No less than 27 out of the 50 states' names in the USA are based in
American Indian languages. Additionally, six out of 13 of Canada's
provinces and territories have names with indigenous origins, and, of
course, Canada itself is derived from an indigenous source. Shakespeare
quipped, "What's in a name?" A lot, it turns out, because states like
California and Florida reflect their Spanish history; here, in the Great
Lakes, that history is indigenous. If you have an understanding of the
name of a place, its history may reveal itself. And that history will,
most likely, enrich your own life and your place in it.
Join us on this journey through Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota as we alphabetically
traverse indigenous place names in each locale. Alternately, you can
peruse an alphabetical concordance of every place name. In the
appendices, you'll discover details of US and Canadian treaties with
indigenous people, and many that are still under dispute today
"Emeritus Professor Phil Bellfy has used his life-long Indigenous
knowledge to produce this imaginative, original work that will be
indispensable to any researcher working on Indigenous studies in the
Great Lakes watershed. Indians and Other Misnomers of the Upper Great
Lakes will be in the forefront of changing the way in which Indigenous
knowledge shapes the hitherto colonial narrative of the Great Lakes."
David T. McNab, professor emeritus, York University, Toronto, Ontario.
"Indians and Other Misnomers of the Upper Great Lakes is a fascinating
exploration of the Indigenous origins of many place names bordering the
Great Lakes. This book offers readers the opportunity to contemplate
their place within the landscape of the Indigenous homelands now claimed
by the Canadian and American settler states. It is a must-own companion
book for researchers, residents and anyone interested in the places,
history and linguistic heritages of the Great Lakes." --Karl Hele,
Anishinaabeg and the Davidson Chair in Canadian Studies, Mount Allison
University
"Words carry meaning and history. In this Indians and Other Misnomers
of the Upper Great Lakes, Dr. Phil Bellfy takes us on an etymological
journey around the Great Lakes region as he explains the possible
origins and meanings of Native American place names. This book helps
paint a relational picture of the cultural world of the Anishinaabe
Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibway, Odawa, and Potawatomi and how that
view has been impacted by settler colonialism." -- Dr. Martin Reinhardt,
Anishinaabe Ojibway citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Indians; professor of Native American Studies, Northern Michigan
University, president of the Michigan Indian Education Council.
