Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/370



342 J. NEILSON BARRY

as well as burying the hatchet and the peace pipe, which also has a French name, calumet. The Indians wore a feather to commemorate an exploit which gave rise to our expression "a feather in his cap."

Probably few persons realize that our familiar Indian cent really represents the Goddess of Liberty, the designer having portrayed his little daughter Laura Keen with a Sioux head- dress instead of the traditional French liberty cap.

Tobacco is an Indian word as well as segar or cigar, as the French spell it, cigarette being also a French form. Nicotine is from a French name, Jean Nicot.

Tomahawk, totem pole, moccasin, wampum and hammock are familiar words, as also toboggan. A young lady after her first coast exclaimed that she would not have missed the thrill for a hundred dollars, but when urged to repeat the experience replied, "not for a thousand dollars."

From the Indians we get such words as canoe, pirogue, a dug out, kiak, the skin canoe of Alaska, as well as tepee, wig- wam, hogan, toopic and wickiup, the names for various houses among the Indians. Papoose, squaw and potlatch are familiar words, as well as such names for chiefs as sachem, sagamore, werowance, tyee and mugwump, which latter term has gotten into politics as has also the name of the Indian chief Tammany. Somehow Indian matters seem to end up in politics so it is fitting to close with caucus, originally an Indian council and another of similar significance pow-wow.