,--            _  .-.-
I
288
APPENDIX C
it is the very embodiment of system arid regularity, and is very euphonic, with no harsh, grating sounds. The general rule is, that after each consonant a vowel follows; and when two or more consonants meet they readily combine and flow together. It is a language of verbs, almost four-fifths of its words being of that class; and it abounds in inflections, every phase of being, thought, or action being expressed by some termination. In it the letters n, f, 1, r, v, x, y, z are lacking, except in words of foreign origin; and" every written letter is pronounced. There are nine conjugations in this language, and each one can be used affirmatively, negatively, and dubitatively; moreover, a verb can be used to express any phase of thought. There is to-day a considerable literature in the Ojibwa language, including even a newspaper, the Anishinabe Enamiad (i.e., The Catholic Indian), which is published weekly by the missionaries in Harbor Springs, Mich., and is read by many of the Pottawatomis. I began the preparation of a Pottawatomi grammar, the first attempt at such a book (and in their dialect nothing has yet been published except a prayer-book); but I was called to another field, and did not finish it.
The idea that some people have of these Indians, that they are wild, cruel savages, or a race who can not be civilized, is entirely wrong and false. On the contrary, we find that with their bad habits — which I am sorry to say were taught to them mostly by white men — they have many very good qualities. If they are not quite as friendly toward the whites as we could wish, we must attribute this to the fact that they have not been treated right by the whites. The side of their life that I most admire is the quiet and peaceful family life. They very seldom quarrel in their homes, and the women do their work quietly and take care of their children, whom they love with greater affection than do many of the white women. I have never seen an Indian cruel to his children, and their patience with the faults of the children is astonishing. The curse of divorce is hardly known among them; they really believe in the indissolubility of the marriage bond, and, if the married pair have differences and become angered at each other, one of the two goes to stay with some neighbor until the other asks him or her to return and promises to be good again.
They dislike water, even for mere hygienic purposes, and their passion for strong drink has become proverbial; but they know their weakness, and I had in my congregation a great many Indians who belonged to the Temperance League and' never touched a drop of any intoxicant.   Their dislike for hard work is a characteristic which they