Coyote and Owl, Mescalero Apache Text excerpted from Chiricahua Apache Texts, with Ethnological Notes |
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![]() | Coyote and Owl, Mescalero Apache Text | ![]() |
"Friend, that which I [would] eat right now is buffalo intestines and roasted buffalo ribs,"
'iyánéłizhiní 'buffalo'. A compound of 'iyáné 'cattle'; 'łizhiͅ 'it is black' [3rd person imp. neut. with prefixes łi-ni- adj.]; and the relative -í. 'iyáné > 'iyáͅ 'he eats' [3rd person imp. with indef. obj.] plus the archaic relative -é.
It is curious that the Mesc. word for 'buffalo' should have as a base the word for 'cattle' since it is very likely that the Mesc. knew the buffalo long before they encountered cattle. It is probable, however, that 'iyáné originally meant 'buffalo' and was made to include 'cattle' when these animals became important in.Mesc. culture. Then, when the necessity for distinguishing the two animals arose, this compound was devised to designate the buffalo, by then the less important animal to the culture.
![]() | Coyote and Owl, Mescalero Apache Text | ![]() |