WHY DID THEY HAVE DIFFERENT NAMES?
By Shawnee custom, a male child was not named
for ten days after his birth, nor a girl for
twelve days, in the belief that during that
period a unsoma- an event worthy of notice,
involving an animal of some kind- would occur
which would suggest what Moneto or the Great
Spirit wished the child's name to be. The
great Shawnee leader, Tecumseh (Tekamthi) was named
The Panther Passing Across, Panther in the Sky,
Man Who Waits, the Crouching Panther, or the
Shooting Star. At the moment that Tecumseh was
born a giant meteor passed across the sky. This
meteor was The Panther- a powerful spirit
passing over to the south, seeking a great hole
for sleep. Every night, so the tales went, it
passes somewhere over the earth to seek that
lair in the south, though rarely witnessed. It
was a very good sign.
The Miamis named their
babies in the following way- the mother always
named the baby, choosing usually one of the
first live objects she saw after the birth of
the baby. Most common would be the name of some
animal or part of an animal that impressed her,
hence Black Hawk, Sitting Bear, White Loon,
Little Turtle, Red Wing, all were chiefs of the
Miami Confederacy.
Named for plants were
Apeconit (Wild Potato) aka.
William Wells
White Blossoms
Twisting Vine
Cornstalk, etc.
Chiefs with names that were neither plant nor
animal were
Stoneeater of the Weas
Cresent
Moon
White Cloud
Tecumseh (Shooting Star)
Law-li-was-i-naw (Big Voice)
Buckonga-ne-las
(Breaker to Pieces).