The Annual Geographic Names Conference

Sponsored by
The Council of Geographic Names Authorities
in the United States

Hosted by
The Oklahoma Board on Geographic Names

Was held

September 2-6, 2008

at the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center
737 South Meridian
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

PROGRAM

Tuesday, September 2

10:00 — 5:00 p.m. Registration and displays

4:00 — 5:00 p.m. Meet the Oklahoma Board on Geographic Names

6:00 p.m. —   Welcoming reception, conference opening & special presentations

Wednesday, September 3

7:30 —8:30 a.m.  Registration

8:30 — 8:40 a.m.  Announcements/opening remarks: Wayne Furr

8:40 — 9:25 a.m.  Opening keynote: “Oklahoma Places and Place Name Geography”: Dr. Steven   Sadler, Oklahoma State University; The State Geographer of Oklahoma

9:25 — 10:00 a.m. "The make up of State Names Authorities": Wayne Furr, Moderator
State Authorities have different levels of who is responsible for the geographic names work. In most cases it is an added responsibility to someone’s normal duties. Names work generally takes a back seat! A few States have well established board, but the number of meeting that they hold each year varies drastically. Each panelist will provide an overview of their authority. 

Panel:  Minnesota (Pete Boulay), New Mexico (Bob Julyan), Oklahoma (Wayne Furr), Oregon (Champ Vaughan), S. Dakota (Tom Gasque), Washington (Caleb Maki).

10:00 — 10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 — 11:15 a.m. The make up of State Names Authorities: Wrap up, discussion & Reports from State delegates

11:15 a.m. — Noon  US-BGN/DNC Meeting: Staff Reports

12:00 — 1:30  p.m. Lunch break

1:30 — 3:00 p.m. US-BGN/DNC Board Meeting (cases)

3:00 — 3:30 p.m. Break

3:30 — 5:30 p.m. US-BGN/DNC Board Meeting (cases continued)

Thursday, September 4 

7:30 — 8:30 a.m.  Registration

8:30 — 9:30 a.m. "A proposal to develop a BGN policy to rename features containing the name squaw": Chick Fagan, National Park Service BGN member

9:30 — 10:00 a.m. Reports from State delegates continued

10:00 — 10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. — Noon State/Federal Roundtable session 1: Topics of interest about the Principles, Policies, and Procedure & develop resolution recommendations: Lou Yost, Moderator; Tom Gasque, Recorder.   Click of the following link to print a copy of the  2008 Roundtable topics and discussion

12:00 — 1:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 — 3:00 p.m. State/Federal Roundtable session 2: Continued

3:00 — 3:30 p.m. Break

3:30 — 3:45 p.m. Wrap up & synopsis of the resolution recommendations: Roger Payne

3:45 — 5:30 p.m. COGNA Business Meeting: Wayne Furr.  Click on the following link to print a copy of the 2008 Business Meeting Minutes

Friday, September 5

8:00 — 10:00 a.m. The Dr. is in: an open discussions session with Jenny Runyon & Lou Yost

10:00 — 10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. — Noon Geographic features and GNIS workshop: Chris Barnett, Missouri Board on Geographic Names and Jane Messenger, Executive Secretary, Missouri Board on Geographic Names, Co-Moderators
This will be a roundtable style session dealing specifically with questions and problems that have come up during maintenance data collection and update of geographic features in GNIS. Now that many states are in a maintenance phase, it appears that many of the criteria presented in the out-of-print Circular 1011 no longer apply or are out of step with current collection methods and sources. This, of course, must involve GNIS and how things are defined and addressed by BGN staff and the database. Topics to be addressed include but are not limited to: feature class identification/redefinition; published geographic data that are obviously incorrect; spatially enabling GNIS and how organizations outside the USGS can help; and data linking of named features from and to GNIS. If you have questions or concerns related to any of these topics or items that were not covered in the Doctor-Is-In session please bring them.

12:00 — 1:30 p.m. Lunch break

1:30 — 2:00 p.m. "A report on the Hawaii names project": Renee Lewis, Hawaii Board on Geographic Names

2:00 — 2:30 p.m. “The French Lession:  Revisiting Some Oklahoma Toponyms of French Origin”: Dr. André Lapierre, Chair, Ontario Board on Geographic Names
We know that French explorers and voyageurs established trading posts in Oklahoma as early as the 17^th century. Their presence has been rather sporadic however, most of the trading activity and settlement in that part of French Louisiana having taken place more to the east, along the Mississippi River. Yet, according to Coulet du Gard (1986) and Montbarbut (2000) there are more than 180 French place-names in Oklahama today. But are they truly French? Building on methodology developed for my earlier work (Lapierre 2004) I will revisit some of these names and re-evaluate their French roots.

2:30 — 3:00 p.m. “Oklahoma Place Names: Examples from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation”: Dr. Doug Hurt, University of Central Oklahoma
The diverse place names of Oklahoma include numerous American Indian toponyms.  Names in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in eastern Oklahoma shed insight into the dispossession of Indian nations and their migration to Indian Territory in the nineteenth century.  Due in part to their tribal towns, the Creek were able to adapt to their new environment and quickly form a cultural impress upon their Indian Territory landscape.  The longevity of these Creek tribal town place names is one signifier of the unique regional identity of Oklahoma.

3:00 — 3:30 p.m. Break 

3:30 — 3:45 p.m. “Aspects of delineation in Canadian toponymy”: Jocelyne Revie, Geographical Names Board of Canada

3:45 — 4:15 p.m. COGNA Business Meeting Continued: consideration of recommended resolutions from the State/Federal Roundtable

4:15 — 5:00 p.m. Open for special interest, next year’s invitation and conference wrap up


6:30 — 7:00 p.m. Social Hour

7:00 — 9:00 p.m. Banquet with Speaker: “Oklahoma’s settlement patterns and influences on the State’s names”: Dr. Bob Blackburn, Director Oklahoma Historical Society

Saturday, September 6

8:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. Toponymic Tour: Wayne Furr

Some highlights: The field trip took us through the historic Stockyard City district to downtown Oklahoma City for a stop at the Oklahoma City Memorial.  We then proceeded past the first mansion built in OKC and then swing through the Capitol Complex where saw working oil wells on the Capitol grounds.  The next stop was in Guthrie, the Territorial Capital and first Capital of Oklahoma.  We spent about three hours in Guthrie viewing the historical city and lunch.  After leaving Guthrie we traveled through Langston one of the pioneer towns that was established for Black pioneers and home of Langston University.  We then traveled through the small communities of Coyle, Drakes Corner, Agra, and Chandler before returning to OKC with a few interesting stories on the way.

For additional information contact

Mr. T. Wayne Furr, Executive Secretary
Council of Geographic Names Authorities
3400 36th Avenue NE
Norman, Oklahoma 73026-7809
Telephone: 405-364-7278
E-mail: twfurr@cogna50usa.org

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