Aboriginal American Authors Part 4

From the solemn religious representations on the one hand and these diverting masquerades on the other, arose the two forms of tragedy and comedy, both of which were widely popular among the American aborigines.[85] The effete notion that they were either unimaginative or insusceptible to humor is, to be sure, still retained by a few writers, who are either ignorant or prejudiced; but it has been refuted so often that I need not stop to attack it. In fact, so many tribes were of a gay and frolicsome disposition, so much given to joking, to playing on words, and to noticing the humorous aspect of occurrences, that they have not unfrequently been charged by the whites best acquainted with them, the missionaries, with levity and a frivolous temperament.

Among the many losses which American ethnology has suffered, that of the text of the native dramas is one of the most regretable. Is is, however, not total. Two have been published which claim to be, and I think are, faithful renditions of the ancient texts as they were transmitted verbally, from one to another, in pre-Columbian times.

The most celebrated of these is the drama of _Ollanta_,[86] in the Qquichua language of Peru. No less than eight editions of this have been published, the last and best of which is that by the meritorious scholar, Senor Gavino Pacheco Zegarra. The internal evidence of the antiquity of this drama has been p.r.o.nounced conclusive by all competent Qquichua students.[87]

The plot is varied and ingenious, and the characters agreeably contrasted. Ollanta is a warrior of low degree, who falls in love with Cusi Coyllur, daughter of the Inca, who returns his affection. The lovers have secret meetings, and Ollanta asks the sovereign to sanction their union. The proud ruler rejects the proposal with scorn, and the audacious warrior gathers his adherents and attacks the State, at first with success. But Cusi Coyllur is thrown into prison and her child, the fruit of her illicit love, is separated from her. The Inca dies, and under his successor Ollanta is defeated and brought, a prisoner, to the capital. Mindful, however, of his merits, the magnanimous victor pardons him, restores him to his honors, and returns to his arms Cusi Coyllur and her child. Minor characters are a facetious youth, who is constantly punning and joking; and the dignified figure of the High Priest of the Sun, who endeavors to dissuade the hero from his seemingly hopeless love.

The second drama to which I refer is that of _Rabinal Achi_, in the Kiche tongue of Guatemala. The text was obtained by the Abbe Bra.s.seur de Bourbourg, and edited with a French translation. The plot is less complete than that of the _Ollanta_, and the constant repet.i.tions, while they const.i.tute strong evidence of its antiquity and native origin, are tedious to a European reader.[88]

Rabinal-Achi is a warrior who takes captive a distinguished foe, Canek, and brings him before the ruler of Rabinal, King Hobtoh. The fate of the prisoner is immediate death and he knows it, but his audacity and bravery do not fail him. He boasts of his warlike exploits, and taunts his captors, like an Iroquois in his death song, and his enemies listen with respect. He even threatens the king, and has to be restrained from attacking him. As his end draws near, he asks to drink from the royal cup and eat from the royal dish; it is granted. Again, he asks to be clothed in the royal robe; it is brought and put about him. Once more he makes a request, and it is to kiss the virgin mouth of the daughter of the king, and dance a measure with her, "as the last sign of his death and his end." Even this is conceded, and one might think that it was his uttermost pet.i.tion. But no; he asks one year's grace, wherein to bid adieu to his native mountains. The king hears this in silence, and Canek disappears; but returning in a moment, he scornfully inquires whether they supposed he had run away. He then, in a few strong words, bids a last farewell to his bow, his shield, his war-club and battle-axe, and is slain by the warriors of the king.

The love of dramatic performances was not crushed out in the natives by the Conquest. In fact, in the Spanish countries, it was turned to account and cultivated by the missionaries as a means of instructing their converts in religion, by "miracle plays" or _autos sacramentales_, as they are called. It was even permitted to the more intelligent natives to compose the text of plays. One such, manifestly, I think, the work of a native author, in the mixed Nahuatl-Spanish dialect of Nicaragua, I have prepared for publication. The original was found by Dr. Berendt in Masaya, and his copy, without note or translation, came into my hands.

