Indian names
were a language unto themselves, laden
with descriptive, allusive or even
magical meaning. An Indian baby
was named soon after birth―usually
by a medicine man or a paternal
relation―and the entire village
participated in the occasion. The
infant might be named for an animal, for
a physical phenomenon such as thunder
that occurred on the day of birth or
even for a brave deed that once had been
performed by the giver of the name.
A woman generally kept the name she
received at birth, but a man often
replaced his original name with a new
one that celebrated a personal act of
valor, recalled an encounter with an
unusual animal or perhaps was inspired
by a dream. However, a man who had
a handicap or some other distinguishing
characteristic was forever known by an
apposite nickname, such as Hump or Big
Hand. Because Indian names almost
always were based on something
objective, they could easily be rendered
as pictographs―frequently with a line
connecting visual representations of the
name and a human head to signify
ownership. Below are some Sioux
signatures.
