The Ethnologist

THE REAL NORTH AMERICANS WERE INDIANS AND THEIR NAMES ARE NAMED AFTER THE PLACE OF THEIR TRIBE NAME

Half of all US states, 25 to be exact, are named after Native Americans.
We will take a look at some of the 25 states and the meaning of their names. They will be listed in alphabetical order.

1. Alabama: Named after the Alabama tribe, or Alibamu, a Muskogean-speaking tribe. Sources are divided between the meanings "clearers of the thicket" or "gatherers of herbs."
2. Alaska: Named after the Aleut word “alaxsxaq,” meaning “the mainland”
3. Arizona: Named after the O'odham word “al ĭ ṣonak,” meaning “little spring”
4. Connecticut: Named after the Mohican word “quonehtacut,” meaning “place of the long tidal river”
5. Hawaii: Original Hawaiian word meaning “homeland”
6. Illinois: Named after the Illinois word “illiniwek,” meaning “men”
7. Iowa: Named after the Ioway tribe, whose name means “gray snow”
8. Kansas: Named after the Kansa tribe, whose name means “people of the south wind”
9. Kentucky: Origins unclear, may have been named after the Iroquoian word “Kentake,” meaning “in the meadow”
10. Massachusetts: Named after the Algonquin word “Massadchu-es-et,” meaning “big-hill-little-place.”
11. Michigan: From the Chippewa word “Michigama,” meaning “big lake.”
12. Minnesota: Named after the Dakota Indian word “Minisota” meaning “white water.”
13. Mississippi: Named after the river that was named by the Choctaw, meaning “big water” or “father of waters.”
14. Missouri: Named after the Missouri tribe whose name means “those who have dug canoes.”

At dawn in the rainforest the piercing sounds of animals resound – it’s time to get up, grab a 30-kilo backpack and go into the field: in the rain, in the heat, and in high winds, when trees break like matches. The border areas of Gunung Leuser National Park need to be monitored and protected from illegal activities in all weather conditions. You are in the field day and night and your job is to protect the tropical rainforest and the greatest biodiversity on Earth.

Once the rainforests covered large areas of India, Malaysia and the Philippines. About 80% of the Indonesian archipelago was covered in rainforest in the 1960s. Today, the last remaining areas of primary rainforest are under big pressure from mining and palm oil companies.

But there are people who have decided to dedicate their lives to nature conservation and, regardless of the risks involved, their work strives to protect rainforests and their biodiversity. Such is the life of Zbyněk Hrábek, the leader of the so-called ‘Tiger Commando’ and protector of Indonesian nature, who was born in 1985 in Varnsdorf in northern Bohemia.

Read more about Zbynek Hrabek ´s conservation work in the Sumatra rainforest:

Zbyněk Hrábek: Indonesians made it very easy for me when I moved to Sumatra   Zbyněk Hrábek: Indonesians made it very easy for me when I moved to Sumatra At dawn in the rainforest the piercing sounds of animals resound – it’s time to get up, grab a 30-kilo backpack and go into the field: in the rain, in the heat, and in high winds, when trees break like matches. The ...

Milan Jeglík is one of the most important Czech conservationists. Although he was born in the Moravian city of Brno, you will have a better chance of meeting him in the rainforests of Sumatra, where he buys land to prevent illegal logging and further growth of the palm oil industry.

In Sumatra, he has managed to buy a large area of rainforest, where he has also founded the anti-poaching ‘Green Patrol’, led by the ‘Tiger command’, which his colleague Zbyněk Hrábek is part of.

When Milan is not in Sumatra, he is negotiating new terms with the Costa Rican authorities for a unique project, ‘Green and Blue Life, Costa Rica’ to protect the marine world, which is still very fragile despite government measures to protect it.

Milan Jeglik: I left my soul in Sumatra so that I could find my heart in Costa Rica   Milan Jeglik: I left my soul in Sumatra so that I could find my heart in Costa Rica Milan Jeglík is one of the most important Czech conservationists. Although he was born in the Moravian city of Brno, you will have a better chance of meeting him in the rainforests of Sumatra, where he buys land ...

