Talk:Manhattan

According to some sources the name Manhattan comes from “Manahachtanienk“ which means “place where we all got drunk“. I have no idea if this is an urban myth or based on facts but maybe someone has reliable sources to prove or disprove it. Nonetheless I guess even if it is only an urban legend it is worth mentioning. Ogmios ^(Talk) 15:19, 12 February 2017 (UTC)Reply

The origin of the name Manhattan is uncertain. It was first written as "Manna-hata" in 1609 by a Dutchman named Robert Juet. "Manna-hata" was thought to be a Lenape word meaning "island of many hills", or Munsee manahachtanienk, meaning "place of general inebriation", or manahatouh, meaning "place where timber is procured for bows and arrows", or menatay, meaning island. There is no way to be sure. —Stephen ^(Talk) 16:06, 12 February 2017 (UTC)Reply

I traced the reference back through a couple of steps to the source, a book written in 1822 by w:John Heckewelder, of which the 1876 edition is available on Google Books, with the relevant passage on page 262. From this it's clear that the "place where we all got drunk" version came from the Lenape themselves, but it would have been a couple of centuries after the fact, during which time they had been uprooted from their homeland and every aspect of their lives totally disrupted. Who's to say how much of it was accurate? Chuck Entz (talk) 05:53, 13 February 2017 (UTC)Reply