In the investigation of the dialects of this important groupe, fifty-five printed works have been received, of which, twenty-eight are in the Odjibwa or Chippewa dialect, ten in the Ottawa, seven in the Pottowattomie, one in the Mohegan, one in the Montagnais, three in the Delaware, three in the Shawanoe, and one in the Abenaki. More than three-fourths of the whole number of the numerous tribes of this stock, are thus far, unrepresented by translations of the Scriptures; a species of evidence of the affinity of tribes which, as it is founded upon a fixed and accurately divided standard, affords one of the best general means of comparison. It is desirable, therefore, to collect all that has been, or may be done in this branch of literature, not only respecting the Algonquin groupes, but also in relation to each of the other groupes of our Aboriginal languages.
17.—The Gospel of John, in Chippewa. 1 vol. 12mo. 280 pages. London: British and Foreign Bible Society, A. D. 1831.
In point of mechanical execution, and binding, this work is by far the best volume of Indian translation, which has been sent among the Sons of the Forest. It is the well-known translation of the brothers John and Peter Jones, of the River Credit, Canada West, which has been extensively used by our missionaries in the United States, as well as the Canada Societies, and has the concurrence of various denominations, as being a faithful version. It is a curious fact, that while learned philologists are discussing the actual use, by the Indians, and existence in the language, of the substantive verb, To Be, the native missionaries should be in the constant use of various forms of the Chippewa verb, I AU, alleged to be found among the Chippewas of Sault Ste. Marie, in 1822, to denote, as is done in this volume, the various senses of “is,” “was,” &c. The orthography of this word as here given, as “Ahyah.”
18.—The First Book of Genesis. 1 vol. 12mo. 178 pages. Toronto: A. D. 1835.
This volume is printed by the Auxiliary Bible Society of Canada, at the office of the Christian Guardian. J. H. Laurence, Printer. It is the work of Rev. Peter Jones, the native missionary, and is deemed by missionaries and teachers, who have devoted their attention to the language, an authentic rendering of the entire fifty chapters of the original. There is no attempt to exhibit a plan of orthography, or to employ the English alphabet in a more fixed form than is known to common writers and speakers. As the influence of the juxtaposition of consonants to vowels, and their modifications from such contact, are well known, there is little or no difficulty in arriving readily at the sounds intended by the translator to be conveyed. The idiom of the Mississagie form of the Chippewa, which is employed throughout this translation, is perceptibly different from the more rigid and tense form of the vowel sounds, as heard in the region of Lake Superior; but the language is literally the same, and well understood by these northern bands. “Munedoo,” the term for God, instead of Monedo, the northern form of it, and other analogous words, present no difficulty to a northern ear or eye; for whatever indeed be the form of orthography used, the native reader will retain the mother sound of the word, and attach precisely such value to the syllables actually used in any given translation, as shall bring out the entire and complete sound as known to him from childhood.