Talk:Shenandoah

Meaning of the name
I don't think the same name means both "daughter of the stars" and "deer in the woods". I suspect that these are alternative explanations for the name. &mdash;Largo Plazo (talk) 12:42, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

I'm with you, Largo. Historically, the person Shenandoah was a male, who was fairly important in the Iroquois confederation. My unsupported hypothesis is that the folk song "Shenandoah" is rather widely misunderstood. If you pay attention to the lyrics, ("Shenandoah, I love your DAUGHTER, ....") it's clear that the white trapper and the girl are heading west, leaving the father's village. Many listeners, or half-listeners, assume that the trapper is parting from the girl. I wonder whether someone who was under that assumption didn't suggest the "daughter of the stars" etymology just because it seemed to fit the story. Anybody out there fluent in Iroquois?

Terry J. Carter (talk) 15:40, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

So, the word can be pinpointed to be Iroquis in origin, rather than generic "Native American"? Maybe we should change the gloss to say that? 83.241.192.2 (talk) 13:19, 16 May 2011 (UTC)