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In ethnolinguistics, an endonym or autonym (from the Greek ἔνδον, éndon, "within" or αὐτο-, auto-, "self" and ὄνομα, ónoma, "name") is a local name for a geographical feature, and an exonym or xenonym (from the Greek: ἔξω, éxō, "out" or ξένος-, xénos, "foreign" and ὄνομα, ónoma, "name") is a foreign language name for it. Exonyms and endonyms can be names of places (toponym), ethnic groups (ethnonym), languages (glossonym), or individuals (personal name). The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names defines:

• Endonym: Name of a geographical feature in an official or well-established language occurring in that area where the feature is located.
• Exonym: Name used in a specific language for a geographical feature situated outside the area where that language is spoken, and differing in its form from the name used in an official or well-established language of that area where the geographical feature is located.^[1]

For example, China, India, Germany, Greece, Japan, Hungary and Korea are the English exonyms corresponding to the endonyms Zhongguo, Bharat, Deutschland, Hellas, Nippon (Nihon), Magyarország and Hanguk/Chosŏn, respectively.

Types of exonyms[link]

Exonyms may derive from different roots (as in the case of Germany for Deutschland), they may be cognate words which have diverged in pronunciation or orthography, or they may be fully or partially translated from the native language. For example, London is known by the cognate exonyms Londres in Catalan, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Tagalog, Londino (Λονδίνο) in Greek, Londen in Dutch, Londra in Italian, Maltese, Romanian and Turkish, Londer in Albanian, Londýn in Czech and Slovak, Londyn in Polish, Lundúnir in Icelandic, Lontoo in Finnish, Lun Dun in Mandarin and Luân Đôn in Vietnamese. An example of a translated exonym is the name Soviet Union.^[2]

Exonyms can also be divided into native and borrowed (i.e. from a third language). For example, Slovene uses the native exonyms Dunaj (Vienna) and Benetke (Venice), and the borrowed exonyms Kijev (Kiev) and Vilna (Vilnius), from Russian and Polish, respectively. A substantial proportion of English exonyms for places in continental Europe are borrowed (or adapted) from French, for example: Navarre (Navarra/Nafarroa), Belgrade (Beograd), Cologne (Köln), Munich (München), Prague (Praha), Turin (Torino), Copenhagen (København) etc.

Tendencies in the development of exonyms[link]

James A. Matisoff, who introduced the term "autonym" into linguistics, said, "Human nature being what it is, exonyms are liable to be pejorative rather than complimentary, especially where there is a real or fancied difference in cultural level between the ingroup and the outgroup." For examples, Matisoff notes Khang "an opprobrious term indicating mixed race or parentage" is the Palaung name for Jingpo people and the Jingpo name for Chin people; both the Jingpo and Burmese use the Chinese word yeren 野人 (lit. "wild men") "savage; rustic people" as the name for Lisu people.^[3]

Exonyms develop for places of significance for speakers of the language of the exonym. Consequently, most European capitals have English exonyms, e.g. Athens (Αθήνα/Athína), Belgrade (Београд/Beograd), Bucharest (Bucureşti), Brussels (Bruxelles, Brussel), Copenhagen (København), Lisbon (Lisboa), Moscow (Москва/Moskva), Nicosia (Λευκωσία/Lefkosía), Prague (Praha), Rome (Roma), Vienna (Wien) and Warsaw (Warszawa), while for instance historically less prominent capitals Ljubljana and Zagreb do not (but do have exonyms in e.g. German: Laibach and Agram). Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam, with identical names in most major European languages, are exceptions. For places considered to be of lesser significance, attempts to reproduce local names have been made in English since the time of the Crusades. Livorno, to take an instance, was Leghorn because it was an Italian port essential to English merchants and, by the 18th century, to the British Navy; not far away, Rapallo, a minor port on the same sea, never received an exonym.

In earlier times, the name of the first tribe or village encountered became the exonym for the whole people beyond. Thus the Romans used the tribal names Graecus (Greek) and Germanus, the Russians used the village name of Chechen, medieval Europeans took the tribal name Tatar as emblematic for the whole Mongolic confederation (and then confused it with Tartarus, a word for Hell, to produce Tartar), and the Magyar invaders were equated with the 500-years-earlier Hunnish invaders in the same territory, and were called Hungarians.

The Germanic invaders of the Roman Empire applied the word "Walha" to foreigners they encountered and this evolved in West Germanic languages as a generic name for all non-Germanic speakers; thence, the names Wallachia, Vlachs, Wallonia, Walloons, Cornwall, Wales, Wallasey, and even the Polish name for Italy, Włochy.

Mutes and gabblers[link]

Matisoff wrote, "A group's autonym is often egocentric, equating the name of the people with 'mankind in general,' or the name of the language with 'human speech'."^[4] Exonyms often describe others as "foreign-speaking", "non-speaking" or "nonsense-speaking". The classic example is the Slavic term for the Germans, Nemtsi, possibly deriving from a plural of nemy ("mute"): standard etymology has it that the Slavic peoples referred to their Germanic neighbors as "mutes" because their language was unintelligible. The term survives to this day in the Russian nemtsy (немцы), Bulgarian nemtsi (немци), Ukrainian nimtsi (німці), Polish Niemcy, Czech Němci, Slovak, Slovenian and Serbian Nemci, Croatian and Bosnian Nijemci, as well as in the Hungarian Német and Romanian Nemţi (both adopted from the Slavic), and even in the Turkish Nemçe and Arabic al-Nimsa (النمسا). (The Turkish was adapted from the Slavic, and the Arabic from the Turkish, the words in both cases referring specifically to Austria).

One of the more prominent theories regarding the origin of the term "Slav" suggests that it comes from the Slavic root slovo (hence "Slovenia," "Slovakia"), meaning "word" or "speech." In this context, the Slavs are describing Germanic people as "mutes"—in contrast to themselves, "the speaking ones".

Another example of such development is the exonym "Sioux," an abbreviated form of Nadouessioux, derived most likely from a Proto-Algonquian term, *-a·towe·, "foreign-speaking."

White settlers in South Africa thought that the Khoi-San natives gabbled nonsense syllables, and so called them "Hottentots."

Two millennia earlier, the Greeks had thought that all non-Greek-speakers spoke gibberish ("bar-bar-bar"), and so called them "barbarians," which eventually gave rise to the exonym "Berber."

While the Irish words for England and its people are Sasana and Sasanach ("Saxons"), the word for the English language is Béarla, which derives ultimately from a word meaning "lips". In Old Irish, this word was applied to any foreign language, but by the medieval period it had come to be used exclusively for the English language.^{[citation needed]}

Controversies and complications[link]

In the late 20th century the use of exonyms often became controversial. Groups often prefer that outsiders avoid exonyms where they have come to be used in a pejorative way: for example, Romani people prefer that term to exonyms such as Gypsy (from Egypt), and the French term bohémien, bohème (from Bohemia). People may also avoid exonyms due to historical sensitivities, as in the case of German names for Polish and Czech places which used to be ethnically or politically German (e.g. Danzig/Gdańsk and Karlsbad/Karlovy Vary), and Russian names for locations once under Russian control (e.g. Kiev/Kyiv).

In recent years, geographers have sought to reduce the use of exonyms to avoid this kind of problem. For example, it is now common for Spanish speakers to refer to the Turkish capital as Ankara rather than use the Spanish exonym Angora. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, "Time has, however, shown that initial ambitious attempts to rapidly decrease the number of exonyms were over-optimistic and not possible to realise in the intended way. The reason would appear to be that many exonyms have become common words in a language and can be seen as part of the language’s cultural heritage."

In some situations the use of exonyms can be preferred. For instance, for multilingual cities such as Brussels, which is known for its linguistic tensions between Dutch- and French-speakers, a neutral name may be preferred so as to not offend anyone. Thus an exonym such as Brussels in English or Bryssel in Danish could be used instead of favoring either one of the local names (Brussel in Dutch/Flemish and Bruxelles in French).

