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
Muhheakun'nuk, "The great waters or sea, which are constantly in motion,
either ebbing or flowing," was written by Chief Hendrick Aupaumut, in
his history of the Muhheakun'nuk nation, as the name of Hudson's River,
in the Stockbridge dialect, and its meaning. The first word, _Muhheakun,_
was the national name of the people occupying both banks of the river
from Roelof Jansen's Kill, a few miles south of Catskill, on the east
side of the river, north and east with limit not known, and the second
_-nuk,_ the equivalent of Massachusetts _-tuk,_ Lenape _-ittuk,_ "Tidal
river, or estuary," or "Waters driven by waves or tides," with the
accessory meaning of "great." Literally, in application, "The great
tidal river of the Muhheakan'neuw nation." The Dutch wrote the national
name _Mahikan, Maikan,_ etc., and the English of Connecticut wrote
Mohegan, which was claimed by Drs. Schoolcraft and Trumbull to be
derived from _Maingan_ (Cree _Mahéggun_), "Wolf"--"an enchanted wolf,
or a wolf of supernatural powers." From their prevailing totem or
prevailing coat-of-arms, the Wolf, the French called them _Loups,_
"wolves," and also _Manhingans,_ including under the names "The nine
nations gathered between Manhattan and Quebec." While the name is
generic its application to Hudson's River was probably confined to the
vicinity of Albany, where Chief Aupaumut located their ancient capital
under the name of Pem-po-tow-wut-hut Muh-hea-kan-neuw, "The fire-place
of the Muh-hea-kan-nuk nation." [FN] The Dutch found them on both sides
of the river north of Catskill, with extended northern and eastern
alliances, and south of that point, on the east side of the river, in
alliance with a tribe known as Wappans or Wappings, Wappani, or
"East-side people," the two nations forming the Mahikan nation of
Hudson's River as known in history. (See Wahamensing.)
* * * * *
[FN] Presumed to have been at what is now known as Scho-lac, which see.
Father Jogues, the French-Jesuit martyr-missionary, wrote in 1646,
_Oi-o-gué_ as the Huron-Iroquoian name of the river, given to him at
Sarachtoga, with the connection "At the river." "_Ohioge,_ river;
_Ohioge-son,_ at the long river," wrote Bruyas. Arent van Curler wrote
the same name, in 1634, Vyoge, and gave it as that of the Mohawk River,
correcting the orthography, in his vocabulary, to "_Oyoghi,_ a kill" or
channel. It is an Iroquoian generic applicable to any principal stream
or current river, with the ancient related meaning of "beautiful river."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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