Ontario is a term thought to have Indigenous origins, either Ontarí:io, a Huron (Wyandot) word meaning “great lake”,[16] or possibly skanadario, which means “beautiful water” or “sparkling water” in the Iroquoian languages.[17]
What’s the difference between a (bad connotation) “colonial derivation” and a (neutral connotation) “transliteration?”
Remember, there was no native writing system and therefore no original orthographic form to be faithful to. “Ontario” and “Ontarí:io” are damn similar, so who’s to say “Ontario” wasn’t just a reasonable 17th Century transliteration from the time before diacritical marks were a thing?
“Ontario” is already an indigenous word.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario#Etymology :
Ontario is a colonial derivation of an indigenous word. Your own source provides 2 potential options for indigenous names: Ontarí:io and Skanadario
What’s the difference between a (bad connotation) “colonial derivation” and a (neutral connotation) “transliteration?”
Remember, there was no native writing system and therefore no original orthographic form to be faithful to. “Ontario” and “Ontarí:io” are damn similar, so who’s to say “Ontario” wasn’t just a reasonable 17th Century transliteration from the time before diacritical marks were a thing?
We could ask the Haudenosaunee Nation, given that they’re Iriqouian speakers