Getting to the Root </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 7:01 PM on Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Getting to the Root

By SERGE LECOMTE

Before the Dutch and English colonists came to the New World and began to name and rename places they settled, Indians had names for the areas they lived in.

Did you know that half of the United States are named after Indian words? Alabama comes from Choctaw meaning “thicket-clearers.” Alaska is a corruption of Aleut word meaning “great land.” Connecticut” comes from the Indian word “Quinnehtukqut” meaning “besides the long tidal river.” “Illinois” is Algonquin for “tribe of superior men.” “Iowa” means “this is the place” or “beautiful land.” “Kentucky” comes from an Iroquoian word “Ken-tah-ten” meaning “land of tomorrow.” “Mississippi” means “Father of Waters.”

Missouri is named after the Missouri Indian tribe. “Missouri” means “town of the large canoes.” Manhattan (New York) is believed to mean “isolated thing in the water.” Roanoke (Virginia) is an Algonquian word for “shell money.” Texas means “friends.”

Chicago is Algonquian for “garlic field.”

Dr. Serge Lecomte graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in linguistics. He taught Russian and Spanish at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He has lived in the Homer area since 1999 and writes plays and novels for fun.

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