Indian Place Names
Indian Lore requirement 4g: g. Learn 25 Indian place names. Tell their origins and meanings.
The Northwest’s heritage is full of Indian lore and history. From the peaceful Makah nation who settled the Olympic Peninsula to the Nez Perce Catholics to the Cayuse and Umatilla braves involved in the Whitman Massacre, our history has been shaped by the tribes who live and have lived here.
The Tacoma Library is a good source for information on Washington State Indians.
Many of our cities bear Indian names. Here is a list of some of them, with their corresponding meanings:
Camas – Comes from quamash, an edible root.
Chehalis – Indian for “place of shifting sands”, chi-ke-lis. Named by the railroad because of the unstable nature of the mouth of the river.
Chewelah – Comes from “cha-we-lah”, meaning small, striped snake. Named by the railroad.
Cle Elum – Also named by Northern Pacific Railroad, from the Indian “ti-el-um” meaning “swift water”.
Enumclaw – Means “place of the evil spirits,” named by a town resident for the mountains near it.
Hoquiam – From “ho-qui-umpts”, meaning “hungry for wood”. It probably refers to the Indians who lived there and gathered driftwood.
Ilwaco – Named for El-wa-co Jim, an Indian who married into the chief of the Chinook’s family.
Kahlotus – Coyote water, named after an Indian legend.
Kennewick – The name Kennewick is derived from “kin-i-wack,” an Indian name meaning “grassy place.” Kennewick was first home to the Chemnapam Indians who called it “winter haven”, an appropriate title as the tribe gathered in the mild climate to trade, fish and pasture their horses. Kennewick General Hospital
Mukilteo – Used to be Point Elliott, but the postmaster changed it to Mukiteo, after the tribe that lives there.
Nespelem – Means “large, open meadow”; the town’s name came from what the Indians called it.
Nisqually - Named after the Nisqually indians, meaning “People of the Grass Country”.
Nooksack – Noot=people, Saat=bracken fern. Named for the Indians that lived there.
Okanogan – Salish for “place of waters” because two streams meet there.
Omak – From the Indian word ‘Omache’, meaning ‘plenty good water’.
Palouse – This is really a French word, ‘pelouse’ meaning grassland. The French changed it from the original Palloatpallah, the name that Lewis & Clark called the Indians there.
Pe Ell – This is a mispronunciation of the name Pierre, which the local Indians could not pronounce.
Puyallup – Pough=pile up +allup=people. The Puyallup Indians were a tribe know for their generosity to others.
Sammamish – Means “crooked stream”
Seattle – Named for Chief Noah Sealth, who was a friend and mentor to the settlers in the area. He was a member of the Suquamish tribe.
Selah – Means ’still waters’. I thought this was interesting because in Hebrew it means ’stop and listen’ or ‘rest’.
Sequim - Clallam for ‘quiet waters’. That’s a pretty good choice because it is a very peaceful place.
Skykomish – From the name of the tribe that lived there, Skaikmish, meaning people who live inland.
Snohomish – Different sources give different explanations for the name, but I like the Snohomish county’s book that says it comes from the word meaning “braves”.
Snoqualmie – Named for the tribe who lived there. One translation is “small but mighty”.
Sumas - Cowichan for “land without trees”.
Tekoa – Not Indian, though a lot of people mistake it. It’s Hebrew for one of David’s mighty men.
Tenino – Means “meeting place”; probably named that because of the railroad junction.
Toppenish – ‘People of the trail from the foothills”
Tukwila - Means “land of the hazelnuts”. I haven’t seen any hazelnut trees there, but maybe I ought to look harder!
Tumwater – From “tum +wa +ta” meaning “waterfall”. Sounds like tumbling water.
Walla Walla – Means “water, water”. ["Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink"]
Wapato – A wapato is an Indian potato.
Washougal – Means ‘rushing water’.
Wenatchee – “River coming from a canyon”
Yacolt – It means “haunted place”. And it has an interesting story behind that.
Yakima – Yakima tribe. The name is possibly from “the plural form, “ma,” of black bear “yah-kah.”" City of Yakima
Yelm – Salish for “heat waves of the sun”.
March 2nd, 2009 at 7:08 am
[...] Learn 25 Indian place names. Tell their origins and meanings. Here is a compilation of some Northwest Indian place names. Feel free to add to [...]
December 5th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
[...] moves it out of Easy is needing to teach other Scouts or give a presentation. Here are some of my Indian Place Names for requirement 4g. Landscape Architecture – What makes this more difficult than some is [...]