Osage

[Koontz John E]

On Fri, 18 Jan 2002, TOM  LEONARD wrote:
> Several elderly Poncas have told me the word 'waz^az^e' comes from we'sa,
> the Ponca word for snake. I've recorded this several different times over
> the last 25 years from several different Ponca sources.
>
> It's interesting to note most of the individual and family names in the
> Ponca Waz^az^e Clan, both in Ponca and translated into English surnames,
> generally have something to do with 'snake' (e.g. "Little Snake" or
> "Snake").

We's?a 'snake' as a source of waz^az^e strikes me as a folk etymology.
It's not phonologically very plausible, since we's?a has s?, not z^, etc.,
but the observation that many Waz^a'z^e clan personal names involve snake
is very supportive of the sort of indirect association that connects
We'z^iNs^te and 'elk', and so on.