Native American Place Names in Mississippi

Native American Place Names in Mississippi

Native American Place Names in Mississippi C C C Map of Mississippi showing counties (Native American names in bold) and historical territories of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes. 3 A Abiaca Creek (uh-BY-uh-kuh) SW Carroll/SE Leflore/NW Holmes counties. Crossed by U.S. Hwy. E one mi. N of Cruger. From Choctaw abaiyυka, “the side of a swamp or creek” (Seale , p. ). Abotcaputa Creek W Carroll County. Local pronunciation unrecorded. From Choctaw apokta, “doubled” and pυtha, “wide” (Seale , pp. –), i.e., a wide creek with two branches. Acona Community (founded c. ) in N Holmes County. Local pronunciation unrecorded. This name somewhat resembles the Choctaw words okhina, “water course; ford; stream” and aiikhυna, “place for learning; school.” Another possibility is that Acona is derived from Choctaw yakni, “land” (cf. Yocona River and Yokena, q.v.). The belief that Acona is “from the Indian word meaning whoa” (Brieger , p. ) is unfounded: while the English term “whoa” is not found in the Byington () or Watkins () Choctaw-English dictionaries, none of the various Choctaw equivalents of the synonyms “to stop” and “to halt” bear any resemblance to Acona. As for the similar Chickasaw language, hika, “to stop” is also used as an equivalent to “whoa” (Munro and Willmond , p. ); this word shows no similarity to the place name. Alampa Creek SW Winston County. Local pronunciation unrecorded. Apparently from Choctaw alumpoa, “hiding places.” Alamucha (al-uh-MUCH-ee) Community (founded c. ) in E Lauderdale County. Named for nearby Alamuchee Creek (see for translation). 4 Native American Place Names in Mississippi Alamuchee Creek (al-uh-MUCH-ee) SE Lauderdale County, Miss./Sumter County, Ala. Apparently from Choctaw aluma, “hiding place” (cf. alumpoa for Alampa Creek, above) and asha, “to be there” (cf. Seale , p. ). However, Read (, p. ) suggests that the second element of the name may be from the Choctaw diminutive suffix ushi. If so, the name means “little hiding place” (Read , ; Seale –). Alamuchee Creek, Little SE Lauderdale County. See Alamuchee Creek for translation and local pronunciation. Amite County (uh-MIT, am-EET) Established ; named for the Amite River. See Amite River, East Fork for translation. Amite River, East Fork Amite/SW Lincoln counties. See Amite County for local pronunciation. Crossed by Miss. Hwy. / six mi. E of Liberty. Amite is possibly a corruption of Choctaw himmita, “young” (Seale , p. ). However, the name is popularly believed to be derived from the French word amitié, “friendship,” ostensibly a reference to friendly Indians encountered by early eighteenth-century French settlers along the lower Amite River in Louisiana. No historical documentation has been found to confirm this supposition, however (Seale , pp. –). Stewart (, p. ) incorrectly suggests that the name is Choctaw for “ant” (shukυni is the actual Choctaw word for the insect). Amite River, West Fork Amite County. Crossed by Miss. Hwy.  three mi. SW of Liberty. See Amite River, East Fork for translation and Amite County for local pronunciation . Apookta Creek (uh-POOK-tuh) W Attala County (q.v.). Crossed by Miss. Hwy.  two mi. NW of 5 Native American Place Names in Mississippi Kosciusko. From Choctaw apokta, “doubled,” i.e., a creek with two branches (Seale , p. ). Little Apookta Creek (q.v.) is the other branch. Cushman (, p. ) incorrectly states that the name is derived from “A-yuk-pa . . . place of happiness” (cf. Choctaw aiyukpa, “happiness”). Apookta Creek, Little W Attala County (q.v.). Crossed by Miss. Hwy.  three mi. NW of Kosciusko. See Apookta Creek for translation and local pronunciation. Archusa Creek (ar-CHOO-suh) Clarke County. Apparently from Choctaw hυcha, “river,” and osi, “little” (Halbert , p. ; Seale , pp. –). Local tradition has it that the name means “sweet water” (Federal Writers’ Project , p. ); however, the derivation of Archusa from the phonetically dissimilar Choctaw oka, “water” and any of several synonyms for “sweet” (akomachi, balama, champuli , kυshaha, sinimpa) is highly unlikely. Arcola Town (est. c. ) in Washington County. Local pronunciation unrecorded . Brieger (, p. ) states that Arcola is “French-Indian,” but no etymology or translation is provided. Coincidentally or not, the name somewhat resembles Choctaw akolυs, “jar.” Arkabutla Town (est. c. ) in NW Tate County. Named for nearby Arkabutla Creek (see for translation and local pronunciation). Arkabutla Creek (ar-kuh-BUT-luh) W Tate/NW Panola (q.v.) counties. The name may be derived from Choctaw akka, “bottom of water or a stream” and botoli, “to pulverize,” indicating a creek with a pulverized (i.e., a...