Echoes of the Land: Indigenous Names Across the United States

Influential Individuals advocate for alterations to the traditional names of well-known landmarks on our maps. I reside on land that the Haudenosaunee people initially owned. I requested from ChatGPT a list of U.S. geographic locations with names originating from indigenous languages, including their meanings, where possible.

States

1. Alabama – From the Choctaw word Albaamo, meaning “thicket-clearers” or “tribal town.”
2. Alaska – From the Aleut word Aláxsxaq, meaning “mainland” or “great land.”
3. Arizona – Likely derived from the O’odham word ali ṣona-g, meaning “small spring.”
4. Connecticut – From the Algonquian word Quinnehtukqut, meaning “long tidal river.”
5. Dakota (North Dakota, South Dakota) – From the Sioux word Dakota, meaning “allies” or “friends.”
6. Illinois – From the French adaptation of the Algonquian word iliniwek, meaning “tribe of superior men.”
7. Iowa – From the Dakota Sioux word Ayuhwa, meaning “sleepy ones.”
8. Kansas – From the Kansa (or Kaw) tribe, meaning “people of the south wind.”
9. Massachusetts – From the Massachusett tribe, meaning “at the large hill” or “near the great hill.”
10. Michigan – From the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning “large water” or “large lake.”
11. Minnesota – From the Dakota word Mnisota, meaning “cloudy water.”
12. Missouri – From a Siouan word, likely meaning “people of the big canoes.”
13. Nebraska – From the Otoe word Ñí Brásge, meaning “flat water,” referring to the Platte River.
14. Ohio – From the Seneca word Ohi:yo’, meaning “good river” or “large creek.”
15. Oklahoma – From the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning “red people.”
16. Tennessee – From the Cherokee town name Tanasi, meaning uncertain but possibly “meeting place.”
17. Texas – From the Caddo word taysha, meaning “friends” or “allies.”
18. Utah – From the Ute tribe, meaning “people of the mountains.”

Rivers and Bodies of Water

1. Mississippi River – From the Ojibwe word Misi-ziibi, meaning “great river.”
2. Missouri River – Derived from the tribal name, meaning “big canoe people.”
3. Ohio River – From the Seneca word Ohi:yo’, meaning “good river.”
4. Chattahoochee River (Georgia) – From the Creek words chatta (rock) and hoochee (marked), meaning “painted rock.”
5. Potomac River – From the Algonquian word Patawomeke, meaning “river of swans” or “trading place.”
6. Susquehanna River – From the Lenape word Siskëwahane, meaning “muddy river.”

Mountains and Valleys

1. Appalachian Mountains – From the Apalachee tribe, meaning “people on the other side.”
2. Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) – Believed to mean “daughter of the stars” in Algonquian.
3. Teton Mountains (Wyoming) – From the Lakota word Tihtaŋka, meaning “big breast.”

Cities and Other Areas

1. Chicago (Illinois) – From the Miami-Illinois word shikaakwa, meaning “wild onion” or “wild garlic.”
2. Seattle (Washington) – Named after Chief Si’ahl (Chief Seattle) of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes.
3. Tucson (Arizona) – From the O’odham word Cuk Ṣon, meaning “black base” (of the mountains).
4. Milwaukee (Wisconsin) – From the Algonquian word Millioke, meaning “good land” or “gathering place by the water.”
5. Cheyenne (Wyoming) – From the Dakota word Šahíyena, meaning “red-talking people.”

National Parks and Natural Landmarks

1. Yosemite (California) – From the Miwok word Yohhe’meti, meaning “those who kill” (a name for a tribe).
2. Denali (Alaska) – From the Koyukon Athabaskan word Deenaalee, meaning “the high one.”
3. Acadia (Maine) – From the Mi’kmaq word akadie, meaning “place of abundance.”

OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com