A Better System

A few days ago, I wrote about places being renamed. Being part American Indian and growing up in Oklahoma, I was familiar with lots places named after Indian words. Some people think the Indians gave us corn — and not much else. But they’ve added many words to our language. Moose, raccoon, opossum, chipmunk, hickory, muskrat, wigwam, wampum, toboggan, totem, saw, mackinaw, moccasin, papoose and tomahawk are Indian words. And — many American places have been named after Indian words…. Mississippi is “the father of waters,” Lake Winnepesaukee is “the smile of the great spirit.” In fact, about half of the states got their names from Indian words. Connecticut’s name comes from the Mohican word Quinnehtukqut which means “beside the long tidal river,” and the name of Kentucky comes from an Iroquoian word — Kentahten, which means “land of tomorrow.”

For American Indians, place names always tell something about the location — they aim to express the essence of the place, or its dominating characteristic or idea. When Europeans began to settle on the continent and early pioneers explored, they often gave places new names commemorating the “Founding Fathers” and other important Americans. That’s the reason for the popularity of cities, towns and counties called Washington, Jefferson, Madison, etc. And a lot of towns, like Johnstown, Carterville and Martinsburg are named for prominent local citizens.

As I mentioned in a previous blog on this subject, Indians have viewed this practice as inappropriate, believing that humans are too small, too fleeting and insignificant to have places named for them. The land is eternal — it owns us, we do not own it. 

But as I said, lots of our states have gotten their named from Indian words, like….
Alabama — comes from Choctaw meaning “thicket-clearers” or “vegetation-gatherers” 
Arizona — from the Indian “Arizonac,” meaning “little spring” or “young spring.”
Illinois —Algonquin for “tribe of superior men.”
Indiana — means “land of Indians.”
Texas — from an Indian word meaning “friends.”
Oklahoma — from two Choctaw Indian words meaning “red people.”
Utah — from the Ute tried, meaning “people of the mountains.”
Ohio —from an Iroquoian word meaning “great river.”
Wyoming — from the Delaware Indian word, meaning “mountains and valleys alternating.”
Missouri — named after the Missouri Indian tribe. It means “town of the large canoes.”
Nebraska — from an Oto Indian word meaning “flat water.”

Indian words also were used to name a lot cities…. Roanoke in Virginia is Algonquian for “shell money.” Indian tribes often used shells that were made into beads called wampum as money. Pensacola in Florida is Choctaw for “hair” and “People.”  Niagara (the falls) is named after an Iroquoian town, “Ongiaahra.” And Manhattan in New York is Algonquian in origin and believed to mean “isolated thing in water.” 
And one of my favorite words is Podunk — I always used it to describe some insignificant town out in the middle of nowhere — its name comes from a Natick Indian word meaning “swampy place.”

So I think a pretty good argument can be made for the Indians naming scheme being better and more thoughtful than the one generally used today — especially natural wonders. Crazy Horse once said, “One does not sell the earth upon which the people walk.” I think I like that…..
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