This post reminds me of Sherman Alexie’s books. He writes pretty bluntly about the realities of life on the conservation, and when it all comes down to it, romanticized visions of Pocahontas no longer (or rather, never did) show the real picture.

Even Shirt.Woot is not immune from ignorance:
http://shirt.woot.com/Friends.aspx?k=6506

Please don’t patronize them; utilize Thanksgiving to decry this abberation. The shirt description is even more horrible.

On the topic of adopting “foreign” names, I remember my brother’s class, aged 8, having to adopt “French” names when they were in French lessons. My brother was distressed by this, partly because his assigned French name was nothing to do with his actual name. When I came to be a language assistant in France, the suggestion was made that our younger students might like to adopt “English” names for our classes. I never suggested this to them because I, too, find it all a bit bizarre. Also, it’s very confusing for children who know each other’s real names to remember what everyone else’s alias is.

The other common “translation” of names I can think of is the forced translation of Scottish Gaelic or Welsh names when native speakers were forced to use English for school or work in the 20th century and earlier: Seamus becomes James, Ian or Sion becomes John, Seonaid or Sian becomes Jane. Those names, however, are etymologically the same, but it didn’t always follow: Oifig often becomes Euphemia, which makes no sense until you consider that Oifig is pronounced (roughly) “Effie”.

My grandparents were Smiths. They often went on trips with their friends the Browns, and occasionally had trouble convincing hotel receptionists that yes, those were their real names. You don’t meet as many Smiths as you would think, given its status as the generic WASP name.

1. Name your characters in the traditional Indian way, using the formula that has been followed for decades: an adjective or participle followed by a noun. The adjective should be a color, the participle should imply animal or supernatural skills, and the noun should be an animal or natural occurrence or weapon. Young children are always named with a diminutive adjective followed by a predator (if a boy) or cute baby animal or form of flora (if a girl), and elders should always have the adjective “gray” in their names. If you are uncomfortable with the idea of making up names, go to authentic Indian sources. Just be sure that you cite them in your “author’s note.”

The rest of her trenchant comments can be read here: Beverly Slapin’s essay.