ALABAMA

The Creek—a North American Indigenous tribe—were often taller than six feet (180 cm): "The warrior, according to Pickett, was ‘larger than the ordinary race of Europeans, often above 6 ft. in height.’"

The tribe originates from Alabama. But what is the adjective "Alabami"? Naturally, it’s Megrelian.

This word appears in Otari Kajaia’s dictionary in its Georgian non-Megrelian form as "alabiani", derived from "alabi." In turn, the Megrelian "alabi" translates into Georgian as "alabi" or "adli."

• "Alabi" in Georgian means "arshin" (71 cm).
• "Adli" refers to a unit of length close to one meter.
• "Alabiani" means "of meter-long length."

However, true Megrelian speakers wouldn’t say "alabiani" but rather "Alabami," since the Georgian adjective suffix "-iani" corresponds to "-ami" in Megrelian. This is confirmed in Kajaia’s dictionary.

Thus, "Alabami" = "Alabiani" = "Meter-long."

Now, how does "meter-long" relate to the Indigenous people of Alabama? In Chanturia’s dictionary, there’s another word: "alabala", which is a substantivized adjective derived from "alabali", itself originating from "alabi" (meaning "arshin" or "meter").

And what does "alabala" mean? "Someone who walks with big strides."

And who walks with big strides? The tall Creek warriors from Alabama (see the beginning of the article). And don't forget the "Alabamy Bound" song.