The Arawakan meaning of Cunucu

Q: Ok I have another Arawak question. There is a breed of dog called the Arubian Cunucu. Apparently this kind of dog was bred by Arawak people in the Caribbean Islands and the name Cunucu is supposed to mean "country" or "countryside" in the Arawak language, but I can't find any confirmation of that. Is it true?

A: "Cunucu" (also spelled a few other ways such as cunuco, conuco, kunuku, etc) is a local Caribbean word for a farming field or for anything rustic. However, there is no word like this in any Arawakan language we are aware of.

The best etymology I have heard suggested is that it comes from an African language. In Bantu languages of Africa, words like "kuna," "kunu," and "kukuna" mean to plant or sow, and -ko and -ku are common noun endings. There are many Afro-Caribbean people, and words of African origin have often become part of the languages of this region.

Hope that is interesting, have a good day!

Further reading

Arawak languages
Caribbean culture area

Cahuilla for Grandmother

Q: My mother comes from the Cahuilla tribe and I am expecting my first child, I would like to know the word for "grandmother" for my son or daughter to call her.

A: Congratulations! The answer depends on whether you are male or female. Children call their maternal grandmother (mother's mother) Tuutu in Cahuilla (pronounced too-too) and their paternal grandmother (father's mother) is Kaaka (pronounced kah-kah.)

Hope that helps, have a good day!

Further reading
Cahuilla language
Cahuilla culture

Terrapins

 

Q: I was told that the word "terrapin" means "good to eat" in Native American, but I can't find it again. Do you know what language this comes from?

A: "Terrapin" was borrowed into English from an Algonquian word-- probably the Powhatan word torobe, which means "turtle." The Powhatan language is no longer spoken, but there are similar words meaning turtle in related Algonquian languages which are still spoken today, such as doleba (Abenaki) and tulpei (Lenape).

None of them mean "edible," "good to eat" or "tastes good," though. They only refer to turtles. The Abenaki word for "good to eat" is wigatôzo.

Hope that is interesting to you. Have a good day!

Further reading:

Powhatan language
Abenaki language
Lenape language
Native American turtles
   

Gvlieliga

Q: What is the meaning and language of the word gvlieliga?

A:  It's Cherokee. It's a polite comment similar to the English phrase "you're welcome"-- something you say in response to "thank you." Literally it means "I'm glad," or "my pleasure."

Hope that is interesting, have a good day!

Further reading:
Cherokee language
Cherokee alphabet
Cherokee tribe   

Pennacook Language

Q: Hello. Not sure if I have the right person. But I was wondering how you say grandmother,  Nana in Pennacook.

Thank you

A:  Unfortunately the Pennacook language was never recorded. They may have been speakers of the Abenaki and/or Wampanoag languages, or they may have spoken their own Algonquian dialect of which we have no record. The Abenaki word for "grandmother" is Nokemes (pronounced no-kuh-muss.) Hopefully that is close enough for your purposes.

Have a good day!

Further reading:
Abenaki language
Wampanoag language
Pennacook Indian tribe   

Muskogee Words

Q: Hello I'm learning to speak Muskogee. I'm trying to get back with my culture. I was wondering how you say "I love you" in Muskogee? Mvto!

A:  Hesci! "I love you" is "Ecenokecvyēt os" (pronounced ih-chih-no-kih-chuh-yeet ose.)

Have a good day!

Further reading:
Muskogee language
Creek Indians

Gitche Gumee

Q: I would like to know whether Gitche Gumee is a true Ojibwa name and if the popularly accepted translation is accurate.

A:  Thank you for writing. Yes, that is the Ojibwe name for Lake Superior. In the modern Ojibwe spelling system it is spelled Gichigami (pronounced gih-chih-guh-mih) and it literally means "big lake."

Hope that is what you were looking for. Have a good day!

Further reading:
Ojibwe language
Native American names in Longfellow's Hiawatha
Native American lakes   

Blackfoot word for wolf?

Q: Hi, on your Blackfoot vocabulary page you said the Blackfoot word for "wolf" is Omahkapi'si. But on another site I saw it is Makoyi. Which is correct?

A:  They both are correct. Omahkapi'si is the usual word for a wolf. But Makoyi, or Makoyiwa, is another word for Wolf that is often used in legends and traditional stories, or as an element of Blackfoot names. That is why, for example, the Blackfoot name that was given to Chief Poundmaker, Makoyi-koh-kin, is translated as "Wolf Thin Legs."

Hope that is interesting, have a good day!

Further reading:
Blackfoot language
Blackfoot names
Blackfoot Indian tribe   

Black Hawk

Q: An old Sauk woman told us that Black Hawk's name was mistranslated into English and should really be  He-Who-Walks-In-The-Shadow-Of-The-Hawk or Shadow Hawk. My  question is: how do I properly pronounce his correct name in his language. Names are important and should be spoken correctly. Any help you can give us to properly pronouncing Chief Black-Hawk's name in his own language will be much appreciated and gratefully received.

