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                                Shawnee
        Dictionary








  "Shawnee" by David Wright
@www.davidwrightart.com


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Word, to speak  -   pee-ki-col-lo

What follows is my edit from a number of sources of words and phrases
I feel are appropriate for reenacters of the Shawnee up to the "Indian Removals" of the 1830's.
It includes no words for anything the Shawnee would have encountered for the first time
after the early 19th Century (ie. trains, planes, cell phones, MP3s, etc.).

Aside from this first page, the Dictionary pages shall have a minimum of illustrations so as to enable the maximum amount of information in the minimum amount of space and with the minimum load times.

The Shawnee words and their translations come from many sources from the 17th through the 21st centuries; from early explorers, missionaries, and settlers to contemporary Shawnee, from the misinformed, and misspellings by the uneducated and the under educated to the extremely educated modern Shawnee educators. Add to all this the fact that any language changes over time (the English of today bears no resemblence to the language of either Shakespeare or Chaucer) and you will understand why I may have pronunciations and spellings that are inconsistant within these pages or mistaken and at the very least may not be what you have learned from a previous source. Accept my apologies in advance. 

    For now accept that this "Dictionary" is under construction, very incomplete and unstructured.
Sources -
"The Absentee Shawnee News" (available on-line @ www.astribe.com);  Lower Eastern Ohio Mekoce Shawnee of W.Va. website; 
Shawnee Traditions; Blue Jacket; last principle war chief of the Shawnee Indians website; The Works of Richard Butler circa 1787;

Where you see " word 'or' word", it is generally a case of different pronunciations from source to source.

Please apply the following anywhere you see Shawnee Words using the symbols mentioned.
 
(Taken from) "Indian Vocabulary and Letter from Richard Butler to General Washington dated 30th Nov. 1787"
"The following... are the words which were sent to me to be translated, the Shawano I have done myself which are to be spoken as nearly as possible to the real sound of the Indian word...  
Notes:  a in the Shawano tongue is to be sounded as broad as all, walk, etc. except when it follows e in the middle or at the end of a word; it is then sounded soft as in the English.
Marks: Thus ( _ ) under a syllable denote that the letters are to be expressed, or sounded, as conjunctly as possible.
Thus ( , ) below and between the letters, denote the division between syllables.
The emphasis must be placed agreeable to the combination of  sounds attached to, or attendant on, the same letters in the English, being obliged to spell to the sound of the Indian sound. 
Ie at the beginning of a word and ie at the end, is to be sounded like double ee and 
Ia, when composing a syllable at the beginning of a word is sounded like double ee and a broadgrained, or like ya.
And ch after u, e, or o in the same syllable, is to be sounded gutturally, as gh in aught,
And chi, cha, che are to be sounded as ch in charge, che in cherry, or ch in child, etc., which are the chief directions which appear to me necessary for reading this vocabulary."
Richard Butler  

NUMBERS

1 - nekoti                                                  2 x 10 ETC.                                            2 x 100 ETC.

2 - niishwi                                               20 - niishwaapitaki                             200 - niishenee tepeewe

3 - nthwi                                                  30 - nthwaapitaki                                300 - nthenee tepeewe

4 - niyeewi                                              40 - niyeewaapitaki                            400 - niyeewene tepeewe

5 - niyaalanwi                                        50 - niyaalanwaapitaki                      500 - niyaalanee tepeewe

6 - nekotwa'thwi, nekotwaathi      60 - nekotwaashi                                  600 - nekotwa'thenee tepeewe

7 - niishwa'thwi                                     70 - niishwaashi                                    700 - niishwa'thenee tepeewe

8 - nthwashikthwi                                80 - nthwaashi                                       800 - nthwashikthenee tepeewe

9 - chakat'thwi                                       90 - chakawaashi                                  900 - chakat'thenee tepeewe

10 - meta'thwi                                        100 - tepeewi                                          1000 - meta'thenee tepeewe

10 + 1 ETC.                                               2 x 10 + 1 ETC.

