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Kansas Native Animal Words

Here are the American Indian names of six native animals of Kansas. We have given their names in three different Indian languages: Kansa, Osage, and Pawnee.

Two of these Native Kansas languages are related to the Siouan language family, and the other one is not. Can you guess which languages are relatives by looking at the animal names on this page? (Hint: Not every word will sound similar even in closely related languages, so you will need to look at several different animals to figure it out!) You can find the answer on this page: Siouan languages.

Kansas Native Animal Names


Kansa: shonmikase (pronounced shone-mee-kah-say)
Osage: shonke (pronounced shone-kay)
Pawnee: skiri (pronounced skih-ree)

Kansa: cedonga (pronounced chay-don-gah)
Osage: ttattonka (pronounced tah-ton-kah)
Pawnee: táraha' (pronounced tah-rah-hah)

Kansa: wasabe (pronounced wah-sah-bay)
Osage: wasape (pronounced wah-sah-pay)
Pawnee: kuúruks (pronounced koo-rooks)

Kansa: mashcinge (pronounced mosh-cheen-geh)
Osage: manshchinke (pronounced monsh-cheen-keh)
Pawnee: párus (pronounced pah-russ)

Kansa: singa (pronounced seen-gah)
Osage: chinga (pronounced cheen-gah)
Pawnee: ckipis (pronounced tskip-eese)

Kansa: wazhinga (pronounced wah-zheen-gah)
Osage: wazhinka (pronounced wah-zheen-kah)
Pawnee: nikuucki (pronounced nih-koots-kee)

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