A:  Black Hawk's name in Sauk was Mahkateewimešikeehkeehkwa. That is pronounced similar to mah-kah-tay-wih-meh-shih-kay-kay-kwuh. 

I'm not really sure what the lady was trying to say about walking in shadows. There's nothing in this name about walking or shadows, but perhaps something was implied by his name that was only known to people of the older generation. Traditional Algonquian names sometimes had clan implications beyond their literal translations. We can tell you that literally, what this name means is "great black sparrowhawk." Mahkateewi means black, meši means big or great, and keehkeehkwa is the word for a sparrowhawk.

Hope that helps, have a good day!

Further reading:
Sauk language
Sac and Fox people
Hawk mythology   

Hopi congratulations

Q: Can you please tell me how to say "Congratulations!" in the Hopi tongue?

A:  Interestingly, our Hopi speakers agree that there is no real translation for "congratulations" in Hopi. It just isn't the sort of thing that is traditionally said. Hopi culture tends to be very modest and community based, so perhaps making an announcement like "congratulations" just would not be done ordinarily. One of our Hopi volunteers suggested "Itam ung kyaptsiyungwa" which means "we have respect for you" or "we really think well of you."

Hope that is close enough for your purposes!

Further reading:
Hopi language
Hopi people   

Comanche Grandmother

Q: Can you please tell me how you say "grandmother" in Comanche?

A:  Maternal grandmother (your mother's mother) is Kaku in Comanche (pronounced kah-koo). Paternal grandmother (your father's mother) is Huutsi (pronounced hoot-see.)

Hope that is what you were looking for. Have a good day!

Further reading:
Comanche language
The Comanches
Native American grandmother names   

Cherokee for Heather

Q: My wife and I are expecting our first baby and want to name the little girl Heather. What would her Cherokee name be and is there any meaning behind that purple lil' flower named heather?

A:  Thanks for writing. There is no traditional Cherokee word for heather, because the heather plant was not originally native to North America. You will have the best luck finding words for heather in European languages, North African languages, and parts of Asia.


Here is a good website about the heather plant: http://www.scribd.com/doc/11936057/North-American-Heather-Society-Heather-Basics

Hope that helps, have a good day!
Native Languages of the Americas


Further reading:
Native American plants
Native American words  

American Indian word for Vegetarian

Q: Hello, could you please settle a bet by telling me the true meaning of the American Indian word for "vegetarian" in any dialect. Thanks.

A:  I'm sorry, but we don't know of any Native American language which has a native word for "vegetarian." To the best of my knowledge there was no indigenous tribe in the Americas which practiced true vegetarianism (although there are many with heavily plant-based traditional diets.) We have one Native American volunteer in our organization who is personally a vegetarian and the explanation she gives in her language literally is "does not eat meat."

The idea that there is some Native American tribe out there which embraces vegetarianism probably comes from one of two sources:

1) A common confusion about "Indian religion" or about "American Indians" versus "Indian Americans." Many Hindu, Jainist, or other people from the country of India do indeed practice vegetarianism, and the ambiguous name "Indian" has caused many mistakes over the years.

2) A story about a fictional tribe of Native Americans who are vegetarians and whose tribal name, which was given to them by an adjacent tribe, means "lousy hunters." This is a joke, not a true story.


Hope that helps, have a good day!
Native Languages of the Americas


Further reading:
American Indian food
American Indian words  

Grandson in Apache

Q: Hello, my family is Apache from Arizona. Could you please tell me how to say son and grandson in Apache.

A: "My son" is "shiye" in Western Apache. "My grandson" is "shinalé" if it's your son's child, or "shiwóyé" if it's your daughter's child.

Hope that helps, have a good day!
Native Languages of the Americas


Further reading:
Apache language
Apache tribe
Apache pronunciation 

Noon Way

Q: When I was a kid, I attended Camp Kennebec in North Belgrade, Maine. The youngest campers were divided into Indian tribes (MicMac, Malacite, Penobscot, Passamoquoddy – all of the Abenaki nation).  Several times during the season, we had “Grand Council”.  I recall that the “Sachem” would greet us saying something that sounds like “ayoon kooneyaasnay”  and we would respond  “noon way”.  Does that have any meaning in any of the Abenaki dialects or is it gibberish made up by the camp director?

A: It doesn't mean anything in any of the Wabanaki languages, but I bet it was borrowed from Lakota Sioux. Nunwe (pronounced somewhat similar to noon way) is a Lakota way of saying "Amen!" The other phrase may be corrupted Lakota too, though I don't recognize it. Let me post it and see if some of our native speakers can puzzle it out. :-)

 ETA: Yes, I believe these phrases were taken from a 1930 book called "Woodcraft and Indian Lore," which you can see here.

The language is definitely (slightly corrupted) Lakota Sioux, not Abenaki.

Have a good day!
Native Languages of the Americas

Further reading:
Abenaki language
Lakota Sioux language  
Sioux tribes

Hello and Goodbye in Tlingit

Q: I have searched everywhere but can not find how to say "hello," "goodbye," or "how are you" in the Tlingit language. Or is there another common greeting that is used?

