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(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

 

March 22, 2003 - Issue 83

 
 

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Chrysostom Verwyst's Geographical Names in WI, MN, & MI with Chippewa Origins

 
 
From: Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 12 (1916)
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IN WISCONSIN, MINNESOTA, AND MICHIGAN, HAVING A CHIPPEWA ORIGIN.
BY CHRYSOSTOM VERWYST, O. S. F.
 
 
credits: submitted by Timm Severud (Ondamitag)
 

[Note: Father Verwyst is a Franciscan missionary among the Chippewas of Wisconsin and Minnesota. He is the author of Missionary Labors of Fathers Marquette, Menard, and Allouez in the Lake Superior region (Milwaukee and Chicago, 1886), a valuable monograph. In a letter to me, dated Superior. WI, June 19, 1892, he says: "Please give due credit, in your introduction to this list of names, to Vincent Roy, a Chippewa merchant of Superior; to Antoine Gordon (Gaudin), of Gordon; and to M. Gurnoe, of Courte Oreilles, a very intelligent Chippewa scholar, and for many years government Indian interpreter, who kindly assisted me in this matter."--Ed.]

In Bishop Baraga's system of Chippewa orthography, the letter a is pronounced as in "father," or approximately as au in auger; e, as a in "name;" i(short), as in win; i (long), as e in "seen;" o, as in "lone;" j, as s in "sure;" g, as in "go"--never hard, as in "general:" kw, as qu in "queen." There is no u in Chippewa.

The following list of geographical names in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, having a Chippewa origin, is by no means exhaustive: it might largely be added to. Having no atlas or other work of geographical reference at hand, I give only such as occur to me.

Ahnapee  - 
(town, WI)
 -  Corruption of anin api (when), contracted into anipi (pr. ah-nah-pee).
Aminicon  - 
(river, WI)
 -  Corruption of aminikan (spawning ground). The syllable ing or ng is added to such words, to designate the locative case, or locality. Thus, aminikaning means to, at, or from the spawning ground.
Aniwa  - 
(town, WI)
 -  Corruption of aniwi (those). Aniwi (pr. au-nee-wee) or aniwa refers, as a prefix, to superiority; e.g., aniwigabawi, he is taller than the rest; aniwakiso aw mitag, that tree is taller than the rest. 
Ashippun  - 
(town, WI)
 -  Corruption of ajiopan (decayed lungs). Aji (pr. ashee), means decayed; opan, his lungs.
Ashwaubenon  - 
(creek, WI)
 -  From ashiwabiwining (place where they watch, or keep a lookout,--as for enemies). [Note: See WI Hist. Coll., xi., p. 234, for Vieau's tradition of the origin of the name.Ed.]
Askeaton  - 
(town, WI)
 -  Corruption of ashkiodon (raw mouth). Ashki (pr. ash-kee), raw; odon, his mouth. Perhaps the place is named after some Indian of the locality, who had a raw, or sore mouth.
Bakagama  - 
(lake, WI)

 - 

Bakegama (branch lake; i.e., a lake which is a branch or part of another, generally of a larger, lake). Pr. bau-kai-gau-mau.
Checagon  - 
(lake, MI)

 - 

Corruption of jigagong (skunk place), pr. shee-gah-gong. It is the locative case of jigag (skunk), and means at, to, or from the place of skunks.
Chequamegon  - 
(bay, WI)

 - 

Corruption of chagaouamigoung, the French method of spelling jagawamikong (pr. shau gau-wau-me-kong), which mean s, a long, narrow strip of land running into a body of water, such as a lake or bay. A legendary explanation of the name will be found in my Missionary Labors, p. 18.
Chippewa  - 
(river and county, WI)

 - 

Abbreviation of the old Ojibway. The Chippewas call themselves Odjibweg.
Escanaba (river and town, MI)--Mr. Gurnoe says that the Indians of the vicinity call the place Misconabe (pr. mis-co-nau-bai), from misko (red), and nabe (man).
Gogebic  - 
(lake, MI)

 - 

From gogibic (diving place), pr. go-gee-beek. Gogi or kogi means, he dives down; bic refers to a body of water. Some pronounce the word, Agogebic, which means, a body of water hanging on high, --agosi or agode meaning, he or it hangs. The lake in question is situated on a considerable plateau, or elevation.
Ishpeming  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Means above, on high.
Kalamazoo  - 
(river, county, and town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of kikanamoso (it smokes, or he is troubled with smoke e.g., in his wigwam), pr. kee-kah-nah-mo-zo, or kee-kau-nau-mo-zo. 
Kanabec  - 
(county, MN)

