[140-1] _Narr. of the Captiv. of John Tanner_, p. 362. From the word for
fire in many American tongues is formed the adjective _red_. Thus,
Algonkin, _skoda_, fire, _miskoda_, red; Kolosch, _kan_, fire, _kan_,
red; Ugalentz, _takak_, fire, _takak-uete_, red; Tahkali, _c[=u]n_, fire,
_tenil-c[=u]n_, red; Quiche, _cak_, fire, _cak_, red, etc. From the
adjective _red_ comes often the word for _blood_, and in symbolism the
color red may refer to either of these ideas. It was the royal color of
the Incas, brothers of the sun, and a llama swathed in a red garment was
the Peruvian sacrifice to fire (Garcia, _Or. de los Indios_, lib. iv.
caps. 16, 19). On the other hand the war quipus, the war wampum, and the
war paint were all of this hue, boding their sanguinary significance. The
word for fire in the language of the Delawares, Nanticokes, and
neighboring tribes puzzles me. It is _taenda_ or _tinda_. This is the
Swedish word _taenda_, from whose root comes our _tinder_. Yet it is
found in vocabularies as early as 1650, and is universally current
to-day.
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