I am positively impressed by our new neighborhood: When introducing ourselves, everyone went great lengths to get our names right, asking twice for pronunciation, apologizing beforehand for probably getting it wrong next time we met, and calling for patience. This is more than a European family with Turkish and Portuguese names could have expected, especially in a culture that cherishes abbreviations and acronyms (“Ped Xing” being my personal favorite). Our experience in the past two years has been rather the opposite, with people urging you to offer a short version of your name, or radically mutilating your original name by calling you by your initials.
However, I had to face my own ignorance over place names: Driving along the Loxahatchee every day, a road alongside a canal dividing Broward and Palm Beach County, I was laughing hard when someone told me a friend called it ‘Lox and Bagels’ road. The conversation triggered my interest in the name itself, which indicated a Native American language. Digging online, I soon discovered the charming meaning, and much more for what the “River of Turtles” stands for, namely Seminole resistance in The Battle of the Loxahatchee in 1838: In view of the US government’s disavowal of treaties granting Seminoles land in Florida, Black and Native American Seminoles fought side by side near the headwaters of the Loxahatchee River, the former resisting recapture into slavery and the latter resettlement to Oklahoma.
Humbled by my own ignorance, I have a New Year’s resolution: A little more effort on my own part to respect and appreciate the historical paths I am treading on …
Sources:
Richard J. Procyk, 1999. Guns across the Loxahatchee: an archaeo-historical investigation of Seminole War sites in Florida, with special focus on the Battle of Loxahatchee, January 24, 1838. Florida Historical Society Press.
Kathleen Chaptman. “Artifacts found, collected from forgotten Loxahatchee battle from 1838”. Palm Beach Post. Sunday, March 15, 2009. [Online] at http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/15/a1a_riverbend_0316.html.
However, I had to face my own ignorance over place names: Driving along the Loxahatchee every day, a road alongside a canal dividing Broward and Palm Beach County, I was laughing hard when someone told me a friend called it ‘Lox and Bagels’ road. The conversation triggered my interest in the name itself, which indicated a Native American language. Digging online, I soon discovered the charming meaning, and much more for what the “River of Turtles” stands for, namely Seminole resistance in The Battle of the Loxahatchee in 1838: In view of the US government’s disavowal of treaties granting Seminoles land in Florida, Black and Native American Seminoles fought side by side near the headwaters of the Loxahatchee River, the former resisting recapture into slavery and the latter resettlement to Oklahoma.
Humbled by my own ignorance, I have a New Year’s resolution: A little more effort on my own part to respect and appreciate the historical paths I am treading on …
Sources:
Richard J. Procyk, 1999. Guns across the Loxahatchee: an archaeo-historical investigation of Seminole War sites in Florida, with special focus on the Battle of Loxahatchee, January 24, 1838. Florida Historical Society Press.
Kathleen Chaptman. “Artifacts found, collected from forgotten Loxahatchee battle from 1838”. Palm Beach Post. Sunday, March 15, 2009. [Online] at http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/15/a1a_riverbend_0316.html.
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