USA > New York > Indian names in New-York : with a selection from other states, and some Onondaga names of plants, etc. > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
Gc 974.7 B3811 1786232
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01147 6774
-
INDIAN NAMES
N.Y. -IN-
NEW = YORK,
WITH A SELECTION FROM
OTHER STATES,
- AND SOME
Onondaga Names of Plants, Etc ..
-BY-
W. M. BEAUCHAMP, S. T. D.,
BALDWINSVILLE. N. Y.
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancerunt of Science, etc.
PRINTED BY H. C. BEAUCHAMP, RECORDER OFFICE, FAYETTEVILLE, N. Y.
1893.
E 842 .085
Beauchamp, William Martin, 1830-1923.
Indian names in New-York, with a selection from other states, and some Onondaga names of plants, etc., by W. M. Beauchamp ... Fayetteville, N. Y., Printed by II. C. Beau- champ, 1893.
3 p. 1., 11S p. 213cm.
1786232
1. Names, Geographical-New York ( State) 2. Indians of North America-Names. I. Title.
1-16004 Revised
Library of Congress
F117.B38
50125 Copyright 1894: 13434 Aum- r. 13302,
PREFACE.
T HE FAVORABLE RECEPTION of Cusick's History of the Six Nations, with its accompanying notes, has led to the preparation of this volume on New York Indian local names. Nearly thirteen hundred of these are included, with the addition of about two hundred and sixty general names. To these has been added an interesting collection of Onondaga names in natural history, obtained on the Onondaga reservation in New York. Full notes on the antiquities of New York, with thous- ands of drawings of sites and relics, are in hand for a future yol ume of this series on the New York Iroquois, as well as a care- fully prepared history, the result of many years' work.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/indiannamesinnew00beau_1
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
INDIAN NAMES IN NEW YORK 1
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS, [
COUNTIES 6
SUPPOSED IROQUOIS TOWNS
ADDITIONAL NEW YORK NAMES
GENERAL INDIAN NAMES -
94
ONONDAGA NAMES OF PLANTS, QUADRUPEDS, BIRDS AND
REPTILES
113
ADDENDA 123
INDEX -
125
Indian Names in New York.
T HERE are more Indian names of places in use in New York than is commonly supposed, though many are of little im- portance, and some are much changed from their original sound. This causes a difficulty in obtaining their true meanings when once forgotten. They are referable to the two great Indian families, the Iroquois and Algonquin, the former mainly prevail- ing from Albany westward, and the latter being principally con- fined to the Hudson river valley and the shores of Lake Cham- plain, though some will be found along the St. Lawrence and the Susquehanna. Near the former river and in the Adiron- dacks, they are mostly of recent introduction through Algonquin hunters and guides. In a general way the latter class may be recognized by the use of m, b, p, and sometimes by terminations like ick, ing, uck, an, etc. Some names have been introduced, as Alabama, Osceola, Wyoming, and others, but these are few.
On the uncertain and trivial character of many Indian names Mr. Colden made some good observations in his land re- port of 1732, saying, "There being no previous survey of the grants, their boundaries are generally expressed with much un- certainty, by the Indian names of brooks, rivulets, hills, ponds, falls of water, etc .. which were and still are known to very few Christians; and what adds to their uncertainty is that such
2
INDIAN NAMES.
names as are in these grants taken to be the proper name of a brook. hill, or a fall of water, etc., in the Indian language signi- fy only a large brook, or broad brook, or small brook. or high hills, or only a hill, or fall of water in general, so that the Indians show many such places by the same name. Brooks and rivers have different names with the Indians at different places, and often change their names, they taking the name often from the abode of some Indian near the place where it is so called."
This statement is fully confirmed by observation, nor is it strange in our own experience. Contrary also to a common opinion, the Indian had little poetic taste in giving names, and they might be descriptive, practical, or very odd, as suited him best. They often seem absurd. because we do not know how they first came into being.
