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PLACE NAMES |
BUFFALO NARROWS
The town is situated on the narrows between Churchill Lake and Little Peter Pond Lake ( Little Buffalo Lake). The Indians used to drive the bison (buffalo) to the narrows and kill them. Numerous buffalo skulls, arrowheads and spearheads have been found in the area.CARROT RIVER
When the first homesteaders arrived, they found wild carrots growing along the river.LITTLE MANITOU LAKE (near Watrous)
The Plains Indians called it the "lake of good spirit" for they said that the water could cure people. Watrous became a resort with the Manitou Springs Mineral Spa ( largest indoor mineral pool in Canada )
MOOSE JAW
How did the city get the name "Moose Jaw" ? Here are a few stories about the origin of the name.There is one legend that the Indian word Moosoochapiskanissippi means "the river shaped like the jaw of a moose". The name of the settlement may have come from the creek that flowed through the settlement.
Another legend says the name comes the Indian word "Moosoochapiskun" which means "the place where the white man mended the cart with the jawbone of the moose."
Another explanation is that the name came from the Cree word moosegaw which means "warm breezes". In the winter Moose Jaw is warmer that the surrounding communities.
MOZART
When the Canadian Pacific Railway was going through the farming community one of the local settlers suggested the name in honor of her favorite composer. Streets in the small town have also been named for composers.NAICAM
the name of the town came from a combination of the names of two officials of the Canadian Pacific Railway.the names of Naismith and Camerson were combined to form "Nai-cam". Shortly after the arrival of the CPR in 1921 , the settlement was incorporated as a village.
OLD WIVES LAKE
This lake got its name from a Cree legend. A hunting party feared an attack by Blackfoot warriors. The elderly Cree women offered to keep the fires burning at the camp ( near the lake) and to beat the tom toms through the night, while the rest of their people escaped in the darkness. The next morning when the Blackfoot party attacked the camp, they found only the old women and killed them. It is said that on windy nights you can still hear the old women's cries. Old Wives Lake is located 30 km. southwest of Moose Jaw.QU'APPELLE
A Cree word kab-tep-was means "the river that calls." A legend tells of a Cree man who was paddling his canoe on the way to his wedding. He heard his name called out. It was the voice of his bride who was still many days travel away. He answered, "Who calls?" A spirit echoed, "Who calls?" He then hurried home only to find out that his bride had died. The last words she spoke were his name. The French settlers who came to Saskatchewan named the river Qu�Appelle, meaning "who calls?" There is also a town named after the river.SASKATOON
The name comes from a red berry which grows in the area. The Cree called the berry " mis-sask-guah-too-min" ( meaning wild berries) which sounded alot like "saskatoon" to the leader of a religious group that had settled on the banks of the river in 1882.VALPARAISO
Originally the village was to be called Beaver Flats. Since the word Beaver was very popular at the time, the search for a unique name began. Valparaiso means "Paradise Valley" in Spanish, and was named after Valparaiso, Chile.
WANUSKEWIN Wanuskewin is Cree for "seeking peace of mind". Wanuskewin Heritage Park is the site of a spiritual place which was visited by the Northern Plains Indians for over 6000 years. They came here to hunt, gather food, worship and celebrate. This National Historic site is located on the outskirts of Saskatoon.
WASCANA
The Cree word "oskana" means "bones". It referred to the piles and piles of bones near a creek where the Cree killed bison. When settlers arrived in the 1880s they set up camp near the creek. The Cree word "oskana" became "wascana" and the creek was called Wascana Creek. More settlers arrived in the area when a railway station was build near the creek. When this "pile of bones" site was chosen as the new capital of the Northwest Territories it was named Regina.WEYBURN
Scottish railroad workers gave the name "wee burn" to the site at the headlands of the Souris River.
MORE PLACE NAMES which came from Indian languages -
- Assiniboia (one who cooks with stones)
- Kinistino (they who were the first to arrive)
- Makwa (loon)
- Moosomin (mooseberries)
- Nipawin (place where one stands)
- Sintaluta (end of the fox's tail)
- Wakaw (the crooked part of the lake)
- Waskesiu (red deer)
- Wawota (plenty of snow)
LINKS
Moose Jaw - A Sask. Tourism site.