wd''-kon be- 
came so enraged by jealousy that he became ill and lay unconscious for 
days, until he ordered the pulling up of the light-giving celandine-tree by 
the roots, and cast his new spouse into the hole through the sky made by 
the uprooting of the tree. This cured the sky-god of his jealousy. This 
woman whom the Hurons called Eatahen 'tsik [Aataentsik] fell into our 
firmament; whereupon the water fowl and amphibious animals construct- 
ed the present earth for her abode. Five days after her fall she gave 
birth to a daughter, who in five days attained full growth. The daughter, 
whose name seems to have been entirely forgotten at an early period, es- 
poused a turtle in the assumed form and lineaments of a handsome young 
man. When he came to lodge with her, he placed over her bed two ar- 
rows, one having no head and the other headed with flint. Before day he 
left his spouse’s side. From this union the daughter of E-ya’-ta-he"-tsik was 
brought to bed with twins. Just before they were born the young mother 
heard the one say to his mate, “ It is now time to be born; I will go the 
natural way,” to which the other replied, “ I will go out this way; it is 
thin here, for it is transparent,” at the same time tapping his mother on 
the armpit. The first was born in the natural way, while the other burst 
through the armpit of his mother causing her death. The grandmother 
of the twins, E-yd’-ta-hen-tsik, asked “ who killed your mother?” Where- 
upon Tawiskard’, the real culprit, exclaimed, “ He did it,” pointing to his 
brother, called Oteh-ton nV-d', whom the grandmother seizing threw over 
the lodge into a clump of shrubbery; but being supernatural he did not die, 
to the great chagrin of the grandmother. Then, E-yd’-ta-hS"'-tsik cut off 
the head of her dead daughter and affixed it to the top of a tall tree where 
it became the sun, and in like manner affixed the body which became the 
moon, and it is said even now that we may discern the outlines of the 
folded legs and arms on the face of the moon. At a later period these two 
luminaries were placed in the sky. Up to this time it will be seen the 
earth had been lighted by cosmic light alone, which in Tuskarora is called 
u-kye-hen'-ste. 
E-yd,-ta-hen-tsik made Ta-wis'-ka-rd’ her especial darling, and in all after 
time she and he worked together doing those things that gave trouble and 
pain to man. On the other hand the sole aim and desire of O-ten-ton-ni’-d' 
found expression in his constantly doing everything to promote the welfare 
and comfort of man immediately and prospectively. 
This is but the baldest outline of the main features of the cosmology of 
the Iroquoian people as related by the Onondaga shamans of to-day. The 
other extant versions differ from it only in details. 
With this preliminary sketch of the cosmogony of the Iroquois, 
SECTION H. ANTHROPOLOGY. 
243 
attention may now be given to an attempt to analyze the names and to 
interpret and identify the phenomena in nature represented by these sub- 
jective creations of barbaric philosophy. 
Tha-ro,]-hya-wd,'-kon or Ha-oh-hweh-tcya-wd,'-kon. 
Tha-ro"-hya-wd’'-kon was the ruler of the sky, which modern research 
has shown to be an optical illusion only. Being one of the apparently lar- 
gest bodies in nature and one that is ever present whether by night or day 
from all time, and one that is unaffected by the lapse of generations and 
the rough turmoil of storm and tempest, it naturally came to be regarded 
as the oldest of powers—the Ancient of Days. The serene, immobile pas- 
sivity of the sky, its preponderating greatness and grandeur, thus moved 
the Iroquoian thinkers to clothe its embodiment with supreme power and 
strength, representing him as existent “ without father, without mother, 
without descent (i. e., pedigree), having neither beginning of days, nor 
end of life,” as ever benign and beneficent, at all times solicitous to pro- 
mote the welfare of man, and in great emergencies even descending 
among men personally to aid them against adverse powers and beings of 
sinister aspect and malevolent purpose. From the brief introductory ac- 
count of the protology of the Iroquois, it would seem to be erroneous to 
identify Tha-ron-hya-icd’-kon with Yoskehd' of the Huronian version or 
with Oteh-toh-nV-d' of that of the Onondagas and other tribes, for the lat- 
ter is the demiurge, being, strictly speaking, the grandson of the spouse 
of Tha-ror'-hya-wd’-kon, E-yd'-ta hen-tsik. 