"Carolyn Freiwald’s talk, “The Story of Human Migration: Your Life in a Tooth,” will air Feb. 12. In the presentation, which originally was given during the university’s TEDxUniversityofMississippi 2020 event, the associate professor of anthropology discusses how archaeologists are using new technologies to discover just how common migration was around the world."

Anthropology Professor's Presentation Featured in February on TED - Ole Miss News Editor’s note: This presentation, originally set for online broadcast in January, has been rescheduled by TED Conferences LLC for Feb. 12. This story has been updated with the new schedule.   OXFORD, Miss. – A presentation by a University of Mississippi professor will be broadcast to the world ...

About a century and a half ago, some Native American tribes of the Southwest used facial tattoos as spiritual rites of passage. Through a series of strange tragedies (and some possible triumphs), a white Mormon teenager who was traveling with her family through the area in the mid-19th century ended up sporting one too, a symbol of a complicated dual life she could never quite shake.

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Visit our website and read a new article about Malay natives called ´Orang Asli´ and experiences of traveller Jan Toman, a former student of Ethnology at Charles University in Prague, who had an exceptional opportunity to meet this native group during his travels around Malaysia. As he summed up:

"Meeting the native people Orang Asli, who still live a so-called ‘primitive’ way of life, was an interesting and rare experience, considering that I met them in Malaysia, one of the most developed countries in Southeast Asia."

Orang Asli – The Native Inhabitants of Malaysia Orang Asli – The Native Inhabitants of Malaysia by Jan Toman on December 31, 2020 Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia with an area of 329,847 km2. Part of the country lies on the Malay Peninsula and part on the island of Borneo. Malaysia gained its independence from Great Britain in 1957, and ...

Veronika Eisensteinová is one of only a few women who work in carpentry. 🔨 It was something of a chance experience that she started to work with wood. She was collaborating on a charity project which was dedicated to building playgrounds in the Banat region of Romania. 🏡 Both the carpentry and Banat touched her heart so much that she decided to devote herself fully to the traditional craft – and also to help Czech people living in Romania.

Read more in our interview:

Veronika Eisensteinová: I breathe new life into old trees   Veronika Eisensteinová: I breathe new life into old trees   Veronika Eisensteinová is one of only a few women who work in carpentry. It was something of a chance experience that she started to work with wood. She was collaborating on a charity project which was dedicated to building playground...

Michal Gálik is a young Slovak documentary filmmaker, best known for the film Zelená Poušť (Green Desert), a documentary which introduced the truth behind the palm oil industry to a wider Czech and Slovak audience.

His documentaries have a significant influence on the perception of current global problems. He believes that even an individual can change the world for the better.

In 2017, Michal won a prestigious travel competition for Sygic Travel and since then he has been shooting 360° videos on his travels. The last place he visited and managed to shoot was Ecuador, at the time of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read more about Michal and his travels:

Filmmaker Michal Gálik: Anyone Can Change the World   Filmmaker Michal Gálik: Anyone Can Change the World   Michal Gálik is a young Slovak documentary filmmaker, best known for the film Zelená Poušť (Green Desert), a documentary which introduced the truth behind the palm oil industry to a wider Czech and Slovak audience. Palm oil is a raw ingr...

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Uruguay is famous for its endless pastures and beaches, its yerba mate tea, tango, and candombe music, which, with its African roots, epitomises the country’s rich cultural and ethnic diversity. The Yoruba religion is a further African feature that has penetrated this Latin American country, through the annual celebration of Iemanja, goddess of the sea. 🌊

The main Yoruba deity, Iemanja represents water, fertility and motherhood and she is the saint of children and fishermen. In this article we will look closer at how this African goddess and her festival made her mark in Latin America and how she is celebrated in Uruguay. 🇺🇾

Iemanja: A Uruguayan celebration of the Yoruba goddess of the sea Iemanja: A Uruguayan celebration of the Yoruba goddess of the sea by Barbora Zelenková on April 25, 2019 Uruguay is famous for its endless pastures and beaches, its yerba mate tea, tango, and candombe music, which, with its African roots, epitomises the country’s rich cultural and ethnic diversit...

The first recorded Native American songs were captured in Calais in 1890 In 1980, Passamaquoddy tribal historic preservation officer Donald Soctomah heard some very old audio recordings of Passamaquoddy songs and stories for the first time.