The prefix i to _owisske_ is
the impersonal third person singular; the suffix _ha_ gives a future
sense, so that _i-owisske-ha_ or _iouskeha_ means "it is going to become
white." Brebeuf gives a similar example of _gaon_, old; _a-gaon-ha_, _il
va devenir vieux_ (_Rel. Nouv. France_, 1636, p. 99). But "it is going to
become white," meant to the Iroquois that the dawn was about to appear,
just as _wanbighen_, it is white, did to the Abnakis (see note on page
166), and as the Eskimos say, _kau ma wok_, it is white, to express that
it is daylight (Richardson's Vocab. of Labrador Eskimo in his _Arctic
Expedition_). Therefore, that Ioskeha is an impersonation of the light of
the dawn admits of no dispute.
[170-2] The orthography of Brebeuf is _aataentsic_. This may be analyzed
as follows: root _aouen_, water; prefix _at_, _il y a quelque chose la
dedans_; _ataouen_, _se baigner_; from which comes the form
_ataouensere_. (See Bruyas, _Rad. Verb. Iroquaeor._, pp. 30, 31.) Here
again the mythological role of the moon as the goddess of water comes
distinctly to light.
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