Your note about Bridges’ lack of description of the Yahgan belief system is very interesting! Although he never seems to properly acknowledge it in his ethnographic writings, in his dictionary there are numerous references to spirits, but they are described as characters in “dramas” or “semireligious plays.” Admittedly my knowledge of Yahgan culture is a little more lacking than my research into the language, but I believe a big part of religious ceremonies was men dressing up and acting as spirits in front of women and children. For example, in the final incomplete version of his dictionary, he names Ɛdį́dɑ (= Īdáida, or in the modern orthography Itáita) “A character and scene enacted in the Múrɑnɑ [= Mö́rana or mod. Márana] drama, came in from the woods,” and when describing the čiexaus he has “A term for the rites and ceremonies (being superstitious, lying, obscene dramatic & semireligious plays.” As a missionary it makes sense that he would be dismissive towards Yahgan beliefs, but it’s a little disappointing that he wrote so little on their worldview, since by living among them for decades he surely would’ve had a pretty good understanding of them.
An explanation I've heard is that the Yahgan guarded their beliefs from outsiders--no doubt because the missionaries were so dismissive of the little they did hear. Bridges and Stirling (the bishop who was more or less his supervisor) decided at one point that sermons needed to be in English because there was no Yahgan word for "God" (though the Yahgan concept of Watauinaiwa had a number of similarities with the Christian God). At later points it does seem like there were church services in the Yahgan language, so they may have realized their mistake, but I've never seen this particular aspect explored. Thank you for the dictionary definitions! Isn't it interesting that Bridges acknowledges spiritual aspects while dismissing them as "semireligious"?
I love that she passed the language to her children!
I find that fascinating too! It seems like she was very intentional about that.
Your note about Bridges’ lack of description of the Yahgan belief system is very interesting! Although he never seems to properly acknowledge it in his ethnographic writings, in his dictionary there are numerous references to spirits, but they are described as characters in “dramas” or “semireligious plays.” Admittedly my knowledge of Yahgan culture is a little more lacking than my research into the language, but I believe a big part of religious ceremonies was men dressing up and acting as spirits in front of women and children. For example, in the final incomplete version of his dictionary, he names Ɛdį́dɑ (= Īdáida, or in the modern orthography Itáita) “A character and scene enacted in the Múrɑnɑ [= Mö́rana or mod. Márana] drama, came in from the woods,” and when describing the čiexaus he has “A term for the rites and ceremonies (being superstitious, lying, obscene dramatic & semireligious plays.” As a missionary it makes sense that he would be dismissive towards Yahgan beliefs, but it’s a little disappointing that he wrote so little on their worldview, since by living among them for decades he surely would’ve had a pretty good understanding of them.
An explanation I've heard is that the Yahgan guarded their beliefs from outsiders--no doubt because the missionaries were so dismissive of the little they did hear. Bridges and Stirling (the bishop who was more or less his supervisor) decided at one point that sermons needed to be in English because there was no Yahgan word for "God" (though the Yahgan concept of Watauinaiwa had a number of similarities with the Christian God). At later points it does seem like there were church services in the Yahgan language, so they may have realized their mistake, but I've never seen this particular aspect explored. Thank you for the dictionary definitions! Isn't it interesting that Bridges acknowledges spiritual aspects while dismissing them as "semireligious"?