Since the sky appears to be sustained by something, to be, in other 
words, held up, it was argued that its master held it up; hence, the name 
of this master, Tha-ro"-hya-wd’-kon which signifies “ He holds fast the 
sky.” The elements of this name are the following,—the initial t, the an- 
cient and now obsolescent sign of duality, formerly used to denote the 
action of two things that were double by nature, as the eyes, hands, feet 
etc., but in modern Iroquoian speech it has become expletive rather than 
aught else, since it is in many cases impossible to give it any significative 
value in the expression with which it is connected; ha is the singular 
masculine, third person of the pronoun of the anthropic gender, meaning 
“ he; ” -ro"-hya is the noun o-ron-hyd’ without its unmodified gender-sign, 
meaning “the sky, the visible heavens,” and in some dialects “ blue,” also, 
it being a derivative from the verb -u-ruk, “ to cover, spread over;” and, 
lastly, wd’-kon is the perfect tense of the obsolete verb wd’ k, “to seize, 
enclose, embrace, hold fast,” as with the hands, claws, etc.; although a 
past tense it has a present meaning. 
The Onondagas and, perhaps, other tribes of this family apply to this 
god another descriptive name, Ila-o hwen -tcya-iod’-kon which means, “ He 
holds fast the earth.” This name differs from the former in only two re- 
spects, namely, the lack of the initial t, and the substitution of the noun 
o-hweh-tcyd’, “ earth, the world,” instead of o-ron,-hyd’ of the former ex- 
pression. The lock of the initial t in this name snows the correctness of 
the remark made above that it is obsolescent, for the verb used in both 244 
SECTION H. 
instances is one and the same and so is the subject. The latter name 
embodies the belief that the sky holds up the earth for which purpose 
it touches the earth along the horizon. Thus, the attitude or situation of 
the sky fully and clearly explain both names, indicating how the Iroquoian 
people sought to name the prime mover of the sky. In a Tuskarora le- 
gend, the sky-god is represented as arrayed in a mantle of blue-colored 
dog-skins. This is probably one of the considerations why the Onondagas 
and other tribes of this family sacrifice a dog to this god at a solemn feast 
in the month of (?) February. 
E-yd’-ta-hen'-tsik. 
As the whilom spouse of the sky-god, it seems fitting to take up for dis- 
cussion next the goddess whom the Hurons called Aataentsic, but which 
the present writer spells E-yd’-ta-hen'-tsik, as it seems to represent better 
the sounds sought to be recorded by the first orthography in this para- 
graph. This goddess while dwelling in the sky-world became the spouse 
of the god of the heavens, Tha-ron-hya-wd’'-kon, but for some indiscretion 
which aroused the implacable jealousy of her spouse, she was cast down 
into our atmosphere; for her lord in his frenzy of jealousy ordered his 
friends to uproot the light-giving celandine tree, which being done made 
a hole so long and deep that it extended into our firmament; and it is 
claimed that the sun now shines through the aforesaid opening. 
E-yd'-ta-hen'-tsik is represented as malevolent towards mankind, spoiling 
or destroying as far as lay in her power whatever of good Yoskehd' had 
done for the welfare of the race, as presiding at the death-scenes of men, 
she herself sucking out their life-blood, causing them to die by disease 
and exhaustion, and as feeding upon serpents, vipers and other reptiles. 
As the queen of the manes she received as tribute all that which was 
placed in the grave, compelling the unbodied spirits to dance for her 
health and amusement. 
There is some difficulty encountered in attempting an analysis of the 
name Eya’tahe"tsik [Aatahensic, etc., are other forms, but the one in the 
text I adopt as representing what I regard as the best]. Lafltau says, 
“ c’ est un nom compost d’ Ata, qui dfisigne la personne, et de entsi, qui, 
dans la composition, signifie un exces de longueur, ou d’6loignement de 
temps et de lieu, ou qui est un superlatif en matiere de bien ou de mal ” 
[244 p., t. i.]. The first objection against this derivation is that ata in 
none of the dialects designates person; entsi is not a form of the adjective 
es, “ long [to be],” and withal no account is taken of the finale- or &-sound; 
and, second, this is not a form of the intensive enclitic tci, “very, fully,” 
as might be supposed. These are all fatal to the accuracy of the derivation. 
Another etymology of the expression has been proposed by Dr. Brinton, but 
had the learned Doctor known the fixed rules governing word-position in 
Iroquoian composition he would never have given it a second thought. He 
attempted in this analysis the fulfilment of a preconceived notion of con- 
necting this name with another Iroquoian descriptive term, Aouen, mean- 
ing “water,” compounding it with the verb-stem at, “to be in, to be ANTHROPOLOGY. 