Other difficulties with endonyms have to do with pronunciation, spelling and word category. The endonym may include sounds and spellings which are highly unfamiliar to speakers of other languages, making appropriate usage difficult if not impossible for an outsider. Over the years, the endonym may have undergone phonetic changes, either in the original language or the borrowing language, thus changing an endonym into an exonym, as in the case of Paris, where the s was formerly pronounced in French. Another example is the endonym for the German city of Cologne, where the Latin original of Colonia has evolved into Köln in German, while the Italian and Spanish exonym Colonia closely reflects the Latin original. In some cases no standardized spelling is available either because the language itself is unwritten (even unanalyzed) or because there are competing non-standard spellings. Use of a misspelled endonym is perhaps more problematic than the respectful use of an existing exonym. Finally, an endonym may be a plural noun and may not naturally extend itself to adjectival usage in another language, like English, which has a propensity to use the adjectives for describing culture and language. The attempt to use the endonym thus has a bizarre-sounding result.

The name for a language and a people are often different terms, of course, which is a complication for an outsider.

Sometimes the government of a country tries to endorse the use of an endonym instead of traditional exonyms outside the country:

• In 1985 the government of Côte d'Ivoire requested that the country's French name be used in all languages instead of exonyms such as Ivory Coast, so that Côte d'Ivoire is now the official English name of that country in the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee (see Name of Côte d'Ivoire).
• The Ukrainian government maintains that the capital of Ukraine should be spelled Kyiv in English because the traditional English exonym Kiev was derived from the Russian name Kiyev (Киев) (see Kiev: City name evolution).
• The Belarusian government argues that the endonym Belarus should be used in all languages and has been rather successful in English, where the former exonym Byelorussia, still used with reference to the Soviet Republic, has virtually died out, whereas in other languages exonyms like Danish Hviderusland, Dutch Wit-Rusland, Estonian Valgevene, Faroese Hvítarussland, Finnish Valko-Venäjä, German Weißrussland, Greek Lefkorosía (Λευκορωσία), Icelandic Hvíta-Rússland, Swedish Vitryssland, Turkish Beyaz Rusya (all literally 'White Russia'), or French Biélorussie, Italian Bielorussia, and Spanish Bielorrusia are still much more common than Belarus (see History of the name Belarus).
• In 1972 the government of Ceylon (the word is the anglicized form of Portuguese Ceilão) changed the name to Sri Lanka, although the name Ceylon was retained as the brand name for tea.
• In 1989 the government of Burma requested that the English name of the country be Myanmar, with Myanma as the adjective of the country and Bamar as the name of the inhabitants (see Names of Burma).
• In 2006 the South Korean national government officially changed the Chinese name of its capital, Seoul, from the exonym Hancheng (漢城/汉城) to Shou'er (首爾/首尔). This use has now been made official within the People's Republic of China.
• In 1935 Reza Shah requested that foreign nations use the name Iran rather than Persia in official correspondence. The name of the country had internally been Iran since the time of the Sassanid Empire (224–651), whereas the name Persia is descended from Greek Persis (Περσίς), referring to a single province.

Many Chinese endonyms have successfully replaced English exonyms^{[citation needed]}, especially city and most province names in mainland China, following Hanyu Pinyin spelling, as the current standard romanisation in China, e.g. Beijing (北京 Běijīng), Guangdong (广东 Guǎngdōng) (province), Qingdao (青岛 Qīngdǎo), although older English exonyms are sometimes used in certain contexts – e.g. Peking (duck, opera, etc.), Canton, etc. The official romanized name of New Taipei (新北 Xīnběi), which is the largest city of the Republic of China, includes a totally English word New added to Taipei, when the city was promoted from former Taipei County in 2010.

Confusion with renaming[link]

Exonyms and endonyms must not be confused with the results of geographical renaming as in the case of Saint Petersburg, which became Petrograd (Петроград) in 1914, Leningrad (Ленинград) in 1924, and Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург Sankt-Peterbúrg) again in 1991. In this case, although St Petersburg has a German etymology, this was never a German exonym for the city between 1914 and 1991, just as Nieuw Amsterdam, the Dutch name of New York City until 1664, is not its Dutch exonym.

Old place names, which have become outdated after renaming, may afterwards still be used as historicisms. For example, even today one would talk about the Siege of Leningrad, not the Siege of St. Petersburg, because at that time (1941–1944) the city was called Leningrad. Likewise, one would say that Immanuel Kant was born in Königsberg in 1724, not in Kaliningrad (Калининград), as it has been called since 1946. Sometimes, however, historical names are deliberately not used because of nationalist tendencies to linguistically lay claim to a city's past. As a case in point, the Slovak Wikipedia article on the 1805 Peace of Pressburg does not use either of the city's names then in use (the Slovak Prešporok or the official, that is German, Pressburg), but today's name Bratislava, which became the city's name only in 1919.

The name Madras, now Chennai, may be a special case. When the city was first settled by Englishmen, in the early 17th century, both names were in use. Possibly they referred to different villages which were fused into the new settlement. In any case, Madras became the exonym, while more recently, Chennai became the endonym.

Likewise, Istanbul is still called Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολη) in Greek, despite the name having been changed in Turkish (and other languages) between 1923 and 1930. (Ironically, the name Istanbul itself derives from a Medieval Greek phrase.^[5])

Orthographic exonymy in languages with phonetic spelling[link]

There are a few languages in Europe in which the use of seeming exonyms (in terms of spelling but not necessarily pronunciation) for places and people is actually the norm and not an exception: Latvian, Lithuanian, Turkish, Azerbaijani and Serbian (when written in Roman script), all having Latin-based script, transcribe foreign proper names whenever necessary, including those originally written in Latin script. The reasons are the respective nations' preference for their own consistent phonetic spelling and the need to add native inflectional endings to most nouns. The resulting advantage is that reading and spelling in these languages remain easy (knowledge of how to spell any unadapted foreign words is not required); a disadvantage is that foreigners may erroneously complain that their names have been "misspelled".

The phonetic transcription is often more correct: e.g., Varšava, Varšuva, Varšava, Varşova, Varşava (in Latvian, Lithuanian, Serbian, Turkish, and Azerbaijani, respectively), with [v] and [ʃ], is phonetically closer to the original Polish Warszawa [varˈʂava] than the English Warsaw [ˈwɔrsɔː]. (The sound [ʂ] is usually perceived as closer to [ʃ] than [s] by speakers of languages with those two sounds but not [ʂ].) However, such spellings may also reveal widespread ignorance of the way a place name is actually pronounced: e.g., Çikaqo, Ĉikago, Čikāga, Čikaga, Čikago (in Azerbaijani, Esperanto, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Serbian, respectively), which misinterpret English orthographic ch as phonetic [tʃ].

See also[link]

• -onym
• Shibboleth
• List of indigenous language names
• List of adjectival forms of place names
• Chinese exonyms
• German exonyms
• German names for Central European towns
• Icelandic exonyms
• Latin exonyms
• Romanian exonyms
• Russian exonyms
• Slavic toponyms for Greek places
• List of Welsh exonyms for English toponyms
• List of English exonyms for German toponyms
• List of English exonyms for Italian toponyms
• Names of European cities in different languages
• List of European exonyms
• List of countries and capitals in native languages
• List of alternative country names
• List of country names in various languages
• List of Latin place names in Europe
• List of European regions with alternative names
• List of European rivers with alternative names
• List of traditional Greek place names
• English exonyms of Arabic speaking places
• Place names in Irish
• List of cities in the Americas with alternative names

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Jordan, Peter / Bergmann, Hubert / Burgess, Caroline / Cheetham, Catherine (eds.): Trends in Exonym Use. Proceedings of the 10th UNGEGN Working Group on Exonyms Meeting, Tainach, 28-30 April 2010. Hamburg 2011 (= Name & Place 1).
• Jordan, Peter / Orožen Adamič, Milan / Woodman, Paul (eds.): Exonyms and the International Standardisation of Geographical Names. Approaches towards the Resolution of an Apparent Contradiction. Wien, Berlin 2007 ( = Wiener Osteuropastudien 24).

