Where Do You Stand?

Rhode Islanders abide, even enjoy, fascinatingly unique geographical names scattered across their tiny state, many bastardized from what they were once called by indigenous peoples: Narragansetts (Pawtuxet South to Point Judith), Niantics (Point Judith to Weekapaug), Nipmucs (Pawtucket toward northwest and Weekapaug westward into CT), Pequots (western RI border into CT), Sakonnets (Little Compton), Sauks ('yellow mud" people of Quonochontaug), Toskeyonke ("bridge/ford" people along shores of Pocasset River), Wampanoags (East Bay to Cape Cod), and whoever time seems to have so forgotten you can't find any mention on internet.

Traditionally costumed Narragansett woman attending a recent South County festival  (click on pictures to enlarge)

Indigenous place names were based on natural, physical, topological, and useful criteria observed in their annual migrations inland in summer with staple corn grown in protected fields, then to shore in winter with shellfish being an important but perishable part of diet protected from spoilage by cold. Shell nacre was worked into decorative beads, wampum, valued for trade.

In response to anemic articles one encounters, below are listed all of the most persistent and recognizable examples, each with its current name, how now pronounced, location in state, and "what it signified". Click link for enhanced details, lost labels, and variable spellings from Dr. Francis Joseph O'Brien, Jr. of Rhode Island USGenWeb Project.

Acoaxet [ah COKE sit] over Little Compton border in Wesport “at a fishing promontory beside fields and small pines”

Agawan [AG ah wahn] in East Providence, a "low place overflowed by water" where they beached canoes

Annaquatucket [an nah kwah TUCK it] in North Kingstown south of Wickford “at the end of a river”

Annawomscutt [an nah WOMS cut] Creek in Barrington “at the rock summit” or “ruler’s hill”

Apponaug [AP poh nog] village in Warwick “where he roasts oysters (shellfish)”

Aquidneck [uh KWID neck] including Middletown, Newport and Portsmouth, “a place on an island”

Antushantuck [AN tush AN tuck] Neck in Cranston, “a well forested place near oxbow in river”, now a necropolis with St. Anne’s and Pocasset Cemeteries

Ashaway [ASH ah way] in Hopkington, “land in the middle (between)”

Canonchet [cuh NON chet] in Narraganset, “place he (Conanicus) oversees/protects/rules”

Chepacet [cha PACH it] hamlet in Glocester, from an anecdote about a lost “devil’s purse”

Chepiwanoxet [chep eh WAN ox it] Island in East Greenwich, “a small separate place” possibly harboring spirits of the departed

Chibacoweda [chee bah co WEE dah] or Prudence Island, a “small place separated by a passage”

Chipuxet [chee PUCKS it] in South Kingstown, at “turning place where the stream divides”

Chisawannock [chee sah WAHN nock] Island in Bristol, “a principle fishing place”

Chopmist [CHOP mist] Hill in Scituate, from Chapomeset, still a “crossroads”

Cocumcussoc [caw cawms KWIS sick] Brook, now Stony Brook, in North Kingstown, "where there are small sharpening stones”; once an early 17th Century trading post, then a slave plantation, the likes of James Varnum and Nathaniel Greene turned Smith's Castle into a revolutionary camp within a hidden cove. Name persists as an undeveloped state park.

Conanicut [ko NAN eh kut] Island, now Jamestown, named for Narraganset Sachem Conanicus

Connimicut [kon NIM i cut] Point and village in Warwick, named for Conanicus’ granddaughter Quinimikit

Cooneymus [KOO neh mis] Cove on Block Island, a “long gravelly reef”

Cowesett [koh WEE set] in West Warwick, a “groves of pines"

Escoheag [ES koh hog] in West Greenwich, “at head of three rivers”

Hummocks [HUM mocks] in Portsmouth, an “enclosed area where fishing occurs”

Kickemuit [kick eh MEW it] in Warren, “where there’s a large spring”

Louisquissett [loo is KWIS set] or Loquassuck [lo KWAS sick] in Smithfield near lime quarries “where they meet” and suspect loquaciously discuss

Mashapaug [MASH ah pog] in Providence, a “large pond”

Massasoit [mass ah SOY it] Spring in East Providence, named for Wampanoag Sachem Wasamegin, who settlers called Massasoit, shown below encountering sanctimonious English Puritans

Matunuck [muh TOON nick] in Charlestown, an “observation hill”

Meshanticut [meh SHAN ti cut] Pond in Cranston, which still has “large trees beside brook”

Metacomet [met ah KOM et] Brook in East Providence “related to Massasoit’s clan”; Metacom, aka King Philip

Miantonomi [MY an toh NOH mee] Hill, etc. on Aquidneck, named for Sachem “who wages war”

