• IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    There’s a reason why indigenous people called it Mississippi, a word that came from Ojibwe and Algonquin languages, which are related.

    I speak my language of Ojibwe Cree in northern Ontario and it’s very clear for me to understand the word.

    Mishi … is a word we use to describe something as big in size

    Sipi … is the word for River, a major River, as opposed to a small creek or channel.

    In my language and dialect, Mississippi literally translates to just ‘Big River’

    And by the look of this map … it is definitely a ‘Big River’