 - 

Corruption of ginebic (snake), pr. gee-na-bik.
Kaukauna  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of okakaning, often shortened into kakaning (where they fish for pike, or pike fishing grounds), pr. kau-kau-ning.
Kegonsa  - 
(lake, WI)

 - 

Corruption of gigosensag (lake of small fishes), pr. gee-gosen-saug. Gigo is fish; gigosens, a small fish; gigosensag, small fishes.
Kenockee  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

From ginok (he is long-legged), pr. kee-no-kee.
Kenosha  - 
(county and town, WI)

 - 

Baraga gives it as kinoje (pickerel or pike). Doubtless they were plentiful in the waters there.
Kewaskum  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Either from washkamo (the road is crooked), pr. wash-cum-o; from giweskam (his tracks are toward home), pr. kee-wai-skum; giwe means, he goes home.
Kewaunee  - 
(county and town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of kakiweonan (I cross a point of land by boat), pr. kah kee wai-onan. Such a point of land is the peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, which is almost cut through by Sturgeon Bay. From kakiweonan we also have Kewenaw (MI) and Keweena (WI), similarly situated on peninsulas almost severed by water.
Koshkonong  - 
(lake and town, WI)

 - 

Probably a corruption of gwaskwaning (jumping), pr. gwash-kwau-ning. Some Indians pronounce the syllable wa like o, so they might have pronounced the word goshkoning.
Mackinac  - 
(island, MI)

 - 

From mikinak (a turtle), pr. mik-ee-nak. Refers to the general contour of the island. Mackinaw is another form of Mackinac.
Manawa  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

From either minawa (adverb, meaning again); manea (it is scarce), pr. mau-na-au; or manepwa (he has no tobacco, or, scarce of tobacco), pt. mau-naip-wau.
Manistique  - 
(river, lake, and town, MI)

 - 

From manitigweia (crooked river), pr. mau-nee-teeg-wai-a.
Manitowoc  - 
(county and town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of manitowag (spirit spawn). Pagan Indians imagined that spirits spawn like fish.
Mattawan  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of mittawang (sand).
Mazomanie  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

From mosominan (mooseberries), pr. mo-zom-ee-nan.
Meeme  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Means pigeon, or dove.
Menominee  - 
(river, WI)

 - 

Corruption of manominig, or oumanominig, meaning wild-rice people; manomin means wild rice, and manominike, he gathers wild rice.
Mequon  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

From miquan (a feather), pr. mee-gwaun.
Michigamme  - 
(lake and town, MI)

 - 

From michagami (a large body of water), pr mich-ah-gau-mee.
Michigan  - 
(lake and state)

 - 

Probably a corruption of the above. The Chippewas gave the name kitchigami (pr. kee-chee-gau-mee) to Lake Superior, or other large bodies of water.
Milwaukee  - 
(river and town, WI)

 - 

M. Gaudin says it is from minwaki (good land). In Chippewa, the letter n is used instead of l, which latter is not found in pure Chippewa words. Mr. Gurnoe derives Milwaukee from minewaki (a promontory), pr. mee-nai-wau-kee. Such a promontory does project into the river there, being known of old as Walker's Point.
Minong  - 
(Isle Royale, Lake Superior)

 - 

The Chippewa name for this island is pr. mee-nong, and means a good, high place.
Misha Mokwa  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Means, great bear. The word is used to designate a bear of extraordinary size--the patriarch, as it were, of all bears.
Missaukee  - 
(county, MI)

 - 

Corruption of missisaging (at the large mouth of a river), pr. mis-si-saug-ing. Mishi or missi refers, in compound words, to largeness; and sauging means, at the mouth of a river.
Mississippi  - 
(river)

 - 

Corrupt form of mishisibi (large river), pr. mee-shee-see-bee. Misi, or michi, is large, and sibi, river. The Chippewa also call it missisibi (pr. mee-see-see-bee), and messisibi (pr. mes-sis-see-bee). They also say, michisagaigan (large inland lake), pr. mee-shee-sau-gie-gan.
Mosinee  - 
(falls and town, WI)

 - 

From mosinig (moose), pr. mo-see-neeg. There were probably Indians at these falls, in olden times, who were thus called from their tribal totem.
Mukwanago  - 
(lake and town, WI)

 - 

Perhaps from mak-wanagong (bear-lair, or place where the bear lies), pt. mauk-wau-na gong.
Muscoda  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of mashkodeng (prairie). The French applied this name, corrupted into Mascoutin, to a tribe of Indians on the upper Fox river, in Wisconsin, because they lived in a prairie country. Muscatine, Iowa, is another corruption.
Muskego and
Muskegon
 - 
(town, WI)
(town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of mashkigong (the locative case of mashkig, and means at, to, or from a swamp), pt. mush-kee-gong.
Nahma  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

