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Hi Tuma,
I have a few suggestions for your translations.
In "A First Reading Book in the Micmac Language" by Silas T. Rand (available at
least in part on Google Books) "Smiter-hawk" is described as killing its prey by
a blow with the breastbone. I think this bird must be the Peregrine Falcon,
which is bluish and was thought by some peoples to kill prey with such a blow.
And "smite" seems an apt word to describe their phenomenal diving attack.
"Grey Hawk" sounds like the male Northern Harrier to me, although it could
possibly refer to grey Gyrfalcons.
"Fish Hawk" is almost certainly the Osprey.
"Sparrow-hawk" was the old name for the American Kestrel, so you are probably
right about that. Sharp-shinned hawk is another possibility, since a similar
European species is called the Sparrowhawk.
I'll vote for Broad-winged Hawk as being "Toad Hawk", since I know they eat a
lot of amphibians. So do Red-shouldered Hawks, but they're pretty rare in NS. I
always thought harriers were mainly rodent-eaters.
"Snake-killer" might be the Red-tailed Hawk, which will eat most anything, but
is known for eating snakes. "Hen hawk" was also an old name for the Red-tailed
Hawk, but this was also applied to the Northern Goshawk.
"Night-hawk" sounds like the Common Nighthawk (not actually a hawk).
"Meat Hawk" is a little tricky, I think. The Goshawk used to be called "the
cook's bird" because when flown in falconry, it caught so much food for the
table, so that's one possibility. Or perhaps the name refers to a carrion-eater
- a vulture, maybe?
Hope this helps,
Kathleen MacAulay
Milford Station
________________________________
From: Tuma Young <tumayoung@yahoo.ca>
To: James W. Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca>
Cc: NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Sent: Sun, September 19, 2010 8:03:02 PM
Subject: [NatureNS] Re: further re Toad Hawk?
Hi Jim:
Very interesting about the Black Garter Snake. I knew that NS has, what, 4
species of Garter snakes and that one was black however I did not know that it
only is present on George's Island. The Micmac Grammar gives a fairly
comprehensive list of "fowl and fin" and was written by Rev. S.T. Rand who had a
mission in Hantsport. What I am trying to do is to find the old Micmac name of
birds, convert it to the contemporary spelling (Francis/Smith Orthography) and
then use it in my bird list. My sisters are Mi'kmaq Immersion teachers and have
been using my pictures along with the names to teach the children about the
birds. Thus, I want to be as accurate as possible. However, some of the older
names for the "Fowl" have long falling into disuse and it is a challenge to
find out what the bird is. Indeed the English names do have a habit of changing
every once in a while too.
So far, we have Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Harrier and the Broad-winged Hawk
as being the "Toad Hawk." Another names to consider is "The Meat Hawk",
"Snake-Killer", Night-Hawk, Hen-hawk, Sparrow-Hawk (I believe this is the
American Kestrel), Smiter-hawk (a blueish hawk), Grey hawk, and the Fish-hawk
(possibly the Osprey). Any help with these names and putting a contemporary
'face' would be really appreciated.
Tuma
Halifax
Koqwaqja'tekaq'tinej.
(Let Us Choose The Correct Behaviour)
--0-1047424343-1284948325=:76740
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<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><div style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font size="2">Hi Tuma,<br><br>I have a few suggestions for your translations.<br></font><h1 style="font-weight: normal;" class="title" dir="ltr"><font size="2">In "A First Reading Book in the Micmac Language" </font><font size="2"><span class="addmd"><font style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;">by Silas T. Rand (available at least in part on Google Books)</font> </span>"Smiter-hawk" is described as killing its prey by a blow with the breastbone. I think this bird must be the Peregrine Falcon, which is bluish and was thought by some peoples to kill prey with such a blow. And "smite" seems an apt word to describe their phenomenal diving attack.<br></font></h1></div><div style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:
10pt;">"Grey Hawk" sounds like the male Northern Harrier to me, although it could possibly refer to grey Gyrfalcons.<br><br>"Fish Hawk" is almost certainly the Osprey.<br><br>"Sparrow-hawk" was the old name for the American Kestrel, so you are probably right about that. Sharp-shinned hawk is another possibility, since a similar European species is called the Sparrowhawk.<br><br>I'll vote for Broad-winged Hawk as being "Toad Hawk", since I know they eat a lot of amphibians. So do Red-shouldered Hawks, but they're pretty rare in NS. I always thought harriers were mainly rodent-eaters.<br><br>"Snake-killer" might be the Red-tailed Hawk, which will eat most anything, but is known for eating snakes. "Hen hawk" was also an old name for the Red-tailed Hawk, but this was also applied to the Northern Goshawk.<br><br>"Night-hawk" sounds like the Common Nighthawk (not actually a hawk).<br><br>"Meat Hawk" is a little tricky, I think. The Goshawk used to be called
"the cook's bird" because when flown in falconry, it caught so much food for the table, so that's one possibility. Or perhaps the name refers to a carrion-eater - a vulture, maybe?<br><br>Hope this helps,<br><br>Kathleen MacAulay<br>Milford Station<br><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Tuma Young <tumayoung@yahoo.ca><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> James W. Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cc:</span></b> NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Sun, September 19, 2010 8:03:02 PM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [NatureNS] Re: further re Toad Hawk?<br></font><br><div style="font-family: times,serif; font-s