The play is a light comedy, and is called "The Ballet of the Gueegueence or the Macho-Raton." The characters are a wily old rascal, Gueegueence, and his two sons, the one a chip of the old block, the other a bitter commentator on the family failings. They are brought before the Governor for entering his province without a permit; but by bragging and promises the foxy old man succeeds both in escaping punishment and in effecting a marriage between his scapegrace son and the Governor's daughter. The interest is not in the plot, which is trivial, but in the constant play on words, and in the humor, often highly Rabelaisian, of the anything but venerable parent.

The "Zacic.o.xol," or Drama of Cortes and Montezuma, written in Kiche, of which I have a copy, may possibly be the work of an Indian, but is probably largely that of one of the Spanish curas, and appears to have little in it of interest.

Another and peculiar form of dramatic recitation is what are called the Loas or _Logas_, of Central America. In these, a single individual appears in some quaint costume, in a little theatre erected for the purpose, and recites a burlesque poem, acting the different portions of it to the best of his ability. At present, most of these _Logas_ are of a semi-religious character. The one I have is ent.i.tled "The Loga of the Child-G.o.d," _Loga del nino Dios_, and is written in Spanish intermingled with words from the Mangue or Chorotegan language. This tongue, spoken by a few persons in Nicaragua, is closely akin to the Chapanec of Chiapas, and was a sonorous and rich idiom. Those who spoke it were much given to scenic representations, as we learn from the historian Oviedo, who lived among them for nearly a year, about 1527.

None of these remain, though as late as about 1820, one of great antiquity, believed to be an original native production, continued to be acted. Its t.i.tle was _La Ollita_ or _El Canahuate_, the former word meaning the peculiar musical instrument of that locality, the "whistling jar." The subject was a tale of love, and one of these primitive flutes was used as an accompaniment to the songs.

Section 8. _Conclusion_.

Thus do I answer the questions which I proposed at the outset of my thesis. If I have failed to justify the expectations which I may have raised, at least I have thrown into strong relief the cause of my failure, to wit, the utter and incredible neglect which, up to this hour, has prevailed with regard to the preservation of what relics of native literature which we know have existed,--which do still exist.

Time and money are spent in collecting remains in wood and stone, in pottery and tissue and bone, in laboriously collating isolated words, and in measuring ancient constructions. This is well, for all these things teach us what manner of men made up the indigenous race, what were their powers, their aspirations, their mental grasp. But closer to very self, to thought and being, are the connected expressions of men in their own tongues. The monuments of a nation's literature are more correct mirrors of its mind than any merely material objects. I have at least shown that there are some such, which have been the work of native American authors. My object is to engage in their preservation and publication the interest of scholarly men, of learned societies, of enlightened governments, of liberal inst.i.tutions and individuals, not only in my own country, but throughout the world. Science is cosmopolitan, and the study of man is confined by no geographical boundaries. The languages of America and the literary productions in those languages have every whit as high a claim on the attention of European scholars as have the venerable doc.u.ments of Chinese lore, the mysterious cylinders of a.s.syria, or the painted and figured papyri of the Nilotic tombs.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: What Dr. Washington Matthews says of one of the Sioux tribes is, in substance, true of all on the Continent:--

"Long winter evenings are often pa.s.sed in reciting and listening to stories of various kinds. Some of these are simply the accounts given by the men, of their own deeds of valor, their hunts and journeys; some are narrations of the wonderful adventures of departed heroes; while many are fictions, full of impossible incidents, of witchcraft and magic. The latter cla.s.s of stories are very numerous. Some of them have been handed down through many generations; some are of recent origin; while a few are borrowed from other tribes. Some old men acquire great reputation as story tellers, and are invited to houses, and feasted, by those who are desirous of listening to them. Good story tellers often originate tales, and do not disclaim the authorship. When people of different tribes meet they often exchange tales with one another. An old Indian will occupy several hours in telling a tale, with much elegant and minute description."--_Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians_, pp. 62-3. (Washington, 1877.)]

