Open AccessDensity Variations of Indlan Placenames: Spokane County and the State of Washington
Author(s) -
Grant Smith
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
names
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.2
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1756-2279
pISSN - 0027-7738
DOI - 10.1179/nam.1989.37.2.139
Subject(s) - indigenous , politics , state (computer science) , immigration , geography , ethnology , history , demography , political science , socioeconomics , archaeology , sociology , law , ecology , biology , computer science , algorithm
This is a preliminary study to examine the density of indigenous Indian placenames as a possible indicator of the relative acceptance of Indian presence by the immigrant European culture in North America. Seven counties of the State of Washington are compared statistically. Spokane County is used as the primary example because it has the lowest density of Indian names and because its history illustrates the deliberate removal of a relatively large number of indigenous people. Examples of strife in other counties suggest that the low density of Indian names in Spokane is not linked to the simple fact of conflict, but to explicit public policy and political attitudes. Broader statistical studies are recommended