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Geni naming conventions - native Americans
See the projects Geni naming conventions and Geni naming conventions - data entry for general guidance.
- Use ordinary case. Name Preference Settings can be used to change how names are displayed to your personal preference.
- Early native Americans peoples did not traditionally have a surname. Leave birth surname and Last Name / Surname fields blank.
(Needs clean up)
Native Americans are, for the purpose of this standard, considered to be those Indigenous peoples of North America. It may also apply to Native populations of Central and South America, but I will leave that up to those who know more about those peoples to validate or dismiss it for them.
The Indigenous peoples of the island state of Hawaii, and other that may be classified as Pacific Islanders are not included in this standard.
The populations of North America for this standard a broken down into three main groups.
Alaskan Natives;
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.
The First Nations;
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis.
U.S Native Americans;
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States.
When doing Native American Genealogy it is important to know two major differences that may be encountered that seem strange.
The first is that most Eastern tribes were/are a Matriarchy. Wiki defines this as;
A matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central roles of political leadership and moral authority.
The second is the Clan/Band/longhouse /village and other terms that define a group of people within a group.
It is important to know that within a matriarchy society, the Clan/band of the children come not from the father but from the mother. (If the mother is of the deer clan and the father is of the wolf clan then the children become of the deer clan )
So with that said we will try to guide with simple rules.
The names in Native American Sources, overrule those in non Native American sources (1)
Original Native American Names before 1620 will only be one Name. This name goes in the "First Name " block and the Middle and last Name is left blank.
The Suffix may contain a special "thing " about the person, Uka, Chief and Principal Chief is common. Also a village may be indicated as in "Him-he-is, of my village"
If known the name should be hyphenated correctly
Any variations of the name is to be put in the AKA
The Ethnicity block (under the Personal tab) should contain the information in your source. Please do not guess at Tribe or clan/band etc. . If it is not in you source just list what you know. Fully it may look like "Wampanoag, Pokanoket , Paint" This information may be included in the "about" also if you wish.
The display name is very important. Many times this is the "common name" or "nickname" of the person. a good example of this is "Massasoit Osamequin" (display name) but the name would be input "Osamequin, Massasoit" with several AKA (nicknames)
His profile is at Ousamequin (Massasoit), sachem of the Pokanoket
In order to be searchable, the display name must also be listed as an AKA
Now the task gets harder. As time move on, some tribes began using white names right away and others fought until the 20th century to keep their identities and there way of life. Some First Nation tribes still have not begun using last names (surname) so we will have to stay general in guidance.
If your source (please upload it to the profile) says'; This-my- name also known as Mary Poppins then "This-my- name" goes into the first name block and Mary Poppins is the AKA.
If your source says Mary Poppins AKA This-my- name, Then Mary goes in the First name Block, Poppins is the last name and This-my- name is the AKA
If sources conflict then normally the OLDEST document will be used unless known to be wrong OR the Newer document is of Native American Origin.
Names that use non-Latin letters will be an AKA unless your can not/or do not know the Latin letter equivalent.
Notes;
A native American Source or document is considered as a document that is written by an Authority on Native American Culture/Genealogy. This includes, An official paper or document written by a Native American school or tribe. It does not include Native Americans not living on Native Lands or Websites that use their "knowledge " of Native American's to turn a buck. There are many "Wanna-be" Indians that pose as Native Americans to exploit them. Please use caution when using these sites as much of the info is just for show.
Latin Letters- the normal Latin alphabet plus special accent marks as found in Spanish, French and some Native American Languages.
In a name like "John Red Fox" "John" is the first name, "Red Fox" is the last name.
References
- “Original Tribal Names of Native North American People” < link >
- “Native American Names for Your Pets.” < link >
- “Native American Names for English-Speaking Children” < link >
- “Native American name controversy” < Wikipedia >
- “The Multifaceted Native American Naming Tradition.” < link >
- “Map of Native American Names.” < link >
- “Native American Tribes List” < link >
- “Our Mother Tongues” < link >
- “Naming conventions (ethnicities and tribes)” < Wikipedia >
- “American Indian people” < Britannia >