Ponca

[Alan H. Hartley]

Alan Knutson wrote:
>
> Now that we are on the subject of ethnonyms--what is the origin of the term
> Minatari?

There's more in the archives of this listserv, but here's my stab at it:

Eng. < Mandan /wríNtari/ [miníNtari], or directly from its etymon
Hidatsa /wiríta:ri/ [miníta:ri] 'crosses the water', i.e.,
'river-crossing'. The Eng. forms in w- and m- reflect the use in Hidatsa
of rapid and careful speech respectively.

Alan