(O)maha

[Michael Mccafferty]

Just to drive this whole issue into the ground, here is the list of
Marquette's tribe names for the more or less Missouri and Arkansas
watersheds:

Missouri River area: Otontanta, Pana, Maha, Pah8tet, Paniassa, Kansa,
Moing8ena, Pe8area, 8chage, 8emess8rit


Arkansas River area: Atotchasi, Matora, Akoroa, Papikaha, 8mam8eta,
Tanika, Paniassa, Aiaichi, Metchigamea, Akansea


If anyone knows, I'm interested in "Pah8tet". Many of these show up Parks
and DeMaillie's volume of HNAI, so perhaps I should check that first.


Michael


On Tue, 23 Mar 2004, Koontz John E wrote:

> On Mon, 22 Mar 2004, David Costa wrote:
> > > Out of curiosity, what is the modern MI form for Omaha?
> >
> > None is attested, sadly.
>
> Thanks, this was quite helpful!  I guess in the context I would sum it up
> that the only attestation in any way, shape, or form of 'Omaha' in
> Miami-Illinois of any age at all is the maha(s) on the Marquette map,
> which is only presumably of MI origin.  However, MI seems to delete short
> vowels from the initials of ethnonyms, pretty much across the board, even
> in the Old Illinois stage, and more recently also from other kinds of
> words, so that it is not implausible that omaha or umaha would be reduced
> to (?) maha.
>
> If it weren't reduced, one would expect (?) amaha, because of constraints
> on possible initial vowels.
>
> Maha, plural mahaaki, is attested in Shawnee.
>
> All of this allows us to suspect that the convention of referring to the
> Omahas as Mahas may have originated in Miami-Illinois, though there are a
> few missing links in the evidence.
>
> JEK
>
>
>