Siaska

Q: Hi, I am looking for the name of a great great grandma of mine. She is called See As Kau on the petition of one of the treaties. A person with knowledge of the HoChunk language thought her name may be Siaska of the bear clan. What are your thoughts? Any idea of the meaning and why she was given the name? I would appreciate your input as it took me so many years to gather this information.

A: Seems plausible to us. It's hard to know for sure with proper names from many years ago, since they've usually been written down somewhat randomly by non-native speakers. Siaska means "sweet foot" or "delicious paw," more or less, referring to a bear's paw. But I know from experience how divergent those treaty spellings can get. It could have been Cehaska, "white robe." It could have been Sįaska, "good rice" (though that seems like a very unlikely Siouan personal name-- could have been a nickname though.) It's hard to completely confirm a person's actual name from a single spelling in a ledger. We can agree with your friend that "sweet foot" is a believable name, though! Here's a book where it's listed as a Bear Clan name (spelled Si-asga): The Winnebago Tribe.

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


Further reading:
Ho-Chunk language
Ho-Chunk tribe
Native American names

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

The Jersey Devil

Q: Hopefully you can help me in my quest.  Here in New Jersey, we have a legend about the "Jersey Devil" born of a witch. But years ago, I talked to an historian about the folk lore, and he said that a native tribe who lived by the Jersey shore, had a legend about flying sea dragons that were around for hundreds of years.  And this fits the description of
the Jersey devil.  This person told me that there were colonies of these creatures that also lived in the caves.  I thought that if this was true, you would definitely know for sure.

A: Thanks for writing. I've never heard of the Jersey Devil having any basis in Native American myth... it's a folk tradition of English settlers, with an origin story in the 1700's (being born to a settler woman at that time.) But there certainly were plenty of monsters and other creatures in the folklore of local Native American tribes as well. I'm not sure underwater monsters are a good match for the Jersey Devil, which was a winged devil-like creature that lived in the pine forest. But here's our page on Lenape mythology-- maybe you can find something of interest there. (The historian you were talking to was probably thinking of underwater panthers, a race of dragonlike big cats that lurk in lakes and drag people to a watery grave.)

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


Further reading:
Native American legends
New Jersey Native Americans
Lenape language

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