Yelloweye
Terms
THIS STORY is about three souls in five bodies who set out to save Mother Earth. Because it moves through both time and space, I want to point out a couple of terms that will be helpful as the story progresses.
Now-time: The twenty-first century. The now-time birth of the protagonists is in 2001 and the story ends when they are 22 years old.
Before-time: The nineteenth century. The before-time birth of the protagonists is in 1858 and they step out of time in approximately 1872 with a brief foray back into before-time in 1874.
Oxėse: Cheyenne word for elsewhere or other place. When the protagonists step out of time in 1872, they go to Oxėse. It is a place closely resembling nineteenth century America, if Europeans had never arrived. But time in this place is meaningless. The protagonists dwell there for as long as necessary to prepare for the great battle. In Oxėse, all time is the same.
I have used many other Cheyenne words, some of them correctly. Please remember that this is fiction. It is not a history and certainly not intended to either appropriate Cheyenne culture or denigrate its rich heritage. In the protagonists’ before-time lives, they were members of what would become a lost tribe of the Cheyenne, the People Who Follow the Owl, referred to in my limited Cheyenne as Méstaa'e-vo'ėstaneme. If you are interested in the fine points of pronunciation, I suggest you check the English/Cheyenne dictionary listed below.
I couldn’t always find words that directly related to the concepts that were being expressed, but still needed a word. I used several reputable sources, including the excellent English/Cheyenne dictionary of the Chief Dull Knife College in Lame Deer, MT (http://www.cdkc.edu/cheyennedictionary/index-english/index.htm). There were times when I altered words or combined them to get the concept I wanted, like Heove-'éxané, the literal translation of Yelloweye.
I have also adapted some Native American myths, using languages that are taxonomically similar (Algonquian). I have, for example, adopted gray wolf from the Pawnee. While this story has parallels in many cultures, I found this one the easiest to blend with the characters I had created. Hence, proto-wolf is named Manėstóhó'néhe or Creator Wolf. I have, with greatest respect for the original stories, also referred to the legend of Sweet Medicine, the ancestor who gave the Cheyenne their laws, the four arrows, and other prophecies.
I hope you find the story enjoyable, and offer this very limited glossary of Cheyenne or near-Cheyenne words to help as you read.
Glossary of Cheyenne Words
Animals
Heove-'éxané: Yelloweye, the Owl.
Méstaa'e: Owl, harbinger of death.
Méstaa'e-vo'ėstaneme: Owl Family or People Who Follow the Owl.
Mo'ohta mée'e: Blackfeather, the Raven.
Aénohe: Winter hawk, Redtail.
Hó'nehe: Wolf.
Manėstóhó'néhe: Creator Wolf.
Ma'ėhóóhe: Red fox.
Mo'éhno'ha: Horse, Indian pony as opposed to wild horses.
Nȧhahévo'ha: Wild horse.
Wapiti: Elk.
Ésevone: Buffalo.
Vóhpȧhtse: White Mouth, the Grizzly.
Popóhpoévėsémo'éhe: Moose.
People
Ho'néené'šeohtsévá'e: Wolf Riding Woman, Caitlin’s Cheyenne name.
Ho'néemé'eōhtse: Wolf Rising, Phile’s Cheyenne name.
Ho'néhenótȧxeo'o: Wolf Warriors, one of the names for Phile and Caitlin.
Héstahke Ho'néheo'o: Twin Wolves, a common way for the People to refer to Phile and Caitlin.
Vé'otsé'e: Warpath woman, a descriptive name sometimes applied to Caitlin.
Tsétsėhéstȧhese: The People. Cheyenne.
Ho'enáséé'e: Earth Sister, Mandy’s Cheyenne name.
Ho'evȯtse: Whiteman.
Vé'ho'e: Modern Cheyenne term for whiteman. (Whiteman is typically a single word.)
He'évánó'ėstse: Wise woman.
Ma'heónėhetane: Holy man, shaman, medicine man.
Heséeotá'e: Medicine woman; herb woman.
Náhko'éehe: Mother.
Náhko'e: Mommy.
Kȧsóéso: Little boy, term of endearment. Used before an official name is given.
He'éka'ėškónėhéso: Little girl, term of endearment. Used before an official name is given.
Naéhame: My husband, mate.
Nȧhtse'eme: My wife. Lit: my-woman
Na-mé'oo'o: Sweetheart, lover.
Hestȧhkeho: Boy and Girl twins.
Tsévéhonevėstse: Chief.
Námėšeme: Grandfather.
Motsé'eóeve: Sweet Medicine Standing, Sweet Root Standing. The Cheyenne prophet commonly called Sweet Medicine. He organized the structure of Cheyenne society, their military or war societies led by prominent warriors, their system of legal justice, and the Council of Forty-four peace chiefs meeting to deliberate at regular tribal gatherings, centered around the Sun Dance. Before his death, he predicted the coming of the horse, cow, whiteman, etc. to the Cheyenne. He received the Maahótse, a bundle of Sacred Arrows which they carried when they waged tribal-level war.
The Earth and Things Sacred
Nóváhe: Sacred medicine. Archaic old term for a deity.
Ho'e: The land.
Néške'emāne: Grandmother Earth.
Oxėse: Elsewhere; other place. A place outside time.
Nésemoo'o: Spirit guide.
Ho'e-momóonáotaovóho: Domination, dominion
Mo'xȯhtse: Arrowhead.
Onéhavo'e: Drum.
Noahȧ-vose (“giving hill”) or Náhkȯhe-vose (“bear hill”): Cheyenne name for Bear Butte, the place where Ma'heo'o (God) imparted to Sweet Medicine, a Cheyenne prophet, the knowledge from which the Cheyenne derive their religious, political, social, and economic customs.
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
