Abstract: The 'Race names' entry from Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, edited by Frederick Webb Hodge (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 30. GPO: 1910).

Author:  Alexander F. Chamberlain of Clark University

Algonquian names. -- Among the various languages of the Algonquian stock a number of different terms for white man are to be found. The Arapaho has niatha, nanagakanet, ninavatayeche, etc. The last signifies 'yellow hide,' the second 'white-skinned.' Of niatha Mooney (14th Rep. B. A. E.,  1020, 1896) says: "The word signifies literally expert, skillful, or wise, and is also the Arapaho name for the spider." Kroeber (Trad. of Arapaho, 8, 1902) says the name is given to the character in Arapaho traditions corresponding to the Algonquian Nanabozho, Napi, etc., and the Siouan Ishtinike, while at the same time it is now "the ordinary word for white men in Arapaho just as in Cheyenne the name of the mythical character Vihho, has been applied to the whites." (See also Wake, Nihancan, the White, Man, Am. Antiq., XXVI, 224-31, 1904.) In Siksika a white man is called napiekwan, in which -ekwan is a kind of ethnic suffix of the person. As a general term for 'white man' we have the Chippewa wayabishkiwäd [i = short i], 'one who is white' (generally referring to Englishmen only); Miami wâbkelokéta, [e = short e] 'white skin' (a white man); equally common with these terms for whites in general is misha'kiganäsiwug, [i = short i, u = short u] 'they of the hairy chest' (Wm. Jones, inf'n, 1906). The former Chippewa term corresponds with the Cree wapiskisiw and related words in cognate dialects. The Delaware woapsit, 'white person,' signifies literally 'he is white.' Delaware also has for 'European' schwonnach, 'person from the salt (sea).' The Chippewa term for 'Englishman' shaganash, has been extended to mean 'white man,' just as has also the Micmac word for Frenchman, wenooch, Penobscot awenoch, Abnaki awanoch, cognate with such other Algonquian terms for 'white man' as the Narraganset awaunagus, Scaticook wanux, Pequot-Mohegan wonnux, Passamaquoddy wenoch, etc., primarily derived from awan, 'who,' 'somebody,' the European being looked upon as 'somebody coming.'

Athapascan names. -- According to Morice (Anthropos, I, 236, 1906), the Western Déné call the whites neto, and the French su-neto, i. e. 'the true white men.' The Navaho term for whites is Belagana, a corruption of the Spanish word Americano.

Eskimo names. -- The representative Eskimo term for 'white man' is kablunak, according to Rink (Am. Anthr., XI, 181-87, 1898), a corruption by Europeans of keydlunak, 'wolf,' preserved in this sense only in the Eskimo language of the far west, the name having been given with reference to the myth of "the girl and the dogs." Another etymology derives the word from the root qauk, 'daylight,' 'white day,' so that it ultimately signifies 'having very light skin.' Petitot favors a derivation which indicates the European fashion of "wearing a cap or hat covering their foreheads down to the eyebrows (kablut)." In the secret language of the Central Eskimo medicinemen (Boas in Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., xv, 35, 1901) the word for European is kidlatet, evidently a derivative of kidlak, the secret term for 'iron.' 'When the crew of the Plover reached Pt Barrow (Richardson, Polar Reg., 300, 1861), they were termed by the Eskimo shakenatanagmeun, 'people from under the sun,' and emakhlin, 'sea men,' but commonly nelluangmeun, 'unknown people.' The Greenland Eskimo called the Danes ukissut, 'winterers.'

Iroquoian names.-The Cherokee, according to Mooney, call the white man yûñwunega, from yûñwi 'person,' and unega 'white.' Cuoq (Lex. Iroq., 112, 1882) gives for 'white man,' kihnaraken, 'my skin' is white,' from keraken 'I am white,' and ohna 'skin.' Another Iroquoian term, is asseroni, 'he makes axes,' the name applied by the Iroquois to the first Dutch colonists, and in Canada, in the form onseronni, to the French. Other Iroquoian names now or formerly in use are: Wyandot or Caughnawaga tulhaesaga, said to mean 'morning-light people,' and ashalecoa, or assaricol, said to mean 'big knife'; Huron agnonha, 'Frenchman.'

