NAMES AND IDENTITY: ABORIGINAL CANADIAN TRADITIONS OF NAME-GIVING

A name, according to its dictionary definition, is nothing but a word or set of words used to designate a person or thing; it is the term by which someone or something is known, addressed or referred to. The simplicity and naturalness involved in this definition resides in the fact that a name is something that we all share or have in common. The difficulty, yet, arises the moment one has to choose a name, as they are very rarely chosen randomly. If we speak about Christian names, people usually choose them in the hope that some of the chosen saint's attributes might begin to rub off on the newborn baby's life. Giving a child the name belonging to a member of the family would suggest the desire to show gratitude, love and respect towards that person. In comparison with the European tradition of name-giving, First Nations people had neither a Christian name, nor a surname; they had hereditary names, clan names, spirit names, or animal names, just to name a few of them. In view of these things, the purpose of this paper is to take into discussion the First Nations' tradition of name-giving and to analyze its significance in relation to the preservation of one's cultural and ethnic identity.