Tukudh Version

Tukudh Version This version is of a very recent date; and the translation of the four gospels and the epistles of John into that dialect was undertaken by the British and Foreign Bible Society, at the request of the Church Missionary Society, and was made in the year 1872 by the Rev. R. McDonald, who had been laboring among the people with much success. As to the dialect itself, it is spoken by a tribe of Indians on the river Yucon, on the confines of the Arctic region. Mr. McDonald, who has been laboring there for the last sixteen years, has reduced the language to writing, and in his translating efforts has had the assistance of a native Christian. The syllabic characters, which were adopted in the Cree version, were first tried, but the unusually large number of syllables in the language obliged the translator to fall back upon the Roman characters. The following, taken from the report of the British and Foreign Bible Society for the year 1873, will be of interest to the student: "The Tukudh tribe, which is often known by the name of Loucheux, from a peculiarity in the eyes of some of the natives, is small, not including more than about eight hundred, nearly the whole of whom are under Christian instruction. Their numbers, however, are on the increase, and it is not improbable that some neighboring tribes will become incorporated with them, and thus add considerably to the community. Like most of the North American Indian tribes, the Tukudh Indians have among themselves certain religious beliefs on which it is not impossible to build up the pure theology of the Bible. Their name Tukudh signifies 'haughty people.' When the geographical position of Mr. McDonald's station at Fort Macpherson is considered, it will not be wondered at that these people are living in primitive simplicity. The edition requested is to consist of five hundred copies, and some of the gospels it is proposed to bind separately.

The expense of the work will be large and the readers few; but when a language has been reduced to written form, and Christian men capable of translating the Scriptures are available, the committee deem it a matter of clear duty to go forward in printing the Word of God, even though but a comparatively small population may be benefited by their labors." According to the report for 1879, about 810 copies altogether have been circulated among these people. (B. P.)