Kiowan names. -- A kiowa term for 'white men' is bedalpago, 'hairy mouths,' from bedal 'lip,' pa 'downy hair' and go tribal terminal. Another is ta-'ka-i, 'ears sticking out,' which, according to Mooney (14th Rep. B.A.E., 1091, 1896) applies to the ears of a White "as compared with the Indian's, which are partly concealed by his long hair." It is also the Kiowa name for a mule or a donkey. Another term is hañpogo, 'trappers,' because some of the first whites known to them were American trappers (Mooney, 17th Rep. B. A. E., 397, 1898). Still other names in use among the Kiowa for white men, according to Mooney, are ganoñko, 'growlers,' in allusion to their rougher voices; gañtonto, 'capwearers,' and boyoñko, 'blonds.' The word bedalago, while designating whites in general, applies more particularly to Americans, who are also known t'o-ta'ka-i, 'cold whites,' that is, northern white men, as distinguished from the Mexicans to the S. The Texans are distinguished as Tehä^/-nego, from the Spanish Tejano.

Kitunahan names. -- The Kutenai call a white man suyapi, a term identical with sueapo, given by Parker (Jour., 381, 1840) as the Nez Percé word for 'American.' Another Kutenai term is nutlukene, 'stranger.' A third expression, kamnuqtlo aktsmakinik, 'white man,' is probably a translation of the English term.

Maidu name. -- According to Gatschet the term for white man is sakíni, i. e. 'ghosts,' 'spirits'.

Shoshonean names. -- In Shoshoni and Comanche the word for 'white man' is taivo; in Paiute and Bannock, tavibo. This, as Mooney (14th Rep. B. A. E., 1056, 1896) has pointed out, seems to be derived from täbi, 'the sun.' The Washo name for 'white man,' tabaa, may have been borrowed from the neighboring Paviotso. The idea of sun men, or easterners, is met with elsewhere, as among the Hopi of Shoshonean stock.

Siouan names.-Long (Exped. Rocky Mts., II, lxxx, 1823) gives the name for 'white man' in Oto as mazonkka, 'ironmakers,' and the Omaha name as wahta, 'makers.' A vocabulary of about l8l9 has Omaha wahe, Hidatsa washi, i. e. masi. More modern vocabularies and dictionaries give the following Siouan words for 'white man': Dakota, washechu; Mandan, wuashi; Assiniboin, wahsheechooñ. These and related words signify 'rich people,' or perhaps 'generous people.' The Hidatsa term (Matthews, Hidatsa Ind.,183, 1877) for 'white' (American) is maetsihateki, or maetsiictia, i. e. 'long or big knife.'

Skittagetan names.-The Skidegate dialect of Haida has for 'white man' kelgadaa, 'man white,' and yets-haidagai, 'iron people,' the latter being the usual term.

Wakashan names. -- The Nootka word for 'white man' or 'European,' mamatlne, signifies really 'house adrift on water,' in reference to the ships of the new comers. The word in Clayoquot dialect in mamatle.

The examples cited show the variety existing in the names for 'white man' among the linguistic stocks N. of Mexico and the interesting ways in which such appellations have been made up from peculiarities of a physical, mental, or social character.

Yuchi name. -- The Yuchi term for white man (American) is kuyá_Xka, from ku 'man,' wia_Xka 'white' (Gatschet).

Muskhogean name.-The Choctaw term for white man is naⁿhullo.

Americans.-The American, or inhabitant of the English colonies in what is now the United States, received from the Indians during and after the wars which preceded and followed the Revolution, names which distinguished him from the Frenchman and the Englishman.  Probably from the swords of the soldiery several tribes designated Americans as 'big knives,'or 'long knives.' This is the signification of the Chippewa and Nipissing chimo'koman [i = short i], from kechimo'koman, 'great knife,' Cree kitchimokkuman, Delaware m'chonsikan, 'big knife' (i.e., Virginian), and cognate terms in some of the Algonquian dialects. In Menominee is found mokuman (mo'koman, 'knife'); in Wyandot (1819), saraumigh; in Shawnee, shemanes^e[e = short e, e= short e], 'big knife'; in Oto (1823), mahehunjeh; in Omaha (1823), mahhetunguh; in Dakota (1823), menahashah, in Hidatsa (1823), manceechteet. These, like the Yankton minahanska and Teton milahanska, signify 'long or big knife.' In 1871 Roehrig gave the Dakota word for 'American' as isangtanka, 'big knife.' The Siksika term omak kistoapikwan signifies 'big-knife person'; ommakistowan has about the same meaning. The prominence of Boston in the early history of the United States led to its name being used for 'American' on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coast. The Micmac to-day call the United States Bostoon, and an American Bostoonkawaach; the Nipissing Bastone, the Canadian, Abnaki Bastoni, and the Mohawk Iroquois Wastonronon, signify not merely the inhabitants of Boston, but the New Englanders or the people of the United States in general. The share of the men in Boston in the development of the Oregon country is recalled by the term Boston, which in the Chinook jargon designates 'American.' From the jargon this word passed into a number of the languages of the Pacific coast region: Klamath, Boshtin; Kutenai, Bosten; Déné (Carrier) Boston. The eastern Déné name is Bestcorh-o'- tinne, 'people of the big knives.' The Navaho have adopted Pelikano, or Melikano, from the Spanish 'Americano.' The Hopi name is Mellycawno (Bourke, Moquis of Arizona, 317, 1884), but among themselves they use the term Pahana, 'eastern water people.' The Zuñi call Americans Melikanakwe (Cushing, in Millstone, X, 100, June 1885). The Cherokee called Americans Aniwatsini, 'Virginians,' from Watsini 'Virginia' (Mooney).

