Indian place names of New England

1962·16.3 MB·English

by  Huden, John Charles, 1899-

51
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION ^ITHSOT^
1962
^UL 2 2000
•Varies,

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION
VOL. XVIII
INDIAN PLACE NAMES
OF NEW ENGLAND
Compiled by
JOHN C.HUDEN
NEW YORK
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION
1962
Library of Congress catalog card number 62-18399
Printedin GermanyatJ.J.Augustin, Gliickstadt
TO
Grace Braem Huden
with much love

CONTENTS
Page
Foreword
vii
Preface ix
Historical Background ix
Population Estimates x
Linguistic Aids xi
Alien Tongues Involved xi
The Approach to the Problem xii
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction i
Pronunciation 3
Spelling 6
Translating Algonquian Place Names 8
A Word about Maps 12
Indian Place Names of New England 15
Appendix 299
Dictionary of Grammatical Roots 301
Place Name Glossary 369
Camp Names
377
Bibliography 387
Index
395

FOREWORD
The native geographer has come and gone in New England as
;
is true of so many aboriginal inhabitants, his was a light touch
which left little impress upon the land. Because the White emi-
grant to the region had little understanding of the various local
dialects, and even less interest in native cultures, by and large the
names the Indian gave to his landmarks have disappeared. Many
of these have survived in extremely distorted forms, and only a
small proportion of the currently-used place names are clearly
defined and readily translatable Indian terms. This is an unfor-
tunate loss to our historic heritage.
As part of a continuing interest in the preservation of informa-
tion related to all aspects of Amerindian life, this volume is
published in an attempt to bring together as large a body of data
as possible relating to the toponymy of New England.
The compiler, John C. Huden, has been active in the study of
the early Indian history of New England for the past forty years.
He is familiar with several Algonquian dialects, and has spent
many years of intensive research into the particular field of
place names. From these researches has come an extended
record of publications on the subject. Currently on the faculty of
the University of Vermont, Dr. Huden has a background of first-
hand acquaintance with the region and its aboriginal inhabitants.
It is confidently anticipated that this compilation will prove
useful to the reader who is interested in the Indianbackground of
New England. It is also hoped that it will encourage the publi-
cation of other studies of a similar nature, so that in due course,
the Indian place name structure of the entire United States will
be available in published form* While there are many titles in the
literature on the subject, much is yet to be done.
The Museum is particularly grateful to Dr. Huden for his untir-
ing efforts in gathering together this information before it is
entirely lost, and also to Mr. Lawrence K. Gahan for the generous
loan of his notes pertaining to the Massachusetts area.
Frederick Dockstader
J.
May, 1962 Director
vii