Page:Light and truth.djvu/255

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE INDIAN TRIBES IN AMERICA.
253

sentences too, in a language with a construction peculiar to itself, should so nearly, and some of them exactly correspond, is never to be admitted as resulting from accident.


And if these words and parts of sentences are from their corresponding Hebrew, the Indians must have descended from the ten tribes of Israel.


Some of the Creek Indians called a murderer Abe; probably from Abel, the first man murdered, whose name in Hebrew imports, mourning. And they called one who kills a rambling enemy, Noabe; probably from Noah, importing rest, and Abe. He thus puts his rambling enemy to rest. The Caribbee Indians and the Creeks had more than their due proportion of the words and parts of sentences in the above table.


Rev. Dr. Morse, in his late tour among the western Indians, says of the language: "It is highly metaphorical; and in this and other respects, they resemble the Hebrew. this resemblance in their language, (he adds,) and the similarity of many of their religious customs to those of the Hebrews, certainly gave plausibility to the ingenious theoory of Dr. Boudinot, exhibited in his interesting work, the Star in the West."


Dr. Boudinot informs that a gentleman, then living in the city of New York, who had long been much conversant with the Indians, assured him that, being once with the Indians at the place called Cohockz, they showed him a very high mountain at the west, the Indian name of which, they informed him, was Ararat. And the Penobscot Indians, the Dr. informs, call a high mountain by the same name.


Dr. Boudinot assures us that he himself attended an Indian religious dance. He says: "They danced one round; and then a second, singing hal-hal-hal, till they finished the round. They then gave us a third round, striking up the words, le-le-le. On the next round, it was the words, lu-lu-lu, dancing with all their might. During the fifth round, was sunor, yah-yah-yah. Then all joined in a lively and joyful chorus, and sung halleluyah; dwelling on each syllable with a very long breath, in a most pleasing manner." The Doctor adds: "There could be no deception in all this. The writer was near them—paid great attention—and every thing was obvious to the senses. Their pronunciation was very guttural and sonorous; but