Some Observations on the Penobscot Writing of Joseph Polis (1809-1884)
PAULEENA MACDOUGALL University of Maine
He was "stoutly built, perhaps a little above the middle height, with a broad face, and, as others said, perfect Indian features and complexion" writes Henry David Thoreau about Joseph Polis (1966:207). Thoreau hired Polis to guide him to the Allagash and East Branch of the Penobscot River in July 1857. Thoreau learned a great deal from Polis about Indian place names, legends and names of birds and plants. And in one place along the East Branch, Thoreau noted that Polis inscribed a few words on a tree in his own language.
(Niasoseb. Polis clioi sia Olta oouke ni quambi.) Naya Sosep Polis kaldkwihlesa Olta wawiko nihkwapi) 'I (pron.), Joseph Polis (personal name), I am going in that direction (Al lp sg. pres. perf.), Old Town (Eng. borrowed), he lives continuously, he camps (Al 3p sg.), now (pc).'
Polis translated the words for Thoreau (1966:262): "I alone, Joseph Polis start for Old Town right away." Another writer who knew Polis well, fur trader Manly Hardy described him this way (Eckstorm 1945:185-186): He was a very mysterious man, full of quiet drollery. He would come up, and, extending his hand at full arm's length, look one gravely in the face and perhaps give some exclamation in Indian, asking its meaning, although he knew you did not know... He collected and sold curiosities, made and sold baskets, snowshoes and canoes. He kept a little shop on the left side of Main Street before one came to the rise by the school- house. He was always pleased to talk with his customers and often would try to mystify them. He was deeper than a well, always giving one the idea that they didn't know much about him. He would have been a powwow man, if they had had such things in these days. He was a Protestant; he was shamanistic - and so believed to possess special pow ers of his own fully equal to the priests'. Polis was the son of Polis Wassoos Mitchell and a member of the bear clan. He learned to read and write at the age of 14, when local minister
1. Polis's orthography is enclosed in shallow angled brackets throughout- phonemic representation (shown in italics) is as devised by Frank T. Siebert, Jr. ' H THE PENOBSCOT WRITING OF JOSEPH POLIS 319
Josiah Brewer taught school on Indian Island. He wrote very well in English, but he also wrote from time to time in Penobscot. It is his Penob scot writings that are the subject of this paper. Polis inscribed the above message on a tree on July 26, 1853. This lit tle bit of writing tells us that Joseph was literate, but it is a small sample that teases the imagination. However, there are other Penobscot writings by Joseph Polis. I have identified three more, the first, a letter Polis wrote to John Francis, a Passamaquoddy at Pleasant Point, Maine in 1841,2 the second a list of words Polis wrote down for the priest, Vetromile in 1854, and the third a church calendar drawn by Polis in 1866. I will discuss each one in turn. Native writings in the Penobscot language are rare. Mary Alice Nelson, known as Molly Spotted Elk (McBride 1995) composed a small dictionary, but I have seen little in the way of other examples of nar ratives. Two of the pieces discussed here include narrative, but the first, the letter to John Francis, is perhaps the most valuable, since it is the most lengthy. The letter is addressed to John Francis, Indian Village, Pleasant Point, with a note in English to "Please deliver to John Francis." John Francis was the son of Francis Joseph Neptune. Francis traveled to Indian Island to take part in the famous incident of cutting down the Liberty Pole in 1849. The Penobscots accused him of trespassing as a result of this incident.5 Since Joseph Polis was also involved in the liberty pole inci dent, they undoubtedly knew each other well, were allies or perhaps, were related to each other.