Mr. I. H. Morgan refers to a feature mentioned by Colden : " The method of bestowing names was pecuhar It frequently happened that the same lake or river was recognized by them under several different names. This was eminently the case with the larger lakes. It was customary to give to them the name of some village or locality upon their borders. The Sen- eca word Te-car-ne-v-di, means something more than ' lake.' It includes the idea of nearness, literally. . the lake at.' Hence, if a Seneca were asked the name of Lake Ontario, he would an- swer. Ne-ah-ga Te car-ne-o-di, .the lake at Ne.ah-ga." This was a Seneca village at the mouth of the Niagara river. If an Onondaga were asked the same question, he would prefix Swa- geh to the word lake, literally. . the lake of Oswego.' The same multiplicity of names frequently are in relation to the principal rivers, where they passed through the territories of more than one nation. It was not, however, the case with villages and other localities."
In the Onondaga dialect I find the prefix commonly shortened into T'kah, equivalent to " where," or "the place at which."
3
INDIAN NAMES.
The Mohawks and Oneidas use the liquid L, and as they were most in contact with the whites their orthography has been largely followed in common use. Mr. Morgan says, "It has been customary to exclude the liquid R from the Iroquois alpha- bet. as not common to the several dialects, but this is clearly erroneous. Although it is principally found in the Mohawk, Sen- eca, and Cayuga, it is yet occasionally discovered in each of the others." I am glad to fortify my published views on this point with the words of so high an authority. Several eminent writers have said that this letter has altogether disappeared from the On- ondaga tongue, yet I have sometimes found it there in words carefully pronounced for me, and the Onondagas agree in telling me that it is occasionally used by them.
In the "League of the Iroquois." Mr. L. H. Morgan has given the best general list of Iroquois local names extant, care- fully taken down from native sources, and generally with the meaning added. As the Iroquois themselves do not always pro- nounce or define these alike, his list will not always agree with others, but it will generally be found reliable, though he has a preference for the Seneca sounds. Mr. O. H. Marshall, of Buf- falo, published a good list of those along the Niagara frontier, and others are found scattered through many volumes, or may be obtained from the Indians themselves.
In compiling my own list from many sources, most of them were placed in a body under the names of their authors, but this could not well be done in arranging them by counties, nor was it convenient to : pecify the authority for each word. A few are given in an indefinite way. just as they occur. scattered through books and papers, and some of these seem purely fanciful, but doubtful ones will be noted, and probably nine-tenths of the New York names are well sustained.
The name of a village was often of a trivial character, and yet was retained through many removals, whether applicable or not.
4
INDIAN NAMES.
In this case it often became practically meaningless, as so mat.y of our own names have become ; a name, and nothing more. It was very natural that towns should often have more than one of these, for we have no difficulty in recognizing states, cities, and villages, by titles not conferred by law. Indeed, in our inter- course with the Indians, we know many places better as the resi- dence of their chiefs than by their own proper titles. Little Beard's, Catharine's, and Cornplanter's towns are cases in point. Aboriginal practice was much like our own.
In a list of 1,885 lakes of the United States, published for the Fish Commission, 285 have Indian names, but a larger propor- tion is shown in rivers and streams. In a list of principal rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, but excluding those of the St. Lawrence basin, 724 have Indian names. By adding those of this valley, the Pacific coast, and a multitude of small streams, the list might be doubled.
Of our States and territories half have Indian titles, and the names of most of our large lakes come from the same source. This is all the more remarkable in the latter case, from the vary- ing practice of the aborigines, and the early use the French especially made of other names. In this and other instances, it will be found that early names were sometimes applied quite differently from what they are now.
Mr. Morgan carefully noted the sounds of letters. as well as the accented syllables, while Mr. Marshall paid attention only to the latter in affixing signs. This is good as far as it goes, but only by a peculiar alphabet can we represent all the sounds. In those which I have taken down from the Onondaga, and occa- sionally from other dialects, I have endeavored to represent the sound by the spelling, though not with perfect success. The effort to do this is one cause of the length of Indian names as at first written. In most cases the penult is accented, but there are many exceptions, and this may vary from the first to the last syllable.
