B. the Words “Gandawague” and “Tekakwitha.”
Gandawague may possibly mean, as General Clark has suggested, neither more nor less than “At the Turtle Village.” In compound words the Indians frequently drop syllables, and certain letters are interchangeable as follows:
The name of this first, or Turtle, Castle of the Mohawks has been written in many different ways, as may be seen by a glance at the list here given:—
| Ossernenon | Kachnuge |
| Asserue | Kaghnuwagé |
| Oneougoure | Kaghenewage |
| Gandawague | Kahnawake |
| Gannaouagé | Caghnawagah |
| Gandahouague | Cahaniaga |
| Andaraque | Caughnawaga |
With all this variety of spelling, only three or four distinct names are represented. An Indian word had no written form of its own. Consequently an Englishman, a Dutchman, and a Frenchman, each putting it down in black and white for the first time, would naturally represent the sound of the word by very different letters. The three forms thus arising could not be identified at once as the same in meaning and sound without a knowledge of several languages. Since such scholars as Dr. O’Callaghan and M. Cuoq, however, have taken up the task, new light has been thrown on the subject, and much that at first sight seemed hopelessly confused in the early colonial accounts has been made clear and intelligible.
There is quite as much variety in the different ways of spelling Tekakwitha’s own name as in the case of her birthplace and early home. Here are some of the forms used:—
| Tegakouita | Tehgakwita |
| Tegahkouita | Tegakwita |
| Tehgahkwita | Tekakoüita |
| Tégahcouita | Takwita |
| Tekahkouitha | Tekakwitha |
A grammatical explanation of this name is given in a note to the “Lexique de la Langue Iroquoise,” by J. A. Cuoq, prêtre de Saint-Sulpice, as follows:—
Tekakwitha est la 3 p. fem. sing, de prés. de l’ind. du v. tekkwitha, cis-locatif de Kkwitha,84 et conséquemment ce mot signifie; elle approche,—elle meut qq. ch. en avant.