Association of British Scrabble Players

Language > Lat - NaAm > Native American


Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


bayou the marshy offshoot of a lake or river. [Choctaw bayou, little river].
bogan a quiet tributary or backwater. [Algonquin].
camas camash camass quamash a blue-flowered liliaceous plant (Camassia esculenta) of northwestern America, the bulbs of which are collected for food by the Indians.
cantico canticoy kantikoy to dance as an act of worship. [Algonquin].
caribou cariboo a large deer found in Canada.
cashaw a kind of pumpkin. [Algonquin].
cayuse an Indian pony.
chechako cheechako cheechalko chechaquo a tenderfoot.
chincapin chinkapin chinquapin the dwarf chestnut of the US. [Algonquin].
chinook a warm dry wind that descends the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. [Salish].
choctaw a movement in skating.
cohog quahog quohog quahaug a kind of clam.
dowitcher the red-breasted or gray snipe. [Iroquois].
coontie coonty any of several low-growing palmlike cycads of the genus Zamia, native to tropical and subtropical America; the arrowroot yielded by these plants. [Seminole].
eulachan eulachon oolachan oolakan oulakan oulachon ulicon ulichon ulikon oolichan the North Pacific candle-fish. [Chinook ulakan].
geoduck gweduc gweduck a kind of clam. [Lushootseed].
hackmatack the American larch, a coniferous tree with slender deciduous leaves; also, its heavy, close-grained timber. Aka TAMARACK.
kachina katchina katcina katsina a doll representing rain-bringing Hopi ancestors. [Hopi qachina, supernatural].
killikinick kinnikinick kinnikinic a mixture used by Native Americans as a substitute for tobacco. [Algonquin, 'mixture'].
kiva an underground chamber used in religious rites by Pueblo Indians. [Hopi].
klooch klootch kloochman klootchman a Native American woman, wife.
kokanee a small landlocked species of sockeye salmon. [Salish].
mackinaw a flat-bottomed boat; a kind of blanket.
mamateek a type of wigwam.
manito manitu manitou a name given by tribes of American Indians to a great spirit, whether good or evil, or to any object of worship. [Ojibwa manito].
menhaden a fish of the herring family, Brevoortia tyrannus, of the Atlantic coast of N. America, an important source of fish guano and oil. [Algonquian, perh. f. a base meaning 'fertilize'.]
mocassin moccasin a heeless shoe of deerskin or other soft leather.
mocock mocuck a birch-bark box or basket.
mohawk a movement in skating. [Narragansett mohowawog lit. 'man-eaters'.]
mugwump a bolter from the Republican party in 1884; a political independent. [Algonquin].
mummichog any one of several species of small American cyprinodont fishes of the genus Fundulus, and of allied genera; aka KILLIFISH. [Narragansett].
muskeg maskeg a swamp, bog or marsh. [Cree maskek].
nocake meal made of parched Indian corn. [Narragansett nokshick].
ondatra the musquash. [Huron].
opossum any of various small or medium-sized marsupial mammals, mostly arboreal, of the mainly neotropical family Didelphidae.
oquassa a kind of lake trout.
papoose pappoose a native American infant. [Narragansett].
pawaw powwow a conference between American Indians; (verb) to hold such a conference. [Narragansett powwaw, shaman].
peag peage wampum; beads used as money.
pecan a kind of nut.
pembina the bush cranberry, Viburnum trilobum. [Cree].
pemican pemmican dried meat pounded with berries. [Cree pimekan].
piki maize-meal bread in the form of very thin sheets, made by the Hopi Indians of the south-western US. [Hopi].
pocosin pocosen pocoson an upland swamp of the coastal plain of the southeastern U.S. [Algonquin].
pogonip a dense winter fog containing frozen particles that is formed in deep mountain valleys of the western U.S. [From 'paginappih' ('cloud') from the Southern Paiute, a Shoshonean people of the southwestern U.S.].
pokelogan a quiet tributary, a BOGAN.
