The answer turned out to be more complex and rich than many might have thought. A pair of University of Wisconsin-Madison professors shared some helpful ways to think about these place names and talked about the value of indigenous languages today.
One of them is Monica Macaulay, a professor of language sciences, who is affiliated faculty with the university’s American Indian Studies Program, and also works with the Menominee and their language revitalization and reclamation programs. The other is Brian McInnes, an associate professor of civil society and community studies in the UW-Madison’s School of Human Ecology.