Indian Names Research Articles

Computer recognition of Sanskrit-based Indian names

An interesting problem relating to human cognition-oriented tasks is the name-recognition problem. Humans are so apt in performing this task that they hardly realize the difficulties involved in it. Formally, name recognition means identifying the native origin of people from their names. A subproblem of this task is to classify whether a name belongs to one's own country or not. The authors analyze and then formalize the procedure followed by humans to perform this task. An expert system for recognizing names of persons of Indian origin is described. The system is based on the phonetic information contained in the name, which in turn depends on the language of the corresponding country. >

George Washington Fading Away

George Washington Slept Here: Colonial Revivals and American Culture, 1876-1986 By Karal Ann Marling Harvard University Press, 1988 Like many American children, I had George Washington peering down at me when I first set out to school. I grew up in Seattle, in the state of Washington; I lived then in a district called Capitol Hill; and to get to school I had to walk along a street of Federal-style houses and turn the corer at a D.A.R. hall modeled on Mount Vernon. Early on I was told that schooling might someday lead me to the University of Washington; therefore I should come every Tuesday with a dollar-an image of George Washington--for deposit in the Washington Mutual Savings Bank. In September I still daydreamed of summer and swimming in nearby Lake Washington--across a toll bridge where the man in the booth expected a quarter with Washington on it. As I got older, these names got more confusing. The radio made noises about another Washington somewhere else and another Capitol Hill. There was a town we drove through sometimes, named Mount Vernon. The D.A.R. went with Washington, an old lady from upstairs explained; but the G.A.R. went with Lincoln; and F.D.R. was something else entirely. Washington's face was on the passbook and on the money, but Franklin was the patron of thrift. And there were other overlappings to make matters worse. The block I lived on was bounded by streets named Roy, Harvard, Boylston, and Aloha; the school was four blocks away, across a busy street named Broadway. Yet our closest neighbors were neither royalists nor Boston scholars nor theatrical stars nor hula dancers. They were shopkeepers from Scandinavia who came along on trips to the Olympic Mountains or rivers with Indian names. After two centuries, George Washington was firmly settled in the world at the far edge of America that I had to grow into. His name and image were all over the place. But they were also mingled, blurred, and inscrutable among a dozen other cultural traditions. Two recent books go to considerable effort to make an informed account of Washington. One sifts him out from continental junk heaps of monuments and memorabilia. The other burrows for him through stacks of documents and commentary.

Density Variations of Indlan Placenames: Spokane County and the State of Washington

AbstractThis is a preliminary study to examine the density of indigenous Indian placenames as a possible indicator of the relative acceptance of Indian presence by the immigrant European culture in North America. Seven counties of the State of Washington are compared statistically. Spokane County is used as the primary example because it has the lowest density of Indian names and because its history illustrates the deliberate removal of a relatively large number of indigenous people. Examples of strife in other counties suggest that the low density of Indian names in Spokane is not linked to the simple fact of conflict, but to explicit public policy and political attitudes. Broader statistical studies are recommended

Indian Names in Michigan

Indian Names in Michigan

Indian Names In Michigan: Reply To Professor Callary

References “American Name Society Membership and Subscription Roster 1966.” Names 14 (1966): 221–236. Aubin, George F. Proto-Algonquian Dictionary. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada,1975). Baraga, Frederic. A Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language, Explained in English. 1880. Minneapolis: Ross and Haines, 1966. Callary, Edward A. Rev. of Indian Names in Michigan, by Virgil J. Vogel. Names 34 (1986): 391–402. Eckstorm, Fannie H. Indian Place-Names of the Penobscot Valley and Maine Coast. Orono: U of Maine P,1941. Friederici, George. Amenkanistisches Wörterbuch. Hamburg: Cram,De Gruyter,1960. Gatschet, A. S. “Peoria Lexicon.” Unpublished MS, 1904. Goddard, Ives. “Central Algonguian Languages.” Handbook of North American Indians. Ed. William C. Sturtevant. Vol. 15. Washington: Smithsonian, 1978. 583–87. 7 vols. to date. Le Boullenger, Joseph Ignatius. “French-Illinois Dictionary.” 1718. MS in John Carter Brown Library, photocopy in Newberry Library. Nichols, John David. Introduction. Chippewa Exercises. By Chrysostom Ver- wyst. Minneapolis: Ross and Haines, 1972. Swadesh, Morris. “Linguistics as an Instrument of Prehistory.” Unpublished essay, 1957. Stewart, George R. American Place Names. New York: Oxford UP, 1970. Vogel, Virgil S. Indian Names in Michigan. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P,1986. Vogel, Virgil S. Indian Place Names in Illinois. Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1963. Vogel, Virgil S. Iowa Place Names of Indian Origin. Iowa City: U of Iowa P,1983.

