RD: Thank you the response and added information. With that in mind, do you think it possible that when Frederic Baraga was doing his research and compiling the Ojibway dictionary, that he might have meant (or perhaps implied) Ruffed Grouse? Growing up as a young boy in northern Wisconsin and spending a lot of time in the woods, just about everyone that I knew referred to the Ruffed Grouse as Partridge; or "pats" for short. Since the Ruffed Grouse is indigenous to North America, it would seem logical that the Anishinaabeg would have had a native name for the game bird. Perhaos long before the Europeans had set foot on this continent; and certainly before the Partridge was introduced into area. Tom Cuthbert >From: R D Winthrop <rdwinthrop@a1access.net> >Reply-To: NISHNAWBE-L@rootsweb.com >To: NISHNAWBE-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [NISHNAWBE] Re:Ojibway Word for Partridge >Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 21:58:36 -0500 > > > >This helps me very much. I can't help but wonder if the use of the word > >Partiridge to refer to the popular upland game bird, was meant to include > >the Ruffed Grouse species. Any thoughts on this? > >I may as well add to the confusion ... ruffed grouse are indigenous to >North America and their native habitat encompasses all of the >traditional Algonquin lands, so they would certainly have been >recognizeable and named by Anishinaabeg. > >Partridges, however, are not native -- the gray partridge from Europe >and the uncommon chukar from the Middle East were both introduced for >'sporting' purpose. The gray's range extends into SW Wisconsin and >Minnesota (except the Arrowhead) so they would not often have been >familiar to anyone north of the Lakes, or east of central Wisconsin >except on game farms and an enclave in the St. Lawrence valley. Can't >put my finger on introduction date at the moment, but likely back half >of nineteenth century when a great number of sport & songbirds were >imported and some of them found niches. Their naming in >Anishinaaabemowin is thus relatively recent. > > regards - rdw > > >============================== >Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration >Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > _________________________________________________________________ One-click access to Hotmail from any Web page – download MSN Toolbar now! http://clk.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/