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What if every U.S. state had a Native American name
#1
Many U.S. states have names derived from Native Americans (for example Illinois, Utah, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, the Dakotas, Kentucky, Texas, Alabama, etc.).

But what if every single state was named after Native Americans who used to live there? Let's invent such names for U.S. states which don't have such names.

Edit:

Let's also rename Canadian provinces in such a manner.
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#2
Okay, but which group are we going to ask and which language should we use?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous...ontact.png

Quote:Before European contact, native Californians spoke over 300 dialects of approximately 100 distinct languages.[103][104] The large number of languages has been related to the ecological diversity of California,[105] and to a sociopolitical organization into small tribelets (usually 100 individuals or fewer) with a shared "ideology that defined language boundaries as unalterable natural features inherent in the land".[106]: 1  Together, the area had more linguistic diversity than all of Europe combined.[104]

"The majority of California Indian languages belong either to highly localized language families with two or three members (e.g. Yukian, Maiduan) or are language isolates (e.g. Karuk, Esselen)."[106]: 8  Of the remainder, most are Uto-Aztecan or Athapaskan languages. Larger groupings have been proposed. The Hokan superstock has the greatest time depth and has been most difficult to demonstrate; Penutian is somewhat less controversial.

There is evidence suggestive that speakers of the Chumashan languages and Yukian languages, and possibly languages of southern Baja California such as Waikuri, were in California prior to the arrival of Penutian languages from the north and Uto-Aztecan from the east, perhaps predating even the Hokan languages.[106] Wiyot and Yurok are distantly related to Algonquian languages in a larger grouping called Algic. The several Athapaskan languages are relatively recent arrivals, having arrived about 2000 years ago.
R1b>M269>L23>L51>L11>P312>DF19>DF88>FGC11833 >S4281>S4268>Z17112>FT354149

Ancestors: Francis Cooke (M223/I2a2a) b1583; Hester Mahieu (Cooke) (J1c2 mtDNA) b.1584; Richard Warren (E-M35) b1578; Elizabeth Walker (Warren) (H1j mtDNA) b1583; John Mead (I2a1/P37.2) b1634; Rev. Joseph Hull (I1, L1301+ L1302-) b1595; Benjamin Harrington (M223/I2a2a-Y5729) b1618; Joshua Griffith (L21>DF13) b1593; John Wing (U106>Z8>Z1) b1584; John Howland (U106>Z8>Z1) b1593; Elizabeth Tilley (Howland) (H1a1 mtDNA) b1607; Thomas Gunn (DF19) b1605; Hermann Wilhelm (DF19) b1635
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#3
Let me start. For example New Jersey should in my opinion be renamed as Lenapia, because this was the main tribe in its territory.

West Virginia can be called Moneton, however I'm also open to other suggestions.

California will be surely a much harder case to decide, as Dewsloth has just noticed.
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#4
How about renaming California as West Indiana?
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#5
Newfoundland = Beothukia.
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#6
North and South Carolina would be known as North and South Chicora

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicora

Virginia might be Powhatan, and thus West Virginia would be West Powhatan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powhatan
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#7
Delaware is an interesting case because it is actually not a Native American name:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wes...De_La_Warr

https://delawaretribe.org/

And this website confirms:

https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/opa/online-pre...-us-states

"DELAWARE: Named for Lord De La Warr, first governor and captain-general of Virginia, who in 1630 explored the bay and river area where his name was first applied."
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#8
U S. states with non-Amerindian names are:

Arizona
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Montana
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico - Amerindian name but not local (Aztec)
New York
North Carolina
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia - there was a suggestion to name it Kanawha
Wyoming - Amerindian name but not local (Lenape)

Other states have Amerindian names except Hawaii which is Polynesian.

=====

And here for Canadian provinces and regions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ca...tymologies

Names of non-Amerindian origin are:

Acadia - possibly from a Mikmaq word
Alberta
British Columbia
Labrador
New Brunswick
Newfoundland
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
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#9
This map can also be helpful, it is a map of tribes with modern state borders added:

https://i.ibb.co/9HCSC0v/Indigenous-Amer...dition.jpg
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#10
(05-11-2024, 01:35 AM)Tomenable Wrote: U S. states with non-Amerindian names are:

Arizona
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Montana
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico - Amerindian name but not local (Aztec)
New York
North Carolina
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia - there was a suggestion to name it Kanawha
Wyoming - Amerindian name but not local (Lenape)

Other states have Amerindian names except Hawaii which is Polynesian.

=====

And here for Canadian provinces and regions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ca...tymologies

Names of non-Amerindian origin are:

Acadia - possibly from a Mikmaq word
Alberta
British Columbia
Labrador
New Brunswick
Newfoundland
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island

Indiana derives from the term "Indian"- but of course Amerindians didn't call themselves that.
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#11
'Labrador' means farmer in Spanish, which is ironic as no part of the area is suitable for farming, and at any rate the name is more connected to a large, cuddly dog.
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#12
(05-09-2024, 10:21 PM)Tomenable Wrote: How about renaming California as West Indiana?

For California, I would suggest Modoc. That's the name of one of the more famous of California's tribes. There was the Modoc War and the famous Captain Jack Kintpuash.

I went to high school in Northern California, and some of my classmates were Modoc Amerindians. They are in general a very tall people. I don't know what the tribal average is, but the guys I knew and played football with were all 6-4 or taller. They were a rough bunch. One of them was among the very best friends of my youngest brother.
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#13
For Delaware I would suggest Nanticoke. That was the most powerful confederation of tribes in its territory:

[Image: delaware.jpg]
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