The Chickasaw tribe’s long existence in Northeast Mississippi remains evident in the names of the region’s counties, cities and rivers – many of which derive from Chickasaw words.

The following names and their meanings were compiled from numerous sources. When sources conflicted, both meanings are provided.

• Chickasaw: Named after the tribe itself.

• Chuquatonchee: A word meaning “hog corn.”

• Itawamba: Named after Levi Colbert, also known as Itte-wamba Mingo, a Chickasaw chief.

• Iuka: Named after a Chickasaw chief who lived in the village that once occupied Iuka.

• Neshoba: A word meaning “wolf.”

• Okolona: Named after a Chickasaw brave whose name was Okalaua, meaning “peaceful yellow or blue water.”

• Oktibbeha: Named “bloody water” after battles fought between the Chickasaw and the Choctaw.

• Pontotoc: Named for a Chickasaw chief; or a word meaning “land of hanging grapes.”

• Tippah: The name of a Chickasaw chief’s wife; or a word meaning “cut off.”

• Tishomingo: Named after the Chickasaw chief who signed the Treaty of Pontotoc in 1832 and later died on the Trail of Tears.

• Toccopola: A word meaning “an old crossing place” and originally spelled Tokalopulli.

• Yoknapatawpha: A word meaning “plowed land.”

• The suffix mingo (or minko) is used to identify a king or chief, as in Piomingo and Tishomingo.

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emily.lecoz@journalinc.com