Interview · North Dakota · Oliver Gourd · NDNAEU 6
Themes: Kinship & family, Identity & belonging, Education & learning, Community & responsibility, Listening & observation, Children & young people, Humor & play
Learn About questions
What is the difference between Native names and kinship names?
Why are kinship names important to relationships and identity?
What are some examples of kinship names that Oliver shared?
What is a tiwahe?
What is a tiospaye?
How do these terms help with relationships?
Learn From questions
Am I called by names other than the one I was given at birth? How did I get those names and what do they mean to me?
Does my family use kinship terms to address each other? How does that change our relationships to each other?
Who is part of my tiwahe? Tiospaye?
What role does my family play in my life?
Transcripts
Dakota and Kinship Names with Oliver Gourd NDNAEU 6
Watch this interview on YouTubeI know when I was growing up everybody knew everybody I guess and they knew their Indian names and they also knew their kinship names like my Dixie Lawrence or my tui me or my hookah Oh Ghana all of those kids have names that we have well quite a bit of kinship names and back in those days we use those names like the firstborn just gay Nepal happy way noona up Steve haha like that with Aki because it was I guess was kind of a not very proper I guess to call somebody by their name buddy Colin by their kinship names order Dakota names and but that was when I was growing up and everybody talked to Kota and when somebody talks a little bit English kind of look Paris eat you he’s trying to be like a white man yeah so we got kind of a funny guy yeah so anyway you know be barding the relatives we were taught and we and we didn’t marry a fifth cousin up to our fifth cousin yeah I remember uh so that’s how we put the newer elif’s is worth our parents always told us well that’s your first cousin that’s your second cousin or that’s your dad’s first cousin they’re your mother’s for grandmas first cousin so you have all this here and your aunt’s first cousin our second cousin so we had all of those we learned those and they taught us tools they tell us one for and over so we learned and so we was kind of uh a lot of names to remember and a lot of kids have names and even Indian names and even their what she - names - and so a lot of names going on and I know relatives were the clothes the family was uh the family was always pretty very important that family would come first but with a lot of stuff and then our relatives will come after the family and then third and fourth cousin whatever select kind of that order a little bit the family was really important and I know we always knew who were related to I remember growing up mad at high school the public school and um and somehow your parents find out earlier who you’re talking to whatever maybe not right away but soon the no say my mom take me on say oh well that’s yes that’s your cousin oh geez I didn’t order and then never told the girls you know and then they would want to wonder why I’m not talking to them I think neither the vice versa but the tets are understanding what yeah that was very important you know so regarding that to spider the tiwahe was a family and induced by the extended family remember when they were married within that t/o spy but he could marry a different choice by family extended family you could do that and um those are other ways I like a funnier family members died there was somebody wanna adopt you right away so you’ll always have a mother and father and orphans we had names for them stepdad stepmothers I have all those names I have all those names at school I can’t if I had a mirror I could read them out to you but it’s quite a bit and I know I think that I heard a commercial lately and it this guy got up he says country first community and family he said and I have taken well this is the opposite of what we think family first community and then country or tribe so I was told years ago and that and I think he knows this the opposite that don’t teach you different so I know yeah there’s a lot of differences in similarities but the more don’t older you get the more he hits and know stuff and then and then that thing let’s call wisdom he’s he’s just all learned overnight and then what she can remember you pass those on as a teacher everybody enjoy teaching i what I learned I had pass it on to my students and they a lot of question so a lot of times I don’t get my lesson plan done because I’m latching all these questions but that’s ok I like that at least still learn something I mean what they want to learn don’t tell him them not what I think I should teach them we just started some listening plan and have a question Theresa a little do you have a question was this kid like that you know what a lot of time most of highway I finished my lesson plan and II they read ten sentences but we all talk about family mr.Gore how count is and how come madness until that’s how it was long time ago was is changing now
Resource text
NDNAEU Alignment:
Affiliation sources
NDNAEU document credits: Oliver Gourd — Spirit Lake (Dakota).
Source materials