[Footnote 2: That these a.s.sertions are not merely my own, but those of the most profound students of these tongues, will be seen from the following extracts, which could easily be added to:--

"This language [the Cree] will be found to be adequate, not only to the mere expression of their wants, but to that of every circ.u.mstance or sentiment that can, in any way, interest or affect uncultivated minds."--Joseph Howse, _A Grammar of the Cree Language_, p. 12.

(London, 1865.)

"J'ai affirme que nos deux grandes langues du Nouveau Monde [the Iroquois and the Algonkin] etaient tres claires, tres precises, exprimant avec facilite non seulement les relations exterieures des idees, mais encore leur relations metaphysiques. C'est ce qu' out commence de demontrer mes premiers chapitres de grammaire, et ce qu'achevera de faire voir ce que je vais dire sur les verbes."--Rev. M.

Cuoq, _Jugement Errone de M. Ernest Renan sur les Langues Sauvages._ p. 32 (2d Ed. Montreal, 1869.)

"Affermo che non e facile di trovare una lingua piu atta della Messicana a trattar le materie metafisiche; poiche e difficile di trovarne un' altra, che tanto abbondi, quanto quella, di nomi astratte."--Clavigero, _Storia Antica del Messico_, Tomo IV, p. 244. (Cesena, 1781.)

"Todos los bellisimos sentimientos que se albergan en los n.o.bles corazones en ninguna otra de aquellas lenguas (Europeas) pueden encontrar una expresion tan viva tan patetica y energica como la que tienen en Mexicano. ?En cual otra se habla con tanto acatamiento, con veneracion tan profunda, de los altisimos mysterios de ineffable amor que nos muestra el Cristianismo?"--Fr. Agustin de la Rosa, in the _Eco de la Fe_. (Merida, 1870.)

Alcide d'Orbigny argues forcibly to the same effect, of the South American languages:--"Les Quichuas et les Aymaras civilises ont une langue etendue, pleine de figures elegantes, de comparaisons naives, de poesie, surtout lorsqu'il s'agit d'amour; et il ne faut pas croire qu'isoles au sein des forets sauvages ou jetes au milieu des plaines sans bornes, les peuples cha.s.seurs, agriculteurs et guerriers, soient prives de formes elegantes, de figures riches et variees."--_L'Homme Americain_, Tome I, p. 154.

For other evidence see Brinton, _American Hero Myths_, p. 25.

(Philadelphia, 1882.). Horatio Hale, _The Iroquois Book of Rites_, p. 107. (Philadelphia, 1883.)]

[Footnote 3: _Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians_, p. 18.]

[Footnote 4: _The Tribes of California_, p. 73. (Washington, 1877.)]

[Footnote 5: "Il n'est pas rare de trouver des individus parlant jusqu'a trois ou quatre langues, aussi distinctes entr'elles que le francais et l'allemand."--Alcide D'Orbigny, _L'Homme Americain_, Tome I, p.

170. The generality of this fact in South America was noted by Humboldt, _Voyage aux Regions Tropicales_, T. III, p. 308.]

[Footnote 6: "Hay muchos de ellos buenos gramaticos, y componen oraciones largas y bien autorizadas, y versos exametros y pentametros."--Toribio de Motilinia, _Historia de los Indios de la Nueva Espana_, Tratado III, cap. XII.]

[Footnote 7: _Menologio Franciscano de los Varones mas Senalados de la Provincia de Mexico_, Tomo IV, pp. 447-9. (Mexico, 1871.)