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Look up exonym or endonym in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• 2006 UN document discussing exonyms (PDF)
• Jacek Wesołowski's Place Names in Europe, featuring endonyms and exonyms for many cities
• "Does Juliet's Rose, by Any Other Name, Smell as Sweet?" by Verónica Albin.
• Looking up in exonym database
• European geographical names infrastructure and services (EuroGeoNames)
• UN document describing EuroGeoNames (PDF)

Cree
Nēhilaw

Nēhiyaw camp near Vermilion, Alberta, in 1871
Total population
over 200,000
Regions with significant populations
Canada, United States
Languages
Cree, English, French
Related ethnic groups
Métis, Oji-Cree, Ojibwe, Innu

The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. The major proportion of Cree in Canada live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. About 15,000 live in eastern Quebec.^[1]

In the United States, this Algonquian-speaking people historically lived from Lake Superior westward. Today, they live mostly in Montana, where they share a reservation with the Ojibwe (Chippewa).^[2]

The documented westward migration over time has been strongly associated with their roles as traders and hunters in the North American Fur Trade.^[3]

Tribes[link]

The Cree Nation is generally divided into eight groups (some political, others cultural):

1. Naskapi (Innu) and
2. Montagnais (Innu) are inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan. Their territories comprise most of the present-day political jurisdictions of eastern Quebec and Labrador. Their cultures are differentiated, as the Naskapi are still caribou hunters and more nomadic than the Montagnais, but the Montagnais have more settlements. The total population of the two groups in 2003 was about 18,000 people, of which 15,000 lived in Quebec. Their dialects and languages are the most distinct from the Cree spoken by the groups west of Lake Superior.
3. Attikamekw are inhabitants of the area they refer to as Nitaskinan (Our Land), in the upper St. Maurice River valley of Quebec (about 300 km north of Montreal). Their population is around 4,500.
4. James Bay Cree - Grand Council of the Crees; approximately 16,357 Cree (Iyyu in Coastal Dialect / Iynu in Inland Dialect) of the James Bay and Nunavik regions of Northern Quebec.
5. Moose Cree - Moose Factory^[4] in the Cochrane District, Ontario; this group lives on Moose Factory Island, near the mouth of the Moose River, at the southern end of James Bay.
6. Swampy Cree - this group lives in northern Manitoba along the Hudson Bay coast and adjacent inland areas to the south and west, and in Ontario along the coast of Hudson Bay and James Bay. Some also in eastern Saskatchewan around Cumberland House. It has 4,500 speakers.
7. Woods Cree group in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
8. Plains Cree 34,000 people in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Montana.

Collectively the Cree used the autonym Nēhilawē (those who speak our language).^[5] They used "Cree" to refer to their people only when speaking the languages of the European colonists, French or English.^[6]

Skilled American bison hunters and horsemen, the Plains Cree were allied with the Assiniboine and the Saulteaux before they encountered French settlers in the 18th century.

Name[link]

The name "Cree" is derived from the Algonkian-language exonym Kiristino, which the Ojibwa used for tribes around Hudson Bay. The French colonists and explorers, who spelled the term Kilistinon, Kiristinon, and Cristinaux, used the term for numerous tribes which they encountered north of Lake Superior, in Manitoba, and west of there.^[7] The French used these terms to refer to various groups of peoples in Canada, some of which are now better distinguished as Severn Anishinaabe (Ojibwa), who speak languages different from the Algonkian or the Cree.^[8] Depending on the community, the Cree may call themselves by the following names: the nēhiyaw, nīhithaw, nēhilaw, and nēhinaw; or ininiw, ililiw, iynu (innu), or iyyu. These names are derived from the historical autonym nēhiraw (uncertain meaning) or from the historical autonym iriniw (meaning "person"). Cree using the latter autonym tend to be those living in the territories of Quebec and Labrador.^[9]

Language[link]

Linguistic subdivisions in Canada

The Cree language (also known in the most broad classification as Cree-Montagnais, Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi, to show the groups included within it) is the name for a group of closely related Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. It is the most widely spoken aboriginal language in Canada.^[10] The only region where Cree has official status is in the Northwest Territories, together with eight other aboriginal languages.^[11][12]

The two major groups: Nehiyaw and Innu, speak a mutually intelligible, Cree dialect continuum, which can be divided by many criteria. In a dialect continuum, "It is not so much a language, as a chain of dialects, where speakers from one community can very easily understand their neighbours, but a Plains Cree speaker from Alberta would find a Quebec Cree speaker difficult to speak to without practice."^[13]

One major division between the groups is that the Eastern group palatalizes the sound /k/ to either /ts/ (c) or to /tʃ/ (č) when it precedes front vowels. There is also a major difference in grammatical vocabulary (particles) between the groups. Within both groups, another set of variations has arisen around the pronunciation of the Proto-Algonquian phoneme *l, which can be realized as /l/, /r/, /y/, /n/, or /ð/ (th) by different groups. Yet in other dialects, the distinction between /eː/ (ē) and /iː/ (ī) has been lost, merging to the latter. In more western dialects, the distinction between /s/ and /ʃ/ (š) has been lost, both merging to the former.

If the consonants /p/ /t/ /c/ and /k/* used in Cree are compared^[14] to their English counterparts, it is noticeable that there is little distinction of voicing. In English, voicing marks the difference of meaning in words such as "bin : pin". Since there is not distinction of voicing in Cree, it is common for variants of /t/ to sound more like [d] without any difference in meaning.^[15]

Victor Gollum lists Cree in the Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages as one of fifty five languages that have more than 1,000 speakers which are being actively acquired by children.^[16]

In Canada[link]

Nehiyaw girl (1928).

The Cree are the largest group of First Nations in Canada, with over 200,000 members and 135 registered bands.^[17] This large population may be a result of the Crees' traditional openness to inter-tribal marriage. Together, their reserve lands are the largest of any First Nations group in the country.^[17] The largest Cree band and the second largest First Nations Band in Canada after the Six Nations Iroquois is the Lac La Ronge Band in northern Saskatchewan.

The Métis (from French Métis - any person of mixed ancestry) are people of mixed ancestry, such as Nehiyaw (or Anishinaabe) and French, English, or Scottish heritage. According to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, the Métis were historically the children of French fur traders and Nehiyaw women or, from unions of English or Scottish traders and northern Dene women (Anglo-Métis). Generally in academic circles, the term Métis can be used to refer to any combination of persons of mixed Native American and European heritage, although historical definitions for Métis remain. Canada's Indian and Northern Affairs broadly define Métis as those persons of mixed First Nation and European ancestry.

In the United States[link]

At one time the Cree were located in northern Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana. Today they live as part of the federally recognized Chippewa Cree tribe, located on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in Montana. They share the reservation with the Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians, who form the "Chippewa" half of the Chippewa Cree tribe. (In Canada the Chippewa are known as Ojibwa.) Traditionally, the southern limits of the Cree territory in the United States were the Missouri River and the Milk River in Montana.

First Nation communities[link]

Illustration of a Snake woman (left) and a Nehiyaw woman (right), c. 1840-1843, Karl Bodmer

Notable chiefs[link]

