Didja Know These Global Facts?

  • the Australian flag shows the “Southern Cross” which is a group of stars that can be seen in the Australian sky
  • the name Japan means land of the rising sun and the red circle on the Japanese flag is a rising sun
  • dark skin protects people from the sun in very hot and wet places
  • all people belong to the same species called Homo Sapiens which means “wise man” in Latin
  • narrow eyes protects people against the cold?
  • in Africa there are over 1,000 languages spoken and some of these languages are not written, only spoken
  • Portuguese fishermen paint eyes on their boats. They hope that the eyes see where the fish are
  • Thailand used to be called Siam (as it is called in the musical The King and I)
  • when the Europeans first came to the Far East , they were amazed at the shiny pottery still called “china” today
  • dreadlocked hair was worn in Ancient Crete around 3000 – 1400 BCE
  • the Romans used leather as the uniform for their army, since leather can protect the body. That is one of the reasons today’s motorcycle riders wear leather.

26 US States with Native American Names

Settlers named one state “Indiana” to show that it was the land of the Indians. Didja know that 26 states have names that come from Indian words?

Here they are with their Tribal language origins and meanings:

STATE
LANGUAGE
TRANSLATION
Alabama Choctaw “Clearers of the Thicket”
Alaska Aleut “Great Land”
Arizona Papago “Place of little Springs”
Arkansas Sioux “The People who live Downstream”
Connecticut Pequot “At the long Tidal River”
Idaho Shoshone “The Sun is Coming Up”
Illinois Illinois “Superior men” (What the Illinois Indians call themselves)
Iowa Sioux “Sleepy Ones”
Kansas Kansa “People of the South Wind”
Kentucky Cherokee “Meadowland” or “Planted Field”
Massachusetts Algonquin “People near the Great Hill”
Michigan Algonquin “Big Lake”
Minnesota Sioux “Sky-tinted Water”
Mississippi Ojibwa “Big River”
Missouri Sioux “People with the Dugout Canoes”
Nebraska Oto “Flat Water”
New Mexico Aztec “Mexica” (from followers of the war god Mexitli)
North/South Dakota Sioux “Friends”
Ohio Wyandot “Beautiful River”
Oklahoma Choctaw “Red People”
Tennessee Cherokee “Area of Traveling Waters”
Texas Caddo “Ally”
Utah Ute “Land of the Sun”
Wisconsin Chippewa “Gathering of the Waters”
Wyoming Algonquin “Upon the Great Plain”

Different Ways to Say “Hello”

  • African Botswana Tswana: dumela-(doo mail a)
  • African Swahili: Jambo-(jahm-bo)
  • Arabic: Marrhhaba-(mahrr hhah bah)
  • China – Cantonese: Jou sahn-(joh sahn)
  • China: Mandarin-Ni hao-(nee how)
  • French: Bonjour-(Bone-jour)
  • German: Guten tag-(goo-ten-tak)
  • Hebrew: Shalom-(sha-loam)
  • Hindi: Namaste-(Nah-mass-tay)
  • Ireland – Gaelic: Dia dhuit-(dee-ah gwit)
  • Italian: Ciao-(chow)
  • Japan: Konnichi wa-(ko-nee-chee-wah)
  • Malaysia: selsmat tinggal-(se leh mat tin gahl)
  • Native American Mohawk: Sekoh-(Say-Ko)
  • Netherlands – Dutch: : Hallo-(ha loh)
  • Netherlands: Frisian-Hoi-(hoy)
  • New Guinea: Pidgin-Moninnau-(moh nin now)
  • New Zealand: Maori-Tena kow-(ten a kway)
  • Phillipino: kumusta-(koo moos tah)
  • Polish: Czesc-(Chesch)
  • Romanian: Salut-(sah-loot)
  • Russian: Zdravstvuytye-(Zdrah-stvwee-tyeh)
  • Somalia: Somali-Iska warran-(skah wah run)
  • South African Zulu: yebo-(yeh bo)
  • Spanish: Hola-(oh-la)
  • Swedish: God dag-(goo dah)
  • Tahitian: Ia ora na-(ee ah or a nah)
  • Tongan: Malo e lelei-(mah loh ay leh lay)
  • Turkish: Merhaba-(mer hah ba)
  • Vietnamese: Chao ong-(chow ohm)