English. -- One of the earliest terms for 'Englishman' is the Natick wautacone, 'coat man.' 'he who wears clothing.' Others, the Pequot, waunnux, 'somebody coming,' the term used also for 'Frenchman' in several eastern Algonquian dialects; and the Narraganset chauquaquock, 'knife men.' In the latter language Roger Williams cites Englishmannuck, and the form Englishmansog, both plurals, as also in use. The modern Canadian Abnaki has Iglizmon. A Shawnee vocabulary of 1819 (Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc., I, 290, 1820) has Englishmanake. To another group belong the Micmac Aglaseaoo, the Abnaki Anqlis, the Nipissing Aganesha, the Prairie Cree Akayâsiw, the Chippewa Shaganash [a = long a] (which possibly is connected with 'spearman' or the 'contemptible spearman' -- Wm. Jones, inf'n, 1906), the Ottawa Saqanash, the Cree Akaias, etc., all of which are thought to be corruptions of the French 'Anglais' or 'les Anglais.' The older forms of these words, as the Missisauga (1801) Zaganassa, the Montagnais (1800) Agaleshou, the Micmac (1800) Angalsheeau, Nascapee Naggaleshou, and the Nipissing Angalesha, seem to justify this belief, although it is possible some of these words may have been corrupted from 'English ' instead of from 'Anglais.' The Abnaki corruption of 'Englishman' was Iglismon (Maurault, Abenakis, vii, 1866), Delaware Ingelishman. Long (Exped. Rocky Mts., 1823) gives for 'British' in Oto ragarrashing, and in Omaha sukanash, both loan words from the Algonquian. In the language of the Siksika 'Englishman' is nitapiapikwan, 'real white man.' The Canadian Mohawk of Lake of Two Mountains, Quebec, call an 'Englishman' tiorhensaka, 'inhabitant of the east.' Long, early in the century, gave for 'British' in Hidatsa bosheittochresha, which he interprets as meaning 'the men who bring black cloth.' In the Chinook jargon the word for 'English' is Kintshautsh, and for 'Englishmen' Kintshautshman, from 'King George,' the reigning monarch at the period in which the jargon arose. From the jargon these terms have passed into a number of the languages of the Pacific Coast region: Klamath, Sking dshudsh or King Dshutch; Kutenai, Skindjatsh, 'Canadian,' 'Englishman.' The western Déné, according to Morice (Anthropos, I, 236-7, 1906) call the English sagoenaz, an Algonquian loan-word; the eastern Déné term them tsé-o'tinne, 'inhabitants of the rocks.' In Creek (of the Muskhogean stock) Gatschet cites for Englishmen mikilísi [i = short i], 'subjects of the great king,' with which goes Choctaw and Chicasaw minkilísi [i = short i].

Scotch. -- According to Cuoq (Lex. Iroq., 166, 1882), the Mohawk of Lake of Two Mountains, Quebec, called the first Scotchmen (settlers) with whom they came into contact kentahere, in reference to their headdress, 'Tam O'Shanter,' which reminded them of a cow-dropping (ota). Wilson (Ojebway Lang., 343, 1874) gives Scotchmun as the term in Canadian Chippewa. Another Chippewa name is Opitotowew, 'he who speaks differently.' Rand gives in Micmac Skojemen [o = short o, e = short e].

