What does CURRAHEE really mean?

[tredhed2]

Osiyo

 

With my apologies to ASMIC members, time to revisit this topic.

 

Many collectors are aware of mottos on DIs and patches. Many are in Latin, but they also exist in English, Russian, and in the languages of Native American nations. Those of us familiar with foreign languages know that exact or literal translations are rarely possible, but the context can still be close.

 

The motto on the DI of the 506th Infantry is CURRAHEE. CURRAHEE refers to Currahee Mountain, where the 506th trained in WW II (Camp Toccoa). TIOH says CURRAHEE is the "American aboriginal Cherokee Indian equivilent for 'Stands Alone'."

 

After reading many years’ worth of Cherokee language lessons in the Cherokee Phoenix, the newspaper of the Cherokee Nation, I became suspicious. After a thorough review w/ the Principal Linguist/Translator, my suspicions are correct.

 

First of all, there is no “r” sound in the Cherokee language. Using the Cherokee syllabary (alphabet) Cherokee is spelled with the following letters that look remarkably like English - GWY, and pronounced phonetically in English as "Tsah Lah Gee", meaning "The People." Without this “r” sound, the word cuh-a-hee is closest in translation in Cherokee to bobcat, a solitary hunting animal. If the phrase “Stands Alone” is translated into Cherokee, it is pronounced “u-wasa ga-dogi,” not even remotely close to CURRAHEE.

 

What happened? Did some settler misinterpret what he or she was told was the name of the mountain? Was it mispronounced by some white settler with the peculiar speech habit of adding the letter “r”, e.g., "warshington", "idear", to certain words? Is currahee really in the language of one of the other NA nations which inhabited, hunted or traveled thru the Cherokee Nation, which at one time extended from all of Kentucky south to northern Georgia and North Carolina? For instance, there are many different Native American pronunciations of what we know is “Kentucky”.

 

In any case, it will never be corrected, as it would require unit concurrence; it’s based on a geographic feature; and the government rarely, if ever, admits, let alone corrects, errors.

 

Waddo

[gunbarrel]

I wonder if it's a corruption of the Spanish word CORAJE (pronounced co-rah-hay)--which has several meanings, including courage, bravery, valor, and anger.

[gpw_42]

Interesting linguistic question, which I can't help answer. Considering what the US did to the Cherokee Nation, it's no wonder we (the US) botched the Curahee meaning.

 

This link explains (1 more reason) why the motto is unlikely to change; it's a 3 minute clip to a CBS News story of a lieutenant wounded in Afghanistan that will leave a lump in your throat:

 

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/05/09/video-currahee/

 

Thrasher

[tredhed2]

I wonder if it's a corruption of the Spanish word CORAJE (pronounced co-rah-hay)--which has several meanings, including courage, bravery, valor, and anger.

 

That's a good point, but I have no direct knowledge regarding Spanish exploration into Cherokee lands.

[vivera1288]

It could be that just like places all over the country the word became anglicized so Currahee could have been pronounced differently a hundred years before, take "La Punta De Santa Elena" which today is known as "The Point of St. Helena" and look at the two costal towns of Beaufort in the Carolinas........both are named in honor of Henry Somerset the Duke of Beaufort England (pronounced BOE-FORT) now the one in North Carolina is still known as Beaufort (Boe-fort) but the one in south carolina is known as Beaufort (Byew-fort) and the reason why is because it was anglicized over time. So that might be what happened in this case with Currahee.

[Jonesy]

Interesting linguistic question, which I can't help answer. Considering what the US did to the Cherokee Nation, it's no wonder we (the US) botched the Curahee meaning.

 

This link explains (1 more reason) why the motto is unlikely to change; it's a 3 minute clip to a CBS News story of a lieutenant wounded in Afghanistan that will leave a lump in your throat:

 

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/05/09/video-currahee/

 

Thrasher

 

 

What's the real meaning of Currahee? It's somewhere out in the sand with that poor kids legs. This subject can be argued until I'm old and gray, about what means what, and who botched this or that. But the meaning behind the word will never change for me, never.

[SteveR]

Osiyo

Tohi ju

A pertinent point. There were many sub tribes of the Cherokee nation as well as the 7 clans of the tribe. It may be Catwaba. I think those were the folks around that area. As with different dialects of English in Europe, Australia, the USA and the many differences in local dialects Eastern ,Southern. Northern, etc.. Plus the Yonega habit of mispronunciation I do not think we will ever know for sure.I have noticed there is a distinct difference in Oklahoma Cherokee and Qualla Cherokee in the Carolinas. I feel it would only be blind luck if it was ever verified, but would be a heck of a research project for a Masters thesis.

Steve

[Curious Granddaughter]

That's a good point, but I have no direct knowledge regarding Spanish exploration into Cherokee lands.

 

You have it backwards, the Cherokees moved from their territory into Spanish occupied territories of the states - they didn't remain only in one specific territory. The Spanish also used religious teachings and practices to conquer - there was a religious group that came from Spain that focused on converting Indians to their order. I know this because I have ancestors from that religious order and also from the Cherokee's.

 

I am not fluently Spanish-speaking but I know that spellings, interpretations and pronunciations vary not only from country to country but from demographic to demographic. For example, my grandmothers family migrated from Basque Country in Spain to New Mexico sometime in the 1700's - her native tongue and traditions are specific to the area in New Mexico where they settled (a fusion of Spanish, rural American, and religious influences).

[tredhed2]

You have it backwards, the Cherokees moved from their territory into Spanish occupied territories of the states - they didn't remain only in one specific territory. The Spanish also used religious teachings and practices to conquer - there was a religious group that came from Spain that focused on converting Indians to their order. I know this because I have ancestors from that religious order and also from the Cherokee's.

