State names continued

Discovering the origin of state names tells us what diverse roots we have as a nation. We should wallow in our diversity and blend rather than try to stand out from others. End of oration and on to information. As always I give credit for my knowledge to Uncle John's Bathroom reader. I would be stupid without it. (Big Smile)

Okay, here we go.

Illinois comes from the French who love to put their own spin on pronunciations. (No offense to the French). It is an Algonquin word illini and means men.

Indiana, well duh Indians lived there so the English speakers called it...you guessed it...Indiana.

Iowa is a Sious word for beautiful land or one who puts to sleep. Now that is quite a digression in meanings. I have driven through Iowa and will reserve comment. However, I met some wonderful folks there.

Kansas is another Sious word. They sure made their presence known in that part of the country. It means "south wind people". That was their name for anyone who lived south of their territory.

Kentucky...another Indian word (well they were here first) kan-tuk-kee meaning "dark and bloody ground" (did they have a premonition of the Hatfields and McCoys?) or kan-tuc-kec, "land of green reeds, or ken-take, meaning "meadowland". Can we think Kentucky blue grass and derby?

Louisiana. Well this is a simple one, King Louis XIV.

Maine, now we go back to the French once again. It means "province" in old French. Is old French spoken anywhere these days?

Maryland brings us back to royalty and the English this time. It was named after Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of King George the First. Why didn't they call it Henriettaland? Too long, I guess.

Massachusetts is named after a tribe of the same name and means "large hill place" like maybe Bunker? Is that the way the Indians spelled it. I've always had trouble with that state.

Michigan is back to the Indians and credited to the Chippewa word for "great water", and isn't there a Great Lake around there of the same name?

Minnesota takes us back to the Sioux. It has two possible meanings: sky tinted or muddy water. Well there is a lot of water up there as I recall. Isn't there a rumor about there being 10,000 lakes?

Mississippi is attributed to the Chippewa. Hmmm, seems to me there is quite a distance between Michigan and Mississippi. It comes from their word mici (great) and zibi (river)and it is.

Well that is all until next week when we will start with Missouri.