LETTER (DATED "AT OLD TOWN, JUN 15TH, 1841.") There is no English translation with this letter, and I have tried my best to translate the passage, but there are a some words that don't lend themselves readily to analysis. The following attempt should be viewed as a possible or probable translation. (1) (Nigoanbi nista alokan bimikiskus Kamantsi hun ta olit hhin si oi ni sana Siek elikk aoikhukun nos bebal Ik euk ) nihkwapi (pc) 'now,' niseta (pc adverbial number) 'twice,' dlohkan (Al
2. In the collection of the Huntington Library, Bronx, New York. 3. In the Vetromile collection, Maine Historical Society, Portland. 4. A photostat copy of which is held in Special Collections, Raymond Fogler Library, University of Maine. 5. Micah Pawling, personal communication 320 PAULEENA MACDOUGALL
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Figure 1: Address from outside of folded letter, reproduced with the permission of the Huntington Library.
3p.sg. subjectless) 'working,' pemakisakahk (II conj. m.reflex), 'during, throughout the day,' kdmac (pc) 'very much,' ata (pc) 'not,' walitahasiwisana (Al m. reflex, neg. prioritive present perfective) 'I have not been pleased with him.'sikelikak (c.conj.) 'the way it looks, he dislikes its appearance,' awihkhikan (inan.) 'the letter,' (nosapepdlihkewok) (TA redupl. conj.) 'when I keep seeing him (the writing).' 'Twice now working throughout the day, I have (not) been pleased with the way the letter looked when I keep seeing it. (2) (Ni nu oa nia Soseph Poris mina hungoanmk) ni (pc) 'then,' na (an. demonstrative pron.) 'that one,' owa (demonstrative pc and pron.) 'this, this one,' naya (pron.) 'I,' 5... mina (pc) 'again,' dkwamak (pc) 'more.' 'Then this one, Joseph Polis more again (I am writing some more?)' (3) (Kataw san tekie nta tsai ahibna Siban hi ke) kataw (pc) 'likely,' pehsantek (II conj.) 'when it is full,' natdhcawi- alihlapana (Al indef. exclusive) 'we must have gone.' THE PENOBSCOT WRITING OF JOSEPH POLIS 321
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X*- Figure 2: Letter from Polis to John Francis, reproduced with the permission of the Huntington Library. 'We must (might) have gone' (to) Sipayike 'Pleasant Point.' (4) (olelmgoeke Senangoabani hesi mkelsta mug) walilamakwe (Al) 'he has good fortune, he is lucky,' senakewepani 'we (excl.) sit peacefully,' ej/r (Al c.conj.) 'when he is in such a condition,' mkelestamok (? Al conj. indef. ) meaning unknown. 'we are in good condition (health)?' (5) (msini Knant kumne na beman wsiuaw ni goanbi) mecimi (pc) 'always,' kandtkaman (TI class la) 'I walk, step toward it,' na (demonstrative pc) 'that one,' napamdwasawino (an.) 'one of my people,' nihkdpi (pc) 'now.' 'Now I am going to walk home ?' (6) (Nia Joseph Polis) 'I, Joseph Polis' (7) (Denia Mul ???) 322 PAULEENA MACDOUGALL WORD LIST The second sample is a word list obtained by a priest named Vetromile who was assigned to Indian Island in the 1850s. In a letter to Vetromille signed J.F. Spaulding, dated March 1, 1859 is a sample of Penobscot words. The letter states "Most of the Indian words are in Joe Poris handwriting." (Alitungwat) nerves The word is derived from el- thus, so, medial -iteha- mental process, II final. It means something like 'it is thoughts, ideas' (Kakiso oikbe) 'basket stuffs' kakiso is II 'it is brittle' and (oikbe) is wikapi (an.) for the tree, inan. if referring to 'a strip of wood young black ash used in basketry,' also, 'strips, grains, layers of wood.' (Kanksk) 'cedar' (an.) kdksokosi 'arborvitae, northern white cedar' (Snanw) 'rock maple' (an.) ssnaw (Lenanbe) 'man, any man' (an.) dlanape (Kau=kee=so) not translated, would mean 'he falls flat.' Kaw- 'fallen, lying flat', -iso reflexive ending. Kdwahsan (inan.) 