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Your state's cool Native American county names


NcSc74

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While growing up in NC we would drive to NJ to visit family and I would always try to pronounce the names of counties, towns or river names. I will start this off with some of NCs. Roanoke, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Cherokee, Manteo, Rowan, Lumbee, Uwharrie, Catawba those are just a few I can't remember any more.....

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Florida has: Seminole, Osceola, Indian River, Alachua, Okeechobee, and Suwannee counties...

A few "cool" city/place names off the top of my head:

Miami :), Apalachicola, Okeechobee, Weekiwachee, Pahokee, Tallahassee, Hialeah, Opa-Locka, Umatilla, Apopka, Ochopee, Ocala, Kissimmee, Micanopy, Ocklawaha, Palatka, Tampa, Astatula, Minneola

Water bodies: Lake Okeechobee, Lake Panasoffkee, Kissimmee (pronounced ki-SIMM-ee) River, Suwanee River, Caloosahatchee River, Withlacootchee River, Lake Tohopekaliga (otherwise called Lake Toho), Lake Apopka, Ocklawaha River, etc.

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I believe the name Savannah might have been taken from a Yamacraw word for bluff or something.

There are several river names in GA that have Indian names. Chattahoochee, for example, means ironically "River of Painted Rock" for it's natural beauty (although anyone who's actually been to the river might disagree and say that the only thing painting the rocks these days is the Atlanta sewage).

We must also not forget Lake Chargoggagogchaubunagungamaug (sp?, New England forumers) in Massachusetts, whose name means "You fish on your side, I'll fish on mine, and no one fishes in the middle".

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The state of Alabama is named after a tribe of Native Americans -- the Alabama, also the name for a major river in the state.

Alabama counties with Native American names:

Autauga, Cherokee, Choctaw, Conecuh, Coosa, Escambia, Etowah, Mobile (French version of Maubila or Mauvila), Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa

Some Alabama cities/towns with Native American names:

Attalla, Autaugaville, Cahaba, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choccolocco, Clayhatchee, Coosada, Cusseta, Letohatchee, Loachapoka, Mobile, Notasulga, Ohatchee, Opelika, Saginaw, Seminole, Sylacauga, Talladega, Tallassee, Tensaw, Tuscaloosa, Tuscumbia, Tuskegee, Wedowee, Wetumpka

A few Alabama rivers with Native American names:

Alabama, Black Warrior, Chattahoochee (border with Georgia), Choctawhatchee, Conecuh, Coosa, Mobile, Tennessee, Tallapoosa, Tensaw, Tombigbee

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Michigan has some pretty good ones:

Cities: Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Muskegon, Okemos, Ypsilanti, Ishpeming, Menominee, Escanaba, Dowagiac

Counties: Lenawee (pronounced Len-a-way), Keweenaw, Mackinac (prounounced Mack-i-naw), Tuscola, Osceola, Gratiot (pronounced Gra-crap), Manistee, Newaygo, Oscoda, Ostego, Gogebic, Ontonogan, Leelanau...

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As for counties in SC, we have Cherokee, Oconee, and Saluda.

As far as municipalities, rivers, islands, etc. named after American Indians or that have American Indian origins, there are too many to name, but I found a cool site listing all such places throughout the state.

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Wow that is a great site. I didn't know that SCIWAY had that specific info :thumbsup:

One big one that we are leaving out is Chicago and Illinois.

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I live in Willacoochee, which is Indian, believed to mean "Home of The Wildcat". The Willacoochee River borders the west side of town. There is an old Indian Mound on the Willacoochee River.

Alapaha, GA (Berrien County)

Ocilla, GA (Irwin County)

Willacoochee, GA (Atkinson County)

We are all within 30 min of each other!

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Allegheny County, the main metro county of Pittsburgh as well as one of the names of the "three rivers" and the moutain range, turnpike tunnel, municipal airport etc. etc. is an Indian word meaning "fair water" ;)

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Krazee had a great link to South Carolina Native American names. My name on UP, "Waccamatt" is a hybrid of the name "Waccamaw" and my first name. When I first got a real computer, back in the 90's, I lived in an apartment on Waccamaw Avenue in Columbia and I combined the street and my name to become my first email address and it now serves the same purpose on message boards. (More than you ever wanted to know!) :)

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Minnesota's indian county names.

Anoka, Chippewa, Dakota, Isanti, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Koochiching, Wabasha, Wadena, Waseca, Watanwon, Winona

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I have to add one of our favorites in MN: Minnehaha.

As in ______ Falls, _______ Parkway, ______ Creek, ______ Avenue, and _______ Nursery. :silly:

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