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Reviews
NATIVE AMERICAN PLACENAMES OF THE UNITED STATES
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by William Bright
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| University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2004. Bibliography, 608 pages. $59.95 cloth. |
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| THIS IS AN AMAZING compilation of more than twelve thousand American Indian-derived place-names in the United States. Professor Bright has presented us with the most technically correct and extensive compilation to date, although he acknowledges that an even better and more extensive compilation is very likely to appear in the future. |
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Drawing initially on the Geographical Names Information System (GNIS), maintained by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Bright proceeds to three other sources: U.S. place-name dictionaries, regional plac-ename dictionaries, and finally regional Indian place-name dictionaries. It is to this body of place-name data that he then applies a very sophisticated methodology for determining the descriptive content of each entry in this volume, which consists of dour types of information: headword, location, pronunciation, and etymology. Perhaps most significant is his clarification of the frequent confusion over American Indian place-names. For example, he explains and illustrates the frequent confusion resulting from "loan translations," "folk-etymologies," "terms associated with American Indian culture and history," "inverted words," and "bogus words" (pp. 5–15). In so doing, he brings clarity into a vastly confusing situation in which, until now, it has been virtually impossible to determine the validity of local assertions by non-Indians as to whether place-names are American Indian in derivation. |
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Although there are many place-names omitted from Bright's extensive inventory, it is clear that his work represents a major step forward. Not only has he compiled a very lengthy list of such place-names, but he has also relied on the best experts in the field of American Indian linguistic scholars. This reliance on the best experts is an essential requirement for accuracy that has eluded most of the amateurish attempts seen in many local and regional place-name inventories. |
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Although Bright's compilation is organized alphabetically, for easy reference use, it could also have been organized geographically by region. Regional maps with locations of place-names would enable teachers, students, and researchers to more easily locate place-names within specific regions. It should also be noted that this inventory of place-names does not obviate the need to compile local tribal place-names that have not been entered into the GNIS. I am particularly struck by the very detailed geographical place-names typically used by tribal groups in the western U.S. and Alaska and how that continuing use preserves their identity and connections with traditional homelands. Of course, this task will require a much larger multi-cultural study than Bright's inventory. For example, his inventory provides less than a dozen places for the Nez Perce, with whom I am familiar. |
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My own list of Nez Perce place-names extends to more than two hundred, and this is an incomplete listing. My reason for noting this is that non-Indian readers of this inventory should understand that only a small percentage of American Indian place-names have ever become U.S. place-names. Nevertheless, this inventory is a sobering, concrete reminder for most readers of the original Indian occupation and ownership of the U.S. now dominated by Euro-Americans and others. Further, it will be a valuable reference work for teachers, students, authors, scholars, and laymen interested in the American Indian heritage of the United States. |
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| DEWARD E. WALKER
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| University of Colorado, Boulder |
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