Skunkapes 

The Mukasuki Indian language is not a written language and is thus, subject
to interpretation to some extent.

However, the lexicon that does exist for the Miccosukee “dialect” covers the
root terms which make up the composite “Sha’a'wan Oki” word which stands for
the Swamp Ape.  The literal translation is actually “Big Water Raccoon”.

The term “Oki” (pronounced “Ok-ee”) is defined as “water”.

The “Sha’a'wan” (pronounced “Sha-a-way”) is the term for a “Big Raccoon”.

Nothing in “Sha’a'wan Oki’s” actual or phonetic components even comes close
to the “mouth that snaps” misinterpretation I finally found on Bigfoot
Encounters site at:

http://www.bigfootencounters.com/creatures/shaawanoki.htm

I also discussed the Muskogean Amerindian Language Family (which includes
Alabama, Apalachee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Coushatta, Miccosukee, and Muscogee)
and discovered that my original contention that “Wookie” (another Gulf Coast
term for our Big Hairy Friend) is indeed linguistically related to the
Miccosukee term.

The word would be rendered in Choctaw “Wo’ Okie” where the “okie” or “Oka”
again relates to water and the “Wo” which is not certain at this point, but
which may be related to the term “Wiki” which translates as “heavy”.

That said, I’m not totally convinced that Choctaw would be the correct
language attribution for tribal groups and Amerindian languages associated
with Louisiana — ostensibly the domain of the Wookie.

Regards, 
Scott Marlowe

Thanks to Scott Marlowe of the Pangea Institute