MY TAKE
WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO CHANGE MY NAME?
Image credit: ARUL LIN on Unsplsash.
By SHAGORIKA EASWAR
Look up Dances with Wolves and you will see that the 1990 movie starring, directed, and produced by Kevin Costner is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake that tells the story of Union Army Lieutenant John J. Dunbar who travels to the American frontier to find a military post, and of his dealings with a group of Lakota.
Please bear with me while I share the salient plot details.
In 1863, 1st Lieutenant John J. Dunbar is wounded in battle at St. David’s Field in Tennessee and requests a transfer to the western frontier so he can see it before it disappears. He is transferred to Fort Hays, and encounters his Sioux neighbours when they attempt to steal his horse and intimidate him. Deciding that being a target is a poor prospect, he decides to seek out the Sioux camp and attempt dialogue. Though the tribe is initially hostile, some of the members soon begin to respect him. In turn, Dunbar discovers that the stories he had heard about the tribe were untrue, and he develops a growing respect and appreciation for their lifestyle and culture. Dunbar befriends a wolf he dubs Two Socks for its white forepaws. Observing Dunbar and Two Socks chasing each other, the Sioux give him the name Dances with Wolves.
Much of the dialogue is spoken in Lakota with English subtitles and, in 2007, the movie was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
But Kicking Bird, Wind in His Hair, Smiles a Lot, Stands with a Fist, and, of course, Dances with Wolves weren’t – couldn’t have been – the actual names. These were translations of the name they were given.
This little revision of the movie that broke box office records was prompted by the announcement on June 14 that “Indigenous peoples can now reclaim their Indigenous names, as written, on passports and other immigration documents”.
My first, instinctive, response was, “Excuse me?”
Below is an excerpt from the media advisory that went out from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
A person’s name is fundamental to who they are. Indigenous names are endowed with deep cultural meaning, and speak to Indigenous peoples’ presence on this land since time immemorial. Yet the impact of colonialism means that many Indigenous people’s names have not been recognized.
Indigenous peoples have long fought to reclaim their Indigenous names and all that they signify. In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 17 directed all levels of government to enable residential school survivors and their families to reclaim and use their Indigenous names on all government documents.
“Can now reclaim” smacks of permission given. I know that these are highly sensitive issues and in spite of all care being taken to tread carefully to avoid giving offence, a nitpicker will find something that’s not quite right.
But this is about so much more than words.
As a child, I used to hold my grandmother responsible (read blame) for my mouthful of a name. After yet another session of standing up in class and slowly enunciating Sha-go-ri-ka, I’d come home and grumble that I wish I’d been called Anita or Rita or something people could wrap their tongues around.
The Bengali spelling didn’t help. The teachers were seeing Sagarika but I was saying Shagorika.
It wasn’t just the British, American and French nuns at our school who found my name difficult, it’s happens to be a not-so-common name that many non-Bengalis also struggle with. I’ve been asked by a well-meaning gentleman if it has Russian roots!
One day, tired of repeating this process, I unilaterally changed the spelling to phonetically reflect how it is pronounced.
What can I say? Those were simpler times!
As I grew older, though, I grew into my name and came to love it.
When we moved to Canada, there were those who suggested I change it to Sherry. Or to “something friendly”.
I always declined. Politely. So I’ve had versions of Shaghorka or Shagorita and I’m fine with that. I don’t insist that anyone get it right, but I do request that they try.
I recognize that some would rather cut through the initial stumble over names and respect their choice to change it to something that works better for them, is more efficient. Thus Anjali becomes Ann, Sunita is Sue and Satpal, Paul.
In the very early years we’d done a feature on this in Desi News, Tom, Dick and Hariharan, on people who adopted different names after coming to Canada..
But the key thing here is that it’s a choice. It’s not imposed upon them. Doing so voluntarily is so different from it being done to you.
What’s in a name? Names are so much more than what we are known by or a tag we wear at conferences. They embody all of who we are, where we come from. They have deep meaning. They carry a family’s history.
To have that taken away, and in one’s own land. How gut-wrenching is that?
The initiative has its heart in the right place, but if I react so viscerally to “can take” how must all the Indigenous people feel?
The 2016 Census indicates that there are about 1.67 million people in Canada who identify themselves as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, Métis, or a combination thereof), which represents 4.9 per cent of the Canadian population.
Dr Chandrakant Shah, a champion of Indigenous rights and a tireless advocate for their healthcare, campaigned for years to have the history of Indigenous peoples and the treaties be included in the material given to people preparing to take Oath of Canadian Citizenship.
“For far too long, Canada’s colonial legacy has disrupted Indigenous peoples’ naming practices and family connections from being recognized,” said Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services. “Today’s announcement creates the space for all First Nations, Inuit and Métis to reclaim their traditional identity and the dignity of their Indigenous names on status cards, Canadian passports and other immigration documents, including travel documents, citizenship certificates and permanent resident cards. We will continue to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and renew our nation-to-nation Inuit-Crown, and government-to-government relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada.”
To this end, Judge Suzanne Carrière, Canada’s first Métis Citizenship Judge, was special guest at the first citizenship ceremony on June 21 at which new citizens took Canada’s amended oath of citizenship which now recognizes the rights of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples.
About time, wouldn’t you say?
A rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but a person by any other name is sometimes just a fraction of all that the name embodies.