List of place names of Native American origin in Michigan

Many places throughout the state of Michigan take their names from Native American indigenous languages. This list includes counties, townships, & settlements whose names are derived from indigenous languages in Michigan. The primary Native American languages in Michigan are Ojibwe, Odawa, & Potawatomi, all of which are dialects of Algonquin. Some other places names in Michigan are found to be derived from Sauk, Oneida, Wyandot, Abenaki, Shawnee, Mohawk, Seneca, Seminole, Iroquois, and Delaware, although many of these tribes are not found in Michigan.

The name of Michigan itself is derived from Ottawa "mishigami" meaning "large water" or "great water" in reference to the Great Lakes.[1][2]

Counties

Schoolcraft neologisms

Ten counties in Michigan have names created by Henry Schoolcraft, who combined Native American words with roots from Greek, Arabic, and Latin. Schoolcraft's made-up words have disputed sources.[21] While he was a devotee of Native American words and culture, some of his words may have originated with tribes from other areas of the country, such as New York or the Northeast, from which many settlers to Michigan came from. Real Native words were eradicated, and he substituted made-up words, sometimes with a kernel of Indian language or sound in them.[22][23][24] Below are the ten counties with names Schoolcraft has created and their meanings:

Former county names

Many counties in Central and Northern Michigan have former names that were either Native Americans or Schoolcraft neologisms. Below are these former county names derived from Native American languages:

Townships

Below are the townships in Michigan whose names are derived from Native American words. The counties whose names are derived from counties, settlements, or geographical features are not listed here.