From namé (sturgeon), pt. na mai.
Namekagon  - 
(river, WI)

 - 

From namekagan (sturgeon ground, or place of the sturgeons).
Nashotah  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of nijode (a twin), pr. nee-sho-da.
Nebagamain  - 
(lake, WI)

 - 

Corruption of nibegomowin (watching for game at night, in a boat).
Necedah  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of nissida (let there be three of us), pr. nis-see-dah.
Neebish  - 
(island and town, MI)

 - 

From nibish (bad water). In the Ottawa, an inland lake is called nibish.
Negaunee  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of nigani (he walks ahead), pr. nee-gau-nee.
Nekimi  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Mr. Gurnoe thinks this a corruption of nikimin (wild-goose berry), pr. nee-kee-min. Nika is goose, and min berry. These berries grow along the shores of rivers and lakes, and wild geese feed on them.
Nemadji  - 
(Indian name for Left Hand river, MN)

 - 

It is generally supposed that nemadji means left hand, hence the English name of the river, which is to the left as you enter Superior bay through the eastern channel. Thus:  namandji means left; namandjinik, left arm; and namandjinindj, left hand. But Mr. Gurnoe says nemadji comes from nemadjitigweiag (a river falling perpendicularly from a considerable elevation).
Noquet, Bay de  - 
(bay, MI)

 - 

From noke (bear totem), pr. no-ka. Indians lived on its shores, having the bear as their totem.
Oconomowoc  - 
(lake and town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of okonimawag (beaver-dam), pr. o-con-ee-mau-wag. There were probably several beaver dams in the neighborhood.
Ogema  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

From ogima (a chief), pr. o-gee mau.
Ogemaw  - 
(county, MI)

 - 

Also from ogima.
Okee  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

From aki (land), pr. au-kee.
Okemos  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of ogemans (little chief), pr. o-kee-mauns.
Omena  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of o minan (he gives to him), pr. o-mee-nan.
Onekama  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

From onikama (an arm).
Ontonagon  - 
(river, county, and town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of nandonagon (place where game is shot by guess--that is, not by seeing it, but judging of its location from some noise or movement in the brush). An incident of this kind, happening a few times to an Indian, might induce him to give the locality this name. This seems to be the true explanation of the name. In maps of the seventeenth century, it is called Nantonagan. Bishop Baraga derives the word from nind onagan (my dish), but I think the first explanation, given me by Antoine Gaudin, of Gordon, WI, a smart half-breed, is the more correct.
Opechee  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Baraga's orthography is opitchi (the American robin).
Ossinike  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of assinike (he gathers stones).
Ottawa  - 
(towns, MN, WI, and IL)

 - 

From the name of the Indian tribe, which is derived from an obsolete word, adattawag (trading people). Atawe, or attawe means, he trades, he sells. In Bishop Baraga's Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language (Cincinnati, 1853), p. 332, other derivations are given. I give that of William Whipple Warren,  in his History of the Ojibways (MN Hist. Coll., v., p. 2l). Warren was a very intelligent half-breed Indian, and his interpretation of Indian words is generally reliable.
Outagamie  - 
(county, WI)

 - 

The name given by the Chippewas to their ancient enemies, the Foxes. Baraga's orthography is, odagamig, an adverb meaning, people living on the other shore--of a river, or a lake.
Ozaukee and
Sauk
 - 
(county, WI)
(county, WI)

 - 

Both of them corruptions of ozagig (people living at a river mouth), pr. o-zau-kee.
Packwaukee  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of bagwaki (forest opening). pr. baug-wau-kee.
Paw Paw  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Chippewa for papa, or father.
Penokee  - 
(range of hills, and town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of opinikan (wild potato ground), pr. o pee-nee-kan. Corruption of opinikan (wild potato ground), pr. o pee-nee-kan.
Pensaukee  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of pindjsagi (inside the mouth of a river), pr. pindj-sau-gee.
Petoskey  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

From pitoskig (between two swamps), pr. pee tos-keeg. This is Mr. Gurnoe's explanation.
Pewamo  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

From biwamo (the trail diverges).
Pewaukee  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of nibiwaki (swampy), pr. nee-bee-wau-kee. The Indians frequently swallow, as it were, the first syllable of a word, so that whites often do not recognize that it has been sounded. So also, the former use p and b, k and g, and t and d, indifferently. This leads to much confusion in attempts at English phonetic spelling of Indian words.

