USA > Indiana > Indiana and Indianans : a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood > Part 8
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sugar troughs, by bending the ends up and fastening them. The joints in these and in canoes were stopped with gum from evergreen trees and beeswax. When through with a season's sugar-making, the troughs were soaked, straightened out, and dried, after which they were piled up like shingles for the next year ; and when thus cared for they would serve for several years. They also made boxes of this kind of bark, and in general used it for most of the purposes for which we use boards.
Although there is a general impression among white people that the life of an Indian woman was one of drudgery, there is practical agree- ment of all actual witnesses that her work was not so hard as that of the average frontier white woman. It was also on a social basis that made it much less trying. A typical testimony is the following from Mary Jemison, a white captive among the Senecas: "Notwithstanding the Indian women have all the fuel and bread to procure, and the cooking to perform, their task is probably not harder than that of white women who have those articles provided for them; and their cares are certainly not half as numerous nor as great. In the summer season we planted, tended and harvested our corn, and generally had all our children with us; but we had no master to oversee or drive us, so that we could work
as leisurely as we pleased. * *
* In the spring they chose an active
old squaw to be their driver or overseer, when at labor, for the ensuing year. She accepts the honor, and they consider themselves bound to obey her. When the time for planting arrives, and the soil is prepared, the squaws are assembled in the morning, and conducted into a field, where each plants one row. They then go into the next field and plant once across, and so on till they have gone through the tribe. If any remains to be planted, they again commence where they did at first (in the same field) and so keep on till the whole is finished. By this rule they perform their labor of every kind, and every jealousy of one having done more than another is effectually avoided." 52
The tribal organization was managed by a head chief, a war chief and band chief. The bands were merely communities, usually of rela- tives. After the removals from the state, those who remained had bands as follows: Mi-cin'-gwa-min'-dja's band, near Jalapa, on the Mississinewa were called Wis-sa'-ki-ha'-ki. The Slocum family, lower down the Mississinewa, were called Ci-pa'-ka-na'-ki, from Ci-pa'-ka- na (The Awl) the husband of Frances Slocum. Those of the settle- ment at the mouth of the Mississinewa were called Na-ma'-tci-sin-wa'-ki; those on upper Eel River Ki-na-pi'-ko-ma-kwa'-ki; those on Pipe Creek Pwa-ka'-na-ki. The Miamis about Fort Wayne were called Ki-kai'-a-ki,
52 See collected authorities in Archaeological Hist. of Ohio, pp. 481-5.
·
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and those from Roanoke to Little River were called Nä-kau'-wi-ka'-mi- a'-ki, or people of the Aboite River. There could be no better illustration of the way in which Indian tribal names were multiplied in earlier days.
The early settlement of Indiana did not call for any removal of Indians, as they were in the northern part of the State, and the American immigration was into the southern portion. The first to feel the demand of the whites for more land were the Delawares, who had settled on White River about 1750, by permission of the Miamis, and who by their treaty of 1818 removed within three years thereafter. The other Indians remained, but were gradually pushed into narrower limits. None of them wished to leave, and for several years they successfully opposed removal. In the report of the treaties at the mouth of the Mississinewa, in 1826, the Commissioners, Lewis Cass, James B. Ray and John Tipton, say : "It was impossible to procure the assent of the Pattawatamies or Miamis to a removal west of the Mississippi. They are not yet prepared for this important change in their situation. Time, the destruction of the game, and the approximation of our settlements are necessary before this measure can be successfully proposed to them. It was urged as far as prudence permitted, and in fact, until it became apparent that further persuasion would defeat every object we had in view".53
The removal of the Potawatomis began under the treaty of 1832, the last of their removals being that of Menominee's band in 1838, under circumstances of great hardship to them, and causing the death of Father Petit, who accompanied them.54 In 1840 the greater part of the Miamis agreed to removal; and in 1844 a contract was made with Thomas Dowling for their removal; but they did not get started until 1846, the first party reaching their destination, Osage River Agency, in November of that year. There were three parties or sections in this removal, all under charge of Christmas Dagenet, who died on the third trip.
