Indian Rope Tricks

Here, whether you want it or not, is a list of the 13 Algonkian tribes, and approximately where they hang out: ALGONKIAN GROUP Abenaki--Vermont Arapaho--Great Plains (WY) Blackfoot--Montana, Alberta Cheyenne--Great Plains Cree--West Coast Fox--Minnesota Gros Ventre (White Clay People)--Montana Maliseet--Maine, Newfoundland Mi'kmaq--Nova Scotia Montagnais--Quebec, Labrador Naskapi--Quebec Odawa--Minnesota, Ontario Ojibwa--Michigan So Ojibwa (aka Chippewa--bet you didn't know that) looks good, eh? Unfortunately, I found an Ojibwa site with animal names, and it didn't work. More sleuthing: aha, the Potawatami seem to be smack dab on site, but though I couldn't find a language site for them, it's supposed to be pretty close to the Ottawa (Odawa), Ojibwa and Algonkin, and allied to the Illinois and Miami (because of the nature of web engines, it's virtually impossible to track anything down on the latter two). But, serendipity produced its usual prizes: I discovered that the Mohegan (Mohican) is the Wolf tribe (hello Natty Bumppo!) and---are you sitting down, mantis?---Sioux is French for....the Cutthroat tribe. -alga-

Reply: Item #4346774 from URTH at LISTS.BEST.COM@INET03# alga, Sioux as French for "cutthroat" (er, "cultellarii"?) now =that= is very interesting, since it ties in =exactly= with the element of "The Tale of the Boy Called Frog" of TBOTNS, wherein the teacher of all these animal Kiplingoids is called, not the expected Baloo the Bear (hmmm), but the Naked One, "who was also called the Savage, or Squanto" (III, ch. 19). This character is the one who taught Frog to plough the fish, leading Frog to plough his twin brother Fish; this name belongs to a Native American Indian of the Pawtuxet tribe who is said to have taught the pilgrims how to plough the fish. Interesting that the teacher character in both stories (TS and TBCF) is linked to a Native American Indian name. OTOH, since he looks like his throat has been cut, does this mean that we have at long last determined the group that cut him? (One presumes that the "Cutthroat Tribe" got their name for doing unto others rather than self-inflicting, no?) =mantis=