No less than 27 out of the 50 states' names in the USA are based in American Indian languages. Additionally, six out of 13 of Canada's provinces and territories have names with indigenous origins, and, of course, Canada itself is derived from an indigenous source. Shakespeare quipped, "What's in a name?" A lot, it turns out, because states like California and Florida reflect their Spanish history; here, in the Great Lakes, that history is indigenous. If you have an understanding of the name of a place, its history may reveal itself. And that history will, most likely, enrich your own life and your place in it.
Join us on this journey through Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota as we alphabetically traverse indigenous place names in each locale. Alternately, you can peruse an alphabetical concordance of every place name. In the appendices, you'll discover details of US and Canadian treaties with indigenous people, and many that are still under dispute today--including the Anishinaabek, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Miami, Kickapoo, Sauk, Sioux, Ojibway, Mississauga, Mohawk, Algonquin, Iroquois, Huron, and related First Nations bands in Ontario.
"Emeritus Professor Phil Bellfy has used his life-long Indigenous knowledge to produce this imaginative, original work that will be indispensable to any researcher working on Indigenous studies in the Great Lakes watershed. Indians and Other Misnomers of the Upper Great Lakes will be in the forefront of changing the way in which Indigenous knowledge shapes the hitherto colonial narrative of the Great Lakes." David T. McNab, professor emeritus, York University, Toronto, Ontario.
"Indians and Other Misnomers of the Upper Great Lakes is a fascinating exploration of the Indigenous origins of many place names bordering the Great Lakes. This book offers readers the opportunity to contemplate their place within the landscape of the Indigenous homelands now claimed by the Canadian and American settler states. It is a must-own companion book for researchers, residents and anyone interested in the places, history and linguistic heritages of the Great Lakes." --Karl Hele, Anishinaabeg and the Davidson Chair in Canadian Studies, Mount Allison University
"Words carry meaning and history. In this Indians and Other Misnomers of the Upper Great Lakes, Dr. Phil Bellfy takes us on an etymological journey around the Great Lakes region as he explains the possible origins and meanings of Native American place names. This book helps paint a relational picture of the cultural world of the Anishinaabe Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibway, Odawa, and Potawatomi and how that view has been impacted by settler colonialism." -- Dr. Martin Reinhardt, Anishinaabe Ojibway citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians; professor of Native American Studies, Northern Michigan University, president of the Michigan Indian Education Council.
"Indians and Other Misnomers of the Upper Great Lakes is an important and fascinating book that reminds the reader that the culture and language of Native Americans is still with us today. It enriches our language, and the words alone make clear how long this land has been revered and cherished." -- Tom Powers, Michigan In Books
"This is a helpful resource for those looking to explore regional history." -- Chronicle, Historical Society of Michigan
"Bellfy's book is a very important reference work that should be carried in all public, school, and home libraries." -- Sue Harrison, award-winning author of The Midwife's Touch
Phil Bellfy is an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa, and Professor Emeritus of American Indian Studies, Michigan State University. He resides in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula near Sault Ste. Marie. Dr. Bellfy is also the Founder and a Co-Director of Center for the Study of Indigenous Border Issues (CSIBI) and serves as the Editor and Publisher of its education imprint, the Ziibi Press.His works include: UP Colony: A Brief History of Resource Exploitation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with a Focus on Sault Manufacturing. Ziibi Press, 2021. Three Fires Unity: The Anishnaabeg of the Lake Huron Borderlands. Indians and Other Misnomers: a Cross-referenced Dictionary of the People, Persons, and Places of Native North America. First Americans Engagement Calendar. (Co-author with Judith Dupré)