Christmas Dagenet was a son of Ambrose Dagenet, an early French settler, who was with Harrison in the Tippecanoe campaign. Ambrose married Mi-cin'-gwa-min'-dja, (Burr Oak tree) a Wea woman, and their son Christmas was born Dec. 25, 1799, at the old Wea town above Terre Haute. On Feb. 16, 1819, Christmas was married by Rev. Isaac McCoy, at his mission school in Parke County, to Mary Ann Isaacs, daughter of Chief Joseph Isaacs of the Brotherton Indians. Their grandson, Charles E. Dagenet, is now Supervisor of Indian Employment, for the national government. He was born on the reservation in Kansas, Sept. 17, 1873, and accompanied his parents to Oklahoma in 1882. He
53 Am. State Papers, Indians, Vol. 2, p. 684.
54 True Indian Stories, Dunn, p. 234.
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was educated at Carlisle, learning the printers trade; edited The Miami Chief, at Miami, Oklahoma, for two years; and then entered the Govern- ment service on Sept. 1, 1894, as a teacher among the Sioux, in South Dakota. He was promoted successively to Disciplinarian, Clerk, and in 1905 to his present responsible position, which he has filled most efficiently. He married Esther Miller (As-san'-zan-kwa, or Sunshine
C. E. DAGENETT
Woman) a daughter of Thomas Miller, or Ma'-to-sa'-ni-a, the last of the Miami head chiefs in Kansas. She was also a Carlisle graduate, and a successful teacher in the Government service.
After the death of Christmas Dagenet his widow remained in Kansas, where she married Baptiste, a full-blood Peoria, who is known historically as Baptiste Peoria, and who was of notable service to the emigrant Indians. While these were in Indiana and Illinois the havoc wrought among them by whisky was shocking, but when they got to Kansas it was
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appalling. Not only "boot-leggers" but licensed traders, in open violation of law, supplied them with all the liquor they could pay for, and that of the vilest quality. Everybody knows something of the crimes of violence in civilized communities caused by intoxication, but on a lawless frontier, among these uncivilized people, the deaths from violence due to whisky, exceeded deaths from all other causes in proportion of more than five to one. Isaac McCoy, who saw the work in progress, said : "Of this murderous traffic one cannot think without horror, nor speak without indignation tempting him to transcend the bounds of moderation. We talk of Indians being distressed and destroyed by war; but we destroy them much faster in times of peace than in times of war. If the bloody history of the Spaniards in the West Indies and Mexico, in the sixteenth century is revolting to the feelings of the reader, what must we say of our own countrymen in this nineteenth century ? They murdered by slavery in the mines, or by cross-bows and blood-hounds; but we murder by poison, which if more slow in its effects, is more insidious, and certain, and dreadful'.55
Baptiste had been in the government service much of the time for thirty years, and under his leadership, the demoralized remnants of the Peorias, Weas, Kaskaskias, and Piankeshaws confederated before their treaty of 1854; and under his leadership they removed to Oklahoma in 1867, where Baptiste died, Sept. 13, 1873, at the age of 80 years. The Western Miamis did not join this federation until 1873, and then not fully. They held the land jointly, but had separate annuities, and separate tribal organization.
After the death of The Little Turtle, in 1812, his nephew, John Baptiste Richardville (Pin-ji'-wa, or The Wild Cat) was made head chief and retained that office until his death, in 1841, when his son-in-law To'-pi-a, or Francis Lafontaine, became head chief. He went west with the removed Miamis in 1846; and on his return, took sick and died at Lafayette, Ind., in the spring of 1847. After that there was no head chief of the Miami Nation. The emigrant Miamis, however, had made O-sän'-di-a, or Poplar Tree, their chief; but this did not include the Weas and Piankeshaws, who had preceded them. He was followed by Nä'-wi-lan-gwan'-ga, or Four Wings, called "Big Legs" by the whites, until his death in 1858; then John Osandia until 1860; then Näp-cin'-ga, or Lies in his Place, until 1862; then John Big Leg (Wan-za'-pi-a, or Sunrise) until 1867. He died while east to make a treaty, at the home of his sister-in-law Kil-so'-kwa, in Indiana. Lam-ki-kam'-wa, or Stamps Hard, was then made chief, but was soon impeached, and succeeded by
55 History of Baptist Missions, p. 564.
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John Roubideau (A-tci'-pan-gwi-a, or Snapping Turtle). In a short time charges were made against Roubideau, and at his trial ruffains were brought in to break up the council, which adjourned to avoid trouble; but Roubideau resigned, and Thomas Miller and David Gibaut were elected. They were joint chiefs when the Western Miamis who removed to Oklahoma made this change, in 1873.
