Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-06-24
INDIAN NAMES.
Matter of Fancy and Accident Rather
Than System.

Matter of Fancy and Accident Rather
Than System.
The recent order Of the interior de-
partment appointing Hamlin Garland,
the well-known writer Of Indian sto-
ries, to revise Indian names Of the
United States, is arousing much inter-
est at the Indian school on the Puyal-
lup reservation. Major Frank Terry,
who Is in charge of the school, and
also exercises supervision over the re-
servations of northwestern Washing
ton, has made study Of Indian names
for the past ten years and has writ
ten much upon the subject. The new
order comes personally home to In
dians all over the country, as the
changing and abridging Of the names
of the Indians Is a part Of Mr.. Gar
lands work. 1t has been found that
Indians in various sections are named
indiscriminately and it is impossible
to tell by the name the relationship OF
one Indian to the other. This resulted
In complications daily on the reserva-
tions. Major Terry talks interestingly
upon the subject and in an interview
yesterday afternoon said:
'Translations Of Indian names, as
rule, have been unsatisfactory, though
there are exceptions. The case Is re-
ported from the Pawnee reservation,
Oklahoma, of an Indian named Coo
x-huh-ran-ruk-koo. The literal in
depreciation Of his name as given to
me is 'Fearing-a bear-that-is-wild.'
With this Interpretation the agent
named him Fearing B. Wilde This
is not bad arrangement, but there are
many Indians whom have met with
whose names could not be so nicely
altered. For instance, I remember a
Crow Indian whose name, translated,
| was 'Kills-the- -one- with the blue
mark -in-the centre -of-the- chin 9th
ers I met were named 'Bob-tail- wolf
No.-3,' Keeps -his-head- above water,
Walk in the water 'Rain-in-the-face,
| Crazy horse 'Yellow-bottom,' and
Afraid d-of-his-enemy.' These names,
OF course, are uncouth, un-American.
and uncivilized.
LAS the Indian grows he commits
acts from time to time, each Of which
gives him new name. For example
he may see bear and run screaming
to tepee. The folks all laugh at him
and call him Afraid of -a-bear.'
| Later on he may become the posses
sor of an unruly pony, which he Is
afraid to ride, and he then becomes
known as 'Afraid-of- -his-horse.' Or, he
may mount a horse from which an
other Indian has been thrown, and he
then becomes known as Rides-the-
horse Further he may become a
great hunter and kill many wild ami
mails. and he then Is known as Five
BEARS and when he slays another, he
is known as 'Six-bears.' He may per-
form a valiant deed in battle, and ride
his horse through the camp of the
enemy, for which he becomes known
as Charges through the camp. Dur
ing the conflict he may kill one of the
enemy. If his victim is the only one
slain, he is known as Kills-the-enemy,
But If others fall, the one he kills must
be described in his name, as 'Kills-the-
one with-the -eagle -feather-in- his
scalp or 'Kills-the -one- who -rides-the-
pony-with- the bob tail If he braids in
his hair a yellow feather which he has
plucked from the tail Of an eagle, he
may be called 'Eagle-tail,' Eagle
feather 'Yellow-tail,' 'Yellow-feather.
If he gives it to his friend, he will be
known as 'Gives-feather,' but If he
keeps it, when asked for it, he be-
comes Keeps the -yellow-feather,' If he
has more than one feather.
| "Or he may obtain his name from
some other object. If he Is accustomed
to ride what is commonly known as a
calico horse, he will be known as
| spotted horse But if his horse has
short tail. he will be known as Bob
ltail-horse' Now, the chances are that
he will be known by all the foregoing
names. His enemies In the tribe will
continue to speak of him as Long
ears or Afraid of his horse while
his friends will speak of him as Rides
his-horse,' 'Six-bears,' and 'Kills-the-
enemy For this reason 1t occurs
that if you speak Of an Indian in the
presence of members of his tribe and
i,,,
at you and say: That not his name;
his name "Runs-from- bear" But
If you speak Of him to other Indians
and call him Runs from bear they
will scowl and say: That not his
name; his name "Kills-the-enemy."
Hence it will be seen that the Indian
names are a delusion and snare. and
the practice of converting them into
English is eminently wise. 1t is GER
tain that the names on the rolls at the
agency are only of the Indians many
names. At the Colville reservation in
this state, there are such names as
these: Grant On Hi, Tom o, jim Chel
Quen LIE, Lot Whist LIE po som, Mack
Chill sit sa, and Alex sin ha So lock.
The plan resorted to in some quarters
OF discarding the Indian names alto
gether and fitting the Indians out with
names that are purely English has not
worked we'll, for those selected, In
many cases. are names illustrious in
American history, and this has caused
the Indian to become the butt Of many
Il joke.
"William Penn, Fitzhugh Lee, David
b. Hill, and William Shakespeare are
the names of Indian policemen at the
Shoshone Agency, Wyoming. 1 myself
have seen George Washington, Joh.l
Quincy Adams, Franklin Pierce, Rip
Van Wrinkle, Allen G. Thurman. and
Hilary A. Herbert engaged together In
a game. A funny little incident Is re-
ported from the Apache reservation in
Utah A riZOna. An Indian policeman