Settlements

References

  1. "Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary".
  2. "Michigan in Brief: Information About the State of Michigan" (PDF). Michigan.gov. Retrieved November 28, 2006.
  3. Michigan County names per the Michigan government. Archived July 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Compare History of the name "Sheboygan" Archived June 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine and List of Michigan county name etymologies.
  4. "Bibliography on Cheboygan County". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  5. Skenandoah (December 1847). "Letters on the Iroquois". The American Review: A Whig Journal of Politics, Literature, Art and Science. Vol. 6 no. 6. New York: George H. Colton. pp. 626–630 via Google Books.
  6. Kelton, Dwight H. (1884). Annals of Fort Mackinac. Library of Congress. pp. 146–147.
  7. "Bibliography on Keweenaw County". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  8. "Bibliography on Mackinac County". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  9. County place names Archived March 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Manistee County, Michigan". 50-State Learning Resource Guide. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2009.
  11. Michigan History, Arts and Libraries on sources of County names. Archived March 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Missaukee County, Michigan". infomi.com.
  13. Michigan History, Arts and Libraries on sources of County names.
  14. "Bibliography on Ogemaw County". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  15. "Ontonagon River Assessment" (PDF).
  16. Otsego County history page. Archived February 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  17. "Clarke Home - Central Michigan University". cmich.edu.
  18. Michigan Counties. DNR. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  19. Michigan government on origin of county names
  20. Richmond, Rebecca L. (1907). "The Fur Traders of the Grand River Valley". Publications of the Historical Society of Grand Rapids. Vol. 1 no. 2. pp. 35–47. Retrieved January 23, 2013 via Google Books. Ojibwe etymology of the word: Wash-ten-ong".
  21. Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliography by county and region, including origin of county names
  22. Romig, Walter (1986). Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-1838-6.
  23. Vogel, Virgil J. (1986). Indian Names in Michigan. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 244, 8 B&W photographs & 3 maps. ISBN 978-0-472-06365-9.
  24. Powers, Perry F. (1912). A History of Northern Michigan and Its People. Vol. 3. Chicago: Lewis Publishing via Google Books.
  25. "Bibliography on Alcona County". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  26. Powers, p. 94
  27. "Bibliography on Alpena County". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  28. Romig, Walter (1986). Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities. Great Lakes Books Series. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0814318386.
  29. Herron, Catherine (1962). Herron, Nelson R. (ed.). "A History of the Place Names of Alpena County". Wilderness Chronicle (published 1991–1992) (19–21). Archived from the original on July 15, 2004.
  30. "Michigan government on place names". Archived from the original on July 28, 2009. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  31. "Arenac County Michigan History Information". outdoor-michigan.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2010.
  32. Michigan History, County Names.
  33. "Bibliography on Leelanau County". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  34. "Bibliography on Lenawee County". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  35. Michigan History, Arts and Libraries on sources of County names. Archived July 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  36. Henry R. Schoolcraft (1855). Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. p. 624.
  37. Newberry Library. "Michigan: Individual County Chronologies". Atlas of County Historical Boundaries. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  38. Michigan Legislature (1900) [Approved April 1, 1840]. "Keskkauko County". Pioneer Collections: Report of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Lansing, Michigan: Robert Smith Printing Co., State Printers and Binders. p. 213 via Google Books.
  39. accessed September 3, 2016 Cutcheon, Henry Munson Utley Cutcheon M. (2013). pp. 270-1. Michigan As a Province, Territory and State, the Twenty-Sixth Member of the Federal Union (Vol. 3). London: Forgotten Books, as pdf pp. 287-8. (Original work published 1906).
  40. Newberry Library. "Michigan: Individual County Chronologies". Atlas of County Historical Boundaries. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  41. "Term: Shawano County (origin of place name)", Dictionary of Wisconsin History.
  42. Jenks, William L. (1912). "History and Meaning of the County Names of Michigan". Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections. Vol. 28. Lansing, Michigan: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. pp. 439–478. OCLC 8597926.
  43. "Origins - Old Place Names". Berrien County Genealogical Society. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  44. "Berrien County Genealogical Society - Origins - Old Place Names". bcgensoc.com. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  45. "History of Ontwa connected with natives - Leader Publications". Leader Publications. October 30, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  46. "townwauceda". genealogytrails.com. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  47. Cleland, Charles E., Rites of Conquest: The History and Culture of Michigan's Native Americans (The University of Michigan Press, 1992) p.138
  48. Beauchamp, William Martin (1907). "Aboriginal Place Names of New York". New York State Museum Bulletin. Vol. 108. New York State Education Department. pp. 148–149. ISBN 9781404751552. Retrieved June 6, 2015 via Google Books.
  49. "The History of Wasaga Beach" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2014.
  50. "About Oshtemo | Oshtemo Township". www.oshtemo.org. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  51. "Welcome to Cohoctah Township". www.cohoctahtownship.org. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  52. "Geocaching with NaviCache - Cache Details: K is for Kenockee". www.navicache.com. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  53. Howard S. Rogers (1875). History of Cass County, from 1825 to 1875. W.H. Mansfield, Vigilant Book and Job Print. p. 113.
  54. "Escanaba Michigan History". Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  55. "Escanaba | Michigan, United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  56. "Ojibwe-English translation :: Ishpiming :: Dictionary".
  57. R., L. N.; Stevens, James (September 1932). "The Saginaw Paul Bunyan". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 19 (2): 309. doi:10.2307/1891506. ISSN 0161-391X. JSTOR 1891506.
  58. "ID Not Found Lighthouse". LighthouseFriends. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  59. "The Naming of the Ossawinamakee | Schoolcraft County Historical Society". Schoolcraft County Historical Society. June 4, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  60. Ettawageshik, Frank (December 4, 2015). "Old Indian Trail – Cadillac to Traverse City". Cadillac, Michigan Travel and Tourism Blog - Northern Michigan Outdoor Recreation Blog. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  61. "Profile for Munising, Michigan, MI". ePodunk. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  62. "Ojibwe People's Dictionary, "minis"". University of Minnesota. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  63. Sherman, Elizabeth B. (2003). Beyond the Windswept Dunes: The Story of Maritime Muskegon. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-8143-3127-0.
  64. Walters, Christine. "Grand Traverse County Michigan History & Genealogy". genealogytrails.com. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  65. Campbell, Mike. "User-submitted name Onawa". Behind the Name. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  66. A History of the Place Names of Alpena County
  67. "Owosso, Michigan". City Data. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  68. Vogel, Virgil J. (1986). Indian Names in Michigan, pp. 45–46. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-06365-0.
  69. Pewamo, Village of. "History". villageofpewamo.com. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  70. Pinconning Township Main Page http://bjmi.us/bay/pinconning/index.html
  71. "City of Pinconning—Cheese Capital of Michigan: History".
  72. "Historic Community of Ponshewaing". Michigan Water Trails. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  73. Chicago and North Western Railway Company (1908). A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways. p. 116.
  74. Johnston, John (1858). Vocabularies of the Shawanoese and Wyandott Languages, etc. Wyandot.org. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  75. Day, pp. 248-249.
  76. "SAUGATUCK". navy.memorieshop.com. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  77. "Tecumseh". ePodunk. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  78. Elliott, Michael A. (2008). Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer. University of Chicago Press. p. 75. ISBN 9780226201481.
  79. Vogel, Virgil J. (1986). Indian Names in Michigan. ISBN 978-0472063659.
  80. 100 Years of History: L'Anse/Skanee Centennial. Ishpeming, Michigan: Baraga County Historical Society Pageant Division. 1971.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.