This column discusses it. According to Wiki, the name ‘Arkansas’
and not from the tribal name ‘Quapaw’, as the the staff report indicates. The French likely had far more contact with the Algonquin tribe, which is largely centered in Quebec and which was also heavily involved in the French fur trade, and adopted their name for the Quapaw.
Have to be careful to distinguish Algonquin( the tribe ) from Algonquian the linguistic group. It is unlikely the Algonquin per se had much if any contact with the Quapaw.
Good catch. However, the staff report says that the name ‘Arkansas’ derived from the name ‘Quapaw’, which appears to be incorrect. It is derived from the Algonquian term for the Quapaw.
Yet another take:
“According to the Arkansas secretary of state’s website, the Quapaws were known as the “downstream people” by some tribes, and the Algonkian-speaking Indians of the Ohio Valley called them the Arkansas, or “south wind.” Their pronunciation of the name was “Oo-ka-na-sa,” according to Arkansas Tech University.”
Arkansas comes to us from the Arkansas Indians and means, “Arkansas.” Even I knew that and I’m a mutt. 
And here I always thought ‘Arkansas’ meant ‘nowheresville’. Ignorance fought.
The Arkansas Indians were only called that by other tribes. They didn’t refer to themselves as that.
No one was supposed to come back after Post #5. I’m the Thread Killer! I kill threads! I’m in the book, call me for all your thread-killing needs!
O-kay, I was just leaving.
I’ve always thought it was kinda odd that the Arkansas River begins in Colorado.
Or does it?
Dun, dun, duhhh.
Well, something is obviously amiss here.
When I first saw the word in primary school, I confidently pronounced it,** R - CAN -sas**. After all, if it is, CAN - sas, it’s obvious and logical that it would also be, R - CAN - sas. I was immediately “corrected” (misled).
If CAN - sas is indeed CAN - sas, then it’s sister state has to be** R - CAN - sas**. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.
Interesting fact that all the letters in ‘Kansas’ are actually silent. It’s pronounced .
Arkansas was a state first (25th in the Union in 1836), so Kansas should take the pronunciation lead from there, right?
But seriously, the pronunciation of the state’s name was a major issue early on, leading to … vigorous disagreements, and the legislature passed a law defining the proper pronunciation and spelling of the state name (yes, Arkansans can spell!). The current state code still includes the provision.
It should be Kansas and West Kansas, just like Virginia and West Virginia. It would sound awfully lame to have Virginia and Arvirginia, wouldn’t it?
I ain’t living in no west kansas. Forget about it. This is Our-kansas. Pronounced ar-can-saw.
Understood. How about Arkansas and East Arkansas?
I like that better.
It is pronounced correctly in the Bible; “Noah looked out of the ark and saw…”
Ba - da - dum!! LOL