'fallen dead tree, or log' (Nonaskaoan) 'meet' nawdnaskawa TA 'I meet him.' (Kakiso) brittle trees that don't bend kdhkiso Al m. reflex, 'he is brittle, dried, crisp' (Kake) mad easily = temperf?] (Kani=ka) A stick that will break (not bend). An axe handle for example which is brittle is ka ki (Bot a ousin) = any meetingpotdwasin, 'meeting, council,' potawdsawikawam (inan.) 'council house,' (Polis) Sometimes he writes his last name, Polis, with an / sometimes with an r; IV and hi seem to be allophones of the same phoneme. (Kissok) the air, atmosphere Kisohk (inan.) 'atmosphere, air', AM^sky,' kiskdk 'in the sky' (Kew Kehkw alitakwat? 'What news?' halitungout) Polis usually writes a w for a k™, but sometimes he uses a g. THE PENOBSCOT WRITING OF JOSEPH POLIS 323 / c<-u_- A sis /fs.'Ae / d*dM&-- - ^. •'/• i ** • V.' >, » #«. ttr* <4*^, A— - /?££&»~J<^ 5^2L. * 0 r * S^S ^^^^^+r Figure 3: Vetromile word list. Collections of Maine Historical Society. Reproduced with permission. 324 PAULEENA MACDOUGALL CHURCH CALENDAR In a letter to Fannie Hardy Eckstorm from the librarian of the Bangor Public Library the librarian writes "For Mr. R.B. Roberts, who is prepar ing a book on writings by American Indians, I have recently had made a photostat of the Penobscot Indian Church calendar, 1866 made by Joseph Polis and on display in the collection of the Bangor Historical Society. Mr. Roberts asked for a translation of the writing on the calendar. I am unable to supply it and suggested to him as possible translators: Princess Watawaso, and Rev. George Dulac at Indian Island...." The photostat remains in the Bangor Historical Society collections. (1) (ankelosamoesit) akalo-ssdmawehsit kisohs past participle from Al 'he provides a little food grudgingly.' (2) (tugoasanikisos) takwaskwayi-kisohs 'month of crusts of ice on snow.' (3) (bantumoi kisos) panatamawi-kisohs 'laying eggs month.' (4) (amosoe kisos) amassawi-kisohs 'month of smelts.' (5) (kikaaikisos) kkihkayi-kisohs 'planting/sowing month.' (6) (anetkoikisos) wanatkdhikewak 'they go to plant.' (According to Siebert, 'grubbing hoe month' is usually given in Penobscot as nohkkahikani-kisohs). (7) (abiton nibine kisos) dpaton nipant-kisohs 'it is hot, during the summer month' (Siebert gives acihtayi-kisohs 'month of ripening'). (8) (oukiisokisos) wikkehsawi-kisohs 'fall fish, white chub month' (9) (maatseoatoki kisos) macewatohki-kisohs 'moose and caribou rutting month.' (10)(asbasgratso) asapdskwacass 'ice on the edge of lakes and streams month.' (11) (abonumoei kisos) aponamawi-kisohs (inserted 13th month) (herring? frost fish?) (12)(ksti-kiso) kci-kisohs 'old month'. At the bottom of the calendar is: (Minag ntliton Santeooig higan mina) minak (pc with focusing enclitic) 'it is now,' nataliton (H'psg) 'I think it,' ehsanrtak (inan. part.) 'Sunday,' wihkhikan (inan.) 'writing' 'Now I think it Sunday' (Goan bege wlelemgannegoggolelmgoebna) kewapeke ... walelamakanekek (TA conj) 'when we glorify him ' kokolelamakawepana (TA inclusive) 'you are pleased, delighted with us' 'When we glorify Him you are pleased with us.' THE PENOBSCOT WRITING OF JOSEPH POLIS 325 M~»' : •• • • • , ft I.. » )•*• »*' - •sap- ^n/i^/in/i^i/ii(f^iM,,f'i,M */////( w /iiiii^iniif ^iiini * j //Ml • (Mill* Dim* flllll^ml » J*^ , f • //*- //MM 'f m n 1 v mi 11 # 111111 L&. fnnu «- nun * in 1, i*iimi*„ tut f mm C< iiim $ IIIIM#M/,I •*I»MI / # ILIII I * Mill is»:imi/# • ^* «. * ' • • linn* in in** nun # nun # MI; •»..<' _ ^ ^ «dfc* 111 # 111> in •* 1 rn 111 # 111111 :«;*M 11 1 * ^ r" # '*#, / :-'; / / M M s'/s / / M I I * 11IIII # Wl IU '"' , Tllktfety hll'tll)/ ifniiTtrip (lii/cut )niua (, m )i it £< @fi ()ncfa Ti n t (, (6Lr& (tno/i hi a //a /a / t ure 4: Penobscot Indian Church Calendar, 1866. Reproduced with permission of the University of Maine Library. 