Question About A Word

Scott Collins saponi360 at yahoo.com
Sat Jan 16 20:13:27 UTC 2010


I was wondering if anyone may be able to help me find out if the following names may have anything at all in common, Tionontati and Tegninateo.
 
Tionontati is the name of the Tobacco Tribe that was a part of the Huron and Erie alliance.
Tegninateo was the name of a village of the Manahoac in the Culpepper County, VA area. 
 
I understand that the Huron and Erie were Iroquoian speakers and that the Manahoac were Siouan speakers. I am wondering if there could be any possible way that the words may a similar origin or if they may be connected in any way. 
 
It is my understanding that the Huron and Erie had a trade relationship with the Monacan, Saponi/Tutelo and Manahoac via the town of Monton on or near the Kanawa River in present day West Virginia. I'm sure it is a huge leap to make an assumption like this, but I am curious if these words have a connected use, origin, or meaning.
 
One other interesting observation that I made while reading was as follows:
 
 
“American Folk Medicine” by Wayland Debs Hand 
Page 132 (See Note 40 as source) 
“Pumpkin was the “maycock” of the Virginia Algonquians…” 
Note 40 
Peter Kalm, Peter Kalm’s Travels in North America, 2 vols. (New York: Wilson-Erickson Inc., 1937), Il, 517.

 
 
What I am wondering about this entry is whether the "maycock" that is mentioned here as it relates to pumpkins may have anything whatsoever to do with the other name the Manahoac were known by and that is Mahock?
 
I come by this line of speculation because in my research on the name Saponi I came across the reference to the Algonquin word Supawn or Sa-pon for boiled Indian meal and translates into "softened by water". Tracking down corruptions in trade jargon and Native American pigin language leads me to these speculations on trying to tie in local names of tribes or towns to trade partners. I may be completly off on this line of thought, but wanted to present it to to see if anyone had any feedback or insights. 
 


Scott P. Collins
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