﻿O 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  aboriginal 
  words, 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  helpful 
  to 
  

   many. 
  Students 
  of 
  Indian 
  words 
  will 
  find 
  Pilling's 
  Algonquin 
  

   and 
  Iroquois 
  bibliographies 
  very 
  useful. 
  

  

  The 
  names 
  given 
  are 
  local, 
  though 
  sometimes 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  

   names 
  of 
  persons. 
  Of 
  the 
  latter 
  I 
  have 
  several 
  thousands 
  con- 
  

   nected 
  with 
  New 
  York, 
  mostly 
  Iroquois, 
  but 
  fully 
  representative 
  of 
  

   the 
  less 
  important 
  Algonquin 
  tribes. 
  All 
  have 
  dates, 
  and 
  many 
  of 
  

   them 
  interesting 
  histories. 
  The 
  mere 
  mention 
  of 
  this 
  fact 
  shows 
  

   how 
  large 
  were 
  the 
  powers 
  of 
  those 
  languages 
  which 
  will 
  soon 
  be 
  

   classed 
  among 
  those 
  which 
  are 
  dead. 
  In 
  a 
  list 
  of 
  1885 
  lakes 
  and 
  

   ponds 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  285 
  have 
  Indian 
  names 
  still 
  and 
  more 
  

   than 
  a 
  thousand 
  rivers 
  an'd 
  streams 
  have 
  names 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  

   source. 
  Half 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  our 
  states 
  and 
  territories 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  

   same 
  class, 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  our 
  great 
  lakes 
  and 
  rivers. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  not 
  necessary 
  to 
  prefer 
  Indian 
  place 
  names 
  to 
  others. 
  They 
  

   are 
  not 
  always 
  pleasanter 
  in 
  sound, 
  and 
  are 
  rarely 
  poetical, 
  yet 
  we 
  

   are 
  glad 
  to 
  retain 
  many 
  of 
  them. 
  Some 
  of 
  our 
  very 
  finest 
  names 
  

   in 
  New 
  York 
  are 
  aboriginal, 
  but 
  names 
  derived 
  from 
  our 
  own 
  ances- 
  

   try, 
  dear 
  to 
  us 
  from 
  historic 
  or 
  personal 
  associations, 
  full 
  of 
  

   meaning 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  untrained 
  ear, 
  may 
  be 
  just 
  as 
  good 
  as 
  abo- 
  

   riginal 
  names 
  which 
  mean 
  nothing 
  at 
  all 
  to 
  us, 
  or 
  perhaps 
  any 
  one 
  

   else. 
  It 
  is 
  just 
  as 
  incongruous 
  to 
  place 
  an 
  Indian 
  .prairie 
  name 
  

   among 
  our 
  mountains 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  to 
  plant 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  Pompey, 
  

   Cicero 
  and 
  Virgil 
  in 
  central 
  New 
  York. 
  Onondaga 
  is 
  not 
  appro- 
  

   priate 
  on 
  our 
  western 
  plains. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  our 
  New 
  York 
  aboriginal 
  names 
  we 
  fortunately 
  

   have 
  early 
  and 
  valuable 
  aids. 
  The 
  French 
  and 
  English 
  missionaries 
  

   translated 
  books 
  of 
  devotion 
  and 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  Bible, 
  often 
  

   describing 
  languages 
  and 
  preparing 
  vocabularies. 
  The 
  Iroquois 
  

   were 
  greatly 
  favored 
  in 
  this 
  way, 
  though 
  most 
  of 
  this 
  linguistic 
  

   work 
  fell 
  to 
  the 
  lot 
  of 
  the 
  Mohawks 
  and 
  Senecas. 
  The 
  Moravians 
  

   had 
  men 
  at 
  Onondaga 
  for 
  several 
  successive 
  years 
  merely 
  to 
  study 
  

   the 
  language. 
  In 
  Iroquois 
  councils 
  the 
  interpreter 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  

   importance 
  for 
  nearly 
  two 
  centuries, 
  nor 
  has 
  his 
  usefulness 
  yet 
  

   ceased. 
  In 
  direct 
  and 
  indirect 
  ways 
  much 
  useful 
  material 
  has 
  been 
  

   gained 
  and 
  preserved, 
  and 
  when 
  these 
  languages 
  cease 
  to 
  be 
  spoken 
  

   they 
  will 
  still 
  be 
  read 
  and 
  understood. 
  To 
  aid 
  in 
  all 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  

   purpose 
  of 
  these 
  pages. 
  

  

  