326 PAULEENA MACDOUGALL (Halalogagoe helagimlaw tebelmlaw) ahalohkekawe (Al redupl. neg. 3 p sg.) 'he doesn't continue to accomplish,' alakemilakf (an. part.) 'one who commands,' tepelamalak" (an. part.) 'God' literally 'owner' 'God doesn't continue to accomplish' (in reference to creation?) (Nia Soseb bolis, 1866.) A few notes on the calendar. In 1919 Leona Cope wrote a monograph about the calendars of the Indians North of Mexico. She wrote that these calendars "were not used to record the passage of time; that is, the "calen dar" was not designed for recording the number of years of months or days since a given event took place, or between two given events. The Indians were able to keep a fairly close count of the passage of time within the current year, but beyond this all chronology was indefinite." Schoolcraft (1847:85) notes that The "Algonquins" had twenty-eight days to a month and thirteen months to a year. This observation seems to hold true for the Penobscot calendar that has twelve months and an inserted month. The duration of the month corresponds closely to the lunation as one would expect. The moon's phases, delineated by Polis on his calen dar, mark the changing months with the new moon usually marking the first of the month. Weekdays did not have names until after contact. The names for days of the week in Penobscot derive from Christian ideas: 'first work day, second work day,' etc. Penobscots did name the four sea sons however and sometimes month names correspond to seasonal names. The calendar is descriptive, like most North American calendars and shows close kinship with calendars of the Micmac, and Malecite, but also some key differences. For example, the Penobscot calendar is the only one of the three that names the first month as a time when making a living is difficult. Malecite uses the same idea to designate their third month. The Malecite and Penobscot names for February are similar, but not like those of the Micmac. Penobscots are catching fish in the fourth month, but Malecites not until the fifth month, but Micmacs in the third. Some of these differences may be due to individual variation within tribes, when the calendars were collected, and so on. Mechling collected two different Malecite calendars, one that appears closer to the Penobscot than the other and was provided by the priest residing on Indian Island in Vetromile. The calendar published by Vetromile differs in several ways from the Polis calendar. First, all of the Penobscot words are spelled differently in THE PENOBSCOT WRITING OF JOSEPH POLIS 327 the two accounts, and Vetromile's translation of the meaning of the name of the month differs from Polis's. The three summer months have distinct names and these are of interest. For June, Vetromile records muskoskikizoos, 'catch young seals.' I suspect this may be a Passama quoddy word for the month, as they do seal hunting. Polis has a different word, 'grubbing hoe month,' reflecting the importance of cultivation among the Eastern Abenakis. Vetromile's word for July, atchittai kizoos is the term Siebert collected from his informants, but Polis uses a different designation, 'summer month.' Finally, Vetromile records wikkaikizoos 'heap of eels in sand' for August. The word is similar to Polis' oukiisokisos wikkehsrwi-kisohs 'fall fish, white chub month,' but Vetrom ile gives a wrong translation, the word has nothing to do with eels. LINGUISTIC GLEANINGS Goddard and Bragdon, in their very impressive work on the Native writings in Massachusett noticed that Massachusett writers retained many of the characteristics or oral societies, including certain stylized phrasing, apparently derived from native rhetorical style (1988:19). Repetition of the