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
So wrote Governor Pownal on his map of 1775. There is no question that
Coughsaghraga means "Winter." It may also mean "At the Beaver-dam," or
"In the country of Beaver-dams." _Kohseraka_ may be a form of _Hochelaga_
or _Ochseraga._ _Osera_ means "Beaver-dam" as well as "Winter," wrote
Horatio Hale. (See Saratoga.) In explanation of _Canagariachio_ Mr. Hale
wrote: "_Kanagariarchio_ is a slightly corrupted form of the Iroquois
word _Kanna'kari-kario,_ which means simply 'Beaver.' It is a descriptive
term compounded of _Kannagare,_ 'Stick' or club, _Kakarien,_ To bite,'
and _Kario,_ 'Wild animal.' It is not the most common Iroquois word for
Beaver, which, in the Mohawk dialect is _Tsionuito,_ or _Djonuito._ That
the word should be understood to mean 'The Beaver-Hunting Country,' is
in accordance with Indian usage."
* * * * *
On the Mohawk.
Mohawk, the river so called--properly "the Mohawk's River," or river of
the Mohawks--rises near the centre of the State and reaches the Hudson
at Cohoes Falls. Its name preserves that by which the most eastern nation
of the Iroquoian confederacy, the Six Nations, is generally known in
history--the Maquaas of the early Dutch. The nation, however, did not
give that name to the stream except in the sense of occupation as the
seat of their possessions; to them it was the _O-hyoⁿhi-yo'ge,_ "Large,
chief or principal river" (Hewitt); written by Van Curler in 1635,
_Vyoge_ and _Oyoghi,_ and by Bruyas "_Ohioge,_ a la riviere," now written
_Ohio_ as the name of one of the rivers of the west, nor did they apply
the word Mohawk to themselves; that title was conferred upon them by
their Algonquian enemies, as explained by Roger Williams, who wrote in
1646, "_Mohowaug-suck,_ or _Mauquawog,_ from _Moho,_ 'to eat,' the
cannibals or men-eaters," the reference being to the custom of the nation
in eating the bodies of enemies who might fall into its hands, a custom
of which the Huron nations, of which it was a branch, seem to have been
especially guilty. To themselves they gave the much more pleasant name
_Canniengas,_ from _Kannia,_ "Flint," Which they adopted as their
national emblem and delineated it in their official signatures,
signifying, in that connection, "People of the Flint." When and why they
adopted this national emblem is a matter of conjecture. Presumably it
was generations prior to the incoming of Europeans and from the discovery
of the fire-producing qualities of the flint, which was certainly known
to them and to other Indian nations [FN-1] in pre-historic times. When
the flint and steel were introduced to them they added the latter to
their emblem, generally delineated it on all papers of national
importance, and called it _Kannien,_ "batte-feu," as written by Bruyas,
a verbal form of _Kannia,_ "a flint," or fire-stone, the verb describing
a new method of "striking fire out of a flint," or a new instrument for
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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