Race, Presbyterian Missionaries, and American Indians in the Nineteenth Century

Race, writes historian of anthropol ogy George W. Stocking, Jr., was characteristically nineteenth-century phenomenon. Historians generally be lieve that during the century, growing numbers of scientists and ordinary Americans came to accept that certain races were innately inferior, retarded by inherent biological qualities which were unchangeable, or changeable only over long periods of time, and that cul tural manifestations were primarily ra cial. By late in the many Ameri cans ranked races and cultures in a hierarchy which stretched from civi lized whites at the top, to dark skinned peoples at the bottom. Although not typical Americans, men and women of the Board of Foreign Mis sions (BFM) of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (PCUSA) were members of their changing national culture. And from what they wrote about American Indians it might appear that they too had imbibed some of the racism of the age. Like missionaries of other denom inations during the great century of Protestant missions, those of the BFM possessed an all-encompassing vision the Christian civilization. The BFM variant fused evangelical Presbyte rianism with an idealized American way of life, and from this perspective tribal cultures appeared shockingly inferior. Thus, during the six decades of BFM involvement with the Indians (1837-1893), its missionaries relent lessly denounced almost every cultural value and trait of Choctaws, Creeks, Omahas, Nez Perces, and more than a dozen other tribes. The rigidly exclu sive missionaries would accept no syncretism, no expression of Christian truths through Indian forms. They demanded that converts totally reject tribal religions and sex roles, patterns of kinship, economic subsistence, lea dership, and even Indian names and styles of clothing. Resorting to the stock evangelical vocabulary of hea thenism and darkness, they conveyed an almost paradoxical double-image of undisciplined and self-willed Indians, who simultaneously groaned under the tyranny of chiefs, customs, and kin. Such lawless but pitiable wretches had one hope of salvation in the next life and of survival in this, acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the total cultural package of the Christian civilization.

A History of Christianity in India. The Beginnings to AD 1707.

Preface The spelling of Indian names Abbreviations Maps Part I: 1. The Indian background 2. Christianity comes to India 3. From medieval to modern 4. Christians in the Indian Middle Age Part II: 5. Europe and Asia contact and conflict 6. Beginnings of mission 7. The jesuits and the Indian church 8. Akbar and the jesuits 9. Rome and the Thomas Christians 10. Lights and shadows Part III: 11. India in the Seventeenty Century 12. The mission of Mathurai 13. The Thomas Christians again 14. Other Roman Catholic missions 15. Non-Roman Catholic Christianity in India Appendices Notes Select bibliographies Index.

South Indian names

South Indian names

Changes in the West Indian Operculina (Convolvulaceae)

Two West Indian names inOperculina are briefly discussed and compared with the Old WorldO. turpethum (L.) S. Manso. The conclusions are made thatO. triquetra (Vahl) H. Hallier is a taxonomic synonym ofO. turpethum and thatO. ventricosa (Bertero) Peter may best be considered a variety ofO. turpethum. Typification ofOperculina is discussed, and it is found that, although S. Manso had a mixed concept ofO. turpethum, this species must be the type of the genus.

Indian names for plants and animals among Californian and other western North American tribes By C. Hart Merriam (review)

Indian names for plants and animals among Californian and other western North American tribes By C. Hart Merriam (review)

Indian Names for Plants and Animals among Californian and Other Western North American Tribes

Indian Names for Plants and Animals among Californian and Other Western North American Tribes

