Archaeology Paper Reports Meaning Of Indian River Names

Monterey Herald ^ | 3-10-2003 | Ernest Herndon

[kanawa]

Thanks! Appreciated.

[okie01]

My personal favorite (from here in AK) -- Anaktuvuk Pass/River: Means, "Place where the caribou poop."

There is a mesa in West Texas, Muchokoowaga Peak, that is said to be a Spanish-Comanche construct.

"Mucho" meaning what you think it does. "Koowaga" being the Comanche 4-letter equivalent for buzzard excrement.

[AndrewC]

My expertise is humble but whatever I have I will gladly share with anyone interested.

Well,great I always wondered what Hootchie Kootchie meant. ;^)

Thanks for your military service.

[AndrewC]

Arkansas: Choctaw/Chickasaw- a French corruption of "ark'a(n)sha, hickory nuts down low or on the ground.

IOW, short legs?

[null and void]

Lol. Not a word about Billy Joe. (Some, to this day, say he faked the jump.)

I doubt it, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense anyway...

[blam]

"I doubt it, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense anyway..."

LOL

None of the McAlisters were very bright.

[aposiopetic]

Thanks from here too.

[MissipRivers]

Best I can tell from my sources Kawana (and the various phonetic spellings of it)is an Iroquois word, "ke'ne wi wa nah". I am unable to break the word(s) down because it is in a dialect that I am unfamiliar with. The word appears on numerous maps designating streams and points along the shores of the Great Lakes and the Finger lakes in NY. It refers to a portage point where canoes were dragged overland to make shorter a long trip by boat. Keewenaw Penninsula is one such place on Lake Superior. The land between the upper Ohio and Lake Erie is another. Several other tributaries/streams bear this name in several variations of spelling. Hope this helps some.

[MissipRivers]

It has/had something to do with the Ozarks and the topography. I imagine that because of the rocky ledges and overhangs you could possibly stand on the ground and maybe reach the fruit-bearing branches of the trees growing far below you and shake loose the hickory nuts?