The following list includes settlements, geographic features, and political subdivisions of Minnesota whose names are derived from Native American languages or are popularly known by a Native-language name.
Placename linguistic origins
The primary Native languages in Minnesota are Dakota and Ojibwe. Some Dakota and Ojibwe placenames are based on Iowa language, a people that had significant presence in the Southern portion of the state until the 16th century.
Many Minnesota placenames are translations or mistranslations, mispronunciations, or Romanized transcriptions of Native placenames and descriptions. Dakota, Ojibwe, and Iowa people had no written language at the time these names were popularly adopted.
One of the most common mispronunciations is that of the Dakota-language consonant "b", which is a combination of "m" and "b" consonants in English. In English there is no equivalent. Placenames were often recorded verbally and textually by European colonizers with the English consonant "m" in place of the Dakota consonant "b". In modern Dakota language, "b" is typically the correct consonant for words such as Bdóte, whose depreciated form in the historical record is mdóte. Cities such as Mendota, Minnesota take their name from Bdóte with the European colonizer mispronunciation of the Dakota "b" consonant.
State name
Native names by county
- Anoka County
- Shared with the city of Anoka.
- Chippewa County
- Chisago County – from Ojibwe Gichi-zaaga'igan: "Big lake"
- Dakota County
- Isanti County
- Shared with the city of Isanti
- Kanabec County – from Ojibwe Ginebiko-ziibiing: "At the Snake River"
- Kandiyohi County
- Shared with the city of Kandiyohi
- Koochiching County – from Ojibwe Gojijiing: "At the inlet"
- Mahnomen County – from Ojibwe manoomin: wild rice
- Shared with the city of Mahnomen
- Wabasha County
- Wadena County
- Shared with the city of Wadena.
- Waseca County
- Shared with the city of Waseca.
- Watonwan County
- Winona County
- Shared with the city of Winona.
Native names by municipality
- Ah-gwah-ching – from Ojibwe agwajiing: outdoors
- Bejou – from Ojibwe bizhiw: bobcat or lynx
- Bemidji – from Ojibwe Bemijigamaag: "Traversing lake"
- Bena – from Ojibwe bine: grouse or partridge
- Chanhassen
- Chaska
- Chengwatana – from Ojibwe Zhingwaadena: "Pine-town"
- Chokio
- Cohasset
- Cokato
- Endion – from Ojibwe Endaayaan: "my home"
- Eyota
- Hackensack
- Hanska
- Hokah
- Kabetogama – from Ojibwe Gaa-biitoogamaag: "Place of paralleling water-body"
- Kanaranzi
- Kasota
- Keewatin – from Ojibwe giiwedin: North
- Keewaydin, Minneapolis – from Ojibwe giiwedin: North
- Mahtomedi
- Mahtowa
- Mankato
- Menahga
- Mendota – mispronunciation of Dakota Bdóte, the confluence of the Minnesota River and Mississippi River, which is the Dakota religious center of the universe
- Minneapolis – from Dakota mníȟaȟa (lit. 'waterfall') and the Greek language suffix opolis (city)
- Minnehaha
- Minneiska
- Minneola
- Minnetonka
- Muskoda
- Nashwauk
- Nokomis – from Ojibwe nookomis: "my grandmother"
- Nisswa
- Ogema Township – from Ojibwe ogimaa: chief or leader
- Okabena
- Onamia
- Otsego
- Ottawa
- Owanka
- Owatonna
- Pequot Lakes
- Pokegama – from Ojibwe Bakegamaa: "Side Lake"
- Puposky
- Red Wing – for the village of Dakota chief Tatanka Mani (lit. 'Walking Buffalo'), known as Red Wing for the red-dyed swan wing carried as part of his standard[1]
- Saco
- Saginaw
- Sebeka
- Shakopee – from Dakota Shák'pí: "Six"
- Squaw Lake
- Wabasso
- Waconia
- Wahkon
- Wakemup
- Wannaska
- Wasioja
- Waubun – from Ojibwe waaban: dawn or East
- Waukenabo
- Wawina
- Wayzata
- Wenonah
- Winona
- Yucatan
Bodies of water
- Bde Maka Ska – Dakota for "Lake White Earth". The lake was dubbed "Lake Calhoun" by European colonizers. The original name is likely a Dakota translation of the placename given by the Iowa people who inhabited the area until the 16th century. Early settlers and maps call it "Lake Medoza" after another Dakota name for the lake: Bde Bedoza.
- Coldwater Spring – translation of the Dakota name Mníowé Sní: lit. 'Spring Cold'[2]
- Lake Esquagama
- Esquagamah Lake
- Inguadona Lake
- Lake Kabetogama
- Kawishiwi River
- Kitchi Lake
- Minnehaha Falls – from the Dakota name Mníȟaȟa: lit. 'Water Waterfall'. A common legend mistranslates Mníȟaȟa as "laughing waters" due to the similarity to the English onomatopoeia "haha" for laughter.[3]
- Minnesota River – from the Dakota name Mnísota Wakpá: lit. 'Minnesota River'
- Mississippi River – mispronunciation of the Ojibwe name Misi-ziibi: lit. 'Great River'
- Nemadji River
- Lake Ogechie
- Ogishke Muncie Lake
- Pokegama Lake
- Lake Saganaga
- Sauk River (Minnesota)
- Lake Shakopee – from Dakota Shák'pí: "Six"
- Lake Sisabagama
- Siseebakwet Lake
- Us-kab-wan-ka River
- Watab River
- Lake Winnibigoshish
Landforms
- Bdóte – lit. 'Clearwater Confluence', the Northern tip of Pike Island and the surrounding area, known to the Dakota as the center of the universe and start of all life
- Cayuga Range
- Kaposia Landing – location of the former Kapoṡia (Little Crow's Village)[4]
- Mesabi Range
See also
References
Citations
Sources
- Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 080613576X.
- Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195094271