French. -- The Algonquian languages in particular furnish several special words for 'Frenchman, ' individuals of that nationality having come into very close contact with many of the tribes of this stock, as settlers, coureurs des bois, and hunters and trappers, often having Indian wives and becoming members of aboriginal communities. The Micmac term waswenjooch (in composition wenjoo), applied to white men, sometimes even to the English, but originally and specifically to the Frenchman and signifying 'somebody coming.' That this was its original signification the related eastern Algonquian words for 'white man' indicate, as the Penobscot awenoch, the Pequot wanux, the Passamaquoddy wenoch etc. Another Algonquian term for Frenchman is the Cree wemistikojiw, Chippewa wemitigoshi [i = short i], 'people of the wooden canoes,' probably akin to the Fox wäme'tegowisit^a [e = short e. i = short i], one who is identified with something wooden,' probably referring to something about clothing or implements. The Fox name for a Frenchman is wäme'tegoshi^a [e = short e, i = short i] (Wm. Jones, inf'n, 1906); Menominee, wameqtikosiu; Missisauga, wamitigushi, etc. Lahontan translated the old Algonkin mittigouchiouek, 'builders of vessels,' which Trumbull (Trans. Am. Philol. Asso., 154,, 1871) considered incorrect, though he saw in it a reference to the 'wooden boats' of the French, mitigo meaning 'wooden.' An aged Missisauga woman related (Chamberlain, Lang. of Mississagas, 60, 1892) that the word referred to the boxes carried by the early French traders, but this may have been merely a folk etymology suggested by mitigwash, 'trunk,' ' valise.' The Siksika word for 'Frenchman' is nitsappekwan. A Shawnee vocabulary of 1819 gives Tota, and Cotton's old Massachuset vocabulary has the plural form Punachmonog, evidently taken from the English 'Frenchman.' The Abnaki corruption of 'Frenchman' was Pelajemon (Maurault, Abenakis, viii, 1866). An Hidatsa name is masik'ti, 'true white.' The Hasinai of Texas, according to Bolton, called the French Canos; in allusion to this fact the Spaniards named the Arkokisa partisan of the French, Canos.

The Mohawk of Lake of Two Mountains, Quebec, call a Frenchman onseronni, which Cuoq (Lex. Iroq., 69, 1882) interprets as 'maker of hatchets,' from konnis 'I make.' and osera 'hatchet.' This is the same as aseronni, appelation conferred on the first Dutch colonists of New York by the Iroquois, and apparently a more or less general term for 'white man.'

The term in Chinook jargon for Frenchman is Pasaiuks, which Hale (Chinook Jarg., 49, 1890) derives from 'Français' with the Chinook plural suffix uks. It has been used to signify also 'foreigners,' and has passed into several Indian languages of the Pacific Coast region, e. g., the Klamath Pasháyuks. The Kutenai call a Frenchman notlukene, 'foreigner,' 'stranger.' According to Grossman .(Smithson. Rep. 1871, 412, 1873) the Pima called a Frenchman parlesick (plural, paparlesick), from parle (Spanish, padre) 'priest.' The Athapascan Takulli call a Frenchman neto or nado.

German. -- Some of the Indian tongues have special words for 'German.' The Chippewa term is Anima, a modification of the French Allemand, introduced by traders or missionaries. Baraga (Otchipwe Dict., pt. 2, 36, 1880), says: "The Indians also call a German 'Detchman,' a corruption of 'Dutchman,' as the Germans are improperly called in some parts of this country. " From the French comes also the Micmac Alma. The Sauk and Fox have Tuchi'^a [u = short u], from 'Dutch.' In Klamath the term for 'German' is Detchmal, while in the Modoc dialect of the Lutuamian stock the name applied to the German settler is muni tchuleks gitko, 'thickset fellow' (Gatschet, Klamath Inds., II, 1890). Mooney (Myths of Cherokee, 141, 1902) mentions a noted Cherokee chief about 1830 who was named Tahchee, or 'Dutch.' He gives the plural Cherokee name as Anitûtsi (Cherokee MS. vocab., B. A. E.,1887). A Blackfoot word for 'German' is kistappekwan.. The Creek name for a German, according to Adair (Am. Inds. 66, 1775), was - yah yah algeh, 'those whose talk was ja ja.' The Chickasaw name was kish kish tarakshe (ibid. 7).

