Jörg Rhiemeier wrote:
> Hallo!
>
> I have found the following text in the lyrics of the latest Nightwish
> album and wonder what language it is. It is certainly not Finnish
> (the band is from Finland, and another song on the album is in Finnish);
> I guess it is some North American Indian language because in the
> booklet,
> it is printed next to a photo of an Indian.
>
> It starts thus:
>
> Hanhepi iyuha ihanbla ohinni yelo
>
> Òn sunkmanitutankapi hena,
This line gives it away: it's some variety of Dakota / Lakota (aka
Sioux). If you've seen the movie _Dances with Wolves_ you may recognize
the word for "wolf" (sunkmanitutanka, which should have a wedge above
the s).
> sunkawakanpi watogha hena,
>
> oblaye t`ankapi oihankesni hena
>
> T`at`epi kin asni kiyani he
> akatanhanpi iwankal
>
> ...
>
> Greetings,
>
> Jörg.
>