The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-12-19
THE MADISONIAN.
INDIAN NAMES.


publish the letter, with pleasure, fully sharing
the desire of the author to see concerted effort
made, not only to rescue these names from their
degeneracy, but to restore them, wherever they
have been supplanted by the English, so far as
it can be done with proper regard for sense
and taste. Many of the Indian names are
beautiful, both in sound and Specification, and
are infinitely preferable to the thousand sense
less "viles," fields" and "burgs," which,
prefxed by the surname Of some ambitious pro-
prietor, are bestowed upon every little apology
for a town in the land The Indian names are
always descriptive, and they are distinctive and
original AT any rate, if we cannot do any bet
ter. let us preserve those we do retain from cor
ruption, and this we can do by correcting our
spelling and pronunciation, and continuing
them uniformly
AsToR, WISCONSIN, Oct i, 1910
To the Editor Of the American:
Sin: The list of Indian names Of towns,
places, rivers, and lakes in Wisconsin, here
with enclosed, have prepared in the hope that
a uniform mode of spelling these names may
prevail both at home and abroad.
In adopting into our language words from an
unwritten language, ii seems 10 me that letters
should be used to spell them as they are pro-
nounced And where, in the formation OF Eng
lish sylla5les, letters occur which become silent
when the word is spoken, it is unnecessary to
employ them when sylables OF like sound are
required in writing Indian words. BY this rule
the length Of these words is shortened; and
think no one will find il difficult to pronounce
them as they are written in this list.
The letter ought never 10 be used, in Indian
words. TO convey the sound of the letters k or ;;
it is only used here with the letter h, forming
compound character, as in Choarah, Cherokee,
&c-and to convey nearly the sound OF tsh in
words of English origin. The letter repre-
sents the soft sound Of G; the letter g ought,
therefore, to be used only when hard, as IN
Hochun-grah. These rules, which have been
observed for twenty. years BY myself and Others
in the Northwest, give to each Of these letters
single sound, and relieve the reader from all
doubt as to the correct pronunciation OF the
words in which they occur.
But the greatest difficulty which we expe-
rience in writing Indian words, is from their
having been previously written by the French.
Those who wish to be thought particularly
learned, insist upon "the ancient spelling,
without rejecting that that spelling was by a
people foreign to the Indians and to us for their
own use and according to their own language,
and not for the use Of either the Indians or Eng
lish and that we might as well attempt to spell
all English words with the alphabet as used by
the French, as to spell Indian words, which we
are now adopting as our own, with their alpha
bet. We must not forget that they are Indian,
and not French, words; and that we are now
taking them from the Indians lips, and not from
the books of the French.
Thus, they would have Wabash, Ouabache,
after the French, or Walbach, as written by
Robert Rogers, in his Account Of North Amer-
ca, in 1865, who attempted, Isuppose, to initiate
the French sound.
So they would spell Withlakoochee, Ouithla-
couchy; Washita Ouacheta; Milwaukee, Mel
lawalkie Munnomonee, Malhomines Kaukau-
nah, Cacalin Iowa, Ayouez; and Wisconsin,
Ouisconsin. For several years this latter word
was pronounced by Western settlers, who were
unacquainted with the French sound Of the let
tiers, Owskonse and by the Eastern people
Chcogo, (Which should be spelled She-kank-o,)
Tchic-ay -go Mackinaw, Mickillimackinack /;
and Sioux, Siowks-a word which is either the
last syllable of a name not in use at present,
(Nottowaysioux) or a nickname given by the
French to nation whose real name is Dah-ko-
tab.
These gentlemen do not appear to have no
ticed the fact, that the French had no in their
alphabet until lately, and used the letters on to
express the English sound OF that character.
States have the power to establish correct and
uniform photography for these words, and il can
not be effected without their aid. At present,
each appears to have standard of his own
The American and British travellers, who have
entered the Indian country, have, with but few
exceptions, made it their object to reach
tain point as speedily possible, and get back
again with rapidity, to write book. After
spending few weeks with an Indian, or a
ipfar ,uho ,e
an unwrittcn language, they pretend to give the
public correct lnformation-derived from such
equivocal sources-of the structure of the In
dian languages, and the Specification and pro-
nunciation OF Indian words.
IL is obvious to all persons who have given any
attention to the subject, that many Indian names
of places might be retained if they were spelled,
in the plain and easy manner they are in Wis
konsan, as they are pronounced by the Indians,
and by abandoning the French sound of the let
tiers. And it is my object to make pronuncia-
ton by the Indians of their own words, the stand
ard for spelling them with letters having the En-
glish sound only.
In the I'd vol. Of Longs Second Expedition,
(1S23) page 2l3, the word Wisconsin occurs,
and adopt the spelling of the able editor of that
work it being the nearest of any to the Indian
sound. The same mode has been adopted BY
the Clerks of Congress and the Public Printer,
and IT seems now to be coming into general use
The meaning of the name, have undertood,
is " The river with howery banks" 1t is sup
posed to be the Winnebaygo word, Weeskoose-
rah
The length of Indian words is an objection of
ten made to their use, but the difficulty is, gene
rally, with our own writers. They employ a
greater number of letters than is required to spell
them; and what they write for single word is
frequently not word, but sentence. Almost
invariably they add TO an Indian name Of a river
or lake, the Indian word for river or lake
Thus Missi is Big and Sipi is Rirer, as spelled
by the French; and yet we write single word
Mississippi, the English of which with our ad-
dition is Big-river River. So Michigan is Big
Lake, and Taychoberah Four Lakes, and to
each we add the word Lake. This error Of add