In Indiana, tribal organization was a mere formality after 1846 except that Mi-cin'-gwa-min'-dja's band held their reserve in common until it was partitioned, under the act of Congress of June 10, 1872, among the sixty-three members then living, each of whom received a patent for his share. With this the last remnant of Indian tribal title to lands in this State was extinguished.
GLOSSARY OF INDIAN NAMES AND SUPPOSED INDIAN NAMES, IN INDIANA
ABOITE. River and township in Allen County; corrupted from the French name Riviere à Boitte, or à Bouette, meaning "River of Minnows". The Miami name is Na-kau'-wi-ka'-mi, or "Sandy Water".
AMO. Town in Hendricks County. Said to be the Potawatomi a'-mo, or honey-bee; in reality the Latin amo, I love.
ANDERSON. County seat of Madison County, named for William Ander- son, Delaware head chief, whose Indian name was Kök-to'-wha-nund, or "Making a cracking Noise". The Delaware name of his town at this point was Wa'-pi-mins'-kink, or "Chestnut Tree Place".
ANOKA. Town in Cass County. Said to be a "made-up" name, but is also a Sioux adverb meaning "on both sides".
APIKONIT: Miami name of Capt. Wm. Wells; abbreviated form of ä-pi- ka'-nă-ta, meaning the "groundnut", Apios tuberosa.
ASHKUM. Reservation and village of Potawatomi chief of that name, in Miami County. Signifies "anything continuous".
ATCHEPONGQUAWE. See Butternut Creek.
AUBBEENAUBBEE. Township in Fulton County, and reservation of Potawatomi chief, Aub'-bi-naub'-bi. Means "Looking Backward"- equivalent to our slang term "rubber-neck".
BLACK HAWK. Postoffice in Vigo County, named for celebrated Sauk Chief Mä-ka'-ta-mi'-ci-kiák'-kiák, or Black Sparrow Hawk.
BLACK LOON. Reservation in Cass County for Miami named Mű-ka'-ta- mon'-gwa, or Black Loon.
BUCKONGEHELAS. Commonest form of name of Delaware war chief, and his town on White River. Properly Pak-gant'-ci-hi'-las, or "Breaker to Pieces".
BUTTERNUT CREEK. Tributary of the Salominee in Jay County. Indian name, usually written Atchepongquawe, is Miami ät-tci'-pang- kwa'-wa or "Snapping Turtle Eggs".
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CAKIMI. Potawatomi woman, for whose children reservation known as Burnett Reserve, on the Wabash below the Tippecanoe, was made by the treaty of 1818. The name is Ka-ki'-mi, meaning Run Away from Home.
CALUMET. Two streams in northwestern Indiana tributary to Lake Michigan, the names of which were formerly written Calomick, Killo- mick, Kenomick, or Kennoumic. These are dialect variations of the same word, ranging from Kěn-nom'-kia in the Potawatomi to Ge-kěl'-i-muk in the Delaware, and signifying a body of deep, still water.
CAYUGA. Postoffice in Vermillion County. Corrupted from the Iroquois Gwa-u'-geh, said to mean "the place of taking out"; i. e. the begin- ning of a portage.
CEDAR CREEK. Tributary of the St. Joseph, in Allen County. A literal translation of its Potawatomi name, Měs-kwa'-wa-si'-pi. The town of the Potawatomi chief Metea was at its mouth, and was called Měs- kwa'-wa-si'-pi-o'-tän, or Cedar Creek Town.
CHARLEY. A Miami who had a reservation in Wabash County, adjoining the City of Wabash. A creek emptying there is called Charley Creek. His Indian name was Ki-tun'-ga, or Sleepy.
CHECHAUKKOSE. Reservation and village, in Marshall County, of Potawatomi chief, Tci'-tca-kos, or Little Crane.
CHICAGO. (East) Town in Lake County. Means "Place of Wild Onions". CHINQUAQUA. Reservation in Cass County. Corruption of Cin-gwa'- kwa, the Miami term for all the smaller evergreen trees.