Misquamicut [mis KWAHM eh cut] Beach in Westerly, “where salmon are”

Moosup [MOO sup] River in Foster, named for Narraganset sachem Maussup “Little Bird”, aka Pessicus

Moshassuck [moh SHASH uck] River in Providence, “a great marshy meadow” where they hunted moose

Nanaquaket [na na QUACK ut] Cove or Point in Tiverton, “where swamp dries up”

Napatree [NAP ah tree] Point in Westerly, once a "treed neck", but now a sand dune after past hurricanes 

Narragansett [neh ruh GAN set] Bay, People, and Town “where the river narrows”; and down Ocean Drive to end of Hazard Avenue there is Indian Rock, as depicted by A.T. Bricher, oil on canvas (1871). Indian is what settlers called natives because they thought their exploration landed them in Asia, unaware there was an intervening Western Hemisphere with two whole continents, homes to several more advanced civilizations than theirs.

Natick [NAY tick] in West Warwick, “home uphill”

Nausauket [NAW saw kit] in Warwick, “between outlets” to Greenwich Bay

Nayatt [NIGH at] in Bristol “at the point”

Neutaconkanut [NEW tah KON kuh nut] Hill in Providence “at the scant boundary” where land treaty negotiated with Roger Williams originally ended

Niantic [nigh AN tic] Avenue in Providence and Point Judith in Narraganset, a “point of land at the tidal estuary”

Ninigret [NIN eh gret] Park in Charlestown, named for a Niantic sachem

Nooseneck [NOOSE neck] Hill in West Greenwich, where there’s a “beaver pond”

Occupessuatuxet [OX cue pess uh ah TUCKS it] in Warwick “at a small cove on tidewater”, whence Hoxie

Papasquash [PA pa squash] Peninsula in Bristol, possibly "broken rocks", not "papoose squaw"

Pascoag [PASS ko] hamlet in Burrillville “where the river branches”

Paucatuck [PAW kah tuck] in Westerly “a divided stream”

Pawtucket [puh TUCK it] “place of waterfall”

Pawtuxet [puh TUCKS it] at border of Cranston and Warwick, “at a little falls”; applies to entire river inland with two branches to headwaters in Coventry and Scituate

Pesquamscot [pes KWAMS kit] Pond in Richmond, aka Worden's Pond, state's largest natural lake, where “a boulder is split”

Pettaquamscutt [pet tah KWAMS kit] Meeting Place in South Kingstown “at the round rock”; also by proximity applied to what's now Narrow River

Pocasset [poh CASS it] River in Cranston "where the stream widens"

Ponaganset [pon ah GAN sit] Reservoir in Foster at a "waiting place on the shore"

Potowomut [pot uh WAHM ut] in Warwick, a "long meadow where trading occurs"

Quidnessett [kwid NESS sit] in North Kingstown “at a small island”

Quidnick [KWID nick] in Coventry “at hill’s end”

Quonochontaug [KWAN uh kon tog] in Charlestown an “extended deserted place beside two adjacent long ponds”

Quonset [KWAN sit] Point in North Kingstown at “a long place by a shallow cove”

Sachuest [SAT choo est] in Middletown “at the little hill near the great hill” between which is Paradise Valley, a geological and naturalist mecca for late 18th Century impressionist painters, including George Bellows, Paradise Point, oil on canvas (1919), likely inspired by an area at northeast corner of Gardiner Pond along Hanging Rock Road. This plein air painting intentionally draws your eye to Sachuest Point barely seen to left on horizon.

Sakonnet [sah KON nit] Point in Little Compton with a “rocky outlet”; also people who resided there and river that flows south past there

Sapowet [sah POW it] Marsh in Tiverton, literally “wet mire”, now a bird sanctuary

Saugatucket [saw gah TUCK it] River in South Kingstown “at the outlet of the tidal river”

Scituate [SIT yoo it] Town “at the cold brook or springs”

Seekonk [SEE konk] estuary to Providence River “where black geese are”

Shannock [SHAN nock] Village in Richmond where “salmon fishing” is good

Shawomet [SHAW oh meht], now Warwick Neck, where there's a “spring on a tongue of land”, also applied by early settlers to a spit in Northern Portsmouth

Shickasheen [SHICK ah sheen] Brook in West Kingston providing a “great water spring”

Shumunkanuck [shoe mun KAH nuck] Hill in Charlestown, a “high refuge”

Suckatunkanuck [suck ah TUNK kah nuk] Hill in Johnston, once wooded with “dark colored rocks at summit”

Sneech [SNEECH] Pond in Cumberland with “rocks alongside or at outlet”

Sockanosset [SOCK ah noh set] Crossroad at a “dark colored small place” in Cranston; once a slate mine

