this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 71 points 11 months ago (2 children)

There's a reason why indigenous people called it Mississippi, a word that came from Ojibwe and Algonquin languages, which are related.

I speak my language of Ojibwe Cree in northern Ontario and it's very clear for me to understand the word.

Mishi ... is a word we use to describe something as big in size

Sipi ... is the word for River, a major River, as opposed to a small creek or channel.

In my language and dialect, Mississippi literally translates to just 'Big River'

And by the look of this map .... it is definitely a 'Big River'

[–] Sunfoil@lemmy.world 14 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Big River River. This is like in the UK when the Romans arrived and asked for the names of Rivers, they were told Avon. But that's just the Celtic word for river. So we have 5 separate river Avons and they are all called River River.

[–] lars@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 11 months ago

Naming a place just once is trash. They must be given a second name or even third appellation, and in the case of Pendleton Hill, a fourth christening.