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Derivations of Selected Native American Group Names |
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| Abenaki | North American French Abénaki, from Eastern Abenaki, wápánahki, lit. "easterner" (1721) |
| Alabama | from French Alibamon, name of a Muskogean tribe |
| Aleut | Russian aleút, probably from Chukchi aliuit, lit., "beyond the shore" (1780) |
| Algonquian | Canadian French Algonquin, from earlier Algoumequins, presumably from an Algonquian language, a place or group name (1625) |
| Apache | Spanish, probobably from Zuni apachu "enemy" (1745) |
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Jicarilla Apache - Diminuitive of American Spanish jícara, jícaro, from the Nahuatl xicalli. A Central American name for the calabash-tree |
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Mescalero Apache - American Spanish, from Nahuatl mezcal, mescal a small cactus or the liquor made from this cactus |
| Arapaho | from Crow aa-raxpé-ahu, lit., "tattoo," from aa- with + raxpé- skin + ahu many (1854) |
| Arikara | French Aricara, from Pawnee, arikará-ru?, elk, lit. "horns;" explained as an allusion to a former male hairstyle among this people (?) |
| Assiniboine | Ojibwa usini-upwäwa, lit., "one who cooks by use of stones" (1681) |
| Athapaskan | Cree dialect ahtapaskaaw, name of a lake, lit., "there are reeds here and there," from ahthap- net(like) + -ask vegetation + formative suffixes |
| Blackfoot | Blackfoot siksika, said to be so named because the soles of their moccasins were black from walking across burned prairie (1834) |
| Caddo | probably from Caddoan kädohädächo, lit., "real chiefs" (1807) |
| Catawba | Shawnee kataapa, from Catawba (yín) kátapu, village name, lit., (people of) "the fork" (1716) |
| Cayuga | Cayuga *kayó-kwen, name of a 17th c. village: cf. kayokwenhó-non?, the Cayuga (people) (1744) |
| Cayuse | tribal name (1825) |
| Chehalis | from Chehalis, one of their villages on Grays Harbor, Washington, from chehalis, lit., sand (1844) |
| Cherokee | probably from Creek (Muskogee) tciloki "people of a different speech" (1674) |
| Cheyenne | French Canadian, from Dakota Shaiyena, from shaia, "to speak unintelligibly" (1778) |
| Chickasaw | Chickasaw chikashsha, a self-designation or Muskogean cognate (1674) |
| Chinnok | Chelaise Tsinúk (1805) |
| Chippewa | from Ojibwa ojib-ubway, a kind of moccasin worn by the Ojibwa (1700) |
| Choctaw | Choctaw Chahta (1722) |
| Comanche | Spanish, of Shoshonean origin; perhaps akin to Hopi Kománèi, "scalp lock" (1806) |
| Cree | short for earlier Christeno, from Canadian French Christino, probably modification of Ojibwa Kenistenoag (1774) |
| Creek | associated with a group of Native Americans [ò ci s#å] living along a large creek near a British trading post (1725) [Muskogee] |
| Crow | translation, via French gens de corbeaux, lit., "people of the ravens"; of their native name, apsáaloke, "crow people" |
| Dakota | Dakota dakóta, "allies," from da to think of as + koda friends (1804) |
| Delaware | associated with a group of Native Americans [Lani Lenape] living in the Delaware River valley (1709) |
| Erie | North American Frech Erie, Erié, from the Huron name of a village called Rigué by the Iroquois (1909) |
| Eskimo | Danish, of Algonquian origin; akin to Cree askimowew "he eats it raw" (1689) |
| Flathead | (1709) |
| Fox | [Mesquakie] |
| Gros Ventre | French, lit., "large belly" (?) [Atsina, Hidatsa] |
| Haida | self-designation, lit., "people" |
| Hidatsa |
native name |
| Hopi | Hopi Hópi, lit., "good, peaceful" (1877) |
| Huron | French, lit., "boor, coarse one, one who has disheveled hair" (1658) |
| Illinois | French, of Algonquian origin; akin to Shawnee hilenawe "man" (1703) |
| Inuit | Aluet inuit, plural of inuk "person" (1765) |
| Iowa | from ayoés, earlier aiou[h]ouea, etc., via Illinois from Dakota ayúxba, lit., ? "the sleepy ones" |
| Iroquois | French, from Algonquian irinakhoiw, lit., "real adders" (snakes) (1666) |
