Chair

[Koontz John E]

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003, Louis Garcia wrote:
> Part of the inscription must be Curtis's Indian name. I know if I was
> presenting a gift like a chair i would put his Indian name on it.

That's an excellent suggestion, though in names =i is usually in the older
form =bi.  The stock example I remember is Is^kada=bi 'Juggler' (expert at
sleight of hand, e.g., the handgame and its earlier predecessors) > s^kade
'to play', cf. Dakotan s^kata.  Also, the name wouldn't get the
declarative.  Otherwise, 'charger' or 'threatener' would be an excellent
name.  In Dakotan, too, I think, right?  I suppose it might be a verbal
rendition of the sense of his name.

Dhegiha cultures - or Omaha culture, anyway - are somewhat shy about
sharing names, though I think it's a matter of customary usages rather
than a question of names being secret.  My understanding is that it's not
(or it wasn't) considered necessary to tell one's name to someone in order
to deal with them.  I'm always flattered if someone tells me their name,
and I don't generally ask.

===

Something I neglected to mention is that I'm pretty sure that whoever
composed the message was a native speaker, at least of some Siouan
language.  They've got the syntax down right.