writer's name is one example. We find some similar aspects in the Polis sample, in particular, the phrase, "I, Joseph Polis." There are, in addition, influences on Polis's orthography from both French and English. The use of the an to represent the mid back unrounded vowel, the use of the word (Tepelrmrlaj) "Owner' to represent God, both come from French missionaries. In another place, Polis uses (-nun-) to represent the alpha, a practice followed by English writers. And finally, the occasional use of r in place of the / in the name Polis, may also be an influence from English. One interesting aspect of Polis's writing is his use of certain Eastern Abenaki words that were not found in Penobscot, but probably hail back to families who immigrated to Indian Island from Norridgwock and other decimated Abenaki villages in the late eighteenth century. One example is nihkfapi- 'now'. Voorhis (1982:203) also noted the use of the term in Speck's recording of Wawenock texts recorded at Becancour. Polis uses the term consistently, but other Penobscots use nihkkHwap. Siebert (1982: MS) argues that the Sokokis first founded the Becancour village in 1675, but immigrations from other Abenaki villages took place in the eighteenth century, with the largest contingent of refugees from Caniba villages at Sandy River and Norridgwock occurring in 1704 and 1724, upon the destruction of their homes by the English. Becancour villagers spoke 328 PAULEENA MACDOUGALL Eastern Abenaki, and much like Indian Island and other refugee villages, dialectal variety was common. PHONEMES AND ORTHOGRAPHY Consonants in Penobscot are /c, cc, h, hw, k, kk, kkw, kw, 1, m, n, p, pp s, ss, t, tt, w, y/. Vowels are /a, a, e, e, i, o/, and glides and liquids are II, w/. Not all of these consonants are found in the sample. However, we do find the following alternations. SIEBERT ORTHOGRAPHY POLIS'S USE III ts /hi h, w, n, kk, 11 Ikl k (intervocalic or word initial), kk /kw/ g, but also sometimes as a w, or null Is, ss/ s /ml m ltd sometimes labialized if it occurs before p or b Ipl b (intervocalic or word initial), null before s, otherwise p /t, tt/ t /a/ a, o, u, aa lal an, a, aa (word-initial)-/iwrc, o Id a, e hi e, null, i (after w-) o lil i, long i written sometimes as double ii. Id o, u IV usually /, but sometimes r as in intervocalic /pons/. /w/ o (when word initial), oi (when intervocalic) WORD BOUNDARIES. Sometimes word boundaries are difficult to distinguish. Generally, Polis places a space between words, but sometimes he places a space between syllables. For example, nihkappi, (pc) 'now' he writes as (nigoan bi). He may have been writing as if he were sounding it out syllable by syllable. However, in the 1866 sample, Polis has no problem writing very long words, such as (welelemakanekok) as a single word. I find it easier 6. Siebert (1982:MS) notes that Thoreau recorded the hi in word final position, and l\l elsewhere. This is not consistent with Polis's writing, although Polis was one of Thoreau's informants. THE PENOBSCOT WRITING OF JOSEPH POLIS 329 to read his 1866 writing than the 1841 sample. Perhaps this is in part, due to Polis's increasing skill at writing Penobscot. SYNTAX Briefly, intransitive sentence constructions consist of one or more optional particles or pronouns preceding one or more intransitive verbs in the indicative mode. These may be followed by intransitive verbs in the conjunct mode in the subordinate clause. Sometimes the subordinate clause comes before the major clause. Negative particles precede verbs in the negative mode. A subordinate clause may consist of a transitive verb in the conjunct mode preceded by the object of the clause. One of Polis's constructions consists only of particles, a demonstrative pronoun and a noun. This may reflect an oral rhetorical style. 