Vol. 62 No. 4 (2014)
Research Article

On the Origins of “Pickawillany”

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  • David J. Costa
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/0027773814Z.00000000090

Published 2014-12-01

Copyright (c) 2014 Maney Publishing

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Abstract

“Pickawillany” is the usual English name of a colonial-era Miami village located in western Ohio on the Great Miami River, near the site of present-day Piqua, in Miami County, Ohio. There have been many attempts to explain the etymology of “Pickawillany” as being related to “Piqua,” with a meaning “Place of the Ashes.” Using data drawn from various Algonquian languages, I will show that not only will this etymology not work, but I will demonstrate that the true etymology of “Pickawillany” is from the Shawnee name for the Miamis, and is unrelated to the word “Piqua.”

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References

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