Tracks That Speak: The Legacy of Native American Words in North American Culture

by Charles L. Cutler

What do the words saguaro, parka, hickory, and muskrat have in common? They all come from Native American languages. Few people consider how deeply American English is indebted to Native Americans and how widely the contributions of Native Americans are used in English today. In Tracks That Speak, Charles L. Cutler offers seventy fascinating studies, each focusing on a particular word borrowed from a Native American language. He tells us about the words themselves and about the things they stood—and stand—for, illuminating not only the roles these things played in traditional Indian societies but also the ones they continue to play in America today. For example, Cutler explains where the word moccasin comes from, how moccasins were made and decorated, what advantages they had for their wearers, how and when they were adopted by European settlers, and what incarnations of them can be found in modern clothing catalogs. Such a wealth of historical, ethnographic, and linguistic material on Native American loanwords in English has never before been gathered and presented so clearly, making Tracks That Speak as engaging as it is informative.

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 2002

Reviews

[Ashur · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me aware of the many native plant food sources that non-Native peoples in North America (at least in my culture) do not utilize. It disappoints me that there are these flavors and means of nourishment that have been eaten for millennia that are simply ignored by non-Native folk. Many of the native foods to North America were things I'd never even heard of, which is a) a testament to my ignorance and b) a damn shame.

As mentioned in the last part of the book, the author didn't include the linguistic contributions of Mesoamerican peoples. I want to seek out a source like this (not just a list, those are easy enough to find) that discusses those.

This book has alerted me to a number of place names whose etymologies I am interested in investigating.

I should always note that "3 stars" is not a bad score with me; it means, as it the mouse-over says, "I liked it".

[Bookwyrmgyrl]

Full of words from Native American peoples. I love reading about words like this. I especially enjoyed the entries on Quonset Hut, Mackinaw, Quahog, Pemmican, Appaloosa, Toboggan, Inukshuk, and Manitou. Great words!