﻿ABORIGINAL 
  PLACE 
  NAMES 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  97 
  

  

  to 
  refer 
  to 
  the 
  Due 
  de 
  Nivernois, 
  but 
  the 
  earlier 
  French 
  usage 
  

   makes 
  it 
  an 
  Iroquois 
  name. 
  

  

  Ni-ka-hi-on-ha-ko-wa 
  has 
  been 
  translated 
  big 
  river, 
  and 
  applied 
  to 
  

   Black 
  river. 
  If 
  so 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  corrupt 
  form 
  of 
  the 
  word. 
  It 
  is 
  more 
  

   likely 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  corrupted 
  from 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  sturgeon, 
  

   nikeanjiakowa, 
  big 
  fish, 
  which 
  abounded 
  there. 
  

  

  On-on-to-hen, 
  hill 
  with 
  the 
  same 
  river 
  on 
  each 
  side. 
  Oxbow 
  bend 
  

   on 
  the 
  Oswegatchie 
  river. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  very 
  sharp 
  bend 
  just 
  within 
  

   the 
  county- 
  

   Hough 
  said 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  Yale 
  College 
  map 
  mentioned 
  was 
  a 
  town 
  

   at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  Black 
  river 
  called 
  Otihanague. 
  He 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  

   mistaken 
  the 
  location, 
  for 
  this 
  name 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  Salmon 
  

   river 
  in 
  Oswego 
  county, 
  and 
  is 
  often 
  mentioned 
  in 
  the 
  Jesuit 
  

   Relations. 
  

  

  Out-en-nes-son-e-ta 
  was 
  interpreted 
  by 
  A. 
  Cusick 
  as 
  where 
  the 
  

   Iroquois 
  league 
  began 
  to 
  form. 
  On 
  Pouchot's 
  map 
  this 
  is 
  a 
  stream 
  

   north 
  of 
  Sandy 
  creek 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  Henderson. 
  This 
  would 
  

   make 
  the 
  first 
  thought 
  of 
  union 
  one 
  among 
  the 
  Onondagas, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  

   Hiawatha 
  tradition, 
  and 
  before 
  the 
  removal 
  of 
  all 
  to 
  their 
  later 
  

   homes. 
  Some 
  certainly 
  lingered 
  awhile. 
  The 
  name 
  harmonizes 
  

   with 
  an 
  old 
  tradition 
  of 
  a 
  neighboring 
  stream. 
  If 
  Hiawatha 
  first 
  

   lived 
  here 
  this 
  would 
  account 
  for 
  his 
  white 
  canoe. 
  

  

  Pee-tee-wee-mow-que-se-po, 
  wide 
  river, 
  is 
  given 
  as 
  an 
  Algonquin 
  

   name 
  of 
  Black 
  river. 
  This 
  is 
  certainly 
  not 
  a 
  good 
  definition. 
  The 
  

   prefix 
  to 
  sepo, 
  here 
  used 
  for 
  river, 
  suggests 
  Trumbull's 
  pehteau- 
  

   wuttoon, 
  he 
  foams 
  at 
  the 
  mouth, 
  and 
  Zeisberger's 
  pitey 
  for 
  foam. 
  

   The 
  meaning 
  would 
  then 
  be 
  river 
  which 
  foams, 
  perhaps 
  near 
  the 
  

   mouth, 
  and 
  becomes 
  strikingly 
  descriptive. 
  

  

  Te-ca-nan-ouar-on-e-si, 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  ago 
  this 
  swamp 
  was 
  divided, 
  

   according 
  to 
  A. 
  Cusick, 
  was 
  a 
  name 
  for 
  the 
  south 
  branch 
  of 
  Sandy 
  

   creek 
  in 
  1755. 
  Pouchot 
  said 
  traditionally 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  came 
  out 
  of 
  

   the 
  ground 
  there. 
  This 
  is 
  an 
  expression 
  used 
  for 
  a 
  first 
  settlement 
  

   and 
  there 
  were 
  early 
  towns 
  along 
  the 
  stream. 
  

  

  Te-ka'-da-o-ga'-he, 
  sloping 
  banks, 
  is 
  Morgan's 
  name 
  for 
  Sandy 
  

   creek. 
  It 
  might 
  refer 
  to 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  creek, 
  or 
  to 
  the 
  unequal 
  

   slope 
  of 
  an 
  earthwork, 
  bounded 
  outside 
  by 
  a 
  deep 
  ditch. 
  

  

  Wi-no'-na, 
  an 
  introduced 
  western 
  name, 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  mean 
  the 
  first- 
  

   born, 
  if 
  a 
  daughter. 
  

  

  