245 
contained.” There are two fatal objections to this derivation. In the first 
place, Aouen, A'we"' for being a sentence, cannot enter into com- 
position with individual or other words, and second, the morphothesis or 
word-order of the verb is that it invariably follows the noun with which 
it is combined, while Dr. Brinton unwittingly makes it precede the ele- 
ment with which he attempts to combine it. 
Brebeuf affirms that, to the Ilurons, Yoskehd' denoted the sun and 
Aataentsic, the moon, asserting that she could assume whatsoever form 
and figure suited her. But here there was a confusion of characters. It 
was the daughter of E-ya’tahen'tsik who became the moon which changes 
its form continually. It is a very common thing among writers to con- 
found E-ya’-ta-he"-tsik with her daughter, and hence arises the erroneous 
identification of E ya’-ta-hSn,-tsik with the moon. Tlie very fact that there 
is a uniformity in designating her as the grandmother of Yoskehd' may be 
taken as evidence that it is an error to make her his mother in direct con- 
tradiction of the clear and uniform declaration of the cosmologic legends. 
On both linguistic and functional grounds, I am inclined to regard 
E-ya'-ta-he"'-tsik as the impersonation or goddess of night and the earth. 
The analysis which I offer is strictly within the fixed rules of Iroquoian 
sentence formation and is not opposed to any phonetic objection. The 
orthography Eataentsic was used by Brebeuf, in 1635, but in the following 
year he adopted the spelling Aataentsic, and only once does he use the 
spelling Ataentsic which is the form of the expression usually found in 
the literature pertaining to the subject. But after due consideration, I 
believe that the spellings Eataentsic aud Aataentsic are the nearest approx- 
imations to the expression as actually uttered now more than 250 years 
ago; the fact that both these orthographies have two vowel sounds at the 
initial part of the expression makes for the derivation which I am about 
to suggest. But, the fact that this name is not found at present except 
in the literature of the early Huron period must not be accepted as ground 
to conclude that the legend was the product of a distinctive Huronian 
cosmology, for the other terms in it, or, at least, some of their elements, 
are found in all the dispersed branches of this family of tongues. Hence, 
we may infer that this cosmology belongs to the proethnic period of the 
entire group of tongues, for even among the Tceroki the name tawiskara’ 
is found designating “flint.” 
Adopting the first orthography of Brebeuf as representing approximate- 
ly the true sound of the word-sentence, I will spell it as follows, E-yd’-ta- 
he"'-tsik <>r E-d'-ta-he"-tsik which is substantially that of Brebeuf, and 
which I resolve as follows,—E is the indefinite, or specifically, feminine, 
anthropic pronoun of the singular, third person, meaning “her,” and 
-yd'-ta, the noun oyd' 'ta' without the prefixive gender-sign o-, meaning 
“body, the body of a living being,” -lie"-tsi, the adjective, “black, swarthy, 
swart.” and the enclitic -k, which is a contract form of the substantive 
verb i'keh “ (it) is;” the entire synthesis meaning literally “ her body is 
black,” or, freely, “ she whose body is black.” In this analysis, I repeat, 
no phonetic law or grammatic rule of the language has been violated. 246 
SKCTION H. 
Thus, I believe, we find ample linguistic evidence showing that E-ya'-ta- 
hen,-tsik is not the moon-goddess but rather the goddess of "‘black night.” 
Moreover, one of the most dramatic episodes related in this cosmology 
is the theft of the sun by E-ya’-ta-hen,-tsik aided by Oha 'a or Ta-wis-kara’ 
who carried it to the eastward into an island in a vast sea of water, for 
the purpose of depriving the earth and man of light. But Otehtohni’-d', 
in his capacity of demiurge, saying, “ it is not good that men should dwell 
in darkness,” and calling his trusted friends, Beaver, Fisher, Fox, Raven 
and Otter, brought, after great difficulty, the sun back to supply unin- 
terrupted light to man,—that is, so that there would not be darkness and 
night but continuous day. But, by a blunder of Otter a compromise had 
to be made with E-ya'-ta-he"'-tsik, who stoutly insisted on the sun being 
returned absolutely to her, it being agreed that day and night should divide 
equally between them the empire of time. In this circumstance, there is 
allusion made to the seeming theft of the sun by Night every day when 
the sun sets. 