In the Prologue to the _Sermonario Mexicano_ of F. Juan de Bautista (Mexico, 1606), is a well-written letter, in Latin, by Don Antonio Valeriano, a native of Atzcaputzalco, who was professor of grammar and rhetoric in the College of Tlatilulco. Bautista says of him that he spoke extempore in Latin with the eloquence of a Cicero or a Quintilian; and his contemporary, the academician Francisco Cervantes Salazar, writes: "Magistrum habent [Indi] ejusdem nationis, Antonium Valerianum, nostris grammaticis nequaquam inferiorem, in legis christianae observatione satis doctum et ad eloquentiam avidissimum."--_Tres Dialogos Latinos de Francisco Cervantes Salazar_, p. 150 (Ed.

Icazbalceta, Mexico, 1875).]

[Footnote 8: Francisco de Paula Garcia Pelaez, _Memorias para la Historia del Antiguo Reyno de Guatemala_, Tomo III, pp. 201 and 221 (Guatemala, 1852).]

[Footnote 9: _Ritos Antiguos, Sacrificios e Idolatrias de los Indios de la Nueva Espana_, in the _Coleccion de Doc.u.mentos Ineditos para la Historia de Espana_, Tom. 53, p. 300.]

[Footnote 10: _A Study of the Ma.n.u.script Troano_. By Cyrus Thomas, Ph.D., with an Introduction by D.G. Brinton, M.D., p. xxvii.

(Washington, 1883.)]

[Footnote 11: "Tenian libros de pergaminos que hacian de los cueros de venados, tan anchos como una mano o mas, e tan luengos como diez o doce pa.s.sos, e mas e menos, que se encogian e doblaban e resumian en el tamano e grandeza de una mano por sus dobleces uno contra otro (a manera de reclamo); y en aquestos tenian pintados sus caracteres o figuras de tinta roxa o negra, de tal manera que aunque no eran letura ni escritura, significaban y se entendian por ellas todo lo que querian muy claramente."--Oviedo, _Historia General y Natural de Indias_, Lib. XLII, cap. I.]

[Footnote 12: "Une ecriture consistant en raies tracees sur de pet.i.tes planchettes."--Alcide D'Orbigny, _L'Homme Americain_, Tomo L, p.

170, on the authority of Viedma, _Informe general de la Provincia de Santa Cruz, MS_.]

[Footnote 13: _Legends and Tales of the Eskimo_. (Edinburgh and London, 1875.)]

[Footnote 14: _Pok, Kalalek avalangnek, etc._, Nongme, 1857; or, _Pok, en Groenlaender, som har reist og ved sin Hjemkomst, etc. Efter gamle Handskrifter fundne hos Groenlaendere ved G.o.dthaab._ G.o.dthaab, 1857.]

[Footnote 15: _Kaladlit a.s.silialit, etc._ See Thomas W. Field, _Indian Bibliography_, p. 199. (New York, 1873.)]

[Footnote 16: First printed in _The American Whig Review_, New York, Feb. 1849; reprinted in _The Indian Miscellany_, edited by W.W.

Beach, Albany, 1877. I have not been able to find the original.]

[Footnote 17: Horatio Hale, _The Iroquois Book of Rites_.

(Philadelphia, 1883.) It is No. II of my "Library of Aboriginal American Literature."

The introductory essay, in ten chapters, treats at considerable length of the ethnology and history of the Huron-Iroquois nations, the Iroquois League and its founders (Hiawatha, Dekanawidah, and their a.s.sociates), the origin of the Book of Rites, the composition of the Federal Council, the clan system, the laws of the League, and the historical traditions relating to it, the Iroquois character and public policy, and the Iroquois language. A map prefixed to the work shows the location of the United Nations and of the surrounding tribes.]

[Footnote 18: _Recit de Francois Kaondinoketc, Chef des Nip.i.s.singues (tribu de race Algonquine) ecrit par lui-meme en 1848.--Traduit en Francais et accompagne de notes par_ M.N.O., 8vo. pp. 8. (Paris, 1877.)]

[Footnote 19: _The National Legend of the Chata-Muskokee Tribes_. By Daniel G. Brinton, M.D. Morrisania, N.Y., 1870. 4to. pp. 13. Reprinted from _The Historical Magazine_, February, 1870.]