Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-09-25
NAMES FROM INDIANS

N<1u1xIkC Il 1kO41- 4AO1AIAO
THEY ARE ATTACHED TO AMERICAN
LAKES. RIVERS AND TOWNS.
Some Interesting Informaxion Conee1ning
Thsir Origin-They Contain Curioss Bifs
Of Native Thought OF Fancy. History or
Tradition.
Just as the history Of Celtic, Roman.
Saxon, Dane and Norman occupation is
marked in England by the geographical
names that these various peoples have
left SO in our own country the many
Indian names Of rivers, lakes, noun
tains. districts and towns remain per-
manent witness, independents Of written
history. to the fact that the red man
possessed the land before ua.
Here, rs in other parts Of tho world.
Language adheres to the soil when the
lips that spoke 1t have been resolved in
to dust. Mountains repeat and rivers
murmur the voices of nations Donation
allied or extirpated in their own land. I"
The Indian names that dot the map Of
America are full Of meaning. Many Of
them, when translated, are found to
contain curious bits Of native thought
or fancy, history or tradition. Some.
like Niagara and Oregon, are so euphoni-
GUS that they easily lend themselves to
the uses Of the poet Others. such as
Moostocmaguntic, Northumberland,
11I
the people that originated them.
Indian geographical names are very
similar in origin to their personal
names. The Dakota Indians Of the
present day have applied to General
Crook the name Wi-can-hpi-yamni
(Three Stars), in allusion to the stars
on the shoulder strap Of generals uni
form, and the cue suggests the name by
which the Chinese are known to them
Pe-co-kan- yan-han-ska (scalp lock.)
This Same quality Of poetic descrip-
tiveness Is seen In most Of their local
and their river names Modern explorers
and geographers often apply personal
names to natural objects, and thus we
have Mount Hood, Pixies peak, the Mac
kenzie river, Hudson bay and many
others The Indians never did this,
though sometimes they gave their tribal
names to rivers near which they lived.
The Hudson river was known to the In.
dams Of New York as Mohicanittuck,
the river Of the Mohicans, and the ma.
tive name Of the Delaware was Lena.
pewihittuck, tho river Of the Lenape.
or Delawares.
The Assiniboin Indians of Canada
have left their name to province, q
river and q town. The word means
"stone people, =" and is Of no significance
until We learn that this tribe, unlike
the other Indians, made no clay pot
terry, but boiled their food by placing
redhot stones In waterproof vessels Of
bark. Chippeway. pointed skins. is 6
name that refers to the peculiar way IL
which these Indians wore their Skin
robes, the points hanging down behind
and before. Eskimo is an AlgonkiI
word meaning caters Of raw flesh. Zu
nj. the people Of the long nails. alludei
to the fact that the medicine men o.
this pueblo always wore their nail
long.
A South Carolina river, which nov
bears the prosaio name Of Broad, wa
known to the Indians as Eswawpudde
nah, the dividing river, after blood,
battle which made this stream the di
viding line between the Catawbas ant
the Cherokees The name Piscatawa,
has much tho same meaning Devil
lake, in North Dakota, is still know
to the Indians as Minnewaukan, tn
mysterious water. They say that In
terrible battle fought ON Its banks man,
years ago the contending warriors, a
they slew each other, pitched the dea,
over the precipice into the deep wate
until very few were left Since thel
\ mysterious sounds are heard in tn
neighborhood. and the Indians will mel
Their drink the water nor eat fish tina
are taken from It
Genisee or Geniseo means beautiful
valley; Onondaga, on the hills; Canaan
daigua, place chosen for q settlement
Omaha, to go against the current; Al
tacapau. man eaters; Chitimacha La
they possess cooking vessels; Athapai
ca. place Of hay and reeds; Yanktor
end village; Sisseton, village; Owatc
ma, straight; Waseca, rich. Winons
little daughter "a town In winconsin.
perpetuates the name Of an Indian gil
0 who. being disappointed in love, cas
herself into Lake Pepin from poiu
called Maiden rock and was drowned
= The same story, but without the name
appears in many other Lovers Leaf
in various parts Of our country.
!. Kanawha is descriptive name NEAR
ing lit is long" Coronaca Is Quoorar
heQua, the place Of big white oak
Wabasha means red battle STANDARD
Passamsquoddy Is an Indian word Il
pollock fish. Shamokin means the plat
Of the chief. South Carolina was know
to the Indians as Chicola, the place I
foxes The Delaware Indians Gale
eastern Pennsylvania Winakaking. 40