'Then this one, Joseph Polis more again.' Finally, transitive inanimate constructions may be introduced by optional particles and the object follows the verb. The demonstrative particle seems to fall before the noun or participle that it modifies. LEXICON (BY PART OF SPEECH) PARTICLES dkwamak more hta not kdmac very much katdw likely kehkw what? mecimi always mina again natd not ni then nisata twice n(hkwapi now PREVERBS ahcawi must akalo- sparingly, in small portions PRENOUNS acihtayi- 'of ripening' aponamawi- 'of herring' asapdskwacess- 'with frozen edges of the shores' kci- 'great, old, big' kkihkayi- 'of planting' 330 PAULEENA MACDOUGALL macewatohki- 'of rutting' nipani- 'during summer' panatamawi- 'of laying eggs' takwaskwayi- 'with crusts of ice on the snow' wikkehsawi- 'of fall fish or white chub' amassawi- 'of smelts' PRONOUNS na (demonstrative) 'that one' naya (personal) T owa (demonstrative) 'this one' ANIMATE INTRANSITIVE VERBS aso 'he is in such a condition or state' ahalohke 'he continues to accomplish' (redupl) dlohke 'he works' kdhkiso 'he is brittle, dried, crisp' m. reflex. kdwkiso 'he has fallen, is lying flat' kaldhkwihle 'he goes in that direction' nztkdhikewe 'he goes to plant (a garden)' senzkewapo 'he sits quietly' sikalike 'he dislikes its appearance' ssdmawe 'he supplies food' walelamakwe 'he is lucky' walitahaso 'he is happy' wdwiko 'he lives continuously, he camps in a place' INANIMATE INTRANSITIVE VERBS alitakwat 'it is the news' kdhkiso 'it is brittle' pbmakisakat 'it is during the day' passdnte 'it is full' sipdyike 'it is at the edge of the ocean (PN Pleasant Point)' alitakwat 'it is thoughts, ideas' TRANSITIVE ANIMATE VERBS nawdnaskawa 'meet him' nolelama 'I am delighted with him' nosapepdlihkewa 'repeatedly see him (the writing)' TRANSITIVE INANIMATE VERBS nandtkaman 'I walk toward it' (class la) nataliton 'I think it' (class 2) PARTICIPLES w alakemilak one who commands ehsanatak 'Sunday' borrowed from English tepehmelakw God, 'owner' THE PENOBSCOT WRITING OF JOSEPH POLIS 331 ANIMATE NOUNS awihkhikan 'letter' dlanape 'man' kisohs 'month' kdksokosi 'arborvitae, northern white cedar' pamdwasawino 'a living person (usually of one's own people or village)' ssnaw 'rock maple' INANIMATE NOUNS kisohk 'atmosphere, air' potdwasin 'general meeting, council' wikapi 'strip of young black ash used in basketry' dpaton 'heat' REFERENCES Cope, Leona. 1919. Calendars of the Indians north of Mexico. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 16:119-176. Eckstorm, Fannie Hardy. 1945. Old John Neptune and other Maine Indian shamans. Port land, Maine: Southworth-Anthoensen Press. Goddard, Ives. 1967. The Algonquian independent indicative. Contributions to anthropol ogy linguistics I (Algonquian). (National Museum of Canada Bulletin 214), 66-106. Goddard, Ives, and Kathleen J. Bragdon. 1988. Native writings in Massachusett. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society 185. McBride, Bunny. 1995. Molly Spotted Elk. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe. 1847. Notes on the Iroquois. Albany: E.H. Pease. Siebert, Frank T., Jr. n.d. Penobscot dictionary. Siebert Papers, American Philosophical Society Library. MS. —. 1982. Notes on Eastern Abenaki dialects. Paper presented at the 13th Algonquian Con ference. Siebert Papers, American Philosophical Society Library. Thoreau, Henry David 1966 [1893]. The Maine woods. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. Voorhis, Paul. 1979. Grammatical notes on the Penobscot language from Frank Speck's Penobscot Transformer Tales, University of Manitoba Anthropology Papers 24. —. 1982. Grammatical notes on the Wawenock language, Kansas Working Papers in Lin guistics 6:177-208.