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HelpRe: Naming dogs and honoring people + cultural sensitivity
in reply to a message by mirfak
Mirfak, I agree with what you're saying here.
After I thought about it a little more I almost deleted my original post because of the very points you made.
I found it kind of an interesting conversation topic related to a discussion I had recently with someone over whether naming a football team after a Native American group could be considered honoring or not.
I had a neighbor who was a social studies teacher who used to name his dogs after Native tribes.
However, it's not something I feel the need to do, one way or another.
I would rather not try to make a political/social statement with my dog's name. ;)
Thanks for your well-reasoned input! :)
.......................................
Feedback welcome on my current top names: http://www.behindthename.com/polls/236866
:)
After I thought about it a little more I almost deleted my original post because of the very points you made.
I found it kind of an interesting conversation topic related to a discussion I had recently with someone over whether naming a football team after a Native American group could be considered honoring or not.
I had a neighbor who was a social studies teacher who used to name his dogs after Native tribes.
However, it's not something I feel the need to do, one way or another.
I would rather not try to make a political/social statement with my dog's name. ;)
Thanks for your well-reasoned input! :)
.......................................
Feedback welcome on my current top names: http://www.behindthename.com/polls/236866
:)
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
as to the football question ...
"Redskins" is not a Native American group, and very few Indians use the term even in jest among themselves, as some supporters of the team's name attest. Some do, sure, but they're a definite minority. The term is a dated, very offensive one, and I have never understood why the team's name hasn't been changed long ago.
As to naming pets after tribes, well, I'm in two minds about it. Setting ot to deliberately theme your pets this way seems lame and show-off, but I wouldn't have a problem with somebody doing it with just one animal. The people down the road from us used to have a big, beautiful white dog named Cheyenne. I don't know if they named her that or she was already answering to it when they got her, but it never struck me as offensive. I don't usually find people naming their kids Dakota or Cheyenne to be offensive, but when I see somebody's named their kid Cherokee, Lakota or like that, I roll my eyes. Indians rarely feel the need to do that; Cheyenne and Dakota are popular across the board so they're kind of exceptions. But in general if you see a kid named something like Dakota Cheyenne or Navajo Star, it's a safe bet (though not a guarantee) that his parents are white people trying to show how culturally "with it" they think they are.
"Redskins" is not a Native American group, and very few Indians use the term even in jest among themselves, as some supporters of the team's name attest. Some do, sure, but they're a definite minority. The term is a dated, very offensive one, and I have never understood why the team's name hasn't been changed long ago.
As to naming pets after tribes, well, I'm in two minds about it. Setting ot to deliberately theme your pets this way seems lame and show-off, but I wouldn't have a problem with somebody doing it with just one animal. The people down the road from us used to have a big, beautiful white dog named Cheyenne. I don't know if they named her that or she was already answering to it when they got her, but it never struck me as offensive. I don't usually find people naming their kids Dakota or Cheyenne to be offensive, but when I see somebody's named their kid Cherokee, Lakota or like that, I roll my eyes. Indians rarely feel the need to do that; Cheyenne and Dakota are popular across the board so they're kind of exceptions. But in general if you see a kid named something like Dakota Cheyenne or Navajo Star, it's a safe bet (though not a guarantee) that his parents are white people trying to show how culturally "with it" they think they are.
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On a side note there is a basketball team called the The Fighting Whities from the University of Northern Colorado. The team is made up of people of Native American, European American, and Latino ancestry. Originally, the idea behind it was to bring attention to negative stereotypes, but people found it hilarious. The logo is of a stereotypical white guy in a suit who looks like the product of the 50s.
On a slightly more serious note if the Redskins are pressured to change their names, do you think that the Fighting Irish and the Minnesota Vikings should also be renamed? After all, the title Fighting Irish could be construed by a politically correct person to be subscribing to the stereotype depicting the Irish as pugnacious. Historically, the Irish are an oppressed people group, and technically they are a minority although they don't receive status as such. The portrayal of the Minnesota Vikings wearing a horned helmet is inaccurate and ludicrous. The horns were the product of the imagination of the German opera. However, the Fighting Irish and Minnesota Vikings choose to interpret the usage of their stereotyped images as light hearted fun and a compliment to their fighting spirit rather than an insult, so they haven't gotten as much public attention.
P.S. Of the three, the Minnesota Vikings, Redskins and Fighting Irish, the Redskins's image is by far the most dignified in appearance.
On a slightly more serious note if the Redskins are pressured to change their names, do you think that the Fighting Irish and the Minnesota Vikings should also be renamed? After all, the title Fighting Irish could be construed by a politically correct person to be subscribing to the stereotype depicting the Irish as pugnacious. Historically, the Irish are an oppressed people group, and technically they are a minority although they don't receive status as such. The portrayal of the Minnesota Vikings wearing a horned helmet is inaccurate and ludicrous. The horns were the product of the imagination of the German opera. However, the Fighting Irish and Minnesota Vikings choose to interpret the usage of their stereotyped images as light hearted fun and a compliment to their fighting spirit rather than an insult, so they haven't gotten as much public attention.
P.S. Of the three, the Minnesota Vikings, Redskins and Fighting Irish, the Redskins's image is by far the most dignified in appearance.
This message was edited 1/27/2015, 9:04 PM
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Wel, since it's not actually a Native American name per se, I don't feel the same way about it as I would about a white kid named Cherokee or something. However, it is almost exclusively associated with THE Geronimo.
Besides that, anytime you yelled for him, people would look around to see if you were about to jump off a cliff or out of an airplane or something. lol
Besides that, anytime you yelled for him, people would look around to see if you were about to jump off a cliff or out of an airplane or something. lol
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Well, it's a Spanish name, not from an indigenous language, so even though it's so strongly associated with an Apache with the name. The kids where I work might think of Geronimo Stilton first. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo_Stilton I think I'd try to start calling him Gerry/ Jerry. I'm sure I'd get used to it, even if he doesn't like the nn.
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Why would you start calling a kid Gerry if no one else calls him that, and he doesn't like it? There is nothing wrong with the name Geronimo, and forcibly pushing a nick name onto the boy would give him the idea that their was something wrong with his name or with him. Just because a child's name doesn't fit within someone else's arbitrary ideas of what appearance and ethnic identity they need to go along with their name does not give another person the right to rename a child. Would you press a nick name onto a boy with some Spanish lineage named Arthur just because the real Arthur was from Britain? Hopefully not.
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