.
5
INDIAN NAMES.
In collecting early names there is another source of perplexity in the nationality of various writers. The French did not spell as we would, and allowance has to be made for this fact. They learned the Huron language in Canada, which closely resembled the Mohawk, and their first intercourse with the Iroquois, as mis- sionaries, was with the latter nation. The result was that when they first came to Onondaga, they wrote down local names in the Mohawk form. The Dutch and English writers did much the same, following their own linguistic usage. The Moravians had marked peculiarities of spelling, but also followed the Mohawk dialect. Zeisberger studied the Mohawk before the Onondaga tongue, yet it is quite curious to find that most of his large On- ondaga lexicon is composed of Mohawk words, and this after he had spent many months at the Onondaga capital.
It is not easy to take down Iroquois words accurately, and many names were written under adverse circumstances, and by those whose learning was very limited. It is a common thing to find a name spelled several different ways, in a document of a few hundred words.
Besides the lists of Messrs. Marshall and Morgan, many names will be found in the Jesuit Relations. Clark appended quite a list to his History of Onondaga. Hough furnished many in his several works. A few occur in Schoolcraft, and a number in De Schweinitz's Life of David Zeisberger. Hoffman has a mixed collection of Adirondack names, partly fanciful it would seem, in his Vigil of Faith. Quite a collection was published by S. G. Boyd in 1885, under the title of "Indian Local Names." But few of this list belong to New York. Heckewelder. Conrad Weiser, Spangenberg and others, furnish some, and many will be found in the publications of various historical societies. To all these I am indebted, while I have had valuable aid from the Rev. Albert Cusick, of the Onondaga nation. His early kinsman, David Cusick, preserved quite a number in his Sketches of
6
INDIAN NAMES.
Ancient History of the Six Nations, often with the meaning, but those without were so essentially correct that it was easy to in- terpret most of them.
Experience has proved that a false interpretation cannot easily be set aside, if it is a favorite. It pleases the fancy, and will be allowed as at least a harmless fiction, when found not to be a fact. Some names, however, reveal the truths of history, but these are very few. On the whole we do not always gain by learning the meaning of a name which pleases the eye, however satisfactory it may be to do so. Some names have been pruned, to suit our civilized tastes, and have not their early forms. Schoolcraft took this liberty with Cusick's names, saying : " I abbreviate these names from the originals, for the sole purpose of making them readable to the ordinary reader." In general, however, this has been less deliberately done. but, changed or unchanged, our Indian names are among the most satisfactory we have. In common use they are likely to increase, but due regard should be had to their meaning, and the places to which they are assigned. There are Indian names almost as foreign to New York as Syracuse and Utica.
ALBANY COUNTY.
Both banks of the Hudson were in the territory of the Mohe- gans, and many of the names are early. This nation was known as Wolves to the others, and called Loups by the French, and, with their kindred tribes, occupied the whole of the Hudson river until driven from its upper waters by the Mohawks. Near Albany they had some forts and much cultivated land. Their language was radically different from the Iroquois.
Pas-sa-pe-nock, below Albany, is now Bear island.
Sne-ackx island is above the city. These marked the north and south limits of the tract purchased west of the river in 1630.
7
INDIAN NAMES.
The Mo-en-em-in-es castle was on an island at the mouth of the Mohawk. at that time.
Co-hoes Falls had this name at an early day, and it means a shipwrecked canoe. the owners of which had a very remarkable escape, described in the old annals.
Ga-asch-ti-nick was a Delaware name for Albany.
Pem-pot a-wut-hut is another name for the same place, niean- ing fireplace of the nation.
San-a-ha-gog is Rensselaerwyck.
Ha-an-a krois, or Haw-na-kraus creek. This is one of the names which have both an European and Indian air. On the map of the New York grants it is Ham-cram kill.
On-is-ke-thau was an early name for Coeyman's creek.
