List of place names in Nebraska of Native American origin

This is a list of Native American place names in the U.S. state of Nebraska. These include state, county, townships, cities, towns, and villages.

Main article: List of placenames of indigenous origin in the Americas

State

• Nebraska - The name of the state is derived from an Omaha name meaning "flat water." In the Omaha language the name is Nibthaska; ni, water, and bthaska, flat.

Counties

• Red Willow - From the Dakota name "Caŋṡaṡa Wakpala", which literally means Red Osier Dogwood Creek; this shrub being abundant along its banks.
• Cheyenne
• Dakota
• Keya Paha County, Nebraska
• Loup - Named for the Skidi Pawnee, whose name means "wolf", which in French is loup.
• Nemaha
• Otoe
• Pawnee
• Sioux
• Keya Paha - Means "turtle hill", is descriptive of the small hills in its vicinity.

Villages, towns and cities

• Anoka - A Dakota Indian word meaning "on both sides."
• Arapahoe
• Birdwood - A translation of the Dakota name Ziŋtka-c̣aŋ Wakpala (False Indigo Creek). False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), commonly grows along the stream and in Dakota is literally called "birdwood."
• Battle Creek - Named after a nearby stream where Nebraska volunteer militiamen were prepared to fight a battle against the Pawnee Indians that never happened.
• Barada - Named after Antoine Barada, a French-Omaha settler on the Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation.
• Blackbird - Blackbird is the English translation of the name Wash-ing-guhsah-ba, or Chief Blackbird of the Omahas who lived and died in the vicinity.
• Bone Creek Township, Butler County, Nebraska
• Brule - Named after the Brule tribe of the Teton Sioux.
• Council Creek Township, Nance County, Nebraska
• Elkhorn Township, Dodge County, Nebraska
• Fontenelle - Named after Omaha chief Logan Fontenelle.
• Hyannis - Named after Hyannis, Massachusetts, which was named after Iyannough, a sachem of the Cummaquid tribe. ^[1]
• Iowa Township, Holt County, Nebraska
• Kenesaw Township, Adams County, Nebraska
• Leshara - Named after Chief Petalesharo.
• Lodgepole - Named after a nearby creek that is named after a literal translation of the Dakota name, Tushu Wakpala.
• Logan Township, Adams County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Antelope County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Burt County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Clay County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Cuming County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Dixon County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Dodge County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Gage County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Kearney County, Nebraska
• Logan Township, Knox County, Nebraska
• Loup Ferry Township, Nance County, Nebraska
• Loup Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska
• Loup Township, Custer County, Nebraska
• Loup Township, Merrick County, Nebraska
• Loup Township, Platte County, Nebraska
• Mankota - Mankota is from the Dakota Indian word Maḳaṭo, meaning "blue earth". Named for Mankato, Minnesota.
• Minatare - From the Hidatsa word mirita'ri, meaning "crosses the water." ^[2]
• Monowi - Meaning "flower", this town was so named because there were so many wild flowers growing in the vicinity.
• Nehawka - An approximation to the Omaha and Otoe Indian name of a nearby creek meaning "rustling water."
• Nemaha - Named after the Nemaha River, based on an Otoe word meaning "swampy water." ^[3]
• Niobrara - The Omaha and Ponca word for spreading water or spreading river.
• Oconee - Named for Oconee, Illinois. Oconee was the name of a Creek town.
• Oconto - A Menominee word meaning the "place of the pickerel." Named for Oconto, Wisconsin.
• Ogallala - named for the Oglala people.
• Omaha - Named for the Omaha people who lived nearby
• Oneida Township, Kearney County, Nebraska
• Osceola
• Ottercreek Township, Dixon County, Nebraska
• Leshara. Named after Petalesharo, a Pawnee chief.
• Platte Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska
• Platte Township, Butler County, Nebraska
• Platte Township, Dodge County, Nebraska
• Pohocco - A precinct in the northeastern part of Saunders county, the name derives from Pahuk, meaning headland or promontory, the Pawnee name of a prominent hill in the vicinity.
• Ponca
• Quinnebaugh Township, Burt County, Nebraska
• Red Cloud
• Rosalie - Named for Rosalie La Flesche, a daughter of Omaha chief Joseph La Flesche. ^[4]
• Santee
• Sappa Township, Harlan County, Nebraska
• Saratoga Township, Holt County, Nebraska
• Sioux
• Skull Creek Township, Butler County, Nebraska
• St. Deroin - A ghost town on the former Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation founded by a French-Omaha settler who was killed near his trading post along the Missouri River.
• Tecumseh
• Tekamah - Located on the site of a historic Pawnee village, the surrounding hills were used for burying grounds and the highest point was used as a fire signal station. The origin of the name is not definitely known.
• Tonawanda - Named for Tonawanda, New York.
• Unidilla - An Iroquois word meaning "place of meeting." Named after Unadilla, New York.
• Venango - An eastern Native American name in reference to a figure found on a tree, carved by the Erie.
• Waco - Named after Waco, Texas, which is the name of one of the divisions of the Tawokoni whose village stood on the site of Waco, Texas.
• Wahoo
• Weeping Water is a translation of the French "L'Eau qui Pleure", and has an interesting Native American legend connected with its name.
• Winnebago
• Wyoming - Derived from a corrupted Delaware word meaning "large plains" or "extensive meadows."
• Wyoming Township, Holt County, Nebraska
• Yutan - Named for an Otoe chief.

Natural features

• Arikaree River
• Big Blue River
• Big Horn Mountain
• Dakota Formation
• Elkhorn River
• Fontenelle Forest
• Guide Rock
• Keya Paha River
• Lake Wanahoo
• Little Blue River
• Lodgepole Creek
• Medicine Creek
• Missouri River
• Missouri River Valley
• Niobrara National Scenic River
• Niobrara River
• Nishnabotna River
• North Platte River
• Ogallala Aquifer
• Oglala National Grassland
• Pahuk
• Platte River
• Red Willow Creek
• South Platte River
• Standing Bear Lake

Other places

• Fontenelle Boulevard
• Fontenelle's Post
• Hotel Fontenelle
• Logan Fontenelle Housing Project

See also

• Native American tribes in Nebraska
• History of Nebraska
• French people in Nebraska

References

1. "Profile for Hyannis, Massachusetts". ePodunk. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
2. Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 258. ISBN   080613576X.
3. Network, University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Web Developer. "CASDE | Nemaha -- Nemaha County". www.casde.unl.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
4. Fitzpatrick, Lilian Linder A.M. (1925) Nebraska Place-Names . Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism. p 140.

Bibliography

• Fitzpatrick, Lilian Linder A.M. (1925) Nebraska Place-Names . Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism. p 140.
• Fontenelle, Henry. (1885) Indian Names of Streams and Localities. Translations and reports of the Nebraska State Historical Society, vol. 1, p. 76, 1885.
• Gilmore, Melvin R. (1919) Some Indian Place Names in Nebraska. Nebraska State Historical Society, vol. 19, pp. 130–139.

External links

• Indian Place Names in New Jersey