The title of this post reflects two of my active interests. I enjoy hiking, seeing trees at various stages of growth, and I study Native American culture. “Nigik Abaziak” is an Abenaki phrase meaning “Those Trees”. Abenaki (more formally called Western Abenaki) is a dialect in the Algonkian language group.
“kokohas” means owl — an onomatopoeic word, mimicking the “koo” part of the owl’s call. I was pleasantly surprised to come across a tree named kokokhoakw — literally “owl tree.” (The English name of the tree is balsam fir, which is favored by owls for sheltering their owlets.)
Recently, I conducted an overview course for Berkshire OLLI on “Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast”, which included a few examples of language use. At the end of that course, one of my students requested a list of Abenaki names for trees. I have assembled such a list, but gathering it turned into a bigger project than I had expected. I ended up with 91 entries, and there could have been many more. Fewer than half of those are actual tree names; the rest are words that relate to fruits of trees or bushes (such as “sata” — the word for “blueberry”), or words for types of woods, or for areas that have been cleared of trees, and many others that I thought would be of interest.
Here are a few examples. Each line is taken directly from a recent version of the online Abenaki dictionary being used in the language course I mentioned. The Abenaki word is given first, followed by its plural (pl), and then an English translation.
- abazi pl abaziak tree, a living tree
- maskwaimozi pl maskwaimoziak a white birch
- satamozi pl satamozial blueberry bush
- medawinnoibegotaigan pl medawinnoibegotaiganal a witches broom, an abnormal growth of tree branches
- anaskemezi pl anaskemeziak a red or black oak tree, Quercus rubra, Quercus velutina
- ogemakw pl ogemakok white ash (snowshoe wood, Fraxinus americana)
- pabalakw pl pabalakok American sycamore, smooth tree, Platanus occidentalis
- wajoimizi pl wajoimiziak a beech tree, Fagus
One could use these names (and many others listed in my spreadsheet) to simply point and say, “Wajoimizi na!” (“That is a beech tree!”). Or, to treat the trees in a more friendly way, one could say “Kwai kwai, wajoimizi, paakwinogwzian!”
- transliteration: Hello hello, beech tree, you look new to me! ( it’s good to see you again!)
When I lead a hike, I sometimes offer an incantation: “N’dalosabna kpiwi pasojiwi ta pozidokiwi ta nopaiwi!” (“We are going into the woods nearby and over the hill and far away!”).
