Quapaw designation (fwd)

Michael Mccafferty mmccaffe at indiana.edu
Tue Feb 3 12:22:37 UTC 2004


I received this note, and am wondering if anyone has any Siouan light to
offer.
Thanks, Michael

The M-I term he's referring to is, of course, /akaansa/, i believe.

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I do Chickasaw topographical nomenclature, among other things, and while
searching for something else I came across the following enigmatic
designation for the Quapaw in Margry's Découverts... (1: 616): Savansa.
According to the Handbook of NA Indians, this is the sole occurrence of
such a name for them. It bears some resemblance to Miami-Illinois terms
for the Quapaw tribe. Hodge in the earlier Handbook mentions a Quapaw
gens name, Wasa, that could be the last two syllables of Savansa. Do you
see anything that might suggest a possible Miami-Illinois source for
calling the Quapaw Savansa?

Thanks, as always,

John



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