List of Indiana placenames of Native American origin

Many places throughout the state of Indiana take their names from Native American indigenous languages. This list includes rivers, lakes, counties, townships and towns. Some of the names have been anglicized, while others have been translated into English or French.

The primary Native American languages in Indiana are Miami-Illinois and Potawatomi; the largest number of place names on this list are from these two languages. Some place names are derived from other native languages, such as Kickapoo, Shawnee, and the Delaware languages Munsee and Unami. These are all Algonquian languages.

This list also includes names of ultimate Native American origin even if they were not used by Native Americans as place names in Indiana, such as Osceola and Wanatah, which were named by white settlers in honor of Seminole and Dakota leaders respectively.

The name of Indiana means 'land of the Indians' or "Indian Land."[1]

Indigenous Tribes of Indiana

edit

[2]

  • Miami
  • Wea - The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking people.
  • Piankeshaw - The Piankeshaw, Piankashaw or Pianguichia Peoples are members of the Miami Indians.
  • Potawatomi - The Potawatomi call themselves Neshnabé.
  • Kickapoo - The Kickapoo People (Kickapoo: Kiikaapoa or Kiikaapoi) are an Algonquian-speaking people.
  • Mascouten
  • Shawnee, post 1794
  • Delaware, post 1818

Places

edit
  • Baugo is a shortening of "Baubaugo", which is claimed by some local historians to be a Potawatomi word meaning "devil" or "devil river", referring to the intensity of its floods.[7][8]
  • Fish Lake, Indiana - translated from kiteepihkwanonki ("at the buffalo fish"), probably via French Lac Tipiconeau ("buffalo fish lake").[16]
  • The Maumee River, historically also known as the "Miami" in United States treaties with Native Americans, is an anglicized spelling of the Ottawa or Odawa name for the Miami people, (o)maamii.[24] An Odawa village was located near the mouth of the Maumee in present-day Ohio. The Miami in their turn called the river the "Odawa river" taawaawa siipiwi.[25]
  • Lake Maxinkuckee is from the Miami-Illinois term meenkahsenahkiki ("it is big-stone country").[26] The Potawatomi version of the name was recorded by Jacob Piatt Dunn as Mŏgsĭ́nkiki, which appears to be a borrowing from Miami-Illinois, as it does not correspond to any known Potawatomi words.[26]
  • Metea is named for the Potawatomi warrior and leader Metea (1778–1827), whose name in Potawatomi means "to sulk".[27]
  • Miami - named for the Miami, a Native American people, many of whom still live in this area.[28]
  • Michigan, borrowed via French from names meaning "great water" in one or more Algonquian languages, likely with particularly heavy influence from Old Potawatomi *mesigam.[29]
  • Mississinewa River - from the Miami-Illinois name for this river, nimačihsinwi ("it lies on an incline").[30][31]
  • Mishawaka - from Potawatomi and Miami-Illinois placenames meaning "firewood-tree land", referring to the large number of standing dead trees in the area.[13]
  • Mongo - shortened from Mongoquinong, representing maankwahkionka ("in the loon land"), which was the name of one of the Miami signatories of the 1840 Treaty of the Wabash.[32]
  • Monon first landed on the map as the name of Big Monon Creek, a tributary of the Tippecanoe River. The creek's name is also recorded in early 19th-century sources as Metamonoung and Old Woman's River.[33] The name may derive from the Old Potawatomi term mdamənəg ("at the corn", modern Potawatomi mdamnəg), which may have been a Potawatomi re-analysis of the Kickapoo place name metemooheki ("at the old woman's place").[34] The Kickapoo lived in the area near the creek in the 18th century.[34]
  • Muncie, originally Munsee Town, from the name of the Munsee Delaware people, originally from Munsee mənʼsi·w.[11]
  • Patoka River is likely from the Miami-Illinois word paatohka, "Comanche", which appears as a personal name in some historical records.[39] It may also be from the Munsee péhtakəw ("it thunders"), referring to the noisy waterfall at Jasper, Indiana.[39]
  • Pottawattamie Park, Indiana is named for the Potawatomi, who occupied this area when it was settled.
  • Yellow River (Indiana) - translation of Miami-Illinois oonsasiipi ("yellow river") or Potawatomi wezawgəməg ("at the yellow water").[63]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Hodgin, Cyrus (1903). "The Naming of Indiana" (PDF transcription). Papers of the Wayne County, Indiana, Historical Society. 1 (1): 3–11. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  2. ^ Tanner, Helen Horbeck; Cartography by Miklos Pinther; Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History, The Civilizations of American Indian Series, The Newberry Library; University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, (27th printing);1987
  3. ^ a b McCafferty 2008, p. 92.
  4. ^ Edmunds, R. David (1978). The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 229. ISBN 9780806120690.
  5. ^ McDonald, Daniel; The History of Lake Maxinkuckee; The Maxinkuckee Lake Association; Levey Bro's & Co., Inc., Indianapolis; 1905
  6. ^ Elkhart County Interim Report; 2nd Edition, Published September 2005
