Talk:Cockaponset State Forest

Wangunk village

Local archaeologists and maps of pre-colonial Connecticut support the idea that the state forest was in fact named after a Wangunk village by the same name, in the same location. The state's website on the history of the name is unsourced, and may just be an old folk tale.

I contacted an Indigenous scholar in residence at my university who also told me that the -et and the end of the word is a locative affix and indicates a place name, not a person's name (although the person, if the story is true, may have been named after the place).

It seems to me the most likely scenario is that there was a local Indigenous sachem or other figure of importance named after the village Cockaponset who was buried locally, but that the existence of the village and origin of his name was erased/forgotten over time. Because of this I kept the original claim as well.

This is the first edit I've made that disputes other claims, let me know if I did this correctly or if I should have gone to the talk first. Thanks! Babeswayscaptcha (talk) 07:06, 18 December 2023 (UTC)