• Mistāwasis ("Big Child", also known as Pierre Belanger), Chief of the Parklands/Willow Cree (Paskokopāwiyiniwak), born about 1813. He was one of the influential chiefs of the House Cree or Wāskahikaniwiyiniwak, supplied between 1852–1854 Fort Carlton with bison meat and pemmican, acquired in his youth by constant military conflicts the respect of Crowfoot, the chief of the Siksika, the Blackfoot called Mistāwasis respectfully “The Iron Buffalo of the Plains”)^[19]
• Ahtahkakoop ("Starblanket"), Chief of the House Cree (Wāskahikaniwiyiniwak). He was born about 1815-16, signed together with his cousin, Mistāwasis in 1876 the Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton, where he agreed that his group were settled into a reserve near the present-day Prince Albert, died 4 December 1896 at the age of 81 years)^[20]
• Ahchuchhwahauhhatohapit (Ahchacoosacootacoopits - ‘Starblanket’,^[21] Chief of a band of Calling River Cree (Kātēpwēwi-sīpīwiyiniwak), born about 1845 in the lower Qu’Appelle Valley, son of Wāpiy-mōsētōsis ("White Calf"), his tribal group was closely associated with the Ka Kichi Wi Winiwak under the leadership of chief Kakeesheway (‘Loud Voice’), and a close ally of Payipwāt ("Piapot"), the chief of the Cree-Assiniboine or "Young Dogs", 1879 after the disappearance of the bison Ahchuchhwahauhhatohapit settled on a reserve in the File Hills of the lower Qu'Appelle Valley, died 1917 in the Star Blanket reserve, Saskatchewan)^[22]
• Payipwāt (or Piapot: "[One who Knows the] Secrets of the Sioux"), also known as "Hole in the Sioux" or Kisikawasan - ‘Flash in the Sky’, Chief of the Cree-Assiniboine or the Young Dogs with great influence on neighboring Assiniboine, Downstream People, southern groups of the Upstream People and Saulteaux (Plains Ojibwa), born 1816, kidnapped as a child by the Sioux,^[23] he was freed about 1830 by Plains Cree, significant Shaman,^[24] most influential chief of the feared Young Dogs,^[25] convinced the Plains Cree to expand west in the Cypress Hills, the last refugee for bison groups, therefore disputed border area between Sioux, Assiniboine, Siksika Kainai and Cree, refused to participate in the raid on a Kainai camp near the present Lethbridge, Alberta, then the Young Dogs and their allies were content with the eastern Cypress Hills to the Milk River, Montana, does not participate at the negotiations on the Treaty 4 of 1874, he and Cheekuk, the most important chief of the Plains Ojibwa in the Qu'Appelle area, signed on 9 September 1875 the treaty only as preliminary contract, tried with the chiefs of the River Cree Minahikosis ("Little Pine") and Mistahi-maskwa ("Big Bear") to erect a kind of Indian Territory for all the Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa and Assiniboine - as Ottawa refused, he asked 1879-80 along with Kiwisünce (cowessess- 'Little Child')^[26] and the Assiniboine for adjacent reserves in the Cypress Hills, Payipwāt settled in a reserve about 37 miles northeast of Fort Walsh, Minahikosis ("Little Pine") and Papewes (‘Lucky Man’) asked successfully for reserves near the Assiniboine or Payipwāt - this allowed the Cree and Assiniboine to preserve their autonomy - because they went 1881 in Montana on bison hunting, stole Absarokee horses and alleged cattle killed, arrested the U.S. Army the Cree-Assiniboine group, disarmed and escorted them back to Canada - now unarmed, denied rations until the Cree and Assiniboine gave up their claims to the Cypress Hills and went north - in the following years the reserves changed several times and the tribes were trying repeated until to the Northwest Rebellion in 1885 to build an Indian Territory, Payipwāt remained under heavy guard, until his death he was a great spiritual leader, therefore Ottawa deposed Payipwāt on 15 April 1902 as chief, died in April 1908 on Piapot Reserve, Saskatchewan)^[27]
• Kee-a-kee-ka-sa-coo-way (‘The Man Who gives the War Whoop’), Chief of the Plains Cree, was in the middle of the 19th century the leading chief of the Plains Cree, had also a large following among the Plains Ojibwa around Fort Pitt, his sub-chief was Mukitou (‘Black Powder’), the father of Mistahi-maskwa.
• Mistahi-maskwa (recorded as Mistihui'muskwa or as Mistahimusqua; better known as Big Bear in English and as Gros Ours in French), Chief of the Plains Cree, born about 1825, son of the Ojibwa-Chief Mukitou (‘Black Powder’), mastered his native language, the Cree language, as well as Ojibwe language, led the last resistance to the dispersal of the Cree on many reservations and asked for a big total reserve, a revolt of the young warriors under the leadership of one of his sons in 1885 destroyed these plans, died 17 January 1888 on the Poundmaker reservation in North Battleford in Saskatchewan.
• Kapapamahchakwew (Kā-papāmahcahkwêw, Kapapa Machatiwe, Papamahchakwayo, French: ‘Esprit Errant’, better known as Wandering Spirit, war chief of the Plains Cree under Mistahimaskwa, born 1845 near Jackfish Lake, Saskatchewan, committed on 2 April 1885, the so-called Frog Lake massacre, killed the Indian Agent Thomas Quinn and eight whites and one Métis, surrendered in July at Fort Pitt, was hanged on 27 November 1885 in Battleford, Saskatchewan)^[28]
• Kamiokisihkwew (Miyo Kisikaw - Fine Day,^[29] Chief of the Plains Cree, born 1850 in the Battle River region, died 193[?], was a shaman and war chief under Pitikwahanapiwiyin`s River Cree, during the North-West Rebellion Battleford was sacked by River Cree, subsequently Fine Day was as war chief the leader in the uprising, defeated the Canadian army in the Battle of Cut Knife, later joined a group of Plains Cree under the leadership of Chief Wikaskokiseyin(‘Sweet Grass’), whose chief he became later)
• Pitikwahanapiwiyin (Pîhtokahânapiwiyin - ‘Poundmaker’,^[30][31] Chief of the River Cree, born about 1842 in the North Battleford Region in Saskatchewan; son of Sikakwayan (‘Skunk Skin’), an shaman of the Assiniboine and a Franco-Canadian Métisse, the sister of Chief Mistāwasis ("Big Child"), Chief of a band consisting of Plains River Cree (Sīpīwininiwak-paskwāwiyiniwak), Woods River Cree (‘Sīpīwininiwak-sakāwiyiniwak’), Western Woodland Cree (Sakāwiyiniwak) and Nakoda (Stoney), was adopted in 1873 by the Siksika chief Crowfoot as son, lived several years by the Blackfeet-name Makoyi-koh-kin (‘Wolf Thin Legs’) under the Siksika, returned to the Cree, became counselor of the Chief Pihew-kamihkosit (‘Red Pheasant’), was involved in the negotiations for the Treaty 6 in 1876 and went in 1879 in the Poundmaker reservation, later he participated in the siege of Battleford and the Battle of Cut Knife, died 4 July 1886 in Blackfoot Crossing, Alberta)^[32]
• Wikaskokiseyin (Wee-kas-kookee-sey-yin, better known as Chief Sweet Grass, Chief of the Plains Cree, his mother was a captured Absaroke, as he grew up he was also called Apistchi-okimas- 'Little Chief', signed the Treaty 6 on 9 September 1876 at Fort Pitt, along with bands of Woodland Cree, Chipewyan, some Saulteaux, only a quarter of the participating groups were Plains Cree, while his successor as chief Wah-wee-oo-kah-tah-mah-hote ('Strike him on the back') signed the Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton on the 28th August 1876 together with the Willow Cree, died 11 January 1877 in a shootout accident on the Plains, probably at Saint-Paul-des-Cris, Alberta)^[33]
• Peechee (Pesew - ‘Mountain Lion’, also known as Louis Piche), Chief of the Asini Wachi Nehiyawak and later the head chief of the 'Rocky/Mountain Cree' or Asini Wachi Wi Iniwak, born about 1821, introduced under the Asini Wachi Wi Iniwak the Catholic rite, his three sons, Piyesew Chak, Keskayiwew('Bobtail') and Ermineskin were also significant chiefs, Pesew and his elder son Chak Piyesew were killed during a gambling dispute in 1843, among his sons-in-law were the chiefs Samson, Chiniki, Bearspaw, Capote Blank and Jacques Cardinal)^[34]
• Ermineskin (‘One with teh skin like a ermine’,^[35] Sehkosowayanew, Sikosew Inew, also known as Baptiste Piche, Chief of the Bear Hills Cree (Maskwa Wachi-is Ininiwak), son of Pesew (‘Mountain Lion’), brother-in-law of Pitikwahanapiwiyin)^[36]
