Forty Narratives in the Wyandot Language

Abstract

Many people have heard of the concept of dead languages often assuming that precontact Indigenous languages have been lost or forgotten in the wake of colonization and colonialism. However, as John L. Steckley demonstrates in Forty Narratives in the Wyandot Language, these languages are not dead but, rather, are asleep and waiting to be found in the sources of the past. Alongside other modern Wyandot language revitalization movements, he helps wake up the Wyandot language by compiling an extensive collection of forty narratives that help explain Wyandot history, stories, values, and ideals from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Indeed, as Steckley states, “the Wyandot language is a teacher” providing ways to understand Wyandot perspectives of the past surrounding relationships, social organization, and spiritual beliefs (8).Steckley’s work uses Western-created source materials such as missionary dictionaries and anthropological studies by scholars like Pierre Potier and Marius Barbeau, who both lived among Wyandot communities during the dispersal. Barbeau himself, for instance, worked in Wyandot communities in Anderdon and Kansas, which allowed him to receive these narratives directly from Wyandot speakers such as Mary McKee (Anderdon, 1838–92), Smith Nichols (Oklahoma, c. 1826–1916), Catherine Coon Johnson (Oklahoma, 1844/5–97), among many others. Including these Wyandot speakers underscores that the Wyandot language was not lost postcontact in the dispersed nations but instead remained resilient during colonization and removal. Along with using these materials, Steckley engages in comparative analysis using dictionaries of sister languages of the Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, and Tuscarora. Finally, he participates in community engagement with the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, who helped support this project financially, and is currently the Oklahoma tribal linguist.The book comprises two parts. Part 1 offers the narratives in English. These stories include both pre- and postcontact aspects of Wyandot life and history and illuminate the leadership roles of Wyandot women. In “The Lion Fraternity,” for instance, a female leader known as White Otter had a vision in which she saw a four-day female ceremony known as the uhstura (ooh-stoo-rah) that became integrated into Wyandot ceremony (17). Other stories highlight challenges of colonialism and removal, such as starvation in “How a Famine Was Ended” (48). Including both pre- and postcontact elements in these stories emphasizes the resilience of Wyandot customs and the ability to adapt to the changing circumstances of settler colonialism and forced removals. Steckley’s work demonstrates that Wyandots continued many of their precontact traditions, including the centrality of women and female leadership, while also incorporating new survival strategies they deemed beneficial during the dispersal.Part 2 shows Steckley’s English dictionary translations of words and phrases of the original narratives in Wyandot. Equally as important as the narratives themselves, this dictionary breaks down difficult phrases of the Wyandot language in accessible ways so that individuals can learn the language. These translations help explain Wyandot understandings and worldviews, especially for certain words and phrases that do not have direct translations into English or other settler languages. Overall, this book is invaluable and will be a great teacher for Wyandots and those studying the Wyandot peoples.