Algoma is a

placename Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

given to many different places throughout the United States and Canada. Examples include

Algoma District, Ontario Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The name was created by an American ethnologist, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864), who was appointed Indian agent to the Ojibwe ...

, Algoma, Oregon,

Algoma, Wisconsin Algoma is a city in Kewaunee County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 3,167 at the 2010 census. Algoma is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The Ahnapee settlement, which eventually became known as Al ...

, and

Algoma Township, Michigan Algoma Township is a civil township of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,932 at the 2010 census, which is a large increase from 7,596 at the 2000 census. The township is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area ...

. Algoma also lends its name to companies such as

Algoma Steel Algoma Steel Inc. (formerly Algoma Steel; Essar Steel Algoma) is an integrated primary steel producer located on the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Its products are sold in Canada and the United States as well as overseas ...

and

Algoma Central Railway The Algoma Central Railway is a railway in Northern Ontario that operates between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst. It used to have a branch line to Wawa, Ontario. The area served by the railway is sparsely populated, with few roads. The rai ...

Word origin

The origin of the word ''Algoma'' is not entirely clear; the following are definitions culled from several different sources * The word ''Algoma'' was invented as a

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnology, ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native Americans in the United States, Native American cultures, as well as for his 1 ...

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the weste ...

comes from the Algonquian suffix ''-gamaa'' for "lake", while Schoolcraft took the ''al'' prefix from the word Algonquian.

's original text, supports the idea that he invented this word: {{blockquote, In the term Gitchegomee, the name for Superior, we have a specimen of their mode of making compounds. Gitche signifies something great, or possessing the property of positive magnitude. Gomee is itself a compound phrase, denoting, when so conjoined, a large body of water. It is the objective member of their term for the sea; but is governed by its antecedent, and may be used in describing other and minor, even the most minute liquid bodies, as we hear it, in the compound term mushkuagomee, i.e. strong drink. Under the government of the term gitchee, it appears to express simply the sense of great water, but conveys the idea, to the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

mind, of sea-water. I have cast about, to find a sonorous form of elision, in which it may come into popular use, but find nothing more eligible than I-go-mee, or Igoma. A more practical word, in the shape of a new compound, may be made in Algoma, a term in which the first syllable of the generic name of this tribe of the

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

stock, harmonizes very well with the Indian idea of goma (sea), giving us, Sea of the

Algonquins The Algonquin people are an Indigenous people who now live in Eastern Canada. They speak the Algonquin language, which is part of the Algonquian language family. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely related to the Odawa, Potawatomi, ...

. The term may be objected to, as the result of a grammatical abbreviation, but if not adopted practically, it may do as a poetical synonym for this great lake. Such is, at least, the result of a full discussion of these names, with the very best speakers of the language.,

, {{cite web, url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11119/11119-h/11119-h.htm , title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers , first=Henry Rowe , last=Schoolcraft , author-link=Henry Schoolcraft , publisher=Gutenberg.org , date=2004-02-16 , access-date=2018-04-23 * Another definition for the word states that Algoma actually comes from ''A'Goma'' (

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

''Egema'';

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

''Agimaa'') for "

snow shoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

". Source: Rev. E. P. Wheeler; A. Skinner in Milwaukee Public Museum Bulletin. r.6 p. 399 * Yet another definition from the

Chamber of Commerce claims that ''Algoma'' is an Indian word meaning "park of flowers". Several web sites that provide meanings for the names of children and pets state that ''Algoma'' means "valley of flowers". * The history of the town of Algoma,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

contains a reference to ''Algoma'' as a

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...

word meaning "God abides" given as the name to the Algoma community by a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

named Savage.

Variations

The word ''Algona'' is frequently seen, substituting an ''n'' for an ''m''. Various sources cite this as a corruption of

's original word ''Algoma''. '' Alcona'' itself is a

used in the United States and Canada.

References

External links

Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years With the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers: With Brief Notices of Passing Events, Facts, and Opinions, A.D. 1812 to A.D. 1842
by Henry Schoolcraft
A History of the Place Names of the North Western Line

Wisconsin History: Origin of the Algoma Placename

Place name etymologies History of Michigan History of Minnesota Algonquian languages American toponymy Henry Schoolcraft neologisms