Lastly, the usual application of the appellation, grandmother, to the 
moon must not be construed as evidence that the grandmother of Oteh 
tohnVa' is meant, for the mother of OtehtohnVa being born on the earth 
was, in fact regarded as the grandmother of the race in a stricter sense 
than her mother, E-yd'-ta-he"'-tsik. 
Yoskeha'— Tawiskara’. 
Following the many erroneous hints given by the Jesuit priests in the 
Relations des Jesuites, Dr. Brinton does not hesitate to identify Yoskeha' 
with the sun even giving a fanciful analysis of the name in support of his 
theoretic identification. But, I believe that a careful study of the char- 
acter of Yoskehd' will make it clear that Yoskeha' was not primitively the 
impersonation of the sun, but there may have I teen among the laity those 
who thus confounded him not only with the Sungod, but also with Tlia-ron- 
hya-wa’'-ko", the sky-god, and so there is no great ground to wonder at 
the confusion of characters. 
in the protology of the Iroquois Yoskeha' or OteritohnVa’ is the demiurge 
in contrast with Taiciskara’ his brother, who represented the destructive 
or Typhonic power in nature as exemplified by the destructiveness of 
frost, hail and ice, often holding for months in its stiffening, solidifying, 
deadening embrace, the rivers, lakes, and ponds, the sap of the trees, 
plants and vegetation of the land. The people hold in high esteem the 
great and bounteous benefits they believed they enjoyed only through the 
care and benevolence of Yoskeha'. Success in hunting was assured by 
his aid, for they believed that the game animals were not always free, but 
were enclosed in a cavern where they had been concealed by Tawis'kara'. 
But, that they might increase and fill the forests, Yoskeha' gave them free- 
dom but in a manner such as to enable him to control them at will for the 
welfare of man. To this desirable end, it is said, he wounded them all in 
the foot, with an arrow, the wolf alone escaping the stroke, whence it is 
so hard to take him in the chase. When, in the beginning of the earth’s ANTHROPOLOGY. 
247 
existence, it became dry and sterile by reason of the absorption of all the 
waters under the armpit of a great frog and none could be obtained with- 
out its permission, it was Yoskehd' who resolved to free himself and all 
his posterity from this bondage. To do this he made an incision in the 
side of the frog, whence the waters issued in such abundance that they 
spread over the whole earth, thus forming rivers, lakes, seas and all the 
cooling water fountains. Having learned the invention of fire from the 
tortoise he taught men the art of fire-making, so that they could have, 
when needful, new fire. The corn they eat was given them by Yoskehd'; 
it is he who causes it to sprout, grow and come to maturity; if in spring- 
time their fields of corn, beans and squashes are green; if they gather 
ripe andplenteous harvests, and if their lodges are filled with well matured 
ears of corn, their gratitude is given to Yoskehd' alone. In 1G36, it was 
predicted in the Huron country that a great famine menaced the land, 
simply because Yoskehd' had been seen lean and emaciated like a skeleton, 
holding in his hand a blighted ear of corn and gnawing with his naked 
teeth the leg of a man, for these ptodigies were the unmistakable omens 
of a very poor harvest. Yoskehd' labors, plants corn, drinks, eats and 
sleeps, and is lascivious like man. His lodge is made like their own, being 
well supplied with whatsoever sustains life. He is of a benevolent nature, 
giving increase to all, doing only that which is good, and vouchsafing fine 
weather. When he becomes aged, he can in an instant rejuvenate himself, 
making himself a young man of about twenty-five years, and so he never 
dies, although somewhat subject to bodily infirmities. 
With this brief outline of his character, let us see what meaning may 
be obtained from an analysis of his names, Yoskehd', O teh-toh-nV-d', or 
Otehtohnihd'. 
The latter is the name applied to him by the Onondagas and it signifies, 
according to the best native authority I could obtain, “ the dear, young, 
or precious, little shoot or sprout.” The final d or hd is the adjective de- 
noting “ small,” but here it is used as a caritive. Speaking a language 
cognaie with that of the Huron, it is probable that the Onondaga name is 
a mere translation of the Huron name. An analysis of the latter confirms 
this view. In Mohawk and in Huron O-skd’1 signifies “ a sprout or shoot,” 
the initial yo or io is the neuter singular third person of the pronoun, 
meaning “ it,” and the final -hd is the adjective “ small ” having here also 
a caritive force explained above, the whole then signifying, “it is the 
dear little shoot or sprout.” If these analyses be correct, and there seems 
to be no valid phonetic or grammatic objection, it is seen that Yoskehd' 
and OtehtohnVd' are figurative expressions denotive of the growth-produc- 
ing, revivifying force in nature, to whom of course is opposed the god of 
frost, ice and snow, ever blighting, as he does, young plants, the growing 
and budding darlings of Yoskehd'. It is, I believe, the reproductive, re- 
juvenating power in nature that is personified in Yoskehd', and not the sun 
■which is ever portrayed as retaining the full vigor of manhood, undimin- 
ished by the lapse of years. 248 
SUCTION H. 