Hag-gu-a to appears between Coeyman's creek and the Batten kill, on the map of New York grants.
Nis-cat-ha is on the Helderberg mountains on the same map. and probably has some reference to Indian corn.
Ach que-tuck, or A-que-tuck, was an early name for Coeyman's Hollow.
Ta-wa-sent-ha, or Ta-wai sont-ha, is doubtfully said to mean a place of many dead. Norman's kill.
. Ta-was-sa-gun-shee has been interpreted as Look-out hill, ap- phed to Kidd's Heights.
Shat-e-muc, or Pelican river, was one of the many names given to the Hudson, but properly belongs farther down. The pelican occasionally reaches the small lakes of the State even now.
Skah-neh-ta-de, River beyond the pines, and Skagh-negh-ta-da, End of the pine woods, are among the many forms and defini- tion's of the name of Schenectady, originally applied to the Hud- son at Albany. A good rule will work both ways, and the name is just as appropriate where it is now fixed, provided the journey is made westward. Morgan gives the name as meaning Beyond the openings, in the Seneca dialect. David Cusick gave it as
8
INDIAN NAMES.
Shaw-na-taw-ty, Beyond the pineries, and I received substantially the same definition at Onondaga. San-a-ta-tea and Ko-ha-ta-tea seem other forms of the same word.
I-sut-che-ra, Hill of oil, Trader's Hill, three miles west of Al- bany.
Oi-o-gue, Beautiful river; applied to the Hudson above Albany, but mentioned still farther up by Father Jogues in 1646. They passed Lake George by land; "Six leagues from the lake they crossed a small river that the Iroquois called Oiogue: the Hollanders who are settled on it, but farther down, have named it river Van Maurice," now the Hudson.
ALLEGANY COUNTY.
Loskiel says of the Allegany, "the Delawares call this river Al-li-ge-wis-i-po, which the Europeans have changed to Al-li-ghe- ne, and the Iroquois call it Ohio, that is, the beautiful river." Heckewelder also says, "The Delawares call the former Al-li- ge-wi Si-pu, the River of the Al-li-ge-wi." Some have thought these the mound builders, who were driven off by the northern nations. The name is not uniformly spelled.
Ga-ne-o-weh-ga-yat, Head of the stream. Angelica,
Ga-o-ya-de-o, Where the heavens rest upon the earth. Caneadea. A wide opening in the forest, at this place, gave a peculiar appearance to the earth and sky, on which the name is founded.
O-wa-is-ki, Under the banks, Wiscoy creek.
Shan-a-has-gwa-i-kon creek. An affluent of the Genesee, men- tioned in Morris's deed of 1793.
Ja-go-yo-geh, Hearing place. Black creek. The name of this stream seems to have been continuous.
Kar-at-hy-a-di-ra, a Seneca village at Belvidere. in 1765.
Con e-wan-go, Indian village of 1779. Tagh-roon-wa go, another of the same year. On-ogh-sa-da-da-go, Where buried things are dug up. Meaning
9
INDIAN NAMES.
given me by Rev. Albert Cusick. A Seneca town near Canawa- go, in 1744.
On-on-dar-ka, Village on a hill, north of Karathyadirha, on a map of 1771, defined by the same person.
R. Sis-to-go-a-et. Part of Genesee river, on Pouchot's map.
Che-nun-da creek, Shon-go, and Canaseraga are other names.
BROOME COUNTY.
Nan-ti-coke was one of the early Indian names farther south. and is equivalent to U-necht-go, or Tide water people; which is very nearly the meaning of every name given this nation. They were conquered by the Iroquois, and were removed by them to the vicinity of Binghamton about the middle of the last century. Their reputation was bad.
Ot-se-nin-go, a village near Binghamton in 1779. O-se-win-go is the same, and there are several other forms.
Che-nan-go, Bull thistle, is the present spelling of the preced- ing, and essentially the same name appears much farther west.
Chug-nutts, or Cho-co-nut, was a village below the last, de- stroyed in 1779. A. Cusick thought the meaning was Place of tamaracks.
