Why a little girl in Mexico has no name (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Why a little girl in Mexico has no name
Bare Facts

By Regina and Douglas Haggo
The Hamilton Spectator(May 12, 2007)
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1178944256933&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112188062620

In Mexico, where many native languages have been wiped out, speakers of
Hnahnu are fighting to preserve the indigenous language and culture of
their ancestors.

One couple in the state of Hidalgo, north of Mexico City, want to call their
fifth daughter Doni Zana, Hnahnu for Flower of the World.

She is now two years old, but still has no legal name, the Los Angeles Times
reports. Authorities say the computer system used to produce the state's
identity cards can't handle characters outside the Spanish alphabet. And
without an official name, the girl won't be able to get the equivalent of a
social insurance number.

For the parents, this is a human rights issue. They say members of their
community are often pressured to change the indigenous names of their
children to Spanish-sounding names.

The authorities have, of course, suggested that the girl's name simply be
registered without the diacritics.

But Doni Zana, without the underline and the superimposed dots, means Stone
of Death.