Though some of these words have probably made it across the Pond, American English is the focus of these borrowings: When the pioneers and explorers began moving westward across the North American continent, they encountered geographical features, plants, animals, and situations for which they as yet had no word; thus, the Native American words were borrowed. I won’t go into the sordid history of colonisation’s tactics here; suffice to say, it was not a mutual exchange once Europeans began arriving in larger numbers.
According to some estimates, nearly half of the U.S. state names derive from or are directly related to the regional indigenous tribes. Here are a few place name examples: Chicago (from the Miami-Illinois Myaamiaki tribe’s word, shikaakwa, wild onion); Dakota (from the Sioux language, meaning friend or ally); Oklahoma (from Choctaw, red people); Utah comes from the Ute tribe; Mississippi (from the Ojibwe phrase misi-ziibi, meaning great river); Milwaukee (Algonquian, meaning good land); Alabama (from the Alabama tribe, Alibamu); Alaska (from the Aleut word alaskag or alyeska, meaning mainland or great land); Connecticut (from the Mohican/Algonquian word quinnehtukqet, meaning beside the long tidal river); Iowa was named for the Ioway people, commonly interpreted as beautiful land; Kansas, named for the Kansa/Kaw tribe, often translated as people of the south wind; Wichita, Kansas was named for the Wichita tribe.
Some animal names include caribou, chipmunk, husky, moose, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, skunk, woodchuck, coyote, ocelot, mole, chinchilla and condor.
Some geographical features include Lake Tahoe (Big Water); Potomac River (Place where people trade); Mount Moosilauke, New Hampshire, from moosi and auke, meaning bald place; Mount Tamalpais, California (from the Coast Miwok people, meaning bay mountain);
One example of the reverse is that the Ochese Creek tribe were called Creek after the geographical feature. Creek is likely from Old Norse kriki, meaning corner or nook, extended to inlet or short arm of a river; a Swedish dialect has krik, meaning corner, bend or creek, cove.
And finally, a few botanical borrowings (including some from the Nahuatl, or Aztec, tribe*): Hickory, pecan, persimmon, squash, succotash, chayote, pawpaw (tree), guava, avocado*, tomato*, guano*, mesquite*, and mezcal*.
Do you know any other words borrowed from Native American languages? Please share them in the comments!
Stephanie Huesler 