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The Mutsune & Colonial Spanish Vocabulary
By Professor Ruben G. Mendoza (1998)
Father Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta and the Vocabulario Mutsune
Fray Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta, despite serious and chronic illness that plagued him throughout his tenure at Old Mission San Juan, prepared a number of significant historical documents and manuscripts pertaining to the language, dialects, and culture of the Mutsune, and a number of other early California tribal communities. Today, one can examine the original hand rendered and sheepskin bound Mutsune glossaries prepared in Father Arroyo de la Cuesta’s own hand at the Bancroft Library, and within the collections of Old Mission San Juan Bautista, the Santa Barbara Mission Archive, and the Diocese of Los Angeles. His Vocabulario Mutsune (1812), which is today located within the collections of the Bancroft Library, is beautifully rendered in red and black inks on treated sheepskin pages. Whereas, Father Arroyo de la Cuesta rendered all Mutsune names in bright red block letter ink, all Spanish translations and glossary descriptions were rendered in a flowery Spanish colonial script. The following Mutsune terms represent but a small sampling from but one of the many glossaries and cultural histories prepared by Father Arroyo de la Cuesta.
Despite his contributions, Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta’s role as an assistant minister to Father Esteban Tapis, led Mariano Payeras, the commissary prefect in December of 1820, to comment that: “Fray Felipe Arroyo, the other minister, is 40 years of age, a native of Cubo in Castilla la Vieja and son of the province of Burgos. In 1804 he enlisted for San Fernando and in 1807 he was sent to these missions. His value is from average to greater than average, and his aptitude and disposition, though in themselves make him fit for a great deal, promise nothing because of the already serious chronic illnesses which for many years have put him in the position of at least thinking about death.”
The Glossary
Adobe:
sun-dried brick
Acsun:
thirst (Mutsun)
Alabado:
a hymn of praise
Ammani:
rain (Mutsun)
Ansa:
mother (Mutsun)
Apsa:
father (Mutsun)
Apse:
area of main altar
Apapahs:
nephew
Argue:
oak tree
Asuncion:
feast of the Assumption
Atole:
corn meal mush
Bodega:
storeroom
Bulto:
a sculpted religious figure
Caballu:
horse (Mutsun)
Campo
Santo: Holy Ground or cemetery
Carpinteria:
carpenter shop
Chitesmac:
dancers (Mutsun)
Chitte:
dance (Mutsun)
Convento:
living and working quarters of regular clergy
Corral
de Piedra: rock fence or corral
Cothregues:
snake (Mutsun)
Crucero:
cross bearer
Dado:
painted or tiled design on lower portion of interior walls
Dios:
God
Doctrina:
instruction
Dolores:
sorrows
Don:
Spanish title for gentleman
Dona:
a married lady
El
Camino Real: The King’s Road
El
Camino Viejo: The Old Road of the Central Valley
El
Molino: mill
Fiesta:
feast
Fray:
Friar or Franciscan brother
Friar:
member of a religious order (e.g., a Franciscan brother)
Frijoles:
beans
Garth:
open courtyard or patio of a cloister
Gente
de razon: “people of reason” or Christians
Gin:
eyes (Mutsun)
Gireni:
pinon (Mutsun)
Gittiani:
tuna or cactus fruit (Mutsun)
Geigeie,
ijime pire: temblor or earthquake (Mutsun)
Guarchigmin
