The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1908-12-04

Miami Name For indianapolis Was
Makes a Noise Place"

aud Indianapolis IS known throughout
the world as the Omphalos Of Poetry.
Whatever relates 10 that center and
that OmphalOs interests every reason
ing man and woman. May We borrow
from Mr.. jacob Pratt Dunn. Secre-
tary OF the Indiana Historical Society.
a little OF the light he has just irradi.
ated on Indiana philolOgy in his
Glossary OF Indian Names which Is
part OF his True Indian Stories" late
~ reviewed and praised in the SUM-
The good revere. yet deplore. the
name indianapolis" IL Is pretentious,
mouth filling. a guess al Greek. un.
worthy OF what he city connotates
that has grown up in spite Of II. How
much more euphonious was the Miami
name for IL: ~ChanktunOongi." an
admirable prophecy OF the present
capital. for IL means Makes a Noise
Place" Is Il too late 10 go back 10
this happy appelatione
WinOna. the name Of town which
used 10 be famous in Minnesota a.
the home OF William Window is now
used in Indiana only OF Winona Lake;
but Mr.. Dunn gives us little lesson
IN baby nomenclature among the
Sioux:
Winonah is a Sioux female proper
name, signifying a first born child. II
the first born Is a boy the name given
is 'Chaskay. and in that case there
can be no 'Winonah In the family.
When sex IS not desired 10 be indi-
Gated the Sioux word for the first
born is tokahpah. which is the num-
eral first
In a ROOseveltian world these dis
tinCtions and deiicacies are not with
out value No Sioux. as far as we
know. commits the barbarity OF sad
ding his child with a statesman
name
Winnipeg means. We say with re-
gret and all apology 10 northern neigh
bOrs. sinking water Wabash. We
know nor what others may think
but 70 Us "Gahash' has something.
has much of the ineXphcable and i'm
memorial magic Of "Tiber,' Nile,
Tigris. Gauges. r "Arno We have
TO see loyal Indianians pointing from
the train al that sacred stream.
Wabash as a vocabie flows from the
Miami name ~Wahbahshikki" usually
pronounced "Wahpahshikki" (accent
the Miami adjective white" The
name refers to the limestone bed OF
the upper part ot the stream" and
there IS nothing in the somewhat
common theory that Wabash means
cloud driven by the eQuinoctial
wind 8lr Rileys lines surge into
the mind.
Bright waters that swirl and that
fragile, Wabash,
By the cliffs they have bitten 20 fraz-
zle. Wabash
How many Manhattan cockneys
know how 70 pronounce the Lone star
Waco. famous among cities Some Of
the untraveled are apt 20 make the
that syllable broad "ah. thinking they
show themselves correct and Spanish
thereby. There is Waco" twayco) in
Indiana. imported from Texas. some
times written as Spanish. "Hueco.
and said 20 mean "herOn" among the
Wichita. "Tippecanoe. mighty
word is a corruption Of "ketapekon-
nong." the Indian town below the
mouth OF the TippecanOe River Ca
noe" Mr.. Dunn tells US is not a
word Of the North American Indians"
-Tecumseh," properly "Tecumtha." is
going across" or crossing over"
Mohawk Is probably cannibal"
Ohio IS certainly beautiful" Man
haitian (there is one In Indianal Mr.
Dunn grimly holds after mentioning
many other etymOlogies. including
beautiful view" 70 be as Hecke-
welder said. the place where we all
got drunk" There is a noble finality
about their guesses. -kOkomO.' for
example. has been translated Black
Walnut Bear Chief and Young
Grandmother. and may be trans
lated The Diver
But We mustn't wear out our wei
come. We take our leave happy in
Mr.. Dunn's confirmation of Place Of
Wild Onions" as the Interpretation of
Chicago" The old. mephitic calum-
ny IS slowly being dispelled.-New
York sun.