St. Louis?

Rory M Larson rlarson at unlnotes.unl.edu
Mon Mar 29 04:10:14 UTC 2004


I'm wondering about the name for St. Louis in native languages.  For OP,
Dorsey has Ppa'hi-z^i'de, "Red Neck", as a term for the inhabitants.
Fletcher and La Flesche give Ppahi'-z^ide ttoNwoN, "Red Hair town", with
the note "Referring to the color of Governor Clark's hair".  I've had it in
mind that the latter explanation was confirmed by the Osage form, but I
can't seem to find a reference.  Can anyone point me to further information
on this?  I'd be especially interested knowing the name for it in Osage,
Kaw, Iowa-Oto, or even Algonquian languages.

The town was founded by French traders in 1764 and had its glory days as a
special entity prior to its acquisition by the Americans in 1804.  It seems
odd to me that the Omaha or anyone else would have waited until the
American period to name it after Governor Clark's hair.

Thanks!
Rory



More information about the Siouan mailing list