potlach potlache potlatch a social event or celebration which features reciprocal gift-giving. [Nootka patlatsch, gift].
puccoon the plant blood-root; a dark red colour. [Algonquin].
quinnat a fish, the king-salmon.
rabaska a large canoe.
sachem an Indian chief; a Tammany leader. [Algonquin].
sagamore a N. American Indian chief.
saganash a white man[Algonquin].
salal sallal a N.W. American ericaceous shrub. [Chinook].
samp a coarsely ground maize. [Narragansett].
sannop sannup a married male in N. American Indian societies.
saskatoon an amelanchier of western N. America, Amelanchier alnifolia; the sweet purple berry of this shrub. [Cree].
sasquatch a large hairy manlike creature said to inhabit certain parts of Canada.
scup scuppaug a common Atlantic fish, the northern PORGY. [Narraganset mishcuppauog].
sego a liliaceous plant of Western North America, and its edible bulb. [Ute].
sewan seawan seawant the name used by the Algonquin Indians for the shell beads which passed among them as money.
sewellel a peculiar gregarious burrowing rodent (Haplodon rufus), native of the coast region of the Northwestern United States, aka mountain beaver. [Chinook shewallal, a robe of its skin].
skookum first-rate, the best. [From Chinook Jargon, from a Chehalis word meaning spirit or ghost].
sora soree a North American rail (Porzana carolina) common in the Eastern United States.
squeteague an American sciaenoid fish, abundant on the Atlantic coast of the United States, and much valued as a food fish. It is of a bright silvery color, with iridescent reflections. Aka WEAKFISH. [Narragansett].
succotash a traditional American dish made from corn kernels and lima beans. [Narragansett].
supawn suppawn a kind of maize porridge.
tamarack the American or black larch.
tautaug tautog a labroid fish of the North American coast. [Narraganset].
teepee tepee tipi a Native American tent. (Sioux tipi, dwelling).
tillicum a friend.
togue the Great Lake char or trout, a gigantic salmonid of N. America.
tomahawk a war-axe.
totem an animal or plant adopted as ancestor by savage tribe, and held in great veneration. [Algonquin].
tuckahoe an edible fungus of the United States. [Algonquin].
tuladi touladi a lake trout of N. America, aka TOGUE > TULADIS.
tullibee a whitefish found in the Great Lakes of North America. [Ojibwa].
tupelo a North American tree (Nyssa multiflora) of the Dogwood family, having brilliant, glossy foliage and acid red berries. [Creek].
wahconda wakanda waconda a supernatural force in Sioux belief.
wahoo the burning bush, an ornamental shrub with scarlet-coated seeds. [Dakota wanhu].
wampum beads made from shells, used as money etc. [Short for Massachusett wampompeag, from wampan (white) + api (string) + -ag, plural suffix.]
wampumpeag the word of which WAMPUM is a shortening, meaning white string of beads.
wangan wanigan wannigan wangun in a lumber camp, a chest for supplies, or the pay office.
wapiti a species of deer native to N. America. [Algonquin].
watap watape wattape a fibre or thread made by some N. American Indian peoples from the split roots of conifers, esp. white spruce. [Cree watapiy].
wavey wavy the snow-goose. [Cree].
wawa (Chinook) to speak > WAWAS, WAWAING, WAWAED.
wendigo windigo a mythical monster among some N. American Indian tribes, that eats human flesh > WENDIGOS or WENDIGOES; WINDIGOS or WINDIGOES. [Ojibwa wintika].
wickiup wickyup a N. American Indian hut constructed with an oval frame and covered with grass or mats.
wicopy wickape the leatherwood, Dirca palustris. [Algonquin].
wigwam a domed tent-like American Indian dwelling.
wishtonwish the N. American prairie dog; the whip-poor-will.
woodchuck a common large North American marmot (Arctomys monax), aka ground hog. [Alt. of N. Amer. Indian name (prob. Algonquian), by association with wood (cf. Narragansett ockqutchaun).]
wyandotte a breed of domestic fowl. [Huron wendat].