, 1888-12-06
OUR INDIAN NAMES
The Nomenclature Of Washing.
ton Territory.
Odd Names for Odd Places and
Their Meaning.
The Circumstances Under which Some
Cities and Towns Received Their
Peculiar names.

Following are the meaning and origin
OF various Indian names on the North Pa
cltic coast as given by the Seattle Post-In.
telligencer:
Neah bay, Clalam county. This comes
from the name of II Makah chief whose
name was Neah, or, rather, Dee.ah.
Makah, or Makkah. Clallam county,
means the people who live on a point Of
land projecting into the sea, or the cape
people.
Klasset is another name by other Indi.
same as Makah.
Callam is the name of a county and
comes from the Indian tribe of that name,
which was originally written S'Klalam,
It is said by the Clallam Indians to be q
corruption OF their own name for them
selves, M sklaim, meaning ''stronR peo.
ple.' More probably, however, it comes
from the Makah name for them, mean nQ
"clam people. from "klolub," a clam,
and "aht, a man.
.Se-quim. ClaIIam county, is a corruption
OF the Indian name for the same place,
which Is "Suchekivaiing."
Skokomish. Mason county. comes from
the Indian name for themselves of the In
dians living there, which was S'kaw.kaw-
kaw, fresh water. the Skokomish river be.
ing the largest body of fresh water in that
region: The termination 'mish" or
"bish, 30 common on the Sound. means
people. the Sk0komish word for people be-
ing "klowolbish, and that Of the lower
Chehalis Indians, alahmish.
Twana is corruption from Too.au-hu,
the original name Of the tribe, of which
the Skokomish Indians were one band, and
is said by George Gibbs to be reported to
mean. "a portage" because short port
age across the head Of Hoods canal will
save water trip around the peninsula by
way of Port Gamble: but have never been
able to verify it, though have often in.
quired OF the Indians.
Chehalis, name of river, county and
town, is pronounced by the Indians Tse-ha-
lis. and by some early writer's was written
Chickelis. 1t means sand" and was
given to the Indians about the rivers
mouth because of thA sand there, and
hence the early settlers gave the river and
upper Chehalls lndians the same name,
thongh originally neither was called by
that name by the Indians.
Wishkah, Chihalis county, is q corrup-
ti0n of the Chehalis name Hwishkahl, and
means ''stinkinR water.
Skookum Chuck, Thurston county, ia
from Chinook jargon, and means ''strong
or swift water" SkoOkum comes origin
ally from the Chehalis word sku.kum,
strong, and chuck, water, from the work
Ti-tsuk, 10 the old Chinook language,
which in Nootka is Chauk, and Clatsop,
T-chukw.
Skookum bay. Mason county, has the
same origin and was given to the bay be.
cause the tides rush through it with great
swiftness.
T,ro ,roka~ Tl,r.ko, oo.ut, 4. . Ut:
nook jargon word meaning "waterfall."
1t originated from the English word
water" and ''tum" by onomatapolia, as
the sound of the waterfall reminded peo.
pie of that sound. So "tumtum," the
word in the same language for heart, was
given to IL because OF the noiae of the
beating of the heart, which reminded them
of such sounds. .
Tacoma means in the Nisqually language
"the mountain" but it was not given to
it by the Indians, as their name for it was
Luwak.hu or Twawhauk.
Seattle was the name of an Indian chief
who was very friendly to the whites. As
rule the names of Indians on Puget
OF America.
Kitsap county comes from a chief Of
that name
Tulalip, Snohomish county, means a wide
lay with O small mouth.
Stilaquamish means river people,"
Nooksack, Whatcom county, is the
name of tribe but has no meaning.
Snohomish is the name of tribe and
style of union.
Snoqualmie ia not of much account, but
they are strong Indians.
Teekalet, the former name of Port
Gamble, Kitsap county, means ''the bright
ness OF the MONDAY sum-" because the sun
at noon shines with peculiar splendor on
Port Gamble bay.
La Push, Clailam uounty, is . Chinook
jarRon word and means "mouth," mean
ing at that place abe mouth of the river.
1t comes from the French, LA Boos."
Tatoosh, Clallam county, is also Chi
nook jargon word and means milk" or
breast" 1t is originally from the Chip
peway word "to.tosh." Cathlamet, Wah-
kiakum county, is written Cathlamah by
Lewis and Clarke, and was the name of a
tribe of Indians as we'll as of stream. 1t
evidently comes from the Indian word
''ca alamet," meaning ''stone," and is be-
lieved to have been given to the river be-
cause OF the fact that it has a stony bed
along its whole course.
kalama is believed to be simply a cor
ruption Of the above word Caiamet
!. La Camas, Clarke county, is the Chinook
jargon name for an escuient root. 1t comes
from the French ia" and the Nootka
word "chamass" which Jewett says means
fruit, sweet. pleasant to taste. :"
Walla Waila, written Wolla Wollah by
Lewis and Clarke. ia Nez Perce and
Cayuse word. the root of which is "valat
sa," which means running" hence run
ming water" Two meanings of it are
given, one being "a small stream running
into large one, that is, the Walla Walla
river emptying into the Columbia.
Another is ripple after ripple, "'fall
after fall"
Wallula means the same as walla