Nebraska
wiktionary
Probably from archaic Chiwere Ñí Brásge, pronounced [ˌɲĩˈbɾaskɛ] (contemporary Chiwere Ñí Bráhge), or the Omaha-Ponca Ní Btháska, pronounced [ˌnĩˈbˡðaska], both meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state.
etymonline
Nebraska
U.S. territory organized 1854, admitted as a state 1867, from a native Siouan name for the Platte River, either Omaha ni braska or Oto ni brathge, both literally "water flat." The modern river name is from French rivière platte, which means "flat river." Related: Nebraskan.
Bug eaters, a term applied derisively to the inhabitants of Nebraska by travellers on account of the poverty-stricken appearance of many parts of the State. If one living there were to refuse to eat bugs, he would, like Polonius, soon be "not where he eats but where he is eaten." [Walsh, 1892]