  7. ^ History of Elkhart County, Indiana (https://archive.org/details/historyofelkhart00inchic). Chas. C. Chapman Co. 1881. pp. 655 (https://archive.org/details/historyofelkhart00inchic/page/655).
  8. ^ Dits, Joseph (2017-04-26). "Osceola park finds life after devil-ish past: Ferrettie-Baugo surprises hikers and paddlers". South Bend Tribune.
  9. ^ Baker, Ronald L. (1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253328663.
  10. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 86.
  11. ^ a b McCafferty 2008, p. 90.
  12. ^ McCafferty, Michael (2008). Native American Place-Names of Indiana. University of Illinois Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9780252032684.
  13. ^ a b McCafferty 2008, p. 15.
  14. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 113.
  15. ^ Miami County Interim Report, Published September 1998
  16. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 67.
  17. ^ a b McCafferty 2008, p. 62.
  18. ^ "Iroquois Township, Newton County, Indiana" (https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:3::NO::P3_FID:0453428). Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  19. ^ McCafferty, Michael (April 29, 2018). "Native American Place Names of Indiana". University of Illinois Press. Retrieved April 29, 2018 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ McDonald, Daniel (1908). A Twentieth Century History of Marshall County, Indiana (https://book s.google.com/books?id=w0PWAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA36). Lewis Publishing Company. p. 36
  21. ^ Edmunds 1978, p. 149.
  22. ^ Forest County Potawatomi Community. Potawatomi Dictionary. p. 277. ISBN 9780578142838.
  23. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 208 n.46.
  24. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 81.
  25. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 82.
  26. ^ a b McCafferty 2008, p. 163.
  27. ^ "Metea [To Sulk]". Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  28. ^ De Witt Clinton Goodrich & Charles Richard Tuttle (1875). An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana. Indiana: R. S. Peale & co. p. 578.
  29. ^ McCafferty 2008, pp. 4–5.
  30. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 107.
  31. ^ Godfroy, Clarence (1987) [1961]. Miami Indian Stories. Winona Lake, IN: Life and Life Press. p. 164.
  32. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 16.
  33. ^ a b McCafferty 2008, p. 119.
  34. ^ a b McCafferty 2008, p. 120.
  35. ^ Jyoti A. Verderame (2021). "Monon Trail". Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  36. ^ C.C. James (1905). "The Origin of 'Napanee'" (PDF). Papers and Records. 6. Ontario Historical Society: 47–49.
  37. ^ Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States (https://books.google. com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA344). University of Oklahoma Press. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  38. ^ 8. Baker, Ronald L. (October 1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History (https://archive.org/details/fromneedmoretopr00bake). Indiana University Press. p. 253 (https://archive.org/details/fromneedmoretopr00bake/page/253). ISBN 978-0-253-32866-3. "The name is for the famous Seminole chief."
  39. ^ a b McCafferty 2008, p. 144.
  40. ^ "Bloodroot Trail" (PDF). Indiana State Parks and Reservoirs. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  41. ^ Godfroy, Clarence (1987) [1961]. Miami Indian Stories. Winona Lake, IN: Life and Life Press. p. 166.
  42. ^ McCafferty 2008, pp. 104–105.
  43. ^ Fountain County Interim Report, Published March 1988
  44. ^ "Shipshewana History", Retrieved on March 24, 2013.
  45. ^ Bright, William (2004). Native American placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  46. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 122.
  47. ^ Kosciusko County Interim Report, Published March 1991
  48. ^ Carroll County Interim Report, Published February 1980
  49. ^ Tippecanoe County Interim Report, Published May 1990
  50. ^ McCafferty 2008, pp. 12–13.
  51. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 133-134.
  52. ^ Hay, Jerry M (2008). "Wabash River guide book", pg. 26, Indiana Waterways. ISBN 1-60585-215-5.
  53. ^ Fountain County Interim Report, Published March 1988
  54. ^ Jay County Interim Report, Published July 1985
  55. ^ Tippecanoe County Interim Report, Published May 1990
  56. ^ Baker, Ronald L. (October 1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History. Indiana University Press. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-253-32866-3. ...suggested changing the name to Wakarusa for a stream or a place in Kansas, where he had once lived.
  57. ^ Werner, Matthew A. (2020). "Wanatah, Indiana: Knee Deep in Mud?". Dig the Dunes. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  58. ^ Lilly, Eli. Early Wawasee Days. Indianapolis: Studio Press Inc., 1960.
  59. ^ Tippecanoe County Interim Report, Published May 1990
  60. ^ McCafferty 2008, p. 89.
  61. ^ Pulaski county Indiana history (http://www.countyhistory.com/pulaski/start.html)
  62. ^ Baker, Ronald L. (October 1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History (https://archive.org/details/fromneedmoretopr00bake). Indiana University Press. p. 353 (https://archive.org/details/fromneedmoretopr00bake/page/n370). ISBN 978-0-253-32866-3. "...named for the nearby Wyandotte caves."
  63. ^ McCafferty 2008, pp. 63–64.