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Show 28 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF INDIAN LANGUAGES. § 12.- ANIMALS. Zootheism largely prevails among North American Indians- that is, many of their gods are animals ; not the present race of animals, but the progenitors or prototypes of the present species. In the study of North American mythology it is very desirable that we know the names used by the Indians for the animals with which they are acquainted. It is manifest that from any one tribe but few of the names in the list can be collected, for the reason that it includes many species restricted to limited geographic areas. The list should be considered simply as suggestive and should be increased- the collector adding the names of all the animals known to the tribe studied. Sometimes the name for the ancient animal ( or animal god) has a different termination or is denoted by some other slight change in the word; where this is the case the animal name used for the name of a person is the same as the name of the animal god, rather the name of the existing species. The method of distinguishing sex should also be noted, which is generally by the use of words signifying male and female; also note" the name of the young of each species. It is a mistake to suppose that the Indians have no class- names or generic terms; such terms are very common among them, but their methods of classification do not agree with those used by civilized people- that is, their generic terms embrace categories easily recognized by a savage people, but different from those recognized by a civilized people. Thus a class- name may be found to embrace those animals which live in trees, as raccoons, porcupines, squirrels, & c; another, those which burrow, as badgers, prairie- dogs, & c.; and still another, those which roam over the plains, as buffaloes, deer, antelope, & c. All animate and inanimate objects are thrown into classes, among the several tribes, in diverse and curious ways. Not only do the Indians have many class- names, but class distinctions are curiously woven into the gram-matic structure of their languages. An Indian system of classifying natural objects is a very interesting subject for study. |