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Hello!

This address is on Susquehannock (Conestoga, Minquas, Minkas, Menkwe, Andaste, Andastoerrhonon) land where a number of landmarks are named after them, like the Susquehanna River Valley. Sadly, we no longer have record of the name they would have called themselves. We do know why they were referred to by so many names; the Susquehannock were prominently known in the region by indigenous nations and colonizers alike, especially since they were known to lead trade. Each group they interacted with earned them another name. Although the Susquehannock, the most popular name, are widely documented, we have only about 100 words of their language (named to match whichever name for the people is in use in that context) left recorded. None of the words we have are greetings, and as far as we know there are no Susquehannock speakers to ask. Bonus: koonae means big, jáse means small, and onusse means house.

Avarunsi for participating!

Sources:

Native Americans in Pennsylvania by Caleb Himmele and Dr. Chuck Geiger of Millersville University of Pennsylvania (2023)

Indigenous Peoples of Pennsylvania on Society for Pennsylvania Archeology

History of Susquehannock State Park on Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Gardner Digital Library

Susquehannock on Wikipedia

Stalking the Susquehannocks by Marianne Mithun for the International Journal of American Linguistics (1981)

Svenskt och Engelskt lexicon by Gustaf Widegren (1788)

Ofwersatt på American- Virginiske språket. Lutheri Catechismus by Johannes Campanius (1696)

A Short Description of the Province of New Sweden by Thomas Campanius Holm (1702, translated 1834)

Tətél̓šən!

This address is on lək̓ʷəŋən (“land of smoked herring,” Lekwungen, Songhees Nation, Xʷsepsəm/Xwsepsum/Esquimalt Nation) land called mətúliyeʔ (Matoolia, m^tóliya, Victoria). Sharing wholes or parts with its people’s names, the lək̓ʷəŋiʔnəŋ (Lekwungen, Songish) language is delightfully well documented and in use in both rural and urban areas near this address. What maps presently recognize as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations separately, both nearby, share lək̓ʷəŋiʔnəŋ and consider themselves to have a closely tied history split across different villages at time of colonization. You can find lək̓ʷəŋiʔnəŋ in conversation, on street signs, and marked on urban locations thanks to the long-devoted efforts of people in your community. You can even visit a qʷɬaʔ spəɬx̣n̓ (Camas [bulb] Meadow, Garry Oak meadow or woodland)(bonus: čəŋéɬč means Garry Oak) cultivated in part by your First Nation neighbors at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site down the road!

həy sxʷ q̓ə for participating!

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Sources:

BC First Nations A-Z Listing

BC Assembly of First Nations Interactive Map

Esquimalt Nation

Songhees Nation

Reconciliation - City of Victoria

xʷsépsəm lək̓ʷáŋən on First Voices

A Dictionary of Songish, a Dialect of Straits Salish by Marjorie Ruth Mitchell (1968)

Aho!

This address is on land that has been home to several tribes, such as the Sauk and Meskwaki and Ho-Chunk, even before colonial efforts forced them out. The earliest records I can find in this region name it the Baxoje (“People of the Grey Snow,” Iowa, Ioway) home, an area where native people may have mined just as colonists did. Iowa County, Wisconsin is named after an exonym for the Baxoje just as the Iowa River and Iowa state are. Wisconsin, too, is derived from yet another indigenous language, though it is debated exactly which it is (prevailing theories name Miami, Algonquian, Menominee, and Ojibwe origins). Just as they call themselves, they call their language Baxoje. It may also be found hyphenated with related dialects, like Jiwele-Baxoje, or called Iowa. Some sources call the language Chiwere after an external interpretation of the way it sounds when speakers say “I am speaking the home dialect.” Bonus: heloda waluje means breakfast!

Walígloxi ke for participating!

Interested in getting your own Just Say Hello postcard? Postcard request instructions here.

Sources:

History of Wisconsin on Wikipedia

Tribal Nations of Wisconsin via the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

Indigenous Wisconsin on Wisconsin Historical Society

Native Land Digital

Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma

Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

Iowa (Indian Tribe) on EBSCO

Otoe-Iowa Indian Language, Books 1 & 2 by Otoe and Iowa Language Speakers with Lila Wistrand-Robinson, PhD

Hawé!

This address is on historic Okáxpa (Quapaw, Ogapah) land, as is roughly the entire east half of what is today Arkansas. Arkansas itself is named for the Okáxpa filtered through their likely Algonquian exonym and filtered again through French, then English. The language is called Okáxpa or Quapaw just like the people and the place. Near this address is the Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, an archive of Native North American writing and art! Bonus: žǫ´ke is the word for pawpaw, the fruit native to this region, and has sometimes been repurposed to describe bananas or other sweet fruit.

Haú/kaniké/ganįgé for participating!

Interested in getting your own Just Say Hello postcard? Postcard request instructions here.

Sources:

Arkansas on Wikipedia

Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism

The Historic Arkansas Museum

Native American Tribes of Arkansas on native-languages.org

National Archives Native Communities Research Guides

The Quapaw Nation

The Quapaw Nation Language Department

The Quapaw Nation’s English to Quapaw Dictionary

A Quapaw Vocabulary by Robert L. Rankin of University of Kansas (1974)

Quapaw-English Vocabulary by James Owen Dorsey (1890)

Quapaw on Wikipedia

hatˠu!

