SIGNIFICANCE OF PERSONAL NAMES AND KINSHIP TERMS.
In a note upon “The Religious Ceremony of the Four Winds or Quarters, as Observed by the Santee Sioux,” Miss Fletcher[2] remarks: “A name implies relationship, and consequently protection; favor and influence are claimed from the source of the name, whether this be the gens or the vision. A name, therefore, shows the affiliation of the individual; it grades him, so to speak, and he is apt to lean upon its implied power. * * * The sacred import of a name in the mind of the Indian is indicated in that part of the ceremony where the “Something that moves” seems to overshadow and inclose the child, and addresses the wakan man as father. The wakan man replies, calling the god, child, at the same time invoking the supernatural protection and care for the boy, as he lays at the feet of the messenger of Unseen Power the offerings of gifts and the honor of the feast. The personal name[3] among Indians, therefore, indicates the protecting presence of a deity, and must, therefore, partake of the ceremonial character of the Indian’s religion.”
In this ceremony the superhuman being is addressed by the term implying juniority, and the human being, the wakan man, by that associated with seniority, an apparent reversal of the usual custom; but, doubtless, there can be found some explanation for this seeming exception to the rule.