I wasn't sure which way to spell it, so I looked it up and learned it's a loan word from the Sioux language. (either spelling is accepted)
If interested, click on this link and scroll down to see the phonetic breakdown (it's daunting!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sioux_language
side note: Every so often, I'll encounter an elderly patient who only speaks Navajo at the hospital where I work. We have to use a virtual translation service to communicate with them. (that is unless my co-worker Cindy is around - she's Navajo and grew up on the "rez.")
When I was sent to Vietnam, the guys in the platoon I was assigned to thought they would have fun at my expense. They gave me the bunk below a full-blooded Sioux Indian whom they gave the nickname, "Chief" I learned that it is true that American Natives are very susceptible to the influence of alcohol. I first met Chief when he returned from a binge at the NCO club and there was no doubt that he was drunk. I wondered if I was going to die some night in my sleep at the hands of Chief.
We became very good friends during our year together. We left at the same time and were sent to Saigon to process out of country. We spent our last night together at the NCO club. He controlled his drinking and we just talked. I went home to be resigned to another duty station. He went home on leave to return as he volunteered to return to Vietnam. I never saw him again but I think about him often. Chief's real name was Zane. He lived on a reservation in South Dakota. The visiting Vietnam Memorial wall came to our area and I went to see it, I asked the curator to check for his name and was so grateful to learn that his name wasn't among those engraved in granite.
September 9th, 2023
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We became very good friends during our year together. We left at the same time and were sent to Saigon to process out of country. We spent our last night together at the NCO club. He controlled his drinking and we just talked. I went home to be resigned to another duty station. He went home on leave to return as he volunteered to return to Vietnam. I never saw him again but I think about him often. Chief's real name was Zane. He lived on a reservation in South Dakota. The visiting Vietnam Memorial wall came to our area and I went to see it, I asked the curator to check for his name and was so grateful to learn that his name wasn't among those engraved in granite.