Sowams [soh WAHMS] in Barrington, “land to the south”

Sqauntum [SKWAHN tum] Point in East Providence, “gateway to an angry god"”

Succotash [SUK koh tash] Point and Road in South Kingstown associated with “corn kernel pulp”, an important foodstuff

Tautog [tah TOG] Cove in Charlestown “where there are fish”; also applied to actual species of fish

Tiogue [TIE ohg] in Coventry, a “pond at low land”

Tippecanset [tip peh CAN sit] Pond in Exeter, a “small place at the great clearing”

Tockwotton [TOCK wot ton] Shore in East Providence at a “steep climb resembling a pounding mortar”

Tommaquaug [TOM ah kWAh] Brook in Hopkington, where "they who cut" butcher beavers

Touisset [too WEE set] a quiet corner of Warren where you “ford a stream”

Tunk [TUNK] Hill in South Scituate, is “wooded”

Usquepaug [US kah pog] on river at border of Richmond and South Kingstown “at the end of pond”

Wamponaug [WAHM poh nog] Trail in East Providence, after "People of the First Light (Dawn, East)" who greeted European settlers beside their Sachem Massasoit shown (1620), with deserved reservations but dutiful generosity. Ancestors of these pandemic infected pilgrims given unconditional refuge are now among the most vocal anti-immigrationists.

Wanskuk [WANS kuk] in North Providence at a “steep spot”

Wanamoisett [wah nah MOY sit] in East Providence, once “a good place to fish”

Watchaug [WATCH og] Pond in Charlestown "at hill country"

Watchemoket [watch uh MAH ket] Pond in East Providence “where there’s a great spring”

Weekapaug [WEEK ah pog] at Charlestown and Westerly, a “dividing line” between Niantic and Nipmuc tribes

Wesquage [WESS kwage] Pond at Bonnet Shores in Narragansett, a "cove where clay pots are made", now a wildlife refuge

Westconnaug [WEST con og] Reservoir near Clayville in Foster at “a long place”

Weybosset [way BAH set] Street in downtown Providence; “half way gets narrow”, as at a bridge

Wickaboxet [WICK ah box it] in West Greenwich "at the end of a small pond"

Wincheck [WIN check] Pond at Rockville in Hopkinton, "a pleasant place"

Winnapaug [WIN nah pog] in Westerly, a “good pond”

Woonasquatucket [woo NAH skwa TUCK it] River flows from Smithfield into Providence River “at head of the tidal river”

Woonsocket [woon SOCK it] city at a “steep spot with two rivers”

Wyoming [why OH ming] in Richmond; “large prairie” name much later imported from Delaware language, so not native

Yawgoog [YAWH goo] in Hopkinton on “one side of pond”

Rhode Island founder Roger Williams, exiled from congregation and outnumbered by locals, naturally became interested in Narraganset (Algonquian) language, so he codified A Key Into the Language of America (1643) from oral phonetic into originally written. His healthy respect helped preserve many old place names that gave food hints and useful facts; property ownership was not their priority. Ones that stuck refer to bays, brooks, coves, lakes, parks, ponds, rivers, roads, and whatever nobody owns. If they could build on it, upstart settlers would've tagged it meaninglessly and taken for themselves. English and French brazenly or ignorantly overwrote majority with port towns names from old world for no sensible reason or used own surnames to claim property. Ego, insecurity, or sociopathy obviously played a role. Nobody can go back and stop them from despoiling environment and violating treaties, but you can today organize resistance, stay vigilant, and stop tyrants before they destroy democracy, ruin rule of law, and strip rights from you.

Despots through history renamed places (i.e., Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, or Tsaritsyn to Stalingrad) to confuse, cower and dominate citizens. Williams also wrote extensively on the misuse of executive and governmental powers. The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience (1644) was a source for First Amendment of the United States Constitution guaranteeing free speech, though currently under shocking attack through restrictive executive orders with specious lawsuits brought against investigative journalists, media outlets, news reporters, private colleges, and whoever challenges their ruthless campaign to seize authoritarian rule. You stand at an inflection point where the worst of history tries to repeat itself.

John Wilderming of the National Gallery noted, "At the center of all its contrasts the Rhode Island landscape has been abidingly benevolent... making us feel that little separates the real from the ideal... How could it be otherwise in a state which has place names like Prudence, Patience, Providence, Hope, and Paradise [respectively, bay islands, capitol city, hamlet in Scituate, and valley on south shore of Middletown]?" Elite residents have fought for decades to limit or remove detrimental core industries, thus impoverishing factory workers and other laborers. Lack of housing and jobs suits multigenerational multimillionaires just fine, not their problem, since they prefer untended fields and wild woods separating them from hungry humans and neglected needy.