Talk:Sumas, Washington

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Accent on first syllable[edit]

Sumas was in the news this week due to severe flooding. The mayor was interviewed on Seattle TV. He and the other residents pronounce the name with accent of the FIRST syllable, not the second. I have also visited the town several times and verified this. Corrected the pronunciation in the article.75.172.213.218 (talk) 23:10, 19 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Name origin[edit]

For now, I removed the following:

The community was named after the Sumas First Nation.^[1]^[2]

The reason is none of the sources listed here mention the Sumas First Nation, only that the name was derived from a Cowichan tribe - not all Cowichan tribes - in the area. The Cowichan wikipage does not list the Sumas First Nation as a member and they live in a distinct area from the Sumas. The Sumas First Nation page does not list the Cowichan or Sumas, Washington either.

The history link reference mentions that the name Sumas was later given to lands (with lots of trees) into British Columbia where the Sumas First Nation is. Thus the name of the First Nation may be derived from the Cowichan tribe and likely come after the naming of Sumas, Washington. Skingski (talk) 01:47, 22 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The Sumas Tribe's home page states they refer to themselves as the Semá:th people (the word "Sumas" is used separately on their page, indicating this is not the same word). Skingski (talk) 02:40, 22 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Meany, Edmond S. (1923). Origin of Washington geographic names. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 296.
^ "Cities and Towns, State of Washington Dates of Incorporation, Disincorporation, and Changes of Classification". Municipal Research and Services Center. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2013.

"a surveying error"[edit]

Due to a surveying error, part of Sumas lies above the 49th parallel and is thus the northernmost incorporated place in the contiguous United States.

This language suggests that Sumas is in a rare sharp jag. In fact all of the boundary west of the Cascade Range is further north than any other part of the "49°" line, though the most extreme error is indeed near Sumas, which thus reaches a bit beyond Blaine, the other incorporated city that touches this stretch of the line. Could the sentence be reworded? —Tamfang (talk) 23:22, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

[OriginNames-1] Meany, Edmond S. (1923). Origin of Washington geographic names. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 296.

[Incorporation-2] "Cities and Towns, State of Washington Dates of Incorporation, Disincorporation, and Changes of Classification". Municipal Research and Services Center. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2013.

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[2]