Osage

[Koontz John E]

On Fri, 18 Jan 2002, Rankin, Robert L wrote:
> I tend to doubt it.  it seems to go back a long way. Some say it has to do
> with snakes in some way.

Possibly in the same way Kansa has to do with wind or (OP) Wez^iNs^te has
to do with elk, i.e., by association of the clan name with some separate
aspect of the clan's symboism.  .  In the Kansa case the connection is
also just plain obscure to me, but Wez^iNs^te, which looks like it must
mean 'means of anger/moodiness' is always rendered 'Elk' as a clan name
because the elk is the clan symbolic animal.  INkhe'sabe
'black-shoulder(ed)' as 'Buffalo (Clan)' is a bit clearer, because it's
just a trope for 'buffalo'.  Ttappa 'deer-head' is usually rendered
'Deer', I think, though the term is supposed to be the Omaha name for the
Pleiades.

> A Nialus^ka (forMrs. Rowe Mialus^la) is a water monster in Kaw.

WakkaNdagi 'watermonster' in Omaha.  (Which I think is 'wizard' in Kaw.)
But OP wagdhishka (it would probably be walus^ka in Osage) is the cover
term for the creature classification including bugs, snakes, lizzards,
worms. etc.  What Bob calls 'the creepy-crawlies'.  Dakotan wablus^ka,
wamdus^ka, etc., doesn't correspond regularly.  OP suggests *wakrus^ka,
while Dakotan suggests *waprus^ka.

WakkaNdagi is interesting because it seems to be connected to WakkaNda
'god', which leaves over the element gi, which strikes me as a good match
for Dakotan ki(N) 'the', though whether as a loan word or a fossil I
couldn't say.  We need all the help we can get with the articles, however.

For what it's worth 'middle water' could be a stream or river name, though
I don't recall such a stream.