On the Indian Place-Nallles of South Carolina

OF THE MORE THAN 15,000 place-names that have been discussed in Names in South Carolina under the editorship of Claude Henry Neuffer during the past 24 years, a mere 230 are names of Indian origin. This fact alone reveals much about the naming practices of the predominantly English-speaking population that settled the state and eventually displaced the indigenous population. For the most part the settlers chose names using formatives from their own language. Thus we find major cities bearing names of transparent origin: Charleston (originally Charles Town, named for Charles II of England), Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg, Orangeburg, Rock Hill, and the like. Most of these are based on personal names or descriptive designations. Some can be found suggesting French influence, such as Port Royal,l or German influence, such as Fork,2 a settlement of Pennsylvania Dutch (i.e., Germans who originally called themselves Deutsch). Spanish influence is found in a name such as Monterey, named to commemorate the Battle of Monterey in the Mexican-American War. 3 The names of Indian origin are confined mainly to rivers and streams or to communities or plantations. Often a place-name appears to be based on a stream name, and in some cases a place-name may preserve an earlier stream name that has since been replaced by a non-Indian name. Many of the Indian names are found only in historical references, having been replaced in modern times by European formations or, in the case of names referring to now-extinct tribes, having fallen into disuse. Although 230 names may seem like a small number to represent the original inhabitants of the state, the names are conspicuously different from other place-names in the area and thus invite special investigation.

The Original Manuscript of Ulrich Schmidl: German Conquistador and Chronicler

In 1534 Ulrich Schmidl set sail for South America where he participated in the Spanish conquest of the River Plate region. He remained there twenty years, after which he returned to his native town Straubing and wrote a diary of his adventures. This account represents one of the oldest and most important sources of information about the Spanish conquest of the River Plate region and the first settlements in Argentina. Although it is often difficult to identify tribes and villages due to his distorted spellings of the Indian names, historians regard the account as generally reliable. The text is preserved in three manuscripts in Stuttgart, Munich, and Hamburg. The Stuttgart manuscripts stems from Ulrich Schmidl himself. It is located in the Hautstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, where it is identified as Cod. hist. 4° 153. It was edited in 1893 by Johannes Mondschein, who, in the preface to his edition, characterized the manuscript as “die erste Niederschrift von der ungeübten Hand des eben von einem langen und wilden Kriegsund Abenteuerleben heimgekehrten Kriegsmannes.” The two other manuscripts are later copies, although the Munich manuscript does contain Schmidl's signature in his own hand.

Indian Names in Connecticut. James Hammond Trumbull

Indian Names in Connecticut. James Hammond Trumbull

Traditional Poetry of the American Indian

Teachers in every country in the world accept the necessity of teaching the culture and heritage of the people of that country. In the United States we have seen our heritage as British-American, with literary roots in such British giants as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton, as well as in American masters like Emerson, Hawthorne, and Mark Twain. Very few literary critics have bothered to separate the two and to ask, What makes our American heritage different from that of the British? One answer to that question has to be our contact with the American Indian. Examine, for example, the names of our states: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Dakota, Missouri, Iowaall Indian names; the names of cities-Omaha, Bemidji, Shakopee, Peoria, Seattle-and the names of some of our lakes along the Canadian border-Saganaga, Kabetogema, Namakon, Winnibigoshish. Note the food, so common on our tables, all plants which were first cultivated by Indians: corn, beans, sweet potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes, peanuts and squash. Politically, Benjamin Franklin gave credit to the League of

Some Indian and Dutch Names Reflecting the Early History of Brooklyn

Some Indian and Dutch Names Reflecting the Early History of Brooklyn

Origin and Meaning of Some Indian Names

IT IS A COMMONPLACE that in all aspects of life are, more or less, colored by religion or mythology. Names are no exception. Many Hindu names use the traditional trinity: Brahma creator, from the root brih, expand), Vishnu preserver), destroyer) in all sorts of combinations permutations. Thus we have names such as Brahmadeva (Brahma plus deva, meaning god Brahma), Shivaraja (Shiva-like ruler or Shiva the ruler), etc. sacred word or syllable Om (logos) gives Om Prakash (Prakash meaning light), Brahma Prakash. Orthodox Hindus believe in parayana, reading a Purana or Epic as a daily devotional exercise, as part of dharma or duty laid down by religion or custom. Naturally, Pauranic (mythological) names are favored. Examples are Ganesha (Shiva's elephant-headed son who bestows prosperity wisdom) Bhageerathi (another name of Ganga or the Ganges). epics Mahabharata (maha means Bharata means India after the name of India's mythical founder Bharata, son of Shakuntala, heroine of Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntala, The Recognition of Shakuntala) Ramayana (the lay of the delightful one, Rama being an avatar of Vishnu) are inexhaustible gold mines for finding selecting names. Both the epics are stupendous works: the Mahabharata alone, according to Reader's Companion to World Literature (The New American Library, 1956, p. 265) consists of 100,000 couplets and is by far the longest poem that has ever existed about eight times the combined length of the Iliad the Odyssey. No wonder it is a great source of Indian names, e.g., Arjuna (literally, white, clear, but attributively figuratively known as Savyasachin, ambidexter, for Arjuna could use his bow with the same skill with either hand), Bhima (literally, The Ter-

