What’s In A Name

Toby “Winema” Riddle was a Modoc woman who served as an interpreter in negotiations between the Native American Modoc tribe and the United States Army during the Modoc War. She was born Nannookdoowah, which means “strange child,” as she was born with red-tinted hair. In later years, due to the complexity of her name, the white settlers began to refer to her as “Toby” a common racial slur associated with African American slaves. After the Modoc war, Alfred B. Meacham, whose life she had saved, began referring to her as Winema or “Woman Chief” for her role in saving his life.

I’m not sure how a person’s name can be considered so fluid, but name changes seem to be a fact of life, especially for women and people of color.