White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1923-02-23
CUT 1T OUT SERIES
INDIAN NAMES.

| WhiA0 tAoNSAAA6 sAASN6A~
few years ago the writer noticed on
the railway time table that the next
station was Winona. The beauty of
the name struck him as something
out of the ordinary, and while he was
thus meditating on the matter the
brakeman came through announcing
the stopping of the train.
He stuck his head through the door
and shouted "Wi-i-no-o-ny! Next stop
Winony!" pronouncing the q" in the
first syllable as If 1t were eye"
It simply ruined the effect of the
meditation, and led to the conclusion
that the Indians themselves were not
the only sufferers from the taking up
of the white mans burden. Their
nomenclature. beautiful in the ex-
IRENE in some parts of the country,
has also suffered somewhat
Winona Is a beautiful word If pro-
nounced correctly, as are many other
Indian names. "Wee-no-nah!" with
the accent ON the second syllable is
the correct pronunciation.
There is an interesting study in the
differences in the Indian tongues Of
the east, middle west and Pacific
states. The Indian languages of the
United States may be roughly
grouped into three general classes by
these divisions, and while not entirely
accurate this classification will serve
for our purposes.
In the New England states and par
ticularly Maine and Massachusetts
we find such names as Pawtucket
Connecticut, Skowhegan, Saugatuck,
Poquonock, Ponaganset, etc. These
words are from the harsh gutturals
of the Indian tribes comprising the
old Iroquois nation, and we find
traces Of them extending westward
across northern Ohio and even into
Michigan. Aside from these, however,
the Indian nomenclature is not we'll
preserved in the northwestern part
of the United States. The Pilgrim
fathers brought with them their men,
cries of old England, and we find most
Of the names of the states, cities and
counties Of New England and the sur
rounding states bearing a distinct
English flavor, oft times with no
other change or qualification than
the word New" attached to the name
Of an old English town or county.
The Seminole language of the
southeastern United States has many
points Of beauty over the Iroquois, al,
though 1t is not entirely free from
harshness. But the Seminole tongue
has not been we'll preserved in names
in that part of the country, the early
Spanish settlers having ideas of their
own along that line, and we again
find an importation Of names from
Europe predominating; this time from
Spain.
1t is in the middle west that In
8 dian names reach the summit O
n euphony. The Sioux were addicted
l. to the use of the cultural TX" in thei
language, but instead of emphasizing
1t by the use of other gutturals a!
did the Troquois, the Sioux generally
; used doubled vowels and consonants
of the labial and lingual type. "Oska
: loosa" is a typical word Of the mid
: die western Indians, while Kankakee
: Allamakee, Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska
and Minnesota are others, each
. fraught with some rather poetic mean
i ing.
OF all the Indian tribes which in
' habited the American continent the
Sioux were the most poetic In theil
> natures, and their poetry Is reflected
1 in their language. They produced the
u greatest Indian orators, many o.
: whom eclipsed most white men in the
. beauty of their thought and speech
In addition to this, they have giver
us the beautiful legend of Hiawatha
g which Longfellow loved and perpet
3 uated in English for all mankind.
; Our state of Minnesota is a yer
/ table land of romance in It's Indiar
. nomenclature, and perhaps nowhere
l. else in the United States Is thu
/ language of the Indians more aptl,
. or beautifully preserved.
9 The Indians of the northwest pre-
sent a new phase on the subject o
Il language, most of their names beinI
, too we'll known to the people o
> Washington and Idaho to need spe
= cial mention here. In It's genera
. makeup 1t resembles the language o
l. the eastern Indians more than tina
> Of the middle western tribes. 1t par
Il takes more Of the cultural harshnes
Of the former, although 1t is not 81
y abrupt in its examinations nor 30 es
sentially ugly as the Iroquois tongue
- Whatever tongues may have exis
- ed In the Pacific southwest have bee
70 pretty well lost in the successiv
rush of Snqnish and Anp1o-Sax I'm