Ta-wis'-ka-rd’, Ta-wis'-ka-no’, Taiciskaron (Brebeuf) 
Sa-ie-xois'-ke-rat, or O-ha'-d. 
This god, the twin-brother of Yoskehd', is usually represented as the 
adversary of his brother and his unsuccessful imitator. The narration 
of the formation of man by Yoskehd', detailing the abortive attempt of 
Tawis'kard’ to do likewise, fashioning only monkeys, bats, owls and other 
uncanny things, such as the reptilia and the worms that live in the ground 
and those that mysteriously become moths and butterflies only to assume 
again the vermiform condition, is merely adversative to this assumed 
power of Tawis'-kard’ to do the things properly belonging to the charac- 
ter of Yoskehd'. 
When, through the fostering care of Yoskehd', the forests liad become 
filled with various species of animals Tawis'kard' hid them in a vast cavern 
in the mountain side. But, noticing that the forests had become entirely 
free from game and animals, Yoskehd' sought them out and finding them 
opened the cavern, out of which they came forth. After the depart- 
ure of Yoskehd', Td-wis'-ka-rd’, noticing the reappearance of the animals, 
hastened to the cavern and again closed it before all the animals had come 
forth. These that were again imprisoned in the cavern became trans- 
formed into the uncanny things that creep and crawl and live hidden in 
the ground and elsewhere, being regarded as possessing supernatural 
faculties. With the aid of his grandmother he spoiled in various ways 
the corn and bean crops of the Iroquois. These are some of the deeds of 
the despoiling and blighting Tawis'kard'. 
With these preliminary remarks as to the character of Tawis'kard’, as 
narrated by the modern Iroquoian shamans as well as by the early Jesuit 
missionaries among the Hurons, attention will now be given to an attempt 
to analyze the names applied to this god. 
The first to be considered is Tawis'kard’ [ Thd-wis'-ka-rd’ and its cognate 
Tawiskano’, a contracted form of Tawiskara'no’] and Saiewis'kerat. The 
derivation of this name by Dr. Brinton from the word-sentence tyo'lcaras 
“ it becomes dark,” does not bear examination, having not a single ele- 
ment of probability, being purely fanciful. This, so far as I am aware, 
is the only attempt to analyze the expression. 
From an examination of the terms which are apparently cognates, it 
is clear that the element common to them all is -wis-kara-. Now this 
is the noun O-wis'-kd-ra’, “hail, sleet.” But this is merely a derivative 
cognate with O-wis'-d’, “ ice” and “ glass-goblet.” U-wic'-re, “ snow” and 
“ frost,” the latter in Tuskarora. The final -a-no’, to the form Ta-wis-lca- 
no’ for Ta-wis-ka-ra'-no’, is the adjective common to the entire group 
meaning “cold,” the combination meaning freely the “cold” Tawis'- 
ka-ra’. The initial t lie-re has to be explained in a manner very different 
from that followed in explaining the initial t of the name Tlia-ron liya- 
wd'-kou; while the a is for ha, “he,” the singular anthropic pronoun of ANTHROPOLOGY. 
249 
the third person. In some of the dialects an s, in others § (like th in thin) 
which in rapid pronunciation is sometimes sounded like the interdental t- 
sound peculiar to many Indian tongues, is a piefix to proper nouns. The 
whole meaning “ He is hail, is the hail,” or, freely, “lie who is the hail or 
ice.” In Sa-ye-wis'-ke-rat wherein the pronoun is changed to the indefi- 
nite third personal singular of the anthropic gender, there is confirmatory 
evidence in support of the identification already indicated. The initial sa 
is the iterative affix, equivalent to the re- in re-gain, which it has already 
been said becomes expletive when the word-sentence becomes the name of 
an individual; the ye is the indefinite personal pronoun noted above, 
-wis-kir for -wis-kdr- is the stem of the noun O-wis'-kd-rd’, “ hail, sleet,” 
at is the obsolescent verb “to present, show, spread forth;” the word- 
sentence would therefore mean, freely, “ lie who spreads forth sleet, hail, 
etc.” 
