GLOSSARY OF CHEROKEE WORDS
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Mooney, James
Ata′lûñti′skĭ—a chief of the Arkansas Cherokee about 1818, who had originally emigrated from Tennessee. The name, commonly spelled Tollunteeskee, Taluntiski, Tallotiskee, Tallotuskee, etc., denotes one who throws some living object from a place, as an enemy from a precipice. See number 100 for instance.
â′tărĭ—see â′tălĭ.
ătăsĭ′ (or ătăsû′, in a dialectic form)—a war club.
atatsûñ′skĭ—stinging; literally, “he stings” (habitually).
Aʻtlă′nuwă′—“Tlă′nuwă hole”; the Cherokee name of Chattanooga, Tennessee, (see Tsatănu′gĭ) originally applied to a bluff on the south side of the Tennessee river at the foot of the present Market street. See number 124.
A′tsĭ—the Cherokee name of John Arch, one of the earliest native writers in the Sequoya characters. The word is simply an attempt at the English name Arch.
atsi′la—fire; in the Lower dialect, atsi′ra.
Atsil′-dihye′gĭ—“Fire Carrier”; apparently the Cherokee name for the will-of-the-wisp. See page 335. As is usually the case in Cherokee compounds, the verbal form is plural (“it carries fires”); the singular form is ahye′gĭ.
atsil′-sûñʻtĭ (abbreviated tsil′-sûñʻtĭ)—fleabane (Erigeron canadense); the name signifies “material with which to make fire,” from atsi′la, fire, and gasûñʻtĭ, (gatsûñʻtĭ or gatlûñʻtĭ), material with which to make something; from gasûñ′skû (or gatlûñ′skû), “I make it.” The plant is also called ihyâ′ga. See number 126.
Atsil′-tlûñtû′tsĭ—“Fire panther.” A meteor or comet. See notes to number 9.
Atsi′la-wa′ĭ—“Fire ——”; a mountain, sometimes known as Rattlesnake knob, about two miles northeast of Cherokee, Swain county, North Carolina. See number 122.
a′tsĭnă′—cedar; cf. Muscogee, achena or auchenau.
A′tsĭnă′-kʻta′ûñ—“Hanging cedar place”; from a′tsină′, cedar, and kʻtaûñ, “where it (long) hangs down”; a Cherokee name for the old Taskigi town on Little Tennessee river in Monroe county, Tennessee. See number 105.
atsi′ra—see atsi′la.
Atsûñ′stăʻti′yĭ (abbreviated Atsûñ′stăʻti′)—“Fire-light place,” (cf. atsil-sûñ′ʻtĭ), referring to the “fire-hunting” method of killing deer in the river at night. The proper form for Chestatee river, near Dahlonega, in Lumpkin county, Georgia.
Attakullakulla—see Ătă-gûlʻkălû′.
ăwă′—see ămă′.
awâ′hĭlĭ—eagle; particularly Aquila chrysætus, distinguished as the “pretty-feathered eagle.”
aʻwĭ′—deer; also sometimes written and pronounced, ăhăwĭ′; the name is sometimes applied to the large horned beetle, the “flying stag” of early writers.
aʻwĭ′-ahănu′lăhĭ—goat; literally, “bearded deer.”
aʻwĭ′-aktă′—“deer eye”; the Rudbeckia or black-eyed Susan.
aʻwĭ′-ahyeli′skĭ—“deer mocker”; the deer bleat, a sort of whistle used by hunters to call the doe by imitating the cry of the fawn.
aʻwĭ′-e′gwă (abbreviated aʻw-e′gwă)—the elk, literally “great deer.”
aʻwĭ′-unăde′na—sheep; literally “woolly deer.”
Aʻwĭ′ Usdi′—“Little Deer”; the mythic chief of the Deer tribe. See number 15.
Ax, Annie—see Sadayĭ′.
Ax, John—see Ităgû′năhĭ.
Ayâ′sta—“The Spoiler,” from tsiyâ′stihû, “I spoil it”; cf. uyâ′ĭ, bad. A prominent woman and informant on the East Cherokee reservation.
ayeʻlĭ—half, middle, in the middle.
Ayrate—see e′lădĭ′.
Ayuhwa′sĭ—the proper form of the name commonly written Hiwassee. It signifies a savanna or meadow and was applied to two (or more) former Cherokee settlements. The more important, commonly distinguished as Ayuhwa′sĭ Egwâ′hĭ or Great Hiwassee, was on the north bank of Hiwassee river at the present Savannah ford above Columbus, in Polk county, Tennessee. The other was farther up the same river, at the junction of Peachtree creek, above Murphy, in Cherokee county, North Carolina. Lanman writes it Owassa.
Aʻyûñ′inĭ—“Swimmer”; literally, “he is swimming,” from gayûñinĭ′, “I am swimming.” A principal priest and informant of the East Cherokee, died in 1899.
Ayûlsû′—see Dayûlsûñ′yĭ.
Beaverdam—see Uyʼgilâ′gĭ.
Big-island—see Ămăyeʻl-e′gwa.
Big-cove—see Kâ′lanûñ′yĭ.
Big-mush—see Gatûñ′waʻlĭ.
Big-witch—see Tskĭl-e′gwa.
Bird-town—see Tsiskwâ′hĭ.
Bloody-fellow—see Iskagua.