Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.Ruttenber, Edward Manning
History
Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.
Ruttenber, Edward Manning
Indians of North America -- New York (State); Names, Geographical -- New York (State); Names, Indian -- North America
"Or the beaver--hunting country of the Confederate Indians," and the
latter entered in the deed from the Five Nations to the King in 1701.
(Col, Hist. N. Y., iv, 909.) _Cough-sagh-raga_ is now written _Koghsarage_
(Elliot) and _Kohserake_ (modern), and signifies "Winter" or "Winter
land"; but the older name, _Cana-gariarc-hio,_ means, "The beaver-hunting
country." [FN-3] It is not expected that this explanation will affect
the continuance, by conference, of _Adirondacks_ as the name of the
district; but it may lead to the replanting of the much more expressive
Iroquoian title, _Kohsarake,_ on some hill-top in the ancient wilderness.
* * * * *
[FN] The specific tribe called Algonquins by the French, were seated,
in 1738, near Montreal, and described as a remnant of "A nation the most
warlike, the most polished, and the most attached to the French." Their
armorial bearing, or totem, was an evergreen oak. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., i,
16.) It is claimed that they were principally Ottawas, residing on the
Ottawa River. (Schoolcraft.) The primary location of the language is
only measurably involved in the first application of the name, the honor
being claimed for the Chippewa, the Cree, and the Lenni-Lenape. The
Eastern Algonquins substituted for the Iroquois Adirondacks,
_Mihtukméchaick_ (Williams) with the same meaning.
[FN-2] The bark of the chestnut, the walnut, and of other trees was
dried, macerated, and rolled in the fat of bears or other animals, and
probably formed a palatable and a healthful diet. Presumably the eating
of the bark of trees was not confined to a particular tribe.
[FN-3] "_Coughsaghrage,_ or the Beaver-Hunting Country of the Confederate
Indians. The Confederates, called by the French Iroquois, surrendered
this country to the English at Albany, on the 19th day of July, 1701;
and their action was confirmed the 14th of September, 1724. It belongs
to New York, and is full of Swamps, Lakes, Rivers, Drowned Lands; a Long
Chain of Snowy Mountains which are seen. Lake Champlain runs thro' the
whole tract. North and South. This country is not only uninhabited, but
even unknown except towards the South where several grants have been
made since the Peace."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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