Talk:Howe, Indiana

Potawatomi name

I was looking at the Potawatomi name provided. According to various Google search results and thinking about the translation for Mongoquinong, I'm wondering where else I could look. To me the translation ought to be "Mamaangokwinong" (At the Place of Large Gatherings) rather than "Maangakwenong" (At the Ugly/Old Woman) or "Mamaangakwenong" (At the Large Woman)... which the various websites provide (but stated a bit more crudely). CJLippert 23:03, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Alas, I don't know where to send you. The local website results consistently say "Big Squaw". To my ears, there is very little difference between "Mamaangokwinong" and "Mamaangakwenong", neither of which appear in a Google search. Given that even English spelling was far from standardized in this part of the country in the early 19th century -- in large part because most white folks were illiterate -- I'm not sure how we would research this further. Perhaps at the LaGrange library, but I'm rarely over there myself.

Interestingly enough, just east of Howe there is a village called Mongo, obviously a shortened version of Mongoquinong.

Sorry I can't be of more help. MrHarman 16:10, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. I posted a querie on the Ojibwe Language Society Miinawaa boards. They didn't have any ideas either and suggested several libraries in Michigan that have extensive historical documents of southern Michigan/northern Indiana/northwestern Ohio. Only problem is I can't get there but at least I was given the names of those libraries. If I or someone else from OLS-Miinawaa finds an alternate name for the the area, we'll post. The "At the Place of Large Gatherings" translation suggestion was given since none of the Anishinaabeg would name a village that way and since that area had a fairly large prairie, a large gathering came to my mind. Well, miigwech. CJLippert 23:17, 11 May 2006 (UTC)