If this analysis is a retracing of an historical product of linguistic ac- 
tivity, and I believe it is, then we see that Tawls'-kard’ was so called be- 
cause he spread forth hail, sleet and ice and the blighting frosts, because 
he was the cold ice-king, the enemy and despoiler of the planted crops of 
man, the failure or destruction of which being the extinction of the hope 
of future provision and the dreadful harbinger of famine and pressing 
want. 
In some of the dialects of this family Tawis 'kara’ is also a name for 
the flintstone. This is to be explained perhaps, from the resemblance of 
this species of rock to ice; its fracture has very much the appearance of 
that of ice; its bluish or rather dark green color and seeming transpar- 
ency assimilating it in other respects to that of ice. 
In whatever Tawiskard’ did, he was instigated and abetted by his grand- 
mother E-yd’-ta-he"'-tsik, the goddess of night and the earth. The effects 
of frost and cold are best seen in the morning when the god of ice and cold 
has accomplished his nefarious work under cover of darkness. 
In connection with what has already been said in explanation of the 
name and character of Tawis'kard’, it is necessary to note that the Onon- 
dagas apply the name Oha’ci to him, and that this name is also a name for 
flint and that in a cognate rhotacist dialect it is, under slightly variant 
forms, a name for both frost and flint; I mean in Tuskarora, in which the 
word is u-qnd'-re, meaning, “ flint, a chip or fragment of shell or stone or 
pottery,” showing that the Onondagas must have known the mythic con- 
nection between the flintstone and the frost-king. A cognate of u-qnd'-re 
is awen'ha re for *waha'-re, signifying “ hoarfrost, frost.” 
From the Radices, etc., of Bruyas, I select the following in support of 
the analysis offered above: O-wise, gawisa, “ ice, hail, glass;” owisk-ra, 
Iroqaeorum “ hail, sleet;” ga-wis-ke-rontion, ga-icis-ontion, “ it is hailing;’ 
watiowisk-wentare, “ it is covered with frost, with hoar frost.” 
H V'-no" — Ra-wen-ni'-yo’ — Ha-wen-ni'-yo’. 
HV'-noin the majority of the tribes of this family is the proethnic name 
of the god of thunder who, to promote the welfare of man, was ever en- 250 
SECTION H. 
gaged in clearing the rivers, lakes and streams of the dreaded monsters, 
serpents and dragons and other nondescript goblins with which they were 
supposed to be infested. The Iroquois applied to him the esteemed title 
of grandfather. When they heard the first distant roll of thunder they 
cast sacrificial tobacco into the fire as an offering to him. The sound of 
thunder, it is said, is caused by his voice and the lightning is caused by 
merely knitting his august brows, for even such is the present meaning of 
the Tuskarora word for lightning, na-wa't ka-hreq'-nd-riks, which is com- 
posed of the initial na-, the dual demonstrative meaning “ two,” but now 
merely expletive here, wa-, “it,” the animate neuter singular third person 
of the personal pronouns, d’t, the reflexive affix, having here a possessive 
function, meaning “his,” -kd-hreq-n- for -kd hre'-n-, being the noun o-kd- 
hre''-ne, meaning “eyebrow,” -rik, signifying “ to bite, seize, close,” -s, 
the sign of habitual or customary action. 
Along side of this name there exists the name ra-wen-ni'-yo’ and in the 
non-rhotacist dialects ha-wen-ni'-yo\ This appellation is descriptive, re- 
ferring to the great voice of the thunder-god. It is composed of ra- or ha-, 
the masculine singular third person of the anthropic gender, having here 
a possessive value, “ his,” -wehn- for -weh-nd from o-weh'-nd’, signifying 
“ word, voice,” and -i-yo\ which in modern Iroquois excepting Tuskarora 
means “fine, beautiful,” but in Tuskarora it means “ large, great,” and 
there is abundant evidence in the other dialects that that is its original 
signification; hence, the whole synthesis signifies “his voice is great,’’ 
and, freely, as an appellative, “ he whose voice is great.” This is clearly 
an expression wholly appropriate to none but the god of thunder; so that 
those writers who are satisfied with deriving this name from the French 
le Dieu and le bon Dieu are in error. 
