New Post
Search
HelpRe: Dakota.. Cultural Appropriation?
in reply to a message by Glitzy Cate
I think tribe names are weird. Like it's hard to comprehend why an English speaker would pick Hopi over Hope - do they know anything about what being Hopi means, and if not, why are they so in love with it? If so...whatever I guess; it does have a deep meaning.
I don't like Dakota partly because it's a tribe and partly because it seems cliche to me, sort of like Indiana or McKinley. But I do like Koda which seems influenced by Kody as well as Dakota (they have kind of similar meanings which seems neat), and I think it'd be extreme to call Savannah or Shenandoah appropriative. Place names can be a gray area, but in particular, when it's a modern place name, being used by people who live there, and the cited indigenous person was ALSO named after the place, it's hardest for me to see what's wrong with that. I mean...they both clearly like the place; it's just how it is.
And I understand sometimes people pick names from pop culture while being ignorant of potential foreign origins, although that can come across as shallow. Like at first, I didn't know what indigenous culture Yuma would connect to; I only knew it as a place name from a song ("Lonely Train" down in Yuma town, where the summer is always - down in Yuma town, a man can grow old but it's in several others). Would someone really care if I picked Yuma because I liked a song (especially when the tribe being called Yuma is potentially from Spanish for "smoke"), and if so, why? Lots of words have multiple meanings or origins, with Yumas being Cuban slang for Americans/foreigners as well as being a Japanese name, for example. Maya / Maia is another one.
Yet I also understand why Hawaiian names being used by mainland Americans (or Europeans in general, because colonialism) could seem annoying to Hawaiian people...their language got outlawed, and now suddenly it's fashionable because it sounds "exotic"? Yeah, ok. Not evil exactly but cold comfort, especially if you're still being exploited.
Generally, if a name feels foreign to someone, it'd be weird for them to use imo. If it seems familiar, it could still seem shallow, but I think it's less of an issue. Like I've heard of Keanu Reeves, but his name still seems foreign to me, so I wouldn't consider using it, and I wouldn't use Cherokee -even though that's a place I've lived near- because it sounds primarily like a tribe name, but I wouldn't really mind using Maya or Dorian even though those are people groups and not originally English either. Is Maya actually more culturally sensitive than Keanu, though? Idk, probably not, I just don't care because I grew up hearing it as a name, and it feels like part of my culture; Maleah sounds similarly familiar because I grew up with one (and it ultimately comes from a Hebrew/Greek name, anyway, plus sounds like Molly and Leah...) though nms.
I don't like Dakota partly because it's a tribe and partly because it seems cliche to me, sort of like Indiana or McKinley. But I do like Koda which seems influenced by Kody as well as Dakota (they have kind of similar meanings which seems neat), and I think it'd be extreme to call Savannah or Shenandoah appropriative. Place names can be a gray area, but in particular, when it's a modern place name, being used by people who live there, and the cited indigenous person was ALSO named after the place, it's hardest for me to see what's wrong with that. I mean...they both clearly like the place; it's just how it is.
And I understand sometimes people pick names from pop culture while being ignorant of potential foreign origins, although that can come across as shallow. Like at first, I didn't know what indigenous culture Yuma would connect to; I only knew it as a place name from a song ("Lonely Train" down in Yuma town, where the summer is always - down in Yuma town, a man can grow old but it's in several others). Would someone really care if I picked Yuma because I liked a song (especially when the tribe being called Yuma is potentially from Spanish for "smoke"), and if so, why? Lots of words have multiple meanings or origins, with Yumas being Cuban slang for Americans/foreigners as well as being a Japanese name, for example. Maya / Maia is another one.
Yet I also understand why Hawaiian names being used by mainland Americans (or Europeans in general, because colonialism) could seem annoying to Hawaiian people...their language got outlawed, and now suddenly it's fashionable because it sounds "exotic"? Yeah, ok. Not evil exactly but cold comfort, especially if you're still being exploited.
Generally, if a name feels foreign to someone, it'd be weird for them to use imo. If it seems familiar, it could still seem shallow, but I think it's less of an issue. Like I've heard of Keanu Reeves, but his name still seems foreign to me, so I wouldn't consider using it, and I wouldn't use Cherokee -even though that's a place I've lived near- because it sounds primarily like a tribe name, but I wouldn't really mind using Maya or Dorian even though those are people groups and not originally English either. Is Maya actually more culturally sensitive than Keanu, though? Idk, probably not, I just don't care because I grew up hearing it as a name, and it feels like part of my culture; Maleah sounds similarly familiar because I grew up with one (and it ultimately comes from a Hebrew/Greek name, anyway, plus sounds like Molly and Leah...) though nms.
This message was edited 6/26/2023, 10:55 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
3