It is sometimes noted how far advanced indigenous peoples in Latin and South America and Canada are in thinking about their nationhood, as compared to native peoples inside the United States. Everyone knows the indigenous peoples are not Indians. Not so many know they are also not Americans. Only a little more than half identified themselves as American citizens. Names, in other words, are mysterious, sometimes revealing sometimes concealing our identity or the identity of a people or place.
Names can have great power, and the power of naming is a great power.
History and law, as well as literature and politics, are activities of naming. The Bible tells a story of God giving Adam the power to name the animals and other parts of creation. An important part of the Judeo-Christian creation story is a power of naming that is a power over creation. Our goal is to build a curriculum that enhances indigenous self-determination. We will not be deterred by the fact that English has intersected with and hybridized the ways in which indigenous peoples name themselves.