American Pentimento: The Invention of Indians and the Pursuit of Riches

Appendix: On the Names of Some North American Aboriginal Peoples

Appendix On the Names of Some North American Aboriginal Peoples Prior to European conquests, a majority of New World natives often referred to themselves as people, a word that separated them from other mammals. But those in frequent contact with other native groups called themselves by their technologies (flint makers, currency makers) or their locations (easterners). If relations with other communties were hostile, then the groups used derogatory names for their neighbors. English and French settlers often relied upon the first native peoples they encountered for the names of those groups’ neighbors. If the tribes were friendly, the names the settlers were told were neutral or even respectful. If relations were hostile, the adjoining tribes wound up labeled by their rivals’ favorite insults. Thus Iroquois is a favorite Algonquin insult, and Sioux is a hostile Chippewa term. Abenaki called themselves Alnanbal, meaning “men.” Neighboring Montagnais (Algonquin) called them “people of the dawn” or “easterners.” Algonkin may have come from the Micmac’s algoomeaking, which translates roughly as “place of spearing fish from the bow of a canoe.” Another possibility originates in the Maliseet word allegonka, which means either “allies” or “dancers.” Of the two, “dancer” is the most likely. ≈ 193 ≈ Samuel de Champlain, who first used the term, might have mistaken for their tribal name what he was told while watching a combined Algonkin, Maliseet, and Montagnais victory dance in 1603. Catawba means “river people,” but they called themselves Iyeye (people) or Nieye (real people). Cherokee comes from the Creek word Chelokee, meaning “people of a different speech.” In their own language the Cherokee referred to themselves either as Aniyunwiya (or Anniyaya), “principal people,” or the Keetoowah (or Anikituaghi, Anikituhwagi), “people of Kituhwa.” Many today prefer Tsalagi. Chippewa (also known as Ojibwe) call themselves Anishinabe (Anishinaubag , Neshnabek), meaning “original men,” sometimes shortened to Shinob. Creek is the English name for people living along the Ocheese Creek or Ocmulgee River. Cuna call themselves Tule, which in their language means “men.” Delaware is the name of an early English settler (de la Warre). The “Delaware” called themselves Lenape, signifying either “original people” or “true men,” because they and other Algonquin-speaking peoples believed that Lenape were the original Algonquin tribe. Guaraní referred to themselves as Abá, that is, men. Iroquois is an Algonquin insult, Iroqu (Irinakhoiw), meaning “rattlesnakes.” The French added the Gallic suffix –ois, making the name Iroquois. The Iroquois call themselves Haudenosaunee, meaning “people of the long house.” Mi’kmac comes from a word from their own language meaning “allies.” Mohawk is from a derogatory Narragansett word, Mohowaanuck (“man eaters”). They referred to themselves as Kahniankehaka (Ganiengehaka), “people of the flint.” Montagnais comes from the French word meaning “mountaineers.” They called themselves Neenoilno (perfect people) or Tshetsiuetineuerno (people of the north-northeast). Narragansett is an English corruption of Nanhigganeuck, their actual name, meaning “people of the small point.” Pequot comes from the Algonquin slur pekawatawog or pequttoog, meaning “destroyers.” Pomo people created the common currency among California tribes. Their name comes from one of their two currencies, created from magnesite (a gray-white-buff mineral) that they called po. Salish is the language of the Cowlitz, Chehalis, Shoalwater Bay, Quinault, A p p e n d i x ≈ 194 ≈ Twana, Puget Sound, Clallam, Squamish, and Lummi, and it means simply “people.” Sioux originated in a Chippewa insult—Oceti Sakowin or Nadowe-is-iw, meaning “little or treacherous snakes.” The French corrupted the term to Nadowessioux, which the English, still later, shortened to Sioux. They call themselves Lakota and Dakota. Tonkawa is another controversial name. One interpretation is that it comes from the Waco Indian word Tonkaweya, meaning “they all stay together.” They called themselves Titskan-watich, which means “natives.” Tsimshian means “people inside the Skeena River.” Ute call themselves Noochew, “the People” A p p e n d i x ≈ 195 ≈ This page intentionally left blank ...