CHICHIPE OUTIPE. Given by Father Petit as the Potawatomi name of the Catholic mission at Twin Lakes, in Marshall County. The first word is ci-ci'-pa, or duck; second word not identified.
CHIPPECOKE. Common form of name of Indian village at Vincennes, also written Chipkawkay, etc. These are corruptions of the abbrevia- tion of the Miami name, Tcip-ka'-ki-un'-gi, or Place of (edible) Roots. The Delaware name, written Chuphacking, Chupukin, or Chub- hicking, has the same meaning.
CHIPPEWANAUNG. Treaty ground in Fulton County, of treaties with Potawatomis, in 1836. The name refers to the proximity of Chip- wanic Creek.
CHIPWANIC. Tributary of the Tippecanoe, near Manitou Lake, in Fulton County. The name is a corruption of Tcip'-wa-nuk', or Ghost Hole. CHOPINE. French nickname, meaning a pint measure, applied to two Miamis who had reservations in Whitley and Allen counties, respec- tively. Old Chopine's name was Ma-kwa'-kia, or Beaver Head. Young Chopine was Pi-kan'-ga, or Striking.
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COESSE. Town in Whitley County. Corruption of Potawatomi nick- name of a Miami band chief, pronounced Ků-w'-zi by Potawatomis, and Ko-wa'-zi by Miamis; and meaning "Old Man".
CORNSTALK. Postoffice in Howard County ; also Pete Cornstalk Creek, a small stream in the same county. So called from the nickname of an old Miami, whose real name was A-san'-zang, or Sunshine.
DEER CREEK. Tributary of the Wabash, emptying below Delphi. For- merly called Passcanong Creek, and same name given to Deer Creek prairie, opposite its mouth. This is the Miami name, meaning "The Place of the Fawn".
DELAWARE. Name of county, town, and several townships. This is an English word, referring to the residence of the Delaware Indians on Delaware River, which was named for Lord De La Warr, Governor of Virginia. They call themselves Lenni Lenape, or True Men; and the western Indians usually called them Wa'-pa-na'-ki, or Eastlanders. DORMIN. Prairie in Laporte County. Corruption of m'da'-min, the Potawatomi word for maize or corn.
DRIFTWOOD. Name of the East Fork of White River. Said to be a trans- lation of the Miami name On'-gwa-sa'-ka, which means driftwood. In the Reminiscences of Col. John Ketcham, p. 11, the name is given Hangonahakwasepoo, which is evidently Delaware.
EAGLE CREEK. Tributary of White River, in Marion County. Chamber- lain says: "Its Indian name was Lau-a-shinga-paim-honnock, or Middle of the Valley".
EEL RIVER. Tributary of the Wabash, emptying at Logansport. This and the French name, L'Anguille, are translations of the Miami name of the stream which is Ki-na-pi'-kwo-ma'-kwa, literally snake fish.
EEL RIVER. Tributary of White River in Greene County. The Delaware name was Cak'-a-mäk, literally slippery fish.
ELKHART. Tributary of the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan; also city and county. The name was originally Elk Heart, or Elksheart, which, like the French name Coeur de Cerf, is a literal translation of the Potawa- tomi name, Mi-ch'-wěh-u'-děh-ik'. The name refers to the shape of an island at the mouth of the stream.
FALL CREEK. Tributary of White River in Marion County. Chamberlain gives the Delaware name as "Soo-sooc-pa-hal-oc, or Spilt Water". Sokpehelluk, or sookpehelluk, is the Delaware word for a waterfall. The Miami name of the stream is Tcänk'-tun-un'-gì, or "Makes a Noise Place". Both names refer to the falls at Pendleton, the only material waterfall in central Indiana.
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FLAT BELLY. Reservation in Noble and Kosciusko counties for the band of Pa'-pä-ki'-tci, of which the English name is a literal translation. His village was at what is now called Indian Village, in Noble County.
FORT WAYNE. See Ki-ki-un'-gi.
GODFROY. Reservation of Francois Godfroy. He had no Indian name. The name Pah-lons'-wah, given in local histories is the Indian effort at pronouncing Francois.
HUNTINGTON. County seat of Huntington County. The Miami name is Wi'-pi-tca'-ki-un'-gì, or Place of Flints, referring to a flint ridge which crosses the limestone here.
