Chautauqua (disambiguation)

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Chautauqua is an Iroquois word, meaning either "two moccasins tied together", "bag tied at the middle", "where the fish are taken out" or "jumping fish."

[edit] Adult education

• Chautauqua is an adult education movement featuring lectures, plays, and musical performances; the word is also used for any single organization pursuing this activity. The idea was originated in 1874 in Chautauqua, New York, which lends its name to the format, but was soon copied elsewhere. Chautauquas flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, but declined in popularity thereafter.
• Chautauqua Institution is where the Chautauqua movement started in 1874 and is alive and well today.
• 21st century Chautauquas number at least three, and depending on the exact definition used may be more numerous.

Chautauqua can also be any of the following meanings:

[edit] Places

• Colorado Chautauqua and the adjacent Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado
• Chautauqua, Illinois — A private summer resort, originally started as a tent Chautauqua
• Chautauqua, Kansas — A city
• Chautauqua, New York — A town
• Chautauqua, Ohio — a town
• Chautauqua County, Kansas — A county
• Chautauqua County, New York — A county
• Chautauqua Lake — A lake in Chautauqua County in Western New York and the source of all other places with this name
• Chautauqua — A hamlet in the Town of Chautauqua, New York.
• Chautauqua River — A river in Chautauqua County, New York
• Chautauqua Elementary — A public school in the Vashon Island School District, Washington State

[edit] Other usages

• Chautauqua Airlines is a regional airline based in Indianapolis, IN
• The word Chautauqua has recently come to also mean a montage performed with an actor playing the role of an historical figure. Often this is by students for historic presentations or actors in a play.
• In the R.M. Pirsig novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, HarperCollins ISBN 0-688-08461-3; ISBN 0-06-083987-2, the author metaphorically refers to some of his episodic philosophical musings as "chautauquas." Per Persig, the definition of a Chautauqua would be something that - "...[intends] to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer."
• In 2006 The Willowz, a Rock Pop combo produced by Ena Paul Kostabi, from Southern California, titled their collection of songs (intended for release in March 2007) "chautauqua".
• Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua is a tent-based concert venue and musical troupe from Bayfield, WI. While playing their own folk music, typically based in local and Wisconsin history, they also book prominent artists each summer such as Bela Fleck, G. Love, and Willie Nelson. They also have a radio show entitled Tent Show Radio on NPR stations across Wisconsin.
• Chataqua is an annual community event in Chewelah, WA.