MAGIC WORDS "As the word Abraham means the father of a great multitude of men," wrote Herman Melville, "so the word Mississippi means the father of a great multitude of waters. His tribes stream in from east and west, exceedingly fruitful the lands they enrich."28 Meanings: At what point in its course does the Mississippi become what the Mississippi means? -- T.S. Eliot • Big river -- Walter A. McDougall, Freedom Just Around the Corner (2004) • Father of waters "The river was dubbed 'the father of waters' by early French explorers in the 1700s, apparently [having] misinterpreted the Algonquin name for it meaning 'big river.'" -- Jerry R. Rogers (Ed.), Water Resources and Environmental History (2004) • Gathering of waters • River in the United States, one of the longest waterways in the world • State in the southern region of the United States "As one woman declared at a meeting of the Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society of Chicago: 'When you say Mississippi, it's a magic word for black Chicagoans. It means memories, good and bad.'"29 Origins: Mississippi is generally believed to have originated from the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indian words "mici zibi" meaning "great river" or "gathering in of all the waters" and the Algonquin word "Messipi." 0 "A great many scholars of our Indian languages have tried their hand at the word Mississippi; but the most of them are wrong," said Peter Vieau in 1889. "I used to be told that it is a Menomonee word, mashchechepee (the great river)." 1 Facts: The word Mississippi is commonly used as a "countdown spacer" to accurately count down seconds: "One -- Mississippi, two -- Mississippi, three -- Mississippi" and so on. "Mississippi . . . is beloved by every young child for the very way it trips off the tongue as they spell all those repeated letters." 28 "The River," a fragment appearing in the Norton Critical Edition (1971) of The Confidence Man (1875) 29 Michael Kammen, Mystic Chords of Memory (1991) 0 Mississippi.gov (2005) 1 transcribed by Reuben Thwaites, "Narrative of Peter Vieau," Wisconsin Histori- cal Collections (1900) 2 Susan Ohanian, Day by Day Activity Book (1997)