October 2022 Program
Indian Languages Influence in the Susquehanna Region
Presented by Charles "Chip" Kauffman
From the first inhabitants who migrated into the Susquehanna River area thousands of years ago to the period of European settlement in the 1600s to1800s, many American Indian languages were spoken by diverse tribes who made the area their home or passed through on trade or exploratory ventures. Although most early languages are dead, their legacy lives on in the Susquehanna Valley through place names from Iroquoian and Algonquian languages once spoken in the area. This presentation will cover 17th century European contact with the region’s early inhabitants and how those contacts shaped place names we take for granted in York and Lancaster Counties. Highlighting this will be origins and meanings of such names as Susquehanna, Codorus, Chickies, Turkey Hill, Conewago, Accomac, Tuckahoe, Conestoga.
This archived presentation may be watched here.
Program review by Becky Anstine:
Charles “Chip” Kauffman’s timely talk ties in with the October/November celebration of Native American Month. There has always been interest in American Indian settlements and tribes that inhabited the Susquehanna Valley area. As early as 1608, Capt. James Smith met the Susquehannocks when mapping the Chesapeake Bay area at the mouth of the river. On Sunday, October 23, 2002, the York Sunday News, published an article about the 1000-year-old petroglyphs that can be found in rocks in the middle of the river. Over 1000 petrographs have been found in the stretch of water between Safe Harbor Dam and the Mason Dixon line. Among the petrographs found is a figure of a walking man with two circles pointed South. On October 26th, Millersville University and Native Americans gathered to acknowledge that the land the college is built on once was ancestral land of the Conestogas, Susquehannocks, and Shawnee. The Shenks Ferry people had a settlement next to the campus.
The presentation began with tracing the migration patterns of American Indians which led to the settling of the Susquehanna Valley. With very few settlements remains and artifacts found in the area and few original or historical records to provide information, archeologists use genetics and linguistics to follow settlements. The Susquehanna River is over 440 miles long, stretching from the Chesapeake Bay to New York State. Using linguistic methods and local names, connections have been made linking local words to the various tribes that were in this area. Several tribes settled in the area and through the area – Iroquois, Shawnee, Lenni Lape, Nanticoke, and Powhatten, Delaware and Conoy, and Wicomico.
[As early as 1715, the Susquehanna Indians began signing peace treaties with Pennsylvania. Traders were west of the Susquehanna by 1729. In 1749, the Six Nations, Shawnee, Delaware, and Nanticoke negotiate a treaty involving trading, land cession, and the removal of white squatters. Although numerous treaties were negotiated, relations between the Indians and the settlers began to deteriorate after the French and Indian war. As settlers moved west in the state, tribes were losing their hunting grounds and settlements. Things came to a head in 1764, when Scotch Irish settlers in what is now Dauphin County, claimed that the Conestoga Indians living in the area, were stealing their animals and raiding their homes. Encouraged by a local minister, Rev. John Elder, the “Paxtang boys” attacked the village located near Millersville, burning the homes and killing the residents. The remaining tribe members were placed in protective custody in a jail in Lancaster City, but the “boys” attacked and killed the remaining families. Some stories passed down through generations claim that there were some survivors who fled to the Welsh Mountains in Lancaster County, intermarrying with runaway slaves and indentured servants who hid in that area. Those were the last known Indians to be living in the Susquehanna Valley.] *
Missionaries, traders, and interpreters traveled between the various tribes and learned to communicate with them by using similar words and pronunciation between the various tribes. Teenagers, living among the Indians, learned the languages the best. Johannes Campanes, a Swedish Lutheran Missionary in the 1640s, learned the Delaware languages and his writings are a primary source for information on the Susquehannock Indians. Dictionaries were put together by various individuals, such as George Also and William Sack. Languages have been grouped into four categories. First is living languages that are still spoken and being taught - such as Cherokee and Mohawk. Second are moribund or dying languages that are still being spoken but not being taught – such as Oneida and Seneca. Third are the languages that are considered dead; they are no longer spoken, but some words survive in other languages. Fourth are the extinct languages which are not spoken, such as the Susquehannock language
The Indian names for many places around the Susquehanna Valley are the legacy left by these early settlers. Dialects spoken in the area included: Iroquois, Susquehannock, Seneca, Conestoga, and two dialects of Cherokee in the upper part of Lancaster and York counties. The southern ends of the two counties included Aloquonquin, Nanticoke, and Powhatan. The legacy of the various tribes lives on in York and Lancaster County through the names of creeks, townships, towns, and villages. Among the familiar words are Octoraro, Pequea, Cocalico, Susquehanna, and Conoy to name a few.