Owing to his great activity in watering the earth and in destroying the 
reptilian and draconic enemies of the human race he soon assimilated to 
himself a large share of the religious cult historically belonging to Tha- 
ro"-hya-wd”-kon and Yoskehd', just as Bel, the demiurge in Chaldean cos- 
mology, displaced old El, the Ancient of Days; so that IlV'-no"’ acquired 
a preeminence that made him one of the most noted gods of the Iroquoian 
theogony. 
Grammatic form and the verb concept in Iroquoian speech. By J. 
N. B. Hewitt, Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D. C. 
[abstract.] 
Form as an element of grammatic and syntactic relation has been denied 
to the great majority of aboriginal American languages by William von 
Humboldt and his school of ultra-metaphysical tendencies. This school 
likewise denies to these languages the use of a true verb, yea, even 
concept of such a phenomenon. Humboldt, however, studied these the 
languages at second hand through most untrustworthy sources, having 
personally not the slightest skill to use any one of these languages he dis- 
cussed. One of the unavoidable errors resulting from this inability, which ANTHROPOLOGY. 
251 
may serve as a fair example of his fallibility, is his unqualified adoption 
of Duponceau’s erroneous statement regarding the characteristic methods 
of forming words and word-sentences in the aboriginal American lan- 
guages, that such formation is accomplished in them by “putting together 
portions of different words, so as to awaken at the same time in the mind 
of the hearer the various ideas which they separately express.” 
Professor Hajjim Steinthal is the one man of our day who expounds and 
defends the fundamental doctrines of Humboldt which he has made his 
own. He has sought with more or less success to fathom the mysteries 
and to point out, either to puncture or to correct, the inconsistencies of his 
profound and wholly theoretical master. Neither arbitrary judgment nor 
misplaced acumen has been wanting in the process. 
Professor Steinthal, following the lead of his great master, classes, with 
out the necessary preliminary study of those so classed, the great majority 
of the aboriginal American languages as “ formless,” because his master 
and prophet had spoken and said that true grammatic forms are developed 
in the “ complete” inflectional languages only, namely, in the Indo-Euro- 
pean and the Semitic, and that agglutinative and incorporative languages 
have not the genius to devise the morphologic means for the “ expression 
of a true conception of one such form.” Professor Steinthal, speaking in 
general of the aboriginal American languages and in particular of the 
Nahuatl, says that this language has in “its method of word-making, 
formed nouns, but no true verbs,” for what at first sight might be called its 
verb is “ merely a noun with a predicative prefix.” Realizing that these 
views are mere possibilities (they have no right to figure as anything 
more), Professor Steinthal manages to concede a high degree of cunning 
and deception to these languages when he artfully says : “ On the -one hand 
these languages manage to make up for the lack of real form, by forma- 
tions so artful that they quite acquire the appearance of real grammatical 
forms. The concealing disguise must be torn from these formations, 
in part by etymologic analysis, and more especially by an analysis of the 
structure of the sentence in general.” 
This sentence has the appearance of conveying profound wisdom; but, 
if I rightly construe its meaning, it has no intrinsic soundness, for its 
fatal weakness lies in the fact that it rests wholly on the unwarranted as- 
sumption that the people of a community remember the etymology of the 
words they employ in their daily conversation. The historical study of 
the development of language is opposed to such an assumption, disbarring 
as it does all lexic evolution. It was wrought to support certain conclu- 
sions deduced from misinterpreted facts; those conclusions must stand 
or fall without it. 
J. Hammond Trumbull, the noted student of these languages, has, in a 
masterly article on the “Algonkin Verb,” shown that the Algonquian 
tongue possesses not only a true verb but also true grammatic forms, 
thus impugning the soundness of the fundamental tenets of the Hum- 
boldt-Steintlial school as applied to this language. A similar study of the 
Iroquoian language as represented in its several dialects leads to conclu- 252 
SECTION H. 
sions likewise adverse to the validity of the views of the Humboldt fol- 
lowing in regard to the lexic and structural processes prevailing in this 
and other American tongues. There are true grammatic forms in these 
dialects and they possess true verbs; the grounds upon which these have 
been denied are not sound, being due to misinterpretation of certain facts 
of grammar. By far the greater part of the nouns and adjectives in this 
language are derived from verbs, but the converse process is extremely 
rare, if such there be, for a single instance only is known to the present 
writer.