-------------------- iintc'ee' -- deer, venison --------------------

iintc'ee' -- deer, venison

Pronunciation:

  "EEN - ch'eh'" (Listen)

Etymology:

  This word may be related to words for "moose" in Hare, Slavey and related Athabaskan languages of Canada: iNts'é (where N indicates that the preceding vowel is nasalized).

Culture:

  Iintc'ee' were probably the most important game animal to the Naahneesh. They hunted iintc'ee' for meat, but made use of almost all the other parts of the animal:

    They used the skin for clothing, sacks and straps.
    They used the bones to make awls, daggers and needles.
    They used the back and leg sinews for the backing of bows, bowstrings, and for the hair-pin type of headdresses.
    They used pieces of the skin with white fur to make white anklets.
    They wore the head and antlers as a decoy on their heads for hunting deer.
    Unlike many of their neighbors, the Naahneesh did not make rattles from the dew claws of iintc'ee'. They "know that other tribes have deer-hoof rattles but feel it would be a desecration to use them, themselves." (Essene, reporting statement of Gil Ray and/or Martinez Bell)

  Iintc'ee' often appear in stories as animals being hunted:
    The Man Eater
    Water-panther

  In at least two stories a deer is an important character:

    Grizzly Woman Kills Doe
    The Coming of the Earth

    In The Coming of the Earth (part of the creation story), Iintc'ee' Taaloong' (literally "Soft Deer") (Listen) is the giant horned animal upon whom the entire earth is formed. It is also Iintc'ee' Taaloong' who causes earthquakes when he moves around or shifts position.

Related Languages:

  Lassik, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Wailaki: iintc'ee'
  Mattole: intc'e'
  Hupa: k'iLixun (literally "something sweet/good-tasting")

-------------------------
Sally Anderson
sally@turtlenodes.com
Cahto Language Home Page: http://www.turtlenodes.com/calath/caindex.html