Indian Name Translation

N THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, as earlier in the East, Indian names have been changed in pronunciation and form to the extent that today they very commonly bear little resemblance to their originals. Joseiah Gregg remarked in 1844 that stranger would be led to suppose we were without a system of orthography, from the fact of our so generally adopting the French spelling of Indian names, whereby all sight is soon lost of the original.' The French first corrupted the Indian names, and American explorers, fur traders, mountain men, and others continued the process. The many changes in the pronunciation and spelling of original Indian names often resulted in changing their meanings. It was when the Indians were brought into closer contact with white culture that difficulties really began to arise. The missionary teachers usually made efforts to give school children names which were to be carried and used with pride in the new Americanized life that was to follow. These missionaries sometimes allowed the school children to choose their own

The Decline and Present Status of the Imperial Woodpecker of Mexico

THE largest woodpecker in the world, Camnpephilus imperialis, is appropriately known as the Imperial Woodpecker (Figure 1). It has frequently been called the Mexican Ivory-billed Woodpecker because of its close relationship to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the United States, C. principalis, but this name causes confusion because of other Mexican woodpeckers, especially Phloeoceastes guatemalensis, which are often called ivory-billed woodpeckers. The Imperial WVoodpecker's most widely used common name in Mexico is pitoreal. In the western part of the State of Durango I found that this name was also used for Phloeoceastes guatemalensis. Indian names for the Imperial Woodpecker include the Naihuatl name cuauhtotomomi (Miller, 1957) and the Tarahumar name cumecocari (C. W. Pennington, Univ. of Utah, letter). The most complete description of the appearance and habits of the Imperial Woodpecker, based on observations of the species, is Nelson's (1898). In 1962 my son David Tanner and I went to Mexico in search of the Imperial Woodpecker. My primary objective was to compare this species with the American Ivory-bill, which I had studied intensively (1942). We were not successful in finding the woodpeckers, but we did learn something about the present status of the species and about the cause of its decrease. The trip was supported by grants from the Frank M. Chapman Fund, American Museum of Natural History, and from the International Committee for Bird Preservation.

Place-Name Literature, United States and Canada 1961–1962

Cray, Ed. Ethnic and place names as derisive adjectives. Western Folklore 21 :27 -34, Jan. 1962. Fairclough, G. Thomas. A variant of 'downtown.' American Speech 37: 158, May 1962. Heier, Edmund. Russo-German place-names in Russia and in North America. Names 9:260-68, Dec. 1961. Names resulting from the Russo-German immigration are discussed on p.266-68. Jennings, Gary. Naming names and backgrounds. Denver Post Oct. 29, 1961, Roundup p. 31. General article on names in the U. S. Condensed in Reader's Digest 79:114-16; Dec. 1961 under title: Why did they call it that? Kane, Joseph Nathan. The American counties; a ~ecord of the origin of the names of the 3,072 counties, dates of creation and organization, area, 1960 population, historical data, etc, of the fifty States. Rev. ed. New York, Scarecrow Press, 1962. 540 p. 1st ed. 1960. 500 p. Kilpatrick, Jack Frederick. An etymological note on the tribal name of the Cherokees and certain place and proper names derived from Cherokee. Journal of the Graduate Research Genter 30:37-41, April 1962. Krueger , John R. A pronunciation standard for place names of the Pacific Northwest. American Speech 37 :74, Feb. 1962. Local pronunciations of some tribal names and place-names. Further comments by C. F. Voegelin, ibid. 37 :75, Feb. 1962. Leigh, Rufus Wood. Naming of the Green, Sevier, and Virgin Rivers. Utah Historical Quarterly 29: 137 -47, April 1961. Adapted from his full-length book manuscript, Indian, Spanish, and government survey place names oj the Great Basin and Oolorado plateaus.