 

I am not fluently Spanish-speaking but I know that spellings, interpretations and pronunciations vary not only from country to country but from demographic to demographic. For example, my grandmothers family migrated from Basque Country in Spain to New Mexico sometime in the 1700's - her native tongue and traditions are specific to the area in New Mexico where they settled (a fusion of Spanish, rural American, and religious influences).

 

Well, out here in CA we are very familiar with the Spanish methods of "conquer" - enslaving the native Americans, while converting them to "Christianity" - or killing them if they didn't convert. I used to be fluent in Spanish - it's now the first language in CA. And the Spanish spoken in CA comes from s. of the border, not the Castilian Spanish of, you guessed it, Spain. It's a basura form of Spanish here.

[Bugme]

Currahee? I thought it meant: Gee, big mountain!

 

Seriously, I have to concur with Jonesy, who really cares where it got it's name, the point is, that to every young man who ran that mountain and earned the honor to be called Airborne, it meant he was now a fighting man and had earned the right to wear the screaming eagle.

[Curious Granddaughter]

private message

 

Hi -

 

I don't want to embarrass U on the Forum, but you need to reread the posts on the Cherokees.

 

The Cherokees are NATIVE AMERICANS; the nation encompassed the lands from the Ohio R. (essentially the northern boundary of Kentucky) south east to western N. Carolina, and south to central GA and AL. And, since there is some historical consideration that the language is Iroquoian based, that nation is in upstate New York, so perhaps several thousand years ago, the Cherokee migrated south from NY..

 

Those Spaniards landed in FL in the early 16ht C. and may have trekked northward from FL into GA and AL.

 

Dave K

 

Don't worry, I'm not embarrassed - it would take much more than that. I know very well that the Cherokee’s are Native American - I learned that from my great-grandfather being Cherokee.

 

I found a little info for you posted on http://cherokeehistory.com/map1.html. It looks like one of those websites that school children use for their history projects so it’s broken down real simple for you.

 

“A large group of Cherokees moved west of the Mississippi (Spanish territory) with the permission of the Spanish governor in New Orleans. Groups continued to move west to escape the flood of white settlers onto Cherokee land in NC, GA, and TN.”

 

My point in using the Spanish language as an example is to show how a dialect can be greatly distinguished from just a standard language. Anyhow, “Currahee” is derived from the Cherokee word (quu-wa-hi), meaning “Stand Alone” or “We stand alone” - key word is derived. When the Cherokee word is pronounced with an accent it sounds like it can be spelled “Currahee” - this would be the phonetic spelling.

 

By the way, I‘m not sure if you were referring to my family as “those Spaniards” but in case you were, they didn’t land in Florida - they were missionaries in Mexico before they came to the states and settled in Northern New Mexico and Colorado.

[memphismeister]

Don't worry, I'm not embarrassed - it would take much more than that. I know very well that the Cherokee’s are Native American - I learned that from my great-grandfather being Cherokee.

 

I found a little info for you posted on http://cherokeehistory.com/map1.html. It looks like one of those websites that school children use for their history projects so it’s broken down real simple for you.

 

“A large group of Cherokees moved west of the Mississippi (Spanish territory) with the permission of the Spanish governor in New Orleans. Groups continued to move west to escape the flood of white settlers onto Cherokee land in NC, GA, and TN.”

 

My point in using the Spanish language as an example is to show how a dialect can be greatly distinguished from just a standard language. Anyhow, “Currahee” is derived from the Cherokee word (quu-wa-hi), meaning “Stand Alone” or “We stand alone” - key word is derived. When the Cherokee word is pronounced with an accent it sounds like it can be spelled “Currahee” - this would be the phonetic spelling.

 

By the way, I‘m not sure if you were referring to my family as “those Spaniards” but in case you were, they didn’t land in Florida - they were missionaries in Mexico before they came to the states and settled in Northern New Mexico and Colorado.

let us not forget the trail of tears.

[Curious Granddaughter]

Well, out here in CA we are very familiar with the Spanish methods of "conquer" - enslaving the native Americans, while converting them to "Christianity" - or killing them if they didn't convert. I used to be fluent in Spanish - it's now the first language in CA. And the Spanish spoken in CA comes from s. of the border, not the Castilian Spanish of, you guessed it, Spain. It's a basura form of Spanish here.

 

Very true. And all Native American tribes have gone through similar hardships - it wasn't a very popular thing to be in those days, it was terrible what they went through. Luckily the order my family came from was on good terms with the Indians - the families merged somehow and my Cherokee grandfather became the leader of the Spanish order and donated much of his land to build places of worship.

 

I agree with the other guys though. No matter how the name "Currahee" came to be, what matters is the history.

[aef1917]

[T]he Spanish spoken in CA comes from s. of the border, not the Castilian Spanish of, you guessed it, Spain. It's a basura form of Spanish here.

 

No more so than what we speak is a rubbish form of English.

[willysmb44]

Currahee? I thought it meant: Gee, big mountain!

Agreed. When I was going through Army ROTC in 1997 (or maybe 98, I don’t remember which year we did this), we had to go to Benning for a two day FTX. Like a real wise guy, I thought it’d be all “Hooah” to get some other cadets to run up that thing as it wasn’t too far away. So when we were done, we had access to two POVs and went out there. I looked pretty high when we got started and I swear it kept getting TALLER as we went! We were all in very good shape and PT’d all the time, but many of us were puking on the way up. When we got to the top, wheezing all the way, several people collapsed at the top and I’ll never forget one cadet holding onto a tree looked over and said, “Bishop, what the heck were you thinking, getting us to run up Mt Everest like this?” Keep in mind, this was long before Band of Brothers was known by the masses. I hadn’t read the book myself at this time yet, had thought it was a good idea based on a conversation I’d had with a 506th vet before that (whose name escapes me now).