• Keskayiwew (Kiskiyew, Kiskiyo - Bobtail, also known as Alexis Piche, Chief of the Bear Hills Cree (Maskwa-wachi-is Ininiwak), son of Pesew (‘Mountain Lion’), brother of Ermineskin, became chief after the death of his older brother, was elected instead of Maskepetoon ('Broken Arm') to the chieftainship of the Rocky Cree and later became head chief of the Western Cree(‘Pakisimotan Wi Iniwak’) and soon after became the head chief of all the groups of the Upstream People)
• Kamdyistowesit (Kanaweyihimitowin,^[37] ‘Beardy’, French: ‘Barbu’, Chief of the Parklands or Willow Cree, born 1828 near Duck Lake, became in the 1870th chief, married Yaskuttsu-s,^[38] the half-sister of chief Küpeyakwüskonam (‘One Arrow’), among the members of his tribal group were many Métis descendants of the Hudson's Bay Company employee George Sutherland)^[39]
• Küpeyakwüskonam (Kupeyakwuskonam, Kah-pah-yak-as-to-cum - One Arrow, French: ‘Une Flèche’, Chief of the Parklands or Willow Cree, born 1815 in the Saskatchewan River Valley, son of George Sutherland (‘Okayasiw’) and his second wife Paskus (‘Rising’), tried to prevent in 1876 negotiations on the Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton along with Kamdyistowesit ('Beardy') and Saswaypew ('Cut Nose'), but finally signed on August 28 the treaty, in August 1884 he attended a meeting with chief Mistahimaskwa ('Big Bear') and Papewes (‘Papaway’ - 'Lucky Man'), his tribal group joined first the Métis in 1885, died on 25 April 1886 in the prison)^[40]
• Minahikosis (Little Pine, French: ‘Petit Pin’, Chief of the Plains Cree, born about 1830 in the vicinity of Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan, his mother was a Blackfeet, became famous in the 1860s, as armed Plains Cree to find the last remaining bison, penetrated more and more into the territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy, led three years bitter resistance, signed however, in view of his starving people in 1879 the Treaty 6, and moved into a reserve at the foot of Blue Hill along the Battle River, his reputation was comparable to that of Mistahimaskwa' ('Big Bear'))^[41]
• Papewes (Papaway - ‘Lucky Man’, Chief of the Plains River Cree (Sīpīwininiwak-paskwāwiyiniwak), born in the late 1830s near Fort Pitt, was in the 1870s a leader of Mistahimaskwa´s Plains River Cree, as the bison disappeared, signed along with Little Pine on the 2nd July 1879 for the 470 members of his tribal group an annex to the Agreement No. 6 at Fort Walsh, in vain he asked for a reserve in the Cypress Hills and the Buffalo Lake, so many members went back to Mistahimaskwa ("Big Bear") or joined Minahikosis ("Little Pine"), Papewes asked 1884 in vain a reserve adjacent to the reserves of Pitikwahanapiwiyin (' Poundmaker'), Minahikosis and Mistahimaskwa, during the rebellion of 1885 were the two groups of Papewes and Minahikosis scattered and some of their members fled in the U.S., 1886 settled the remaining members of the two groups in the Little Pine's reserve^[42] died 1901 nahe Fort Assiniboine, Montana)^[43]
• Saswaypew (Sayswaypus, Seswepiu - ‘Cut Nose’, Chief of the Parklands or Willow Cree, son of Wimtchik, a Franco-Canadian Métis, married One Arrow’s sister Nawapukayus, his sisters Ayamis and Minuskipuihat were both married to ‘One Arrow’, Kamdyistowesit (‘Beardy’) and he were brother-in-law, because both were married to daughters of George Sutherland)
• Maskepetoon (Maski Pitonew - ‘Broken Arm’, ‘Crooked Arm’, later called Peacemaker, Chief of a group of Rocky /Mountain Cree or Asini Wachi Wi Iniwak, born about 1807 in the Saskatchewan River region, because of his bravery he was called by the hostile Blackfoot Mon-e-ba-guh-now or Mani-kap-ina (‘Young Man Chief’), turned later to the Methodist missionaries, what him and his followers brought into conflict with the Catholic free Rocky Cree under the leadership of Pesew, moved to the reserve and was soon known as the Peacemaker, was killed in 1869 in a Blackfoot camp in Alberta by the enemy war chief Big Swan, in an attempt to make peace between the two peoples unarmed)^[44]
• Pihew-kamihkosit (Pee-yahn-kah-nihk-oo-sit, better known as Red Pheasant, Chief of the Plains River Cree, brother and counselor of the chief Wuttunee (‘Porcupine’), signed on 23 August 1876 on behalf of his brother Wuttunee the Treaty 6, he was then regarded as a so called Treaty Chief by the Canadian government, moved with his tribal group 1878 onto the present Red Pheasant Reserve, about 33 km south of North Battleford, Saskatchewan)^[45]
• Peayasis (better known as François Desjarlais, Chief of the Beaver River Cree or Amisk Sipi Wi Iniwak, a subgroup of the Woodland Cree (Sakāwithiniwak), born 1824 at the Beaver River, son of Ladoucoeur dit Desjarlais and Josephte Suzette Cardinal, signed on 8 August 1876 the Treaty 6, participated in battle of Battle River)
• Kahkewistahaw, Chief of the Rabbit Skin Cree (Wāpošwayānak) and Saulteaux, signed in 15 September 1874 the Treaty 4, his tribal group was hunting in the area around Wood Mountain and the Cypress Hills and went back to the Qu'Appelle Valley to get once in the year their payments and gifts until a reserve was established in 1881)^[46][47]
• Paskwüw (Paskwa, Pisqua, usually called Pasquah - ‘The Plain’; French: Les Prairies), Chief of the Plains Cree, born 1828, son of the famous chief Mahkaysis, 1874 his tribal group were making their living with bison hunting in the vicinity of today's Leech Lake, Saskatchewan, they had also created gardens and raised a small herd of cattle, in September 1874 Pasqua took part in the negotiations on the Treaty 4 in Qu'Appelle Valley, he asked the Canadian government for the payment of £ 300,000 to the tribes, which the Hudson's Bay Company had received for the sale of Rupert's land to Canada, despite the refusal of Canada he finally signed the treaty and moved to a reserve five miles west of Fort Qu'Appelle, stayed out with his tribal group from the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, died in March 1889 he succumbed to the tuberculosis)^[48]
• Petequakey (‘Comes to Us With the Sound of Wings’, better known as Isidore Cayen dit Boudreau, Chief of the Parklands or Willow Cree at Muskeg Lake, born in St. Boniface, Manitoba, as son of Pierre Narcisse Cayen dit Boudreau and Adelaide Catherine Arcand (‘Kaseweetin’), though he was a Métis he became chief of the Willow Cree an the Métis, who were living with the Cree, brother and counselor of chief Kee-too-way-how (a.k.a. Alexander Cayen dit Boudreau), after Kee-too-way-how had left the reserve on the Muskeg Lake to live around Batoche, became Petequakey chief (1880–1889) of the remaining Cree and Métis living in the reserve, he participated on 26 March 1885 along with the Métis leader Gabriel Dumont at the battle at Duck Lake, thereafter he led his tribal group to St. Laurent to participate in the defense of Batoche, one of the largest Métis settlements and the seat of the Saskatchewan's provisional government during the rebellion)^[49]
• Kee-too-way-how (‘Sounding With Flying Wings’, better known as Alexander Cayen dit Boudreau, Chief of the Parklands or Willow Cree at Muskeg Lake, born 1834 St. Boniface, Manitoba, son of Pierre Narcisse Cayen dit Boudreau and Adelaide Catherine Arcand (‘Kaseweetin’), though he was of Métis descent he became chief of the Willow Cree and the Métis, who were living with the Cree, brother of Petequakey (‘Isidore Cayen dit Boudreau’), lived along Duck Lake, signed 1876 Treaty 6 and settled in a reserve at Muskeg Lake - that was later named after his brother Petequakey - but left the reserve in 1880 and lived again in the following years close to St. Laurent de Grandin mission, played a prominent role during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 in which he participated in every battle, served also as an emissary of the Métis leader Gabriel Dumont to ask the Assiniboine for support, on 23 May 1885 he also submitted the declaration of surrender of Pitikwahanapiwiyin ('Poundmaker') to General Middleton, was captured on the 1st June 1885, in the subsequent trial of Kee-too-way-how at Regina, Louis Cochin testified that he and the carters in the camp of Pitikwahanapiwiyin survived only thanks to the intercession by Kee-way-too-how and its people, despite the positive testimony, he was on 14 August 1885 sentenced to imprisonment for seven years for his involvement in the Métis rebellion, died 1886).