On-oh-agh-wa ge is a mountain near Oquaga.
Oquaga, On-ogh-qua-ga, or On-och-ge-ru-ge, was a village at Windsor, burned in 1779. Cusick thought it meant Place of hulled corn soup.
Skow-hi-ang-to, near Windsor, was destroyed at the same time. It means simply Tuscarora town.
Ok-kan-um, Kil-la-wog, and Cook-qua go, are other names.
CATTARAUGUS COUNTY.
Ga-da-ges-ga-o, Stinking water. Cattaraugus creek.
Con-e-wan-go creek, In the rapids. This may be compared with the Mohawk, Caughnawaga. A fanciful interpretation is They
IO
INDIAN NAMES.
have been long gone. In various forms it was a common name.
O-hee-yo, Beautiful river. Allegany river.
He-soh, Floating nettles. Ischuna creek.
O-da-squa-wa-teh, Small stone beside a large one. Little Valley creek.
Te-car-nohs, Dropping oil. Oil creek.
O-so-a-yeh, Pine forest. Oswaya creek.
Je-ga-sa-neh. Burton creek, so called after an Indian.
Te-car-no-wun-do, Lime lake. which is the present name. De-as-hen-da-qua, Place of courts. Ellicottville.
O-so-a-went ha, By the pines. Hasket creek.
De-o-na-ga-no, or Te-on-i go-no, Cold Spring. ' An Allegany village.
To-ne-a-dıh, Beyond the great bend. Another village on the same reservation.
Da-ude-hok-ta. At the bend. Bend village.
Ga-qua-ga-o-no Wa-a-gwen-ne-yuh, Trail of the Kah-kawahs. often called Eries. Another village. The words are reversed in translation.
Che-na shun-ga ton. Name of the junction of Cold Spring creek and Allegany river in Mary Jemison's early days.
Tu-ne-un-gwant, or Tu-ne-ga-want, An eddy not strong. In Carrollton, and also applied to a valley.
Tu-nes-sas-sa, Clear pebbly stream. A village.
Go-wan-da and Allegany are other names.
CAYUGA COUNTY.
Te-car-jik-ha-do, Place of salt. Montezuma, where there are salt springs. For a long time the Indians used no salt, and sometimes the Iroquois objected to eating. Europeans because of their salty taste.
De-a-wen-dote, Constant dawn, called Cho-no-dote in 1779. Aurora. It is odd that the Indian and European names should thus correspond.
INDIAN NAMES.
Was-gwas, Long bridge. Cayuga bridge, once the longest in the world.
Ga-weh-no-wa-na, Great island. Howland island, the largest in Seneca river. Compare with this one Iroquois name of the Susquehanna.
Squa-yen-na, A great way up; i. e., from the Seneca river. Otter lake and Muskrat creek.
Dats-ka-he, Hard talking, North Sterling creek. We know nothing of this wordy war.
Te-ga-hone-sa-o-ta, Child in baby frame. Sodus Bay creek.
Kan-a-ka-ge, Black water. Owasco inlet. By itself black is kahonji in Mohawk, osuntah in Onondaga, and swcandaea in Cayuga, but a similar meaning may be otherwise expressed, and Morgan gives Two Sisters creek, in Erie county, as Te-car-na-ga- ge, or Black waters, the Indian name being essentially the same.
De-a-go-ga-ya, Where men were killed. Owasco outlet.
Os-co, Bridge over water. Auburn.
Dwas-co. Bridge on the water, or floating. Auburn. This differs a little from Morgan, but A. Cusick told me that both of these are used, with this distinction. Kirkland, in 1764, mentioned Owasco as Lake Nascon.
Ge-wau-ga, Point running out. Union Springs.
Ga-ya-ga-an-ha. Inclined downwards. A village three miles south of Union Springs.
Goi-o-guen, the same place. An early name of the nation and lake. The interpretations vary greatly, as will appear from what follows.
