How Canada got its name.

Anglia, Hochelaga, Norland, Superior and Victorialand were some of the names considered before some wise men chose Canada as their country's name in February 1867. Wikipedia adds that the name Canada originated around 1535 from the Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word Kanata meaning "village", "settlement", or "land"; another contemporary translation was "cluster of dwellings".

To me, Canada has always sounded like an Indian word. The Wiki explanation kind of solved an old puzzle in my head. However, I do wish to draw your attention to a remarkable coincidence. The Sanskrit word 'Kanda' which means 'branch, chapter or cluster' seems totally synonymous with the Iroquoian 'Kanata'. Kanda is of vedic vintage and has been in currency since god-knows-when. The Indian sub-continent was often referred to as Bharata Kanda. So is it possible that Kanda gave rise to Kanata which in turn gave us 'Canada'? Me thinks, YES. As the 'Kanda' usage somehow feels more appropriate than the small land mass sense conveyed by 'Kanata'.

How Saskatchewan got its name.

Saskatchewan is Canada's fifth largest province. It takes its name from the Saskatchewan river. Legend has it that Saskatchewan means 'swift flowing river' in the Cree Indian language.

My take: Saskatchewan is a prarie province with more than 50% forest land. The -wan suffix in the name seems of Sanskrit origin. Van in Sanskrit means forest which kind of fits the profile of the land. Further, 'Kutch' in Sanskrit means 'island' and 'sas' cues 'six'. So Saskatchewan means 'the forest with six islands'. My view is the six islands in reference are the six great tribes - Algonquins (Algonquin), Atikameks (Atikamekw), Cree (Cree), Inuit (Inuktitut), Montagnais (Innu), and Naskapi (Naskapi). The only way to nail this hypothesis is to study the connection between the Cree language and Sanskrit.