Other notable people[link]

Mähsette Kuiuab, chief of the Cree Indians, ca. 1840-1843, Karl Bodmer

• Janice Acoose, author, of Sakimay (Saulteaux) and Ninankawe Marival Métis ancestry
• Nathaniel Arcand, actor
• Irene Bedard, actress
• Mary Katherine Campbell, former Miss America pageant titleholder
• Harold Cardinal, writer, political leader, teacher, and lawyer
• Lorne Cardinal, actor
• Tantoo Cardinal, actor
• Jonathan Cheechoo, NHL hockey player
• Theoren Fleury, retired NHL hockey player, humanitarian, spokesperson, and author
• Edward Gamblin, musician
• Michael Greyeyes, actor
• Tomson Highway, playwright, librettist of the first Cree-language opera
• Tyson Houseman, actor
• Cody Lightning, actor
• Wilton Littlechild, lawyer, former Member of Parliament
• Delia Opekokew, lawyer and activist
• Bronson Pelletier, actor
• Romeo Saganash, Member of Parliament for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, Quebec
• Buffy Sainte-Marie, singer
• Cree Summer, singer/actress
• Richard Throssel (1882–1933), photographer
• Michelle Thrush, actor
• Gordon Tootoosis, actor
• Alfred Young Man (b. 1948), educator, writer, curator, artist

See also[link]

• Cree language
• Cree syllabics
• Iynu
• James Bay Cree hydroelectric conflict
• Métis
• Michif
• Oji-Cree
• Okichitaw
• Politics of Saskatchewan

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Grant, Bruce (2000). The Concise Encyclopedia of the American Indian. New York: Wings Books. ISBN 0-517-69310-0. 
• Stevens, James R. (1971). Sacred Legends of the Sandy Lake Cree. McClelland and Stewart Ltd.. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cree

• Cree cultural site
• The East Cree language web
• The Cree-Innu linguistic atlas
• Grand Council of the Crees (GCC) website
• The Plains Cree - Ethnographic, Historical and Comparative Study by David Mandelbaum
• Lac La Ronge Band website
• Little Red River Cree Nation website
• Brief history of Cree from Canadian Geographic
• CBC Digital Archives - James Bay Project and the Cree
• Pimooteewin, a first Cree language opera
• Fisher River Cree Nation Official Website
• The Gift of Language and Culture website
• CBC Digital Archives – Eeyou Istchee: Land of the Cree
• On the Path of the Elders

Limbu, Limboo, Yakthung, Drenjongka དརེན་འཛང་ཀ་ , Tsong, Chong, Shong or Xong འསང་)

Kirati
Total population
700,000 in Nepal/India
Regions with significant populations
20px Limbuwan  Nepal  China (Tibet)  India 30,000  Myanmar 46,100  Sikkim  Singapore*  USA  United Kingdom*  Hong Kong*  Bhutan  South Korea *Later mass migration after Gurkha regiment.
Languages
Limbu (Yakthungpan), Nepali
Religion
Predominant Yuma Samyo, Mundhum, Yumaism, Hinduism, Shamanism, Buddhism

The Yakthung or Limbu tribes and clans belong to the Kirati nation or to the Kirat confederation. They are indigenous to the hill and mountainous regions of east Nepal between the Arun and Mechi rivers to as far as Southern Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim.

The name Limbu is an exonym of an uncertain origin. The word Limbu roughly translates as an archer or 'the bearer of bows and arrows'. They call themselves Yakthumba/Yakthung (in Limbu language). They are also known as Shong, Xong or Drenjongka དརེན་འཛང་ཀ་ (in Tibet) or Chong, Tsong འསང་ in (Sikkim). Their estimated population of 700,000 is centered in the districts of Sankhuwasabha, Tehrathum, Dhankuta, Taplejung, Morang, Sunsari, Jhapa, Panchthar and Ilam in Nepal. These districts are all within the Mechi and Kosi zones also known as Limbuwan. Portions of the Limbu population are also located in the East and West districts of Sikkim. A smaller number are scattered throughout the cities of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal, India, and in North and South Sikkim and Bhutan.

Limbu Clans and Tribes are divided into the Lhasa gotra (from Lhasa, Tibet) and Yunan gotra (from Yunan, China). The Limbu are known as Yakthung Thi-bon or Des Limbu (ten Limbu), from which thirteen Limbu sub-groups have emerged. According to legend, five of the groups came from Yunan, China and the other eight from Lhasa, Tibet.

Unlike the caste system which was brought to the Nepal region after the Hindu invasion, a caste system is not practised among the Limbu people and Limbu sub-groups. However, there are numerous different clans and family-sects.

The Chinese text called Po-ou-Yeo-Jing translated in 308 AD refers to the Yi-ti-Sai (barbarians bordering on the north), a name which is an exact equivalent of Kiratas.^[1][2]

Yakthungba or Yakthumba[link]

Portrait of a Limbu male and female. Circa late 1800s.

The word Yakthungba is most likely a combination of three Limbu syllables: Yak meaning the animal yak, thum meaning herder, and ba or pa which means inhabitant. Together these syllables may be translated as "hill people". They are also known as Yak Herders because some clans belonging to the Lhasa Gotra people have legends about their migration from south-east Tibet through the Olang Tshung Gola pass (above Taplejung District). Limbu women are called "Yakthungma", in which Ba or Pa is replaced by the feminine Tibetan syllable Ma.

Tsong people[link]

Tsong people are divisional Limbu clans in Sikkim. They were oiginally native to the U-Tsang territory of Tibet. They migrated from Tibet, following their guru Matog Lama, and settled in Sikkim.

Kiranti or Limbu language[link]

Limbu (Limbu:Yakthungpan; "Language of the Yakthung") is a Sino-Tibetan/Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal, Sikkim, Kashmir and parts of Northern India by the Limbu and Monpa community.

Limbu language went through its own unique evolution from the Tibetan and Devanagiri writing systems. Far more Limbus are literate in Nepali than in Limbu, thus many Limbu publications are accompanied by Nepali translation.

Limbu language is one of the major spoken and written languages of Nepal, Sikkim, and other parts of Northern India. Today, linguists have reached the conclusion that pronominalization is an indigenous development of the Tibeto-Burman language, and Limbu language bears a close resemblance with Khambu Sampang and other unique Tibetan dialects. Limbu language has four main dialects: Panchthare, Tamarkhole, Phedape and Chatthare.

Before the introduction of Sirijonga script among Limbu Kiratas, Rong script was popular in East Nepal, especially in the early Maurong state. Sirijonga script nearly disappeared for 800 years, but it was brought back into practice by Te-Ongsi Sirijonga Thebe of Tellok Sinam.

Accounts with Sirijonga

Limbu, Lepcha and Newari are the only Sino-Tibetan languages of the Central Himalayas to possess their own scripts. (Sprigg 1959: 590), (Sprigg 1959: 591-592 & MS: 1-4) The Kiranti or Limbu script was devised during the period of the Buddhist expansion in Sikkim during the early 18th century when Limbuwan still constituted part of Sikkimese territory. The Kiranti script was probably composed during the same time as the Lepcha script, which was created by the third King of Sikkim, Phyag-rdor rNam-rgyal between 1700 and 1717. The Kiranti script is ascribed to the Limbu hero, Te-Ongsi Sirijonga (translated: "Re-incarnated Sirijonga", refers to Sirijonga Haang). Stiller 141,153). Both Kiranti and Lepcha were ostensibly devised with the intent of furthering the spread of Buddhism. However, Sirijonga was a Limbu Buddhist who studied under Sikkimese high Lamas. Sirijanga was given the title 'the Dorje Lama of Yangrup'.

The script's structure are a mixture of Tibetan and Devanagari. Unlike most other Brahmic scripts, it does not have separate independent vowel characters, instead using a vowel carrier letter with the appropriate dependent vowel attached.

Limbu culture[link]

Limbus practice many of their own rituals. They believe that lineage is not transmitted patrilineally. Rather, a woman inherits her mother's goods, and when she marries and lives with her husband she brings with her the deities that will then be recognized as the household deities.

