Cutler, Charles L. Tracks that speak; the legacy of Native American words in North American culture.Houghton Mifflin. 255p. illus. notes, bibliog, index, c2002. 0-618-06510-5. $14.00. SA For this meticulously researched book, Cutler has chosen some 70 words and, in essays one and a half to three pages in length, he traces their Native American origins and their introduction to and evolution within the English language. He clusters the essays in groups of from four to seven within categories such as shelter (tepee, igloo, wigwam, quonset hut), clothing (moccasin, mukluk, shoepac, poc boot, parka, anorak, mackinaw), food from plants (hominy hominy [Algonquian], hulled corn with the germ removed and served either ground or whole. The pioneers in North America prepared it by soaking the kernels in weak wood lye until the hulls floated to the top. Hominy is boiled until tender and served as a vegetable. , corn pone See pwn. , succotash, squash, saguaro), and fur-bearers (muskrat muskrat, North American aquatic rodent. The common muskrats, species of the genus Ondatra, are sometimes called by their Native American name, musquash. , raccoon, skunk, carcajou, quickhatch, woodchuck woodchuck or groundhog, common name of a North American species of marmot, Marmota monax. This large rodent is found in open woods and ravines throughout most of Canada and the NE United States. , chipmunk chipmunk, rodent of the family Sciuridae (squirrel family). The chipmunk of the E United States and SE Canada is of the genus Tamias. The body of the common Eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus, is about 5 to 6 in. ). He does not include place names, which number in the thousands, though he gives a nod to their existence. This is a most appealing book, full of anecdotes and examples. Teachers and students studying etymology at all levels will enjoy it. as will persons interested in Native America and how its wealth of language has found its way into the larger culture. Edna M. Boardman, Bismark, ND |
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