innu: narrow road or path (Mutsun)
Guare:
red feather frontal ornament (Mutsun)
Guatsu:
nine (Mutsun)
Gueren:
rabbit (Mutsun)
Hemethscha:
one (Mutsun)
Horno:
oven
Hornitos:
little ovens
Humirina:
baptism
Indios
Sanjuaneros: San Juan Indians
Inis:
son (Mutsun)
Jai:
mouth (Mutsun)
Jesu
Christusse: Jesus Christ (Mutsun)
Junipero:
juniper
Lagi:
twirling game (Mutsun)
Madre:
mother
Maitsun:
laughter (Mutsun)
Mano:
hand, small grinding stone
Matsu:
ten (Mutsun)
Mayordomo:
superintendent
Menen:
grandmother (Mutsun)
Metate:
stone grinding platform
Mezcla:
durable plaster used for floors and walls
Milpitas:
small truck garden
Mitthremac:
elders or ancestors (Mutsun)
Monterey:
King’s mountain
Mucurma:
woman (Mutsun)
Mun:
earth (Mutsun)
Nacimiento:
birth or origin
Naquichi:
six (Mutsun)
Nave:
central aisle of church that holds congregation
Nicho:
recessed area in wall for holding religious images
Nopal:
prickly pear cactus
Noson:
soul (Mutsun)
Nuestro:
our
Nuevo:
new
Ores:
bear (Mutsun)
Padre:
father
Palsin:
groundstone mortar or metate (Mutsun)
Paraiso:
paradise
Paratu:
carpenter (Mutsun)
Pare:
braid (Mutsun)
Parnes:
five (Mutsun)
Patio:
open court
Pinole:
corn meal
Plaza:
public square
Portal:
entrance to a building
Porteria:
one of two entrances to convento
Posol:
pozole stew (Mutsun)
Potrero:
pasture
Pozo:
well
Pozole:
stew with vegetables, meat and grain
Presidio:
military garrison
Pueblo:
town or village
Pujthra:
bread (Mutsun)
Pulga:
flea
Pusninis:
whirlwind (Mutsun)
Rajopa:
sunlight (Mutsun)
Rancheria:
hamlet or cluster of huts
Rebozo:
muffler, shawl
Refectory:
dining hall of convento
Retablo:
altar screen, retable, reredo, or altarpiece
Rigui:
transform (Mutsun)
Rithrai:
rabbit skin dress (Mutsun)
Roble:
oak
Rodeo:
cattle round-up
Roromis:
toy (Mutsun)
Rostrum:
lower portion of vestibule platform or raised lecturn
Ruca:
house (Mutsun)
Sacramento:
Sacrament
Sacristy:
room directly adjacent sanctuary for vestments
Sala
de profundis: room in convento reserved for meditation
Salinas:
salt pits
Sanctuary:
sacred area containing main altar
Santo:
religious imagery; literally “saint,” “saintly,” or “holy”
San
Andres: St. Andrew
San
Bernardino: St. Bernardine
San
Buenaventura: St. Bonaventure
San
Diego: St. Didacus
San
Francisco: St. Francis
San
Jose: St. Joseph
San
Juan Bautista: St. John the Baptist
San
Mateo: St. Matthew
San
Miguel: St. Michael
San
Pablo: St. Paul
San
Pascual: St. Paschal
San
Pedro: St. Peter
San
Rafael: St. Raphael
Santa
Ana: St. Anne
Santa
Barbara: St. Barbara
Santa
Catalina: St. Catherine
Santa
Clara: St. Clare
Santa
Cruz: Holy Cross
Santa
Ines: St. Agnes
Santa
Isabel: St. Elizabeth
Santa
Maria: Holy Mary
Santo
Bulto: principal santo of main altar
Soledad:
solitude
Sotocoro:
vestibule area under choir loft
Tabernacle:
cupboard-like case attached to altar reserved for consecrated host
Temescal:
sweat bath
Tester:
cupola or flat roof over elevated vestibule or lecturn
Tortilla:
thin cornmeal cake
Thraquichi:
seven (Mutsun)
Transept:
areas within church reserved for side-altars
Trigo:
wheat or wheat field
Uiji:
fish (Mutsun)
Usthrgin:
two (Mutsun)
Uthrit:
four (Mutsun)
Vaquero:
cowboy
Vara:
Spanish unit of measure equal to 33.07 inches
Zaguan:
entrance hall
Zanja:
ditch or trench
Rgm/8_6_01
For
further information regarding Old Mission San Juan Bautista, please contact
Professor Mendoza at ruben_mendoza@monterey.edu.
.