Limbu bury their dead and observe for two to three days through practiced death rituals. The length of the mourning period varies depending on the gender of the deceased. Weddings, mourning, gift exchanges, and settlement of conflicts involve consumption of liquor, especially the Limbu traditional beer popularly known as Tongba. Dancing parties are arranged for visitors to the village. These affairs give the young Limbu girls and boys a chance to meet and enjoy dancing and drinking.

Limbu flag[link]

The Limbu people have their own flag. The blue represents the bodies of water and the sky, the white represents air and peace, and the red represents the earth and pure blood of the Limbu people. The sun in the centre represents various Limbu spiritual practices and everyday living. The use and recognition of the flag ended in the 18th century during the Gorkha invasion. Recently, Limbuwan organisations have started to publish the flag in Limbuwan laaje areas.

Limbu economy[link]

Gurkha Soldier Monument at London.

The Limbus traditionally practiced subsistence farming. Rice and maize comprised their principal crops. Although there is an abundance of arable land, productivity is greatly limited by insufficient technology. Excess crops are often traded for food that cannot be grown in the region.

A sizable number of Limbu youths are enlisted in the British and Indian Gurkha regiments, providing their families with a steady stream of income. This income from military service helped to improve the Limbu community as a whole in terms of health and education.

Wedding practices[link]

Limbus generally marry within their own community (Jones and Jones, 1976). Cross-cousin marriage is not allowed in Limbu culture. Marriage between a man and the widow of his elder brother can take place if they mutually agree. Marriage between a man and a woman outside the clan is also possible either by arrangement or by mutual consent of the man and woman in question. It is conventionally said that the customs and traditions of Limbus were established in the distant past by Sawa Yethang (council of eight kings). The marriages are mostly arranged by parents or they can also result when a man elopes with a woman. Asking for a woman's hand is an important ceremony. In that system, the woman can ask for anything, including an amount of gold, silver, etc. This confirms to the woman's family that the man is financially secure enough to keep their daughter happy. A few days after the wedding, the man's family members have to visit the woman's house with a piglet and some alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, depending upon the financial standard of his house. The most important ceremonies of a Limbu wedding take place in the groom's house rather than the bride's because the bride has to stay with her husband. There are two special dances in this ceremony, one is called "yalakma" or dhan nach in Nepali (rice harvest dance) and "Kelangma" or Chyabrung in Nepali. The Yalakma is characterized by men and women dancing in a slow circle, whereas the Kelangam consists of complex footwork synchronized with the beat of the drums. Anyone can join the dance, which can last for many hours. The Yalakma can also be a celebration of the harvest season or other social occasions.

Limbu religion & festivals[link]

The Limbus follow the Kirant Mundhum oral 'scripture' similar to the Bön, shaman. However, their religion is also influenced by Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism. They have their own distinct religion known as "Yuma Samyo" or "Yumaism". They also have many different classes of ritual specialists, of which "Phedangma", "Yema/Yeba", and "Shamba" are some. Their supreme deity is Tagera Ningwaphuma, but the deity Yuma (literally: "Grandmother" or "Mother Earth") is the most important and popular among the Limbus and is worshiped in all occasions. Yuma is the mother of all the Limbus, therefore one regards his or her mother as a goddess. Their religion is enshrined in the evergreen Cynodondactylon (Dubo) grass. Traditionally, the Limbu bury their dead, but due to the influence from their Hindu neighbours, cremation is becoming more popular. Limbu people also have their own clergy, such as Phedangma, Samba, Yeba (male) Yewa-Yema (female). According to the Nepal Census of 2001, out of 359,379 Limbu, 86.29% were identified as practising the traditional Kiranti religion, and 11.32% were identified as Hindu and other religions. Modern Limbus have also been influenced by Christianity, especially those living in parts of India.

Limbu traditional music and singing styles[link]

Limbus residing in Sikkim, Darjeeling, Assam, Nepal and Bhutan, have their own identity because of a strong belief in "Yumawad". Yumawad is a type of religious scripture which has been kept alive by their religious leaders and handed down verbally from generation to generation. Some of the retellings of Yumawad are also included in Limbu traditional music with social stories, dreams, and everyday life. There has been a rich tradition of Limbus singing their folk songs. Their folk songs can be divided into the following groups:

1. Khyali - a conversational song in which young girls and boys sing with poetic expressions and in a very sweet tone.
2. Traditional Love Songs -
   1. Sakpa Palam Samlo - This song is sung during the Kusakpa Yeaalang dance in a fast beat.
   2. Kemba Palam Samlo - This song is sung during the Kemba Yeaalang dance in a slow beat.
   3. Domke Akma Palam Samlo - It is sung when doing the normal chores and also during the Domke Akma dance.
3. Hakpare Samlo - this song is sung by middle-aged men and women who have interest in Mundhum and who are well known in it. One can find spiritual and worldly specialities in this song.
4. Nisammang Sewa Samlo - This song is sung during religious functions. It is a devotional song. Dancing is an important aspect of life among Limbus. Based on acting style, the following types of dances are performed:
   1. Dance performed after origin of life: This type of dance is known as Ke Lang or Chyabrung Lang. The dance imitates the actions of animals, insects and any form of living beings.
   2. Agricultural dance: Under this type of dance there are -
      1. Yea Kakma- This dance is performed in the evening after the crops are reaped.
      2. Damke Akme- This dance is performed while sowing crops.
   3. War dance: This form of dance is known as 'Nahangma' and is performed during "Nahangma"- their religious function. In this dance, only adult males and "Shamani" priests can take part. During the dance, they carry a sword in their right hand and a shield in their left hand, or an arrow in their right hand and a bow in their left hand.
   4. Historical dance: In this dance form, the historical war of ten Limbus fought in Aambepojoma Kamketlungma is depicted.
   5. Mysterious and ancient dance performed by Shamani priests: this type of dance is known as Yagrangsing Lang, Phungsok Lang, Tongsing Lang. The dance is performed only by the Shamani priests.

Folk musical instruments[link]

Limbu musical instruments include the Niyari Hongsing Ke, Chyabrung, Miklakom, Simikla, Chethya/Yethala, Ta, Tungeba, Ungdung, Yalambar Baja, Tetlafakwa, Mephrama, Negra, Yea Pongey, Puttungey, Phakwa, Phamuk, Phenjekom, and Megphama.

Traditional sports[link]

For the Limbu people, Archery has always been considered as the main traditional sport. Archery often involves religious demonstrations and rituals. Historically, Limbu cavalry archers were the important when resisting invasions before the pre-Nepal era. The word Limbu itself came from the word Lim-pfungh which in translation means "Shooting-Arrows" or "Act of archery".

There are legends about the beginning of the Limbuwan Gorkha war. In these legends, a Gorkha Military General met a Yakthung hunter in a forest. When the General asked the hunter about his presence and what he was doing, the Yakthung hunter replied "Lim-pfungh". The Gorkha army later experienced the fierceness from the Yakthung-Tribes' horseback archers for years during the Gorkha-Limbu war. Thus, the name "Limbu" was recorded on the papers of the Gorkhas to describe the Yakthung people. However, after the success of Gorkha invasion, horse breeding and keeping declined swiftly in Limbu territories.

Bare-hand Wrestling has also been practised among the Limbu men during festivals. This was also used to settle personal matters after a festive drinking in which the losing wrestler would have to pay the winner by buying him a drink or inviting him to his house for a drink of traditional tongba. Lakhpa is the term for wrestling in Yakthung-pan.

Limbus & Hindu caste system[link]

Although Limbus aren't Hindu, they are recognized in Hindu Society. Nepal's pre-eminent sociologist, Professor Dor Bahadur Bista, asserted that of all the proverbial thirty-six caste and ethnic groups of Nepal, the Hindu caste system made the least impact on the Limbu. In part, this reflected not only their geographical distance from the seat of power in the capital city of Kathmandu but also their cultural independence.

Popular Limbu individuals[link]

Picture gallery[link]

• 

  Limbu, ethnic group of Nepal.

• 

  Limbu script.

• Paruhangma.jpg

  Typical Limbu child.

• 

  Limbu portrait art.

• Limbuwomendrinktongba.jpg

  Limbu women with traditional tongba drink.

