Yoknapatawpha, Other Native Place Names Defined in New Book

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Jim Mullooly

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Sep 12, 2007, 7:54:21 PM9/12/07

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Applied Anthro in the news.

With nearly 600 communities, creeks and other landmarks bearing witness, Mississippi is home to one of the nation’s largest inventories of Native-American place names.

A new book researched and written by a Mississippi State University graduate student provides the first-ever comprehensive resource translating these locales whose identities are derived from an indigenous culture. Along the way, he also corrects more than a few errors resulting from European-American mispronunciations.

“‘Tippah,’ for instance, often has been believed to be the name of a Chickasaw chief’s wife,” said Keith A. Baca of Starkville, a master’s student in applied anthropology. His book, “Native American Place Names in Mississippi,” is published by University Press of Mississippi.