Nottawaseppi
/ˌnɒtəwəˈsɛpi/noun
A Potawatomi-derived proper name meaning the river of the Iroquois, notably used by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Michigan.
Did you know?The name preserves an Indigenous geographic description in which a river is identified through its relationship to the Iroquois, rather than through a European-style personal name.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Algonquian period
Proto-Algonquian
*aθaw-
“An ancestral root associated with the Ottawa or related Indigenous ethnonyms; the precise development of Nottawa- is debated.”
Precolonial period
Potawatomi
Nottawa
“Iroquois; an Indigenous ethnonym used in the name.”
Precolonial period
Potawatomi
sepe/seppi
“River or stream.”
19th Century
English transcription
Nottawaseppi
“An English-recorded rendering of the Potawatomi place-name elements.”
Modern English
English
Nottawaseppi
“A proper name used by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band and associated with its historical identity and homeland.”
Explore more surprising origins