American Indian Culture and Research Journal

The names at first are those of animals and of birds, of objects that have one definition in the eye, another in the hand, of forms and features on the rim of the world, or of sounds that carry on the bright wind and in the void. They are old and original in the mind, like the beat of rain on the river, and intrinsic in the native tongue, failing even as those who bear them turn once in the memory, go on, and are gone forever. —N. Scott Momaday When we were children we used to chant “Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will never hurt us.” However, as we grew older we learned to put away childish things. Names are very serious undertakings! Names are rarely, if ever, neutral; they tend to point and push us in certain directions. The power to name something or someone, even against one’s will, is an expression of domination. In some Native American traditions: to name a being, for example an animal, is actually to conjure up the powers latent in that animal. Added to this is the fact that when we create words we use our breath and for these people and their traditions breath is associated with the principle of life. . . . It is because of this special feeling about words that people avoid using sacred personal names because they contain the power of the beings named, and if you use them too much the power becomes dissipated. So, names are very important inasmuch as they have the power to cast people and things in favorable and unfavorable lights. Thus, the ability to name one’s self is an act of liberation from semantic bondage.