ILE A L'AIL. French name meaning Island of Garlic, for a small island in the Wabash, in Carroll County. The name is used in the treaty of St. Mary's, in 1818, to locate a reservation to the children of Antoine Bondie.
INDIANAPOLIS. On account of its location at the mouth of Fall Creek, the Miamis called this place Teánk'-tun-un'-gì, or "Makes a Noise Place".
ILLINOIS. The stem il-li'-ni, signifying "men", with French ending.
IROQUOIS. Charlevoix derives this from their word hiro, meaning "I have spoken"; others as meaning "real serpents". In Indiana it is the name of a river tributary to the Kankakee, and a township in Newton County.
JOSINA CREEK. Corruption of To-san'-ia, common Miami abbreviation of Mět'-o-sän'-ja, Miami chief whose village was at its mouth. It is made Metocinyah Creek on some maps. See Metosania.
KANKAKEE. Father Charlevoix says the name is Theakiki, which the Canadians had corrupted to Kiakiki. The Potawatomi name is Těh'- yak-ki'-ki' or Swampy country. Father Marest wrote it Huakiki, which is a corruption of the Miami name M'wha'-ki-ki, or Wolf Country. French map makers from these corruptions, developed Qui-que-que, and Quin-qui-qui, which were Anglicized to Kan-ka-kee. KEKIONGA. Common form of name of Indian town at Fort Wayne, and now in use for Fort Wayne. It is a corruption of Kis'-ka-kon, or Ki'-ka-kčn, an Ottawa tribe that had a town there; the meaning is "Clipped Head". The French called them Queues Coupees. The Miamis corrupted this to Ki'-ki-un'-gi, and lost its meaning. They now call Gen. Wayne Ki'-ki-a, because Ki'-ki-un'-gi would literally mean Ki'-ki-a's place.
KENAPACOMAQUA. Common form of name of Miami town at site of Logansport, destroyed by Gen. Wilkinson in 1791. The Indian word is Ki-na-pi'-kwo-mű'-kwa, meaning eel, or snake fish. It is the name given to Logansport, and to Eel River which empties there.
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KENTUCKY. A stream in southern Indiana. Its meaning is uncertain, as it is not known from what language it comes, and statements of. the original form vary from Kain-tuck to Cantuckey. The Kentucky river in the State of Kentucky was formerly also called Cuttawa, which probably is an Algonquian word for Cherokee. The Miami name for a Cherokee is Ka-to'-wa.
KEWANNA. Postoffice in Fulton County, and reservation for Potawatomi chief Ki-wa'-na, the Prairie Chicken. The word also means "lost". KICKAPOO. Creek in Warren County. The meaning of the word is uncertain; but Schoolcraft thought it a corruption of N'gikaboo, meaning "Otter's Ghost".
KITHTIPPECANUNK. Common form of name of The Prophet's Town, at the mouth of Tippecanoe river. It means Tippecanoe Town, or Place. See Tippecanoe.
KILLBUCK. Creek in Madison County, named for Charles Killbuck, a Delaware who lived there. It is the family name of the descendants of a prominent Delaware who was converted by the Moravian mis- sionaries.
KILSOKWA. Granddaughter of The Little Turtle. Born 1810; died Sept. 4, 1915. Pronounced Kil-so'-kwa. Her father, Little Turtle's son, was named Wak-cin'-ga, or The Crescent Moon, literally "Lying Crooked". She married Antoine Revarre, and passed her later years near Roanoke, in Huntington County.
KOKOMO. County seat of Howard County ; also small stream near there. Named for a Thorntown Indian, whose name was Ko-ka'-ma, or The Diver.
LAGRO. Town in Wabash County, from Le Gros, the French nickname of a Miami chief who lived there. The Miamis called him O-sa'- mo-ni, which means nothing, and is no doubt a corruption of On'za- lá'-mo-ni, the original name of the Salominie River, which empties at this point, and which the Indians gave the same name. See Sala- monie.
LITTLE DEER CREEK. Stream in Miami County. The Miami name is a-päs'-si-a, which is their word for fawn.
LITTLE MUNSEE. A Delaware town four miles east of Anderson, on the site of the old Moravian mission. For meaning see Muncie.
