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I realize I never addressed the idea of people from other races (let’s face it, white people) using these names. No matter how well-intentioned, I think it is a huge no-no. I’m not strictly against cross-cultural names. We used Theodora and we’re not Greek. But these are a people that white people attempted to commit genocide against, and not just generations ago. The last Residential School closed in 1996 here, and the list of names of kids who were killed/abused in those schools is long and heartwrenching. White people are the reason their culture was basically lost, so to borrow ANYTHING from those cultures is crass, ignorant, insulting and tone-deaf. I’m talking to you, white girl with a dreamcatcher hanging from your rearview mirror.

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You can’t spend hundreds of years oppressing a people, suddenly decide you think they’re cool and emulate them without hurting a lot of feelings. Especially since the types of people who name their kids things like Dakota probably have no idea what that word represents. I’m not just talking about meaning, I’m talking about significance.

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Giving your kid a “Native American” name is basically the onomastic version of redface, I guess is what I’m getting at.

This message was edited 10/2/2019, 7:36 PM