Quapaw designation (fwd)

[David Costa]

Nothing really clicks here. The modern Miami-Illinois name for the Quapaw is
/kaahpa/; /akaansa/ is in the earliest period a name for the Quapaw or just
Dhegihans in general; later it's specifically the M-I name for the Kaw.
'Savansa' is reminiscent of the name for the Shawnees in many languages,
which makes me think Margry might have gotten a little confused. Not that
many M-I nouns begin with /s/, so if that's not the explanation, it's
probably from some other language. And finally 'Wasa' looks like the later
central Algonquian name for the Osage, as in M-I /was$aa$i/.

That's all I can come up with strictly looking at the Algonquian end of it.

Dave


> 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.

>> 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 DÈcouverts... (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