11 - meta'thwi kitenekoti                    21 - niishwaapitaki kitenekoti
12 - meta'thwi kiteniishwi                 22 - niishwaapitaki kiteniishwi  


2000 - niishina meta'thene tepeewe

3000 - nthene meta'thene tepeewe

4000 - niyeewene meta'thene tepeewe


5000 - niyaalane meta'thene tepeewe

10,000 - meta'thene meta'thene tepeewe

100,000 - tepeewit'thene meta'thene tepeewe 

 

 

        COLORS 
                    & HAVING TO DO WITH COLOR
faded -                                                         miyaal

it is red -                                                      mshkwaawi 
        
        blood -                                                  mshkwi 

        vermillion, face paint -                     holamo 

        the vermilions (shades of red) -   holamooki
            War and ceremonial - paint
  
        it is faded red -                                    miyaashim'shkwaawi   

        it is dull red - light red;                     halawim'shkwaawi  
            (elicited by Gatschet for bronze-colored, and described as a faded red)  
    
        red fox - mshkwa'kiitha

        Fox, the tribe - mshkwa'kiithiwilenawen  Sauk tribe whose own self-designation pertains to yellow - hothaaki

        face paint root (produces red color) - holamoon'shkwa - pl. holamoon'shkooki

Brown -  literally - dark red - pkonimshkwaawi

yellow; it is yellow; it is dull yellow - hothaawi

         yellow weed - hothaawashkwi
        
        red acorn - literally yellow acorn - hothaawaskomi
  
        it (plant) turns yellow - hothaawikatwi
 
        Sauk tribe whose own self-designation pertains to yellow - hothaaki

blue, green; blue-green - shkipakya

verdure - mis-sis-ki-kie 

green - mis-sis-kip-puc-kie 

The icon to the left is a graphic reconstruction taken from a famous shell gorget found from the Mississippian period
in the eastern part of the present United States. The wide-spread "cross-and-circle" motif represents the cosmos with
the four "winds", or "grandfather" spiritis, of the cardinal directions in the  four quarters of creation and the great spirit
in the center manifested probably as the sun. These symbols are quite in keeping with the concepts of the world held by
the Shawnee and many other Native American tribes in the historic period. The Shawnee, when painting a cross on a drum
during the bread dance, face the top of the drum and the image towards the south. As most dances are counter-clockwise,
the symbols are read with SOUTH at the top (the ruler of the warm half of the year) and NORTH at the bottom
(the domain of the cold part of the year) and should be read right to left counter-clockwise.
- Adapted From  Shawnee Traditions by Noel Schutz
--I would add that my mentors would read from their left, as they faced South, in a "Sun-Wise" arc.--






The picture at the right, also from Noel Shutz's Shawnee Traditions, gives you the names of the Grandfathers and Grandmother that rule over the four cardinal directions, what these "Gods" do, the Shawnee words for those directions as well as the words for each of the twelve months and English translations for all.
  Usoma

A good luck symbol by which the individual is guided and blessed through out his or her life.
A social symbol within the tribe only. Can also serve as names.