Poygan
 - 
(lake and town, WI)

 - 

Vincent Roy, an intelligent Chippewa of Superior, WI, thinks the word a corruption of opwagan (pipe), pr. op-wau-gan. Perhaps Lake Poygan may have some resemblance to a pipe, of which the river is, as it were, the stem and the lake the head. Indians are quick to notice such peculiarities.
Poy Sippi  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of Bwan sibi (Sioux river), pr. bwaun-see-bee. Bwan is Chippewa for Sioux, and sibi for river.
Puckaway  - 
(lake, WI)

 - 

From Bokawe (pr. bo-kau-wai), an Indian supposed to have formerly lived on its shores. 
Saginaw  - 
(bay and town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of osaginang (place where the Sacs used to live). Osagig is Chippewa for Sacs.
Saugatuck  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

From sagatagan (spunk or punk, used by Indians as tinder), pr. sau-gau-tau-gan.
Shawano  - 
(lake, county, and town, WI)

 - 

Baraga's orthography is, jawanong (in the south). The French Chiouaonan, and the English Shawnee, were corrupt forms of the same Indian word. meaning southern people.
Sheboygan  - 
(county and town, in WI; and river, county, and town. in MI)

 - 

From jibaigan (any perforated object, as a pipe stem).
Shiocton  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Corruption of ajeatan (it floats up stream,--by force of wind), pr. au-shai-au-taun.
Siskowit  - 
(lake, WI)

 - 

From siskawit (very fat lake trout).
Skanes  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of eshkani (horn river), pr. ai-shkan-ee.
Suamico and
Little Suamico
 - 
(town, WI)
(river, WI)

 - 

Corruption of ossawamigong (place of the yellow beaver).
Tawas  - 
(lake, MI)

 - 

Corruption of Ottawas. Tawas was the name of an Indian chief.
Tekonsha  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Corruption of attikonsan (little caribou, or rein-deer), pr. at-tik-on-saun. Attik is reindeer; attikon is the diminutive form; attikonsan is plural.
Totogatic  - 
(river, WI)

 - 

Means boggy river. Totogan is a bog.
Wahjamega  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Baraga gives the original as wajamika (fish-hole, a depression in a lake or river, where fish collect), pr. wau-jau-mee-ka.
Waneka  - 
(town, WI)

 - 

Means, he digs a hole.
Waubesa  - 
(lake, WI)

 - 

Corruption of wabisi (swan lake), pr. wau-bee-see.
Waucedah  - 
(town, MI)

 - 

Perhaps derived from wassiti, (it reflects light), pr. wau-see-dai.
Waugoshance  - 
(island, MI)

 - 

Means, a small fox.
Waukegan  - 
(town, IL)
  From waukaigan (house).
Waukesha  - 
(county and town, WI)
  Corruption of wagoshag (foxes), pr. wah-go-shag. Either there were many  foxes there, or the Indians of the district had the fox for their totem.
Waunakee  - 
(town, WI)
  Baraga's orthography is wanaki, the pronunciation being the same. It means, he has peace, or he lives in peace.
Waupun  - 
(town, WI)
  Corruption of waban (east), pr. wan-ban.
Wausau  - 
(town, WI)
  Corruption of wassa (far away), pr. waus-sau.
Wausaukee  - 
(river, WI)
  Corruption of awassaki (over, or beyond the hill), from au-waus-sau-kee.
Wauwatosa  - 
(town, WI)
  Corruption of wewatessi (firefly), pr. wai-wau-tais-see.
We-que-ton-sing  - 
(town, MI)
  From wikwedonsing (at the little bay), pr. wee-que-don-sing. Wikwed means bay; wikwedons is the diminutive.
Weyauwega  - 
(town, WI)
  Corruption of ouiawikan (he embodies it. or makes it his body), pt. o-wee-au-wee-kan. Probably some Indian legend is attached to the place, which gave it the name. Menabosho, the great Algonkin demigod, used to assume different shapes.
Winnebago  - 
(lake. WI)
  Named from the Indian tribe. A corruption of winnibigoug (dirty-water people). Winnipeg, in Manitoba, is the same word, modified. In Chippewa, winnibi (pr. wee-nee-bee), is dirty water.
Winneconne  - 
(town, WI)
  From winikaning (a dirty place), pr. wee-nee-kau-ning. The syllable win refers to any thing unclean. There is a deal of mud on the fiats around Winneconne.
Winnibigoshish  - 
(lake, MN)
  Means bad, dirty-water lake. Win, is dirty; nibi, water; big or bic, refers to bodies of water; oshish is a term of contempt--miserable, bad.
Wisconsin  - 
(river and state)
  A. Gaudin says it means, muskrat house. But this is doubtful. I have not found two Indians to agree on the meaning of this word.
Wonewoc  - 
(town, WI)
  Corruption of wonowag (they howl,--e. g., wolves). pr. wo.no-waug.

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