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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2002

"My sister-in-law is a language teacher at White Shield school, and she speaks fluently. She also uses her Indian name. Yes, most of us have two names - one that we use in non-Native society and an Indian name that usually is given to us as part of the traditions. My sister-in-law (you'll notice I haven't used her name. I don't want to risk ANY further embarrassment to her) has a particularly difficult name to pronounce, but after saying it over and over, I thought I had it down - no problem. I got through the first few Sahnish words on the agenda without a smirk from the audience.

But when I introduced her, the audience broke into tumultuous laughter, and the Pawnee men nearly rolled on the floor, they were laughing so hard. My mother told me afterward that I called my sister-in-law Coyote Woman instead of her real Indian name. After I handed the microphone to her and settled into my seat, the chief of the Pawnee tapped me on the shoulder. The restrained smile on his face told me I was in trouble. “Do you know what you just said in Pawnee?” he asked. (Our languages, Pawnee and Sahnish, are somewhat the same but not identical.) I thought the worst, and I was right: I had said something you wouldn't repeat in mixed company. . ."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Naa-shoo . . . Naaschu . . . oh, forget it (The Grand Forks Herald 9/24)

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