OAS ARCH NOTES 82-6:15
1982
John Steckley
It is well known that the Huron had four or five member groups or ‘tribes’, in their confederacy at the time of contact. The meaning of the name of one of these groups – the ‘Atingeenonniahak’ – has been a constant source of mystery for years. Although one reference infers that the name meant ‘cord’ (JR43: 191), no linguistic proof has ever been offered to support this. Recently, I have uncovered such proof.
The name was presented in the ethnohistorical literature as follows:
| Atigagnongueha Attiguenongha Atignenonghac Atignenongach Attigueenongnahac Attigneenongnahac Attinguenongnahac Attingueenongnahak Attingueenonniahak | (Sagard, 1939:91) (JRB: 71) (JR10:235) (JR13:125) (JR15:57) (JR16:227) (JR19:125) (JR21:169) (JR26:259) |
The most likely realization of this name would be (in Jesuit orthography) ‘atingeenonniahak’. This word is constructed with a noun presented by one Jesuit linguist (probably Father Joseph-Marie Chaumonot) as “ongeenda”, meaning “Ligne, de corde”, and by another (Father Pierre Potier) as “ongeenda”, meaning “Ligne a pecher la barbue” (Chaumonot, ca. 1680 ms, p. 109; and Potier, 1920:450, respectively).
Also contained in the name is the verb “ondi”, meaning ‘to make’ (Potier, 1920:408-9). While the pronomial prefix is fairly obvious – ‘ati’, meaning ‘they’ – the suffix is not. The most likely choice is a form which can be translated as ‘used to’, although it is possible that it is a form cognate with a Mohawk suffix sometimes used in the name of a people. Either way, a translation of the whole name as ‘cord makers’ is a reasonably accurate one.
References Cited
Chaumonot, Pierre Joseph-Marie
ca. 1680 French-Huron dictionary, ms.
Potier, Pierre
“Radices Huronicae” in The Fifteenth Report of Archives for the Province of Ontario, 1918-1919, pp. 159-455,
Toronto.
Sagard, Gabriel
The Long Journey to the Country of the Hurons (G.M.Wrong, ed.), The Champlain Society, Toronto.
Thwaites, Reuben Gold (JR)
1896-1901 The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. The Burrows Bros. Co., Cleveland.