A: Thanks for writing. Not all languages actually have words for "hello" or "goodbye." These words seem like they should be universal to English speakers, but in fact, not all cultures make verbal announcements when they meet another person or take their leave. In the Tlingit language, there is no traditional word for "hello" or "goodbye."

"How are you?" is "Wáa sá iyatee?" in Tlingit. That is pronounced similar to "wah sah ee-yah-te." But that is not generally used as a greeting. Modern Tlingit people sometimes greet each other with "Yak'éi yagiyee" which literally means "good day."

Hope that helps, have a good day!
Native Languages of the Americas


Further reading:
Tlingit language
Tlingit tribe
Native American words

The Dog-Face Star

Q: I read a story online about the star Sirius being called the Dog-Face Star in Blackfoot. Of course this is really interesting because Sirius also means Dog Star in Latin. In the story I read, Dog-Face was a peasant boy and he taught the Blackfeet the Sun Dance and then became a star. Have you heard about this story? What is the name Dog-Face in Blackfoot language?

A: The information you found is not entirely accurate. The name in question is Payoowa (often anglicized "Poia,") an important Blackfoot mythological figure who was fathered by the Morning Star (Venus.) However, this name actually means scar-face, not dog-face. Also, we've always heard that his astronomical reference is Jupiter, not Sirius. A lot of star lore has been diluted or lost over time, so it's not impossible that Poia was actually Sirius, but since the legend always connects the wanderers Poia and Morning Star, it would be strange for Poia to be a fixed star like Sirius (most ancient cultures were well aware that the planets Venus, Jupiter, and Mars moved around the sky differently than other stars.)

"Sirius" doesn't literally mean "Dog Star," by the way... it means "searing" in Ancient Greek. The Romans called the star Canicula, "little dog" or "she-dog," and associated it with the dog of the hero Orion, whose constellation is nearby.

Q: Thank you very much for your time on this. What about the Pawnee name for Sirius? Wikipedia says it is the Wolf Star.

A: Very close... the Pawnee name for Sirius is Ckiriti'uuhac, pronounced tskee-ree-tee-oo-hots, which means "fools Wolf." This comes from folklore in which Wolf foolishly mistook Sirius for the Morning Star.

Hope that helps, have a good day!
Native Languages of the Americas



Further reading:
Poia
The Blackfoot tribe
Native American star myths
 

Akouessen or Ohquese

Q: My many times great-grandfather lived in Montreal (Ville Marie), Huronia and Longueuil, Quebec circa 1640-1685. He was called Akoussen and Ohquese which I understood to mean ‘Partridge’ but have recently found out that the partridge did not exist in North America at that time. Do you know of any books or stories that involve or explain that term in the Mohawk, Onondaga or general Iroquois history?

A: Thank you for writing. There weren't partridge in North America but there were grouse, which were called "partridge" in a lot of early colonial literature, and the Mohawk word for grouse is very similar to what you describe, ahkwesen (pronounced similar to ah-kway-sun, with a half pronounced N sound at the end.) Since the letters "ou" were commonly used to spell "w" sounds in French, it seems likely to me that this word was the source of both the spellings you gave. The Oneida word for grouse is also similar, Ohkwe:sv: (pronounced oh-kway-sun-- the "v" is usually written upside down, which I'm unable to accomplish with this font!) The Onondaga word for grouse is completely different, however (nų:nya:gae'i.)

Hope that's interesting to you, have a good day!

Native Languages of the Americas

Further reading:
Mohawk pronunciation
Oneida pronunciation
Iroquois Indians
Grouse symbolism

Mohawk Spelling

Q: Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with the proper spelling for the word family in the Mohawk language. I was told it was spelt Akwahtsire but I just want to make sure because I am working on a project for my children who are Mohawk.

A: There is no single correct way to spell Mohawk words, because Mohawk wasn't traditionally a written language. Using the two Mohawk orthographies (spelling systems) we're familiar with, it's either Akhwatsire or Akhwá:tsire. But there's nothing really wrong with the spelling you're using, Akwahtsire, either. It's definitely recognizable to a Mohawk speaker.

Hope that helps, have a good day!
Native Languages of the Americas


Further reading:
Mohawk language
Mohawk Indians
Mohawk alphabet

Shappa

Q: Is it true that Shappa means Red Thunder in Sioux?

A: No, it's not. Baby name websites claim that "Shappa" means "Red Thunder" in a Sioux language, but this is false. "Red Thunder" is Wakinyan-Luta in Lakota or Wakinyan-Duta in Dakota. "Shappa" means "dirty" if you sound it out phonetically (shah-pah), but historically, this was the English way of spelling a Lakota man's name Capa (chah-pah), which means "beaver." The mistake apparently came about because there was a Dakota man named Shappa (Capa) who became chief and took the honorific name Wackhawendutah (Wakinyan-Duta).

Hope that helps, have a good day!
Native Languages of the Americas


Further reading:
Dakota language
Sioux Indians
Native American names