See also[link]

• Limbuwan
  • History of Limbuwan
• Limbu Festivals
  • Chasok Tangnam
• Kiranti languages
• Limbu language
  • Limbu script
• Rambahadur Limbu
• Tongba beverage
• Limbu Clans and Tribes
• Mundhum religion
• Ethnic groups in Nepal
• Ethnic groups in Bhutan
• Indigenous peoples of Sikkim

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Bareh, Hamlet (2001). "The Sikkim Communities". Encyclopaedia of North-East India: Sikkim. Mittal Publications. ISBN 81-7099-794-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=jrr7HPr8NAQC. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Limbu people

• Limbu alphabet
• Limbu language
• www.limbulibrary.com.np - Online Library of Kirat books, history, short story, language, script etc.
• History of kirat - historian authored by Iman Singh Chemjong, Nepal.

Abu Bakr (Abdullah ibn Abi Quhafa) (Arabic: عبد الله بن أبي قحافة, Transliteration: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Quḥāfah, c. 573 CE - 634 CE) also known as Abū Bakr as-Șiddīq (Arabic: أبو بكر الصديق) was a senior companion (Sahabi) and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632–634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death.^[1] As Caliph, Abu Bakr succeeded to the political and administrative functions previously exercised by Muhammad, since the religious function and authority of prophethood ended with Muhammad's death according to Islam. He was called Al-Siddiq (The Truthful)^[2] and was known by that title among later generations of Muslims.

As a young man, Abu Bakr became a cloth merchant and he traveled extensively in Arabia and neighboring lands in the Middle East, through which he gained both wealth and experience. He eventually came to be recognized as the chief of his clan.^[3] On his return from a business trip to Yemen, he was informed that in his absence Muhammad had openly declared his prophethood. Not long after, Abu Bakr accepted Islam and was the first person outside the family of Muhammad to openly become a Muslim. He was instrumental in the conversion of many people to the Islamic faith^[4] and early in 623, Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha was married to Muhammad, strengthening the ties between the two men.^[2]

Abu Bakr served as a trusted advisor and close friend to Muhammad. During the lifetime of Muhammad, he was involved in several campaigns such as the Battle of Uhud, the Battle of the Trench, the Invasion of Banu Qurayza, Battle of Khaybar, the Conquest of Mecca, the Battle of Hunayn, the Siege of Ta'if, and the Battle of Tabuk where he was reported to have given all of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition.^[5] He also participated in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and was made one of the witnesses over the pact.^[5]

Abu Bakr's Caliphate lasted for a little over two years (or 27 months), ending with his death after an illness. Though the period of his caliphate was not long, it included successful invasions of the two most powerful empires of the time, a remarkable achievement in its own right. He set in motion a historical trajectory that in few decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history.

Lineage and title[link]

Abu Bakr's full name was 'Abd Allah ibn 'Uthman ibn Aamir ibn Amr ibn Ka'ab ibn Sa'ad ibn Tamim ibn Murrah ibn Ka'ab ibn Lu'ai ibn Ghalib ibn Fihr al-Quraishi at-Taymi.^[6] In Arabic, the name 'Abd Allah' means "servant of God". One of his early titles, preceding his conversion to Islam, was atiqe, "the saved one". Muhammad later reaffirmed this title when he said that Abu Bakr is the 'atiqe' (the one saved from hell fire by God).^[7] He was called 'Al-Siddiq' (the truthful')^[2] by Muhammad after he believed him in the event of Isra and Mi'raj when other people didn't, and Ali confirmed that title several times.^[8]

He was mentioned in the Quran as the "second of the two who lay in the cave" in reference to the event of hijra, with Muhammad where they hid in the cave in Jabal Thawr from the Meccan search party that was sent after them, thus being one of few who were given direct reference to in the Quran.^[9]

Imam Jafar al Sadiq famously narrated how the title Siddiq was given to Abu Bakr from Muhammad.^[10][11] He was also a direct descendant of Abu Bakr from his maternal side, as well as being a paternal descendant of Ali from his father's side. Jafar al-Sadiq was also the successor of the Naqshbandi Sufi order originating from Abu Bakr himself.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Imam Muhammad al Baqir, the father of Imam Jafar Sadiq also called Abu Bakr with the title Siddiq.^[17]

Early life[link]

Abu Bakr was born in Mecca some time in 573 CE, to a rich family in the Banu Taym^[18] clan of the Quraysh tribe. Abu Bakr's father's name was Uthman Abu Quhafa (nicknamed Abu Quhafa) and his mother was Salma Umm-ul-Khair (nicknamed Umm-ul-Khair).

The lineage of Abu Bakr joined that of Muhammad in the eighth degree in their common ancestor Murrah ibn Ka'b.

The lineage of Abu Bakr was: Abu Bakr; the son of Uthman Abu Quhafa; the son of Amar; the son of Umru; the son of Kaab; the son of Saad; the son of Taym; the son of Murrah.

The lineage of Muhammad was: Muhammad; the son of Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib; the son of Abdul Muttalib; the son of Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf; the son of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai; the son of Qusai ibn Kilab; the son of Kilab ibn Murrah; the son of Murrah.^[18]

Abu Bakr was a thin man with white skin.^[19] Tabari relates (Suyuti also relates the same through Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi's report) from Aisha her description of Abu Bakr:

He was a man with fair skin, thin, emaciated, with a sparse beard, a slightly hunched frame, sunken eyes and protruding forehead, and the bases of his fingers were hairless.^[20]

He spent his early childhood like other Arab children of the time among the Bedouins who called themselves Ahl-i-Ba'eer- the people of the camel, and developed a particular fondness for camels. In his early years he played with the camel foals and goats, and his love for camels earned him the nickname "Abu Bakr", the father of the foal of the camel.^[21]

When Abu Bakr was 10 years old, he went to Syria along with his father with the merchants' caravan. Muhammad, who was 12 years old at the time, was also with the caravan. In 591 at the age of 18, Abu Bakr went into trade and adopted the profession of cloth merchant, which was the family's business. In the coming years Abu Bakr traveled extensively with caravans. Business trips took him to Yemen, Syria, and elsewhere. These travels brought him wealth and added to his experience. His business flourished and he rose in the scale of social importance. Though his father, Uthman Abu Quhafa, was still alive, he came to be recognized as chief of his tribe.

Like other children of the rich Meccan merchant families, Abu Bakr was literate and developed a fondness for poetry. He used to attend the annual fair at Ukaz, and participate in poetical symposia. He had a very good memory and had a good knowledge of the genealogy of the Arab tribes, their stories and their politics.^[22]

A story is preserved that once when he was a child, his father took him to the Kaaba, and asked him to pray before the idols. His father went away to attend to some other business, and Abu Bakr was left alone with the idols. Addressing an idol, Abu Bakr said "O my God, I am in need of beautiful clothes; bestow them on me". The idol remained indifferent. Then he addressed another idol saying "O God, give me some delicious food. See that I am so hungry". The idol remained cold. That exhausted the patience of young Abu Bakr. He lifted a stone, and addressing an idol said "Here I am aiming a stone; if you are a god protect yourself". Abu Bakr hurled the stone at the idol and left the Kaaba. Thereafter, he never went to the Kaaba to pray to the idols.^[23]

Acceptance of Islam[link]

On his return from a business trip from Yemen, he was informed by friends that in his absence Muhammad had declared himself the Messenger of God, and proclaimed a new religion. Tabari, the most famous Muslim historian, in his Ta'rikh quotes from Muhammad Bin Sa'ad Bin Abi Waqqas, who said:

"I asked my father whether Abu Bakr was the first of the Muslims. He said, 'No, more than fifty people embraced Islam before Abu Bakr; but he was superior to us as a Muslim. And Umar ibn Khattab had embraced Islam after forty-five men and twenty-one women. As for the foremost one in the matter of Islam and faith, it was Ali ibn Abi Talib'"^[24][25]

Other Sunnis and all Shi'a Muslims maintain that the second person to publicly accept Muhammed as the messenger of God was Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first being Muhammad's wife Khadija; though to Shias Ali always knew of Muhammad's status through pre-knowledge.^[26]

Life after accepting Islam[link]

This article is part of a series on:
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