A Single Article

Attacking the fort

From Bad Baby Names, Page 5: “DAKOTA, LAKOTA, etc. I am an actual Indian, Oglala Lakota. I live in North Dakota. Stop with the so called “american indian” names, will ya? Dakota does not mean “friend”, that’s just what white folks think. I saw someone here post something to the effect of “my wife is one-eighth Sioux, so we named our son ‘Lakota’, which means ‘good earth’ in American Indian.” Spot all the errors in that sentence. If someone is actually Siouan, they would identify themselves as Oglala, Hunkpapa, Sicangu, Nakota, Dakota, Lakota, etc., not “sioux”. If the name is a word from the Lakota language, it is not “american indian”. There is NO “american indian” language. How many of you would think ‘Pahli’, ‘Sicamna’, or ‘Sica’ were pretty and unusual “american indian” names? Know what they mean? Mucous, Stink, and Ugly. Do what you must, but leave the Dakota and Lakota Nations out of it, along with all other American Indian Nations. Find some other culture to co-opt.