*This paragraph was not part of Chip’s presentation but was added to give some background history.
Charles “Chip” Kauffman is an adjunct faculty member at York College of Pennsylvania where he teaches languages and language-related courses. Over many years at several colleges in the region, he has taught Italian, German, Russian and other languages. He is a retired certified U.S. Government linguist and author of various articles on languages and linguistics.
This archived presentation may be watched here.
Program review by Becky Anstine:
Charles “Chip” Kauffman’s timely talk ties in with the October/November celebration of Native American Month. There has always been interest in American Indian settlements and tribes that inhabited the Susquehanna Valley area. As early as 1608, Capt. James Smith met the Susquehannocks when mapping the Chesapeake Bay area at the mouth of the river. On Sunday, October 23, 2002, the York Sunday News, published an article about the 1000-year-old petroglyphs that can be found in rocks in the middle of the river. Over 1000 petrographs have been found in the stretch of water between Safe Harbor Dam and the Mason Dixon line. Among the petrographs found is a figure of a walking man with two circles pointed South. On October 26th, Millersville University and Native Americans gathered to acknowledge that the land the college is built on once was ancestral land of the Conestogas, Susquehannocks, and Shawnee. The Shenks Ferry people had a settlement next to the campus.
The presentation began with tracing the migration patterns of American Indians which led to the settling of the Susquehanna Valley. With very few settlements remains and artifacts found in the area and few original or historical records to provide information, archeologists use genetics and linguistics to follow settlements. The Susquehanna River is over 440 miles long, stretching from the Chesapeake Bay to New York State. Using linguistic methods and local names, connections have been made linking local words to the various tribes that were in this area. Several tribes settled in the area and through the area – Iroquois, Shawnee, Lenni Lape, Nanticoke, and Powhatten, Delaware and Conoy, and Wicomico.
[As early as 1715, the Susquehanna Indians began signing peace treaties with Pennsylvania. Traders were west of the Susquehanna by 1729. In 1749, the Six Nations, Shawnee, Delaware, and Nanticoke negotiate a treaty involving trading, land cession, and the removal of white squatters. Although numerous treaties were negotiated, relations between the Indians and the settlers began to deteriorate after the French and Indian war. As settlers moved west in the state, tribes were losing their hunting grounds and settlements. Things came to a head in 1764, when Scotch Irish settlers in what is now Dauphin County, claimed that the Conestoga Indians living in the area, were stealing their animals and raiding their homes. Encouraged by a local minister, Rev. John Elder, the “Paxtang boys” attacked the village located near Millersville, burning the homes and killing the residents. The remaining tribe members were placed in protective custody in a jail in Lancaster City, but the “boys” attacked and killed the remaining families. Some stories passed down through generations claim that there were some survivors who fled to the Welsh Mountains in Lancaster County, intermarrying with runaway slaves and indentured servants who hid in that area. Those were the last known Indians to be living in the Susquehanna Valley.] *
Missionaries, traders, and interpreters traveled between the various tribes and learned to communicate with them by using similar words and pronunciation between the various tribes. Teenagers, living among the Indians, learned the languages the best. Johannes Campanes, a Swedish Lutheran Missionary in the 1640s, learned the Delaware languages and his writings are a primary source for information on the Susquehannock Indians. Dictionaries were put together by various individuals, such as George Also and William Sack. Languages have been grouped into four categories. First is living languages that are still spoken and being taught - such as Cherokee and Mohawk. Second are moribund or dying languages that are still being spoken but not being taught – such as Oneida and Seneca. Third are the languages that are considered dead; they are no longer spoken, but some words survive in other languages. Fourth are the extinct languages which are not spoken, such as the Susquehannock language
The Indian names for many places around the Susquehanna Valley are the legacy left by these early settlers. Dialects spoken in the area included: Iroquois, Susquehannock, Seneca, Conestoga, and two dialects of Cherokee in the upper part of Lancaster and York counties. The southern ends of the two counties included Aloquonquin, Nanticoke, and Powhatan. The legacy of the various tribes lives on in York and Lancaster County through the names of creeks, townships, towns, and villages. Among the familiar words are Octoraro, Pequea, Cocalico, Susquehanna, and Conoy to name a few.
*This paragraph was not part of Chip’s presentation but was added to give some background history.
Charles “Chip” Kauffman is an adjunct faculty member at York College of Pennsylvania where he teaches languages and language-related courses. Over many years at several colleges in the region, he has taught Italian, German, Russian and other languages. He is a retired certified U.S. Government linguist and author of various articles on languages and linguistics.