Content-Type: text/shitpost

Now I'm stuck on the idea of what might come after “oaken tokens from Hoboken”. Unfortunately.

Here in Philadelphia we have a place called Shamokin Street and that might have been next.

I suppose this street is named after the town of Shamokin, which is not that far from here, around 2½ hours’ drive. The name is from Lenape, and supposedly means “place of eels”.

Many of the really good names around here are Lenape. One of my favorites is Conodoguinet Creek, a tributary of the mighty Susquehanna River. “Conodoguinet” means “a long way with many bends”.

There are also a lot of places around here named “Perkiomen”, which is also Lenape. Some people say it means a place where there are cranberries.

Why can't we just ask the Lenape what it means? I want to look into this, the details are probably interesting. If they don't know, I suppose part of the reason is phonological shift, and that there are no records of what the language was like 300 years ago. Presumably the main cause, both proximally and distally, is cultural upheaval caused by European immigration, but by what specific mechanisms? The language itself might have changed drastically.

Or maybe the answer is: of course we could ask them, but white people don't bother to.

The Nanticoke Leni-Lenape tribe has a monograph about their history available for download. Useful! I will read it.

Hmm, this article has wandered a long way from where it started. Welcome to my brain.