(M.) Letter from Mr. Richard U. Shearman to Henry R. Schoolcraft.

Vernon, October 4th, 1845.

Sir: I completed the enumeration of the Oneida Indians some days ago, but delayed sending a return to you to ascertain the Indian names. It doubtless contains all the information you require at this particular time. Several families are included in the marshal’s enumeration of the inhabitants of the town of Vernon. The remainder reside in Madison county.

The houses of these Indians are generally much better than the log houses of the whites, being constructed of hewn, even jointed logs, with shingle roofs and good windows. There are three good frame houses belonging to them;—one of these is a very handsome one, belonging to Skenado. I noticed in it some tasty fringed window curtains and good carpets. The Indians whom you met at Oneida were the flower of the tribe, being mostly farmers, who raise a sufficiency of produce for their comfortable support. There are several heads of families in my list, who cultivate no land of their own, but gain a subsistence by chopping wood and performing farm labor for others.

The whole number of families, I make, as you will perceive, 31. The whole number of houses I believe is but 28, but in each of these houses I found two families. The number of persons is 157. The count of last winter, which made 180 souls, was made with reference to retaining a certain amount of missionary funds, and Mr. Stafford, the Indian attorney, tells me it was made too high. Skenado says the tribe in this State numbers just 200 souls, of whom 40 are with the Onondagas.

Vernon, December 16th, 1845.

“I have filled up your Indian vocabulary to-day. I wrote down the words as they were given to me by one Johnson, a pretty intelligent man, who sometimes acts as interpreter. My orthography may be somewhat at fault, owing to my limited knowledge of the Indian manner of sounding the letters of the English alphabet. In general, I have endeavored to spell the words according to their sound in English, though the letter a is used often as in the English, and often to express the sound of ah! With this exception, and the use of hon, han and hun, to express a sound of which nothing in the English can convey an accurate impression, the spelling accords with the pronunciation. The Indian from whom I obtained the information informs me he knows of no words in his language to express such large numbers as thousands and millions. I have, therefore, in the cases of those numbers, filled the blanks with the Indian for ten hundred and ten hundred thousand; that is, in the latter case, ten hundred ten hundreds.

“I hope the table will be satisfactory, and that it may be of aid to you in making the comparison between the languages which you desire.

“Believe me, your friend, &c. “RICHARD U. SHEARMAN.”

Oneida.

223

224 Alive Loon ha.

225 Dead La wan ha yun.

226 Life Yun ha.

227 Death Ya wu ha yah.

228 Cold Yut ho lah.

229 Hot Yu ta le han.

230 Sour Ta yo yo gis.

231 Sweet Ya wa gon.

232 Bitter Yut ska lot.

233 I Ee.

234 Thou Eesa.

Heshe.

235 He or she La oon ha—a oon ha.

236 We Tat ne jah loo.

237 You Eesa.

238 They Lo no hah.

239 This Kah e kah.

240 That To e kuh.

241 All A qua kon.

242 Part Ta kah ha sioun.

243 Many A so.

244 Who Hon ka.

245 Near Ac tah.

246 Far-off E non.

247 To-day Ka wan da.

248 Yesterday Ta tan.

249 To-morrow A yul ha na.

250 Yes Ha.

251 No Yah ten.

252 Perhaps To ga no nah.

253 Above A nah kan.

254 Wonder An ta ka.

255 Within Na gon.

256 Without Ats ta.

257 On Ka ha le.

258 Something Ot hok no ho ta.

259 Nothing Ya ha ta non.

260 One Ans cot.

261 Two Da ga nee.

262 Three Ha son.

263 Four Ki ya lee.

264 Five Wisk.

265 Six Yah yak.

266 Seven Ja dak.

267 Eight Ta ka lon.

268 Nine Wa tlon.

269 Ten O ya lee.

270 Eleven Ans cot ya wa la.

271 Twelve Da ga na ya wa la.

272 Thirteen Ha son ya wa la.

273 Fourteen Ki ya lu ya wa la.

274 Fifteen Wisk ya wa la.

275 Sixteen Ya yah ya wa la.

276 Seventeen Ja dak ya wa la.

277 Eighteen Ta ka lon ya wa la.

278 Nineteen Wa tlon ya wa la.

279 Twenty Ta was hon.

280 Thirty Ha son ne was hon.

281 Forty Ki ya lu ne was.

282 Fifty Wisk ne was.

283 Sixty Yah yak ne was.

283 Seventy Ja dak ne was.

284 Eighty Ta ka lon ne was.

285 Ninety Wa tlon ne was.

286 One hundred Ans cot ta wa ne a wa.

287 Two hundred Da ga na ta wa ne a wa.

288 One thousand O ya lee ta wa ne a wa.

289 Two thousand Ta was ha ta wa ne a wa.

290 Million O ya lu ta wa ne a wa-o ya lee ta wa ne a wa.

291 To eat Yon take hon ne.

292 To drink Yah na kee lah.

293 To run Yah dak ha.

294

295 To walk Ee yun.

296

297 To dance Ta yunt qua.

298 To laugh Yah go yas hon.

299 To cry Da yon unt os.

300 To burn U dek ha.

301 To love Ee no lon qua.

302 To go Wa hon ta de.

303 To strike Wa a gon lek.

304 To kill Wa gon wa lew.

305 To sing Ka lon no ta.

306 To sleep Ya go tas.

307 To die Wa a ee ha ya.

308 To sit Ya day lon.

309 To speak Ya god ha la.

310 To see Wa ont kot.

311 To hear Yah got hon day.

312 To think Yonnon ton nion ha.

313 To shout Tay ya go hon let.

314 The war cry At lee yos la tay ya go hon let.

315 To shout Ta ya go hon let.

316 The retreat Wa ha day go.

317 To give Wa han da don.

318 To carry Yay ha we.

319 To tie Ka warn.

320 Walking Ee yen.

321 Singing Ka lon no ta.

322 Dancing Ta hat qua.

323 Crying Das yon unt os.

324 To exist Ya gon ha.

325 I am E gon ha.

The preceding part of this vocabulary, taken by myself, together with the entire vocabularies of the Onondaga and the Seneca, which are necessary to render the comparison complete, are omitted.