The Antelope Wife: Naming in Native American Society

     Unique identities have been the subject and topic of discussions throughout this course. The Antelope Wife was no different in establishing characters with a very special, and individualized place in the world, particularly in their culture. However, a key part that I found to be rather interesting is the way in which the characters were named, and the weight that was placed on such identifiers. Of course, Native American names are often different from the names of other ethnicities and cultures, as they incorporate the environment and outside world a lot more than just a name that sounds "good" or "fits" a person. But, in Erdrich's novel, the idea of how one is named is explored, showing that the establishment of one's identity is more complex than a mother and father bickering over what their child should be named upon arrival into the world.
    On page 14, the experience of Blue Prairie Woman is discussed in terms of how she came to be named. It seems that people of this culture are named after maturation and the initial development of an identity which is then directly reflected in the name. This allows for the name to be more like a title of a book; it provides a brief synopsis of what a person is like, enjoys, or values when compared to others. The key, however, in naming someone, is that the namer, an outside party, is responsible for this task, which I believe is both helpful and harmful. Since the namer is liminal in gender and identity, the namer is able to see a person more clearly for who they are and wished to be perceived as; but I think that this could be misinterpreted. Not everyone is good at expressing themselves initially, so it seems unfair that they do not have at least some part in the fashioning of their own name. The only time a person has a part in their naming is when they take it upon themselves to change, resulting in the need for an updated name to be established for better communication.
     Overall, I found this tradition to be very special as it upholds a person's name as far more than a source of fun monikers. Names are supposed to be the very essence of one's identity and bring everyone onto similar levels of knowing themselves, as well as knowing others. No, these names do not reveal all information about a person, but they do provide each person with a unique sense of self and purpose that names like ours, fail to accomplish.