conundrum onomasticum (Algonquian word for U.S. president)

[Gerald Cohen]

At 12:54 PM -0500 7/2/04, Michael Mccafferty wrote:
>
>List members [of American Name Society]:
>
>
>The Miami-Illinois term for the president of the United States and the
>U.S. government, which has cognates in various Eastern Great Lakes
>Algonquian languages, is /meetaathsoopia/. (Ottawa has, for example,
>/medaasoobid/ 'Washington, D.C.' and Meskwaki has /meetaasoopita/
>'president of the U.S., U.S.government.)
>
>The MI name for Washington D.C. is /meetaathsoopionki/.
>
>/meetaathsoopia/ means 'ten-sit-person'.
>
>I'm wondering what the number ten, or sitting for that matter, had to do
>with the U.S. president/government. Any conjectures?
>
>Thank you,
>
>Michael McCafferty


Sounds like the President presiding over a Cabinet session (now 15
executive departments, maybe fewer earlier)--somewhat like an Indian
chief presiding over a pow-wow. Maybe "ten" was taken as a general
term to indicate a large number
at the meeting, i.e., anything more than just a few.

Gerald Cohen