| Kickapoo | Kickapoo kiwÄ#gapawa, lit., "he stands about" (?) |
| Kiowa | Kiowa g##-i-gwÄ#, k##-i-gwÄ#, "chief people" (1808) |
| Kutenai | Kootenay, native name |
| Kwakiutl | native name, lit., "beach at the north end of the river" |
| Leni Lenape | natie, lit., "real man"; from leni real + lenape man |
| Mahican | self-designation (1614) |
| Mandan | French Mandanes, Mantanes, plural, perhaps ultimately from Dakota mawátanna |
| Massachuset | Massachuset Massa-adchu-es-et, a locality, lit., "about the big hill" (1616) |
| Menomini | Ojibwa manoominii, lit., "person of the wild rice" |
| Mik'mac | Micmac migmac, lit., "allies" (1830) |
| Mohave | probably a self-designation |
| Mohawk | of Algonquian origin; akin to Narraganset Mohowa##uck, mohowaugsuck, from earlier mohowauog (unattested) "man-eaters": Proto-Eastern-Algonquian meï##hw- (unattested) eat + -eï##wee- (unattested) animate object + -w- nominal ending + -aki animate plural (1634) |
| Mohegan | possibly Mohegan, "seaside people" (1614) |
| Muskogee | from (?) muscogulge or mosko:kalki, "people living in a wet land," probably related to the Algonquian muskeg; akin to Ojibwa mžŠskeg, "grassy bog" |
| Narraganset | from Narraganset nanhigganeuck (1622) |
| Navaho | Spanish (Apache de) Navajó, lit., "Apache of Navajó," from Navajó, a pueblo (1780) [Dene] |
| Nez Percé | French, lit., "pierced nose" (1812) |
| Ohlone | perhaps from Miwok meaning "western people" (?) |
| Omaha | Omaha, lit., "those going upstream or against the wind" (1804) |
| Onieda | Iroquois OnÄ#yódeï##, lit., "standing rock" (1666) |
| Onondaga | Iroquois On##táge, village of the Onondaga people (1684) |
| Osage | from Osage Wazhazhe |
| Ottawa | from the Ottawa River, from Algonquian otaawaa (1687) |
| Paiute | Shoshonean pah-ute, lit., "water Ute" |
| Passamaquoddy | from Micmac pest##ý mokati, lit., "place where pollock are plentiful" |
| Pawnee | North American French pani, from Illinois, from Iowa panyi (1770) |
| Penobscot | Abenaki p#Òn#Òw#Òhpskek, lit., "where the rocks widen" (1624) |
| Pequot | probably a modification of Narraganset paquatanog "destroyers" (1631) |
| Pomo | from the Pomo phó###mo##### "at red earth hole." A second source is based on Northern Pomo phó?ma?, which is added to place-names to designate those that live at that place. |
| Ponca | Ponca panka, self-designation |
| Sauk | French, from earlier saki, from Ojibwa IosÄ#kÄŠ, "person of the river mouth" cf. Sauk asÄ#kÄŠwa "person of the outlet" |
| Seneca | Dutch Senneccas, plural of the Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga peoples collectively, from Mahican Aï##sinnika Ondeida, translation of Iroquois OnÄ#yódeï## (1614) |
| Seminole | Creek (Muskogee) simaló-ni, simanó-li, lit., "wild," from American Spanish cimarrón (1789) |
| Shawnee | back formation from Shawnese, taken as a plural, from earlier Shawanoes, ultimately from the Shawnee shaawanooki, lit., "people of the south" |
| Shoshone | from ? Shoshonean tsosoni "curly head," in reference to a hair style (1805) [Shoshoni] |
| Sioux | French, short for Nadouessioux, from Ottawa dialect of nadowe-is-iw, naadoweesiwag, an ethnic name, lit., "adders" (1761) [Dakota, Lakota] |
| Susquehanna | from earlier Sasquesahanough, name of an Iroquoian tribe in unidentified Eastern Algonquian language, from the name of the river; meaning unknown |
| Tlingit | Tlingit ling##t, literally "people" (1881) |
| Tuscarora | Tuscarora skÄ#-ržŠ -ren, lit., "Indian hemp gatherers" (1713) |
| Ute | from Spanish Yutta, from Ute name, lit., ? "hill dwellers" (1776) |
| Wichita | after the Wichita, cf. Caddo w##-cï##ita, Osage w##cita |
| Winnebago | from Fox wiinepyeekooha, lit., "a person of dirty water": with reference to muddy waters of a nearby river |
| Wyandot | from Wyandot wé-ndat |
| Yakima | from ?Nez Pierce yáqamo (1838) |
| Yokut | Yawelmani Yokut yokhocï##, "person, people" |
| Yuki | from Wintu yu-keh, lit. "stranger, enemy" |
| Zuni | American Spanish Zu#Òi (1834) |