This address is on yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini (Northern Chumash, Obispeño) land and is closest to the place called elewexe (‘swordfish,’ Paso Robles, California, United States). This language is called tʔɨnɨsmuʔ tiłhinkʔtitʸu and is one of many varied Chumash dialects found along the coast of what is now called California. Some other aquatic creatures are tškaʔ, meaning fish, and pxatu, meaning whale.

auʔauʔ for participating!

Interested in getting your own Just Say Hello postcard? Postcard request instructions here.

Sources:

List of Indigenous Peoples in California on Wikipedia

Chumash Indian Languages on native-languages.org

YTT Northern Chumash Tribe Language Development

yakʔitʸutʸu resources with California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo

Halito!

This address is on Chahta (Choctaw) land near Bulbancha (‘Place of Many Tongues,’ New Orleans, Louisiana, United States). This language is called Chahta Anumpa (Choctaw) and is spoken across several Chahta groups. You may speak it without knowing when you say Atchafalaya, derived from hachcha falaya (long river) or, possibly, OK/O.K./okay (which may debatably be derived from Chahta Anumpa’s okeh). Nan ish ikhʋna ha̱? (Did you learn anything?)

Yakoke for participating!

Interested in getting your own Just Say Hello postcard? Postcard request instructions here.

Sources:

History of Louisiana - Native Groups at Time of European Settlement on Wikipedia

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

Jena Band of Choctaw Indians

Choctaw Dictionary - Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Choctaw Phrases - Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Choctaw on Wikipedia

¡Hola!

This address is on Charrúa land (Montevideo, Uruguay) and close to Chaná, Minuano, and Guaraní land. The language once used here, also called Charrúa, has mostly been erased save for some diligently kept nouns and phrases. I want to share some of them with you now to keep them alive. Hué is agua/water. It is fuego/fire. Samioc is perro/dog. Chibí is gato/cat. Guidaí is luna/moon. Andó diabun is buenas noches/goodnight.

Gracias for participating!

Interested in getting your own Just Say Hello postcard? Postcard request instructions here.

Sources:

Indigenous Peoples in Uruguay on Wikipedia

Presedencia Uruguay Institución de Derechos Humanos

Hoy es el Día de la Nación Charruá y de la Identidad Indigena - La Red21

Idioma charrúa on Wikipedia

Miyiiha!

This address is on Gabrielino (Tongva, Kizh, Gabrieleño) land called Yaanga (Los Angeles, California, United States). This language is called Gabrielino/Tongva and is with us today due to the care of many people over many decades. It makes me hopeful to know that, because people care, I can still look to the sky and know the name for roomey (the north star) or taraaxeshom (the pleiades) as many people have for generations and as many people will for generations more.

Tehoovko’po xaa for participating!

Interested in getting your own Just Say Hello postcard? Postcard request instructions here.

Sources:

List of Indigenous Peoples in California on Wikipedia

San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians/Gabrielino-Tongva Nation

Yaara’ Shiraaw’ax ‘Eyooshiraaw’a Now You’re Speaking Our Language by the Gabrielino/Tongva Language Committee

Now’!

This address is on Lhaq’temish (‘People of the Sea,’ Lummi, Xwlemi) land called Cháu-uks (an area on Lummi Island, Washington, United States). This language is called Xwlemi Chosen, the contemporary Lhaq’temish language based on reservation talk more than historic records. It is also the language taught at local high schools! Bonus: the ferry to this island is named the Whatcom Chief which comes from what-com, a word describing the sound of water at the outlet of a nearby lake. Bonus 2: itl’a’als’si’kwel means backwards walking.

Hy’shqe for participating!

Interested in getting your own Just Say Hello postcard? Postcard request instructions here.

Sources:

Lummi Nation

Lummi Nation Returns to English Camp - San Juan Island National Park Service

Smakiya1 (Smak i’ya) on Quizlet

Native American Education at Ferndale School District

Alphabetical Vocabularies of the Clallum and Lummi by George Gibbs

hatˠu!

This address is on yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini (Northern Chumash, Obispeño) land called tiłhini (‘place of the full moon,’ San Luis Obispo). This language is called tʔɨnɨsmuʔ tiłhinkʔtitʸu and is one of many varied Chumash dialects found along the central coast and valley of what is now called California. Bonus: yat spanisi means ocean!

auʔauʔ for participating!

Interested in getting your own Just Say Hello postcard? Postcard request instructions here.

Sources:

List of Indigenous Peoples in California on Wikipedia

Chumash Indian Languages on native-languages.org

YTT Northern Chumash Tribe Language Development

yakʔitʸutʸu resources with California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo

Hawé!

This address is on historic Okáxpa (Quapaw, Ogapah) land, as is roughly the entire east half of what is today Arkansas. In fact, Arkansas is named after the Okáxpa filtered through their likely Algonquian exonym and filtered again through French, then English. In fact, the Okáxpa are so often recorded historically that the Quapaw Nation and U.S. National Archives both offer long lists of names they might have been referred to as depending on the time of writing and language of the authors. Like the people, the language is called Okáxpa or Quapaw. Bonus: mǫ´ška means crawfish.

Haú/kaniké/ganįgé for participating!

Interested in getting your own Just Say Hello postcard? Postcard request instructions here.

Sources:

Arkansas on Wikipedia

Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism

The Historic Arkansas Museum

Native American Tribes of Arkansas on native-languages.org

National Archives Native Communities Research Guides

The Quapaw Nation

The Quapaw Nation Language Department

The Quapaw Nation’s English to Quapaw Dictionary

A Quapaw Vocabulary by Robert L. Rankin of University of Kansas (1974)

Quapaw-English Vocabulary by James Owen Dorsey (1890)

Quapaw on Wikipedia