CARRY-mau-NE                                                               Walking Turtle - 
Cata-HE-CAS-sa                                                   Black Hoof
CHI-un-GALLA                                                     Standing Fort
ELEM-sha-ta                                                          Elk Horn
GI-me-WA-ne                                                         Rain Moon
 HAH-Tah-GO-uh or   Nah-Tah-GO-Un             Crow                       
KO-to-wha-CUM-se                                              Black Feather
Lay-la-SHE-kaw                                                    He who goes up the river
Mah-CAW-te                                                          Big Fire (gun powder)
Match-squa-thi-Ki-sat-hoi                                  Fair one who smiles much
MU-kon-SE or MA-qua-SE                                  Little Bear 
 NAH-WA-KI-la                                                      Red Leaf
Ne-Sweah-Pe-A-Se                                               Spotted Fawn
NIK-ya                                                                                      Mother
OTHA-WHA-wa-se                                               Hummingbird
OUT-how-wa-SHOK-ka                                      Yellow Hawk
PAH-SQUAW-ke                                                   Little Rapids
PAH-te-COO-saw                                                   Straight Man
Pee-so-Tum                                                            Big Fighter
PEN-ega-SHE-ga                                                   Change of Feathers
qua-qua-NE-SE                                                     Grasshopper
SHA-pa-to                                                               Raccoon
SHEL-te or SHEl-le-tow-ee                                  Big Turtle
She-MA-qua                                                            Big Bear
Sheme-NE-to                                                          Black Snake
SIG-ge-NAWK                                                        Black Bird
SI-me-me                                                                 Little Axe - a common last name among the Absentee Shawnee of today
Tawaskota-Nip-pe                                                 Prairie Water
TAR-he                                                                     The Crane
TAW-pa-pa-NAH-we                                             Hanging Rock
 THA-wa-KI-la                                                         Talking Leaves
WAH-pa-la-WAH                                                    White Turkey
WA-ne-GO-peth                                                      Sweet Breeze
Wa-paw-toh                                                            Little Tree
WA-pe-ME                                                               White Dove
WAW-BE-te or WA-pa-tee                                    Elk
WAW-pa-MEEP-to                                                 Gives light as he walks
Waweyapiersenwa                                                 Whirlpool (this was the name of the chief known to the whites as blue Jacket)
Waw-paw-waw-Qua                                              White Loon
WIN-di-GO                                                               Man Eater 

Weather
weather this is expressed by good or bad days as wosso kee-pi-kie or mot-chie kie-pi-kie

A cloudy day-Mes,quet,wee                                                                                          A fine day-Wash,he,kee,s'he,keLightning-Papapanawe

air the same as wind mis-sich-kon-ne                                                                      blow-a wind mis-sich-ko-kie

cloudy and sultry poth-quot-te                                                                                    cold wea-pie or We, pe

frozen up or frozen over kee-pot-tin-nie                                                                  frost tho-cut-chie

a person frozen or frost-bitten cou-shin-no-kie                                                    hail tho-cutch-im-mi-wa-nie

ice much-quom-me or M' Quatna                                                                              ice driving on a river much-quom-me pem-hoc-quie-kie ?

light wap-pon-ne                                                                                                               lightning nimph-kie

rain kim-me-won-nie or kim-mee-wa-nie or Gimewane                                   Rainbow-Quaghcunnega

snow coo-ne or koo-ne                                                                                                   Sunshine, clear and hot och-quot-ti-te

tempest o-lami-mis-sich-con-ne                                                                                thunder nimph-kee-wan-nie
 
whirlwind wa-wi-a-sich-kon-ne                                                                                  wind, breezes, etc. mis-sich-con-ne

very windy, tempestuous, boisterous o-la-mi mis-sich-con-ne

Tecumseh
"We must be united
We must smoke the same pipe
We must fight each other's battles
And more than that, We must love the Great Spirit."
--Tecumseh --
-His appeal to other tribes to join his confederacy-
 

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Red Hawk Tail FeatherBIG BEAR'S DEN HOME
Red Hawk Tail FeatherSHAWNEE DICTIONARY PAGE I 
Red Hawk Tail FeatherPAGE II Red Hawk Tail FeatherPAGE III Red Hawk Tail FeatherPAGE IV Red Hawk Tail FeatherPAGE V Red Hawk Tail FeatherPAGE VI
Red Hawk Tail FeatherPRONUNCIATION GUIDE

If for any reason the email links throughout this site do not work you may reach me by email at shemaqua@bigbearsden.org,

snail mail me @
Shemaqua
127 - A King  Henry Way
Williamsburg, VA   
23188-1903

                                call me at 757.253.6999

                                or send up a smoke signal, use a drum, or communicate telepathically.
                                (I wouldn't count on those last three.)                                                                                                      

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