Marie Yuhr, age 13, of Louisville,Ky., for her question:

How did the name of Canada originate?

Many places in the new world were named lovingly for the old homes left behind by the settlers. The new World is also rich with beautiful sounding names borrowed from the Indians. Some of the Indian names have been changed to suit our language, and ¬many of their meanings have been forgotten.

When the settlers came they found many different Indian languages. Most of them had an assortment of dialects. The word Canada is thought to come from an Iroquois dialect. We are not certain, but many experts think that the name meant a group of huts. They also suspect that the Indians once thought of part of the St. Lawrence basin as Canada valley.