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HelpRe: Cheyenne / Cheyanne
in reply to a message by Gaia
I do not personally care for this as a name because I don't like the how it sounds like "shy Ann".
But I don't see how using it is "cultural appropriation". How can this be "appropriating" someone's "culture" when this is NOT what the Cheyenne people call themselves in their own language? It's a Frenchification of a Lakota word meaning "red speakers", which to the Lakotas was a metaphorical way to say "people whose language we do not understand."
Plus many parents who have given it think of it as the place name rather than the tribal name. No one who complains about "cultural appropriation" ever seems to object to Cheyenne or Dakota as place names, not to mention Wyoming. Wyoming as a state name is way closer to "cultural appropriation" because its' a name derived from a Native American culture in one place shifted onto an area where that particular culture never existed. The original Wyoming is a valley in Pennsylvania whose name comes from a Lenape Munsee word, and though some of this group ended up being pushed to a reservation in Wisconsin, they never made it as far west as what's now the state of Wyoming. It would make a lot more sense to complain about this state name than to complain about everyday people naming kids Cheyenne or Dakota, in my opinion.
But I don't see how using it is "cultural appropriation". How can this be "appropriating" someone's "culture" when this is NOT what the Cheyenne people call themselves in their own language? It's a Frenchification of a Lakota word meaning "red speakers", which to the Lakotas was a metaphorical way to say "people whose language we do not understand."
Plus many parents who have given it think of it as the place name rather than the tribal name. No one who complains about "cultural appropriation" ever seems to object to Cheyenne or Dakota as place names, not to mention Wyoming. Wyoming as a state name is way closer to "cultural appropriation" because its' a name derived from a Native American culture in one place shifted onto an area where that particular culture never existed. The original Wyoming is a valley in Pennsylvania whose name comes from a Lenape Munsee word, and though some of this group ended up being pushed to a reservation in Wisconsin, they never made it as far west as what's now the state of Wyoming. It would make a lot more sense to complain about this state name than to complain about everyday people naming kids Cheyenne or Dakota, in my opinion.
This message was edited 7/18/2022, 9:35 AM
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