LITTLE RIVER. Tributary of the Wabash, through which the portage to the Maumee was reached. Its Miami name is Pa-wi'-kam-si'-pi, or "Standing Still River", i. e. with no current.
LOGANSPORT. County seat of Cass County, named for Captain Logan, a Shawnee Indian. His Indian name was Spemica Lawba, or High Horn. · The Indians sometimes call Logansport Ki-na-pi'-kwo-ma'-
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kwa, because it is on the site of the old Miami Town of that name; and sometimes call it Sa'-ki-wa'-ki, because it is at the mouth of Eel River.
MACHESAW. Common form of name of reservation for a Potawatomi named Ma'-tcis-sa, or Bleating Fawn.
MANHATTAN. Postoffice in Putnam County, named for Manhattan Island, New York. The original form of the word was Manatte-in Hudson's journal it is Mana-hata-which is almost certainly intended for the Delaware word "menatey", meaning an island.
MAJENICA. Postoffice, and creek, in Huntington County, named for a Miami chief, Man-ji'-ni-kia, or Big Frame.
MAKKAHTAHMOWAY. Common form of name of a Potawatomi chief, Ma- ka'-ta-m'wä, or Black Wolf, who had a joint reservation with Menomi- nee, at Twin Lakes, in Marshall County.
MANITOU. Lake in Fulton County. This is the Potawatomi ma-ni'-to. referring to a spirit or monster said to inhabit the lake.
MAUMEE. River of northeastern Indiana, tributary to Lake Erie. The name is a corruption of Mi-a'-mi. It was formerly called Ottawa River from the residence of part of that tribe on its banks. John Johnston gave "Cagh-a-ren-du-te, or Standing Rock" as the Wyandot name of the stream.
MARAMECH. Old name of a band of Miamis. It is the Peoria word for catfish, sometimes written maramek or maramak. The Miami form is mi-äl'-lo-mäk, sometimes written malamak, and the Odjibwa form is manamak, or manumaig. The Miamis of Maramech were probably incorporated in what were known as the Eel Rivers at a later date.
MASCOUTIN. A tribal name, which is substantially translated in their old name of the Fire Nation.
MAXINKUCKEE. Lake in Marshall County; name corrupted from the Potawatomi name, Mog-sin'-ki-ki, or Big Stone Country. The Miamis called it Mäng-san'-ki-ki, which has the same meaning. In the report of the survey for the Michigan Road, the name is given Mek-sin-ka- keek (Ind. Doc. Journal, 1835, Doc. No. 8.).
MAZAQUA. Reservation in Cass County for Miami chief Mi-zi'-kwa, mean- ing hail or hailstone.
MEMOTWAY. Reservation in Fulton County for band of Potawatomi chief Měh'-mot-we', or The Cat Bird. The literal meaning of the word is "complaining", or "crying out from pain", referring to the bird's note.
MENOMINEE. Potawatomi reservation in Marshall County, and village at Twin Lakes, for band of Mi-nom'-i-ni. The name means wild rice.
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MERRIAM. The Miamis call this town Tei'-kam-un'-gi, or Place of the Twin, because McClure, who had a trading post there, had a twin brother.
MESHINGOMESHIA. Most common corruption of name of reservation in Wabash and Grant counties for band of Miami chief Mi-cin'-gwä- min'-dja, or Burr Oak Tree.
MESQUABUCK. Reservation and village in Kosciusko County, at site of town of Oswego, for Potawatomi chief Měs'-kwa-buk'. The name means "reddish or copper colored".
METEA. Postoffice in Cass County, named for Potawatomi chief, Mi'-ti-a, or "Kiss Me". His Village was at the mouth of Cedar Creek, q. v.
METOSANYAH. Reservation, same as Meshingomeshia, q. v., his father ; also a neighboring creek. The name Ma'-to-sän'-ia, commonly ab- breviated to To-san'-ia means Indian, or literally, "the living".
MIAMI. Name of county, town, townships and streams, all named for the Miami nation. The plural form is Mi-a'-mi-a'-ki, but the early French chroniclers wrote it Oumiamiouek or Oumiamiak, which is presum- ably their corruption of Wemiamik, the Delaware name of the Miamis, as given in the Walum Olum, meaning literally "all beavers ", and figuratively "all friends".
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