Alotta re Western USA placenames & CJ

[David Robertson]

LaXayEm,

YuLq'Et c'Em pipa:  (Long message:)

Alotta, Robert I.  "Signposts & settlers:  The history of place names West
of the Rockies".  Chicago:  Bonus, 1994.

This is a large, impressive paperbound volume, but I have quite a few
problems with it.

First, Alotta left out Montana, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona!

(He does include Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, and
Nevada.)

Second, a book which purports to furnish you with "the history" of place
names ought to tell you the meanings thereof, especially in the case of
those from languages unfamiliar to most people.  Alotta however has a
habit of telling us stories in lieu of explaining why a particular name
was chosen for a given location in the American West.

Third, he's omitted a huge number of very interesting place names, and
included mostly those which he seems to have seen mentioned in
encyclopedia articles.  Thus there's an entry for Suquamish, Washington,
which is essentially identical to the one for Seattle, repeating
biographical information about Chief Sealth / Si7aL.

Something that virtually all books of this type are guilty of is
neglecting indigenous sources.  So I thought I might start to put the
record straight by listing some of Alotta's successes and blunders in this
message.

* page 15:  'Bogachiel [WA]:  ...translates from the Indian as "muddy
waters".'  [Can anyone tell me which other name "Indian" is known by?  I
wonder if I'm already studying it....]

*  "   " :  'Boisfort [WA]:  ...Pierre Charles, a Canadian half-breed, was
the first settler in this Lewis County area, but the first white settler
did not arrive until 1852.  The mispronunciation of Pierre's name ended up
as the source of the name for nearby Pe Ell.'  [Alotta is referring to a
Metis trader, but in fairness to him I'll admit he says Charles was with
the Hudson's Bay Company.]

* page 18:  'Bryn Mawr [WA]:  ...Scotch for "big hill".'  [Looks quite
Welsh to me.]

* page 19:  'Camas takes its name from the Camas Prairie.  The town's name
originally was Las Camas, and the name was taken from a delicacy of the
western Indians, Camassia esculenta, a relation to the hyacinth.  The word
is derived from the Nootka Indian chamass, "fruit" or "sweet".  This
locality was where the Indians went to gather up the sweetish bulbs.'
[Whether camas is sweet or not is open to debate.  :-)  Tastes a lot like
kerosene when freshly dug in Eastern Washington.  Also debatable is the
etymology of the word -- see earlier postings on this list.  Elsewhere in
Alotta's book, he defines camas in passing as "a sweet onion".  Finally,
where is the accurate attribution of this word to the Chinook Jargon?  I
actually don't know of an indigenous language of the NW which has this
word in the meaning of "camas".]

* page 41:  'Entiat [WA]:  The word is Indian, and translates to "rapid
water".  Another source believes the name is Chinook [J]argon for
"crossing" or "across".'  [The word is nxa7amxci*n / Moses Columbian
Salish, and it means "grass in the water", as I recall.  It is neither
"Indian" nor CJ.  The CJ term referred to here would be pronounced
[i*natay], as I understand.]  [* marks stress]

* page 56:  'Hyak [WA]:  This name is Chinook slang for "hurry"....'  [Er,
shouldn't that be (standard) Chinook Jargon?]

* page 84:  'Olalla [WA]:  ...Chinook ... for "berry" ... The area was
settled by Scandinavian strawberry growers.' [Very good.]

* page 116:  'Tenino [WA]:  spot ... number 1090 [or served by
Northern Pacific Railway engine #1090 or], in Chinook Jargon, "fork" or
"junction".'  [But:] 'We lean to the Indian root, because the name
appeared before the railroad arrived.'  [Good save!  :-)  I'd never
thought of the CJ word as meaning "junction", but that works....]

* page 526:  'Meyers Chuck [AK]:  "a prospector named Meyer who found his
food in the woods [?!]" ... The other half is ... Chinook Jargon[:]  chuck
means "water".' [Once again, very good, and I wasn't aware of this CJ
place name in the North country.]

There are many more example I've noted in Alotta's book.  Allow me to
advise that you use this book with extreme caution as a reference,
particularly for any place names coming from Indian languages.  The author
doesn't list any books used as references for CJ or other indigenous
languages.

It is an entertaining book, though.

Best wishes,
Dave


 *VISIT the archives of the CHINOOK jargon and the SALISHAN & neighboring*
		    <=== languages lists, on the Web! ===>
	   http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/salishan.html
	   http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/chinook.html