Assiniboine
/ˌæsɪnəˈbɔɪn/noun
A member of a Native American people of the Northern Plains, or the Siouan language they speak.
Did you know?The name Assiniboine is usually explained as an exonym from Ojibwe referring to a people associated with cooking with heated stones, but the precise etymology is not fully certain and should not be overclaimed.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Contact
Indigenous
unknown / oral ethnonym
“The people’s own ancestral name in their language tradition, not securely recorded in early written sources.”
17th Century
Ojibwe
asinibwaan / asinipwaan
“Likely an Ojibwe-form exonym referring to the Assiniboine, often glossed as 'stone Sioux' or 'one who cooks with stones' in later explanations, though details are uncertain.”
17th–18th Century
French
Assiniboine
“Recorded colonial spelling of the people’s name in French sources.”
18th–19th Century
English
Assiniboine
“English adopted the French form for the people and, later, the language and geographic names.”
Modern English
English
Assiniboine
“The standard English name for the Assiniboine people, language, and related place names.”