Iowa – Our Name: Historian L.F. Andrews, in 1896, adds this to the kiowa definition…
The Sauks were especially partial to the use of the letter “k.” It occurs three times in “Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah,” the Sauk name of Black Hawk. So also of other chiefs, as Mahaska, Keokuk, Poweshiek, Winneshiek, Waupekuk, Kishkekosh, etc. In a list of over two hundred names of chiefs appearing on the books at the trading post of Fort Des Moines, all but twenty contain this guttural “k” (sound) once or more. It is also a marked characteristic of the languages of the Chippewas and Pottawattamies.
As further evidence of the correctness of this interpretation of the word, an old chief of the Musquakie (Meskwaki/Fox) or Tama County Indians, was very recently asked the meaning of the word “Iowa” or “Kiowa.” His answer was,”This is the place.” For instance, if a party of Indians were traveling, when camping-time came, and the chief found a suitable spot, he would exclaim, “Kiowa,” and the party understood it was a good place to camp.
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