Goi-o-gogh, Mountain rising from the water; perhaps in allu- sion to the sight of the distant hills from the marshes. David Cusick.
Ca-yu-ga, Where they haul boats out, after passing the marsh- es.' Albert Cusick. See also Niagara county, where Morgan
12
INDIAN NAMES.
renders Gwa-u-gweh as Taking canoe out, at the Tonawanda por- tage. The name closely resembles another.
Gwe-u-gweh, Lake at the mucky land. This is Mr. Morgan's interpretation, but his name can hardly be distinguished from the preceding. I think these are rather expressive of an idea than an exact interpretation, the passage of the marshes and the firm- er land beyond being kept in view.
Gan-i-a-ta-re-ge-chi-at was also a name for the lake given by Zeisberger. In this the first five syllables mean lake. He also mentions the villages of San-ni-o. On-da-cha-re. Tga-a-ju, and Gan-a-ta-ra-ge, the last being a village on the lake and nearest Onondaga. In the name preceding this will be recognized the prefix tga.
On-i-o-en was a name for the whole Cayuga country in 1654.
Ti-che-ro was given as the name of Cayuga lake in 1677, by Greenhalgh, but was probably the same as the following :
Thi-o-he-ro, River of rushes. Seneca river, in the same year, and also a village of the same name, so called from the abun- dance of flags. The Onondaga Eel tribe is said to have origin- ated here.
Cho-ha-ro, a village of 1779, is probably the same name.
On-on-ta-re, a village on the Seneca river in 1656. The name refers to a conspicuous hill, probably Fort Hill, south of Savan- nah, where there is a small earthwork.
Ther-o-tons, or Chrou-tons, Little Sodus bay.
Chou-e-guen. The earliest appearance of the name of Oswego in the French form, was at Cayuga in 1760. "The river Choue- guen, which rises in this lake, soon branches into several canals." It had many names farther down its course.
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Chaut-au-qua has become one of the best known of our In- dian names, and has many interpretations. Mr. Albert S. Gats-
13
INDIAN NAMES.
chet was told, on high authority. that " To spell it .Chatakwa' would conform better to scientific orthography, for the first two syllables are both pronounced short ;" but this seems a mistake. Alden wrote it as pronounced by the Seneca chief Cornplanter, "Chaud-dauk-wa." Mr. O. H. Marshall added to this. " It is a Seneca name, and in the orthography of that nation, according to the system of the late Rev. Asher Wright, long a missionary among them, and a fluent speaker of their language. it would be written . Jah-dah-gwah,' the first two vowels being long, and the last short." Mr. L. H Morgan gives the name in all but the Oneida dialect, with shght variation. In all he makes a sound as in far. The French spelling might prove but little, but Sir William Johnson wrote it " Jadaghque." and thus it appears on the boundary map of 1768.
It first appeared historically in De Celoron's expedition of 1749; and was applied to the lake, the portage, and to the terminus of this on Lake Erie. The prevailing French form was Chadakoin. Mr. Marshall gave the various meanings ascribed to the name, as " The place where a child was swept away by the waves. " " the foggy place," "the elevated place." "the sack tied in the middle," in allusion to the lake's outline. He preferred the one given him by " Dr. Peter Wilson, an educated Seneca." Dr. Wilson was a Cayuga chief, who furnished material for many of the notes in Street's " Frontenac." This is the chief's account, which agrees with the most reliable interpretation: "A party of Senecas were returning from the Ohio to Lake Erie, while pad- chling through Chautauqua lake, one of them caught a strange fish and tossed it into his canoe. After passing the portage into Lake Erie they found the fish still alive, and threw it in the water. From that time the new species became abundant in Lake Erie, where one was never known before. Hence they called the place where it was caught Jah-dah-gwah, the elements of which are Ga joh. " fish," and Ga-dah-gwah, " drawn out." By dropping
14
INDIAN NAMES.
the prefixes, according to Seneca custom, the compound name, " Jah-dah-gwah," was formed.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.