The meaning of the word “wahsega”

The following is a note published online by The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas in their bulletin, SSILA BULLETIN # 67: May 16, 1998. This information is online at: http://linguistics.buffalo.edu/ssila/bulletins/bulletin/bull67.pdf

Regarding Linda Wolffe’s query about the Georgia placename “Wahsega” (SSILA Bulletin #66.1): I’m compiling a book on U.S. place names of American Indian origin, so I found this question interesting. The name “Wahsega” doesn’t seem to be in Krakow’s 1994 book on Georgia place names, and I can only guess that it might be from Cherokee or one of the other Indian languages that were originally spoken in Georgia. However, it’s also possible that it was transferred from the town of Watseka, Illinois, with a change in spelling. In fact the Illinois name has been applied to places in several other states. Supposedly Watseka was originally the name of a Potawatomi Indian woman, born in Illinois around 1810, and she in turn was named after the heroine of a Potawatomi legend. The word may mean something like “beautiful woman”.

Bill Bright
Boulder, Colorado
william.bright@colorado.edu