What's up with that? Where did the term 'Da Region' come from?

It's just assumed others will know the Region refers to the general northwest corner of Indiana and for some, the area just over the border into Illinois.

But Merrillville resident John Hielema asked about the origins of the name.

"I asked the question because I have always been fascinated by the Region moniker, and the good and bad things (I) think and feel about that title," he said.

James Lane, a history professor at Indiana University Northwest, said the simplest part of the answer is that the name is a derivative of the Calumet Region.

The Calumet Region is defined by the areas surrounding the Grand Calumet and Little Calumet rivers, he said, which are connected to Calumet River just over the border in Illinois.

As far as the source of the name Calumet, Stephen McShane, co-director and archivist/curator at the Calumet Regional Archives at IUN, referred to the book, "Calumet Beginnings" by Kenneth Schoon.

"It is generally agreed that the name Calumet is a French substitution for the Indian name for the river," according Schoon's book. "What that word was or what it meant has been debated for over 150 years."

One explanation is that Calumet meant "little reed" or "pipe of peace."

"Others ascribe Calumet as a corruption of another Indian word meaning 'a deep, still water,' " according to Schoon.

Yet another theory says the oldest recorded Indian name for the river was Kinoumiki, meaning "ship that draws a lot of water," according to Schoon.

"Had the Indians seen a European ship on the Calumet River?" Schoon asked. "It's possible."

Hielema said most residents are proud about The Region, "despite some perceived shortcomings. But when I travel out of the area, we are seen as the rotten stepchildren."

Did someone say Region Rat?