Spanish. -- The contact of the Indian tribes of the Southern states with Spanish explorers, settlers, and colonizers gave rise to several names for them. The Algonquian dialects of the Great Lakes and the E. have taken their words for Spaniard from the English or French: Nipissing Espaniio, from the French Espagnol, as also the Chippewa Eshpayo and the Siksika Spiokwan, or Spiokuwin, 'Mexican,' 'Spaniard.' The Sauk and Foxes have A'payo'^a for Spaniard, and Mähiko'^a [i = short i] for Mexican. The Cherokee term for Spaniard is Ashkwani, derived from the Spanish Español, to which was added the tribal prefix ani, making Aniskwani, 'Spaniards.' The Arkokisa called the Spaniards Yegsa. The Klamath have Spaniolkni, from Español, with the Indian suffix. The Mohawk of the Lake of Two Mountains, Quebec, use Eskwanior, from the French Expagnol. For Mexicans of various districts the Indians along the border have developed special terms: Kiowa ä-ta-'ka-i, literally 'timber Mexicans.' applied to inhabitants of Tamaulipas; do kañi-ta'ka-i, 'bark Mexicans,' inhabitants of Santa Rosa mts.; ko p-ta'ka-i, 'mountain whites,' used for New Mexicans and sometimes generally for Mexicans; tsoñ-ta'ka-i, 'light haired Mexicans'; tso-ta-ta'ka-i, 'rock white men,' Mexicans about Silver City, N. Mex.; pa-edal-ta'ka-i, 'great-river whites,' Mexicans of the Rio Grande, etc. (Mooney in 17th Rep. B. A. E., 435, 1898). The Navaho term for Mexicans is naakai, 'white foreigners' and for Spaniards, naakai-diyini, 'holy white foreigners.' The Olamentke of California called the Spaniards by the name, Olingo, that they applied to the Aleut brought thither by the Russians, which seems to be the same word, Ullenego, as that which they applied to themselves as Indians. The Russians they call by another term, levuyume. The Mohave Indians call a Mexican or a Spaniard haiko tahana. 'longy white man,' while the Zuñi, who received their first knowledge of the white man in the person of the early Spanish explorers from Mexico, call the Mexicans tsipolo-kwe, 'mustached people.' The old Tonkawa term for a Mexican is tóptcho, the 'newer one kanushá-akon.

Negro. -- Among certain Indian tribes the name of the negro signifies simply 'black flesh.' This is the meaning of the Chippewa ma'kadäwiyas [i = short i], the Creek kaskite wiyas, etc. The Delaware nescalenk signifies 'black face.' Some others designate him as 'black man' which is the sense of the Nipissing makatewinini, the Yuchi kúispi, etc. 'Black Indian' is the meaning of the Kutenai kamkokokotl aktsemakinek, the latter term signifying 'Indian' as distinguished from 'man,' titkat, and kitonaqa, 'Kutenai.' The Delaware nesgessit lenape has a similar signification. Sometimes the word for 'black' alone is used, as the Kutenai kamkokokotl, etc. With several tribes 'black white man,' or, in some cases, 'black foreigners,' is the real meaning of the term for negro, as the Mohave waiko kwanil and the Comanche duqtaivo, from duq, black, and taivo, 'white man' or 'foreigner'; also the Siksika siksapikwan.napikwan signifying 'white man'; and the Kiowa koñkyäoñ'ia, 'man with black on, or incorporated into him.' The Narraganset of Roger Williams's time "called a blackamoor suckauttacone, a coal-black man, for sucki is black and wautacone one that wears clothes"; according to Trumbull (Natick Dict., 226) sucki means 'dark colored,' not 'black' and Wautacone was one of the names by which an Englishman was designated; hence, 'black Englishman' might be a fair rendering of the word. Analgous is the Menominee word for negro, apésen wameqtikosiu, 'black Frenchman.' According to Gatschet the Kiowa Apache word for negro, lizhena, means 'buffalo-black-haired.' In Klamath waiha, applied to the Negro, signifies 'servant,' and the Timucua atemimachu means 'his black slave.' The Klamath have besides adopted from the whites the term nigga, from which is derived niggalamshaamoksh, the term for monkey, meaning literally 'negro s kinsman.

Dutch. -- The Iroquoian tribes of New York called a Dutchman aseronni, a term identical with onseronni, by which the Mohawk of Lake of Two Mountains, Quebec, designate a Frenchman to-day. Its literal signification seems to be 'maker of hatchets.' The Iroquois used the word as an adjective to designate several things, as ooskah asseroni 'flax,' in Onondaga, literally, 'Dutchman's thread'; ossaheta asseroni, 'peas,' literally, 'Dutch beans' (Beauchamp in Jour. Am. Folk-lore, xv, 96, 98, 1902). The Delawares of New Jersey called the Dutch by a name spelled by the early writers swannekins. Without the English s this is evidently identical with the Delaware schwonnachquin, 'white people,' literally, 'people from the salt sea (schwon),' a term used to designate Europeans in general.

Chinaman. -- Some of the Indian tribes through the actual presence among them of the Oriental, others by indirection only, have come to have special names for the Chinaman. The Kutenai, who know him from actual observation, call the Chinaman gooktlam, the chief component of which is aqkoktlam, 'hair,' in reference to his queue. The Chinook jargon has adopted the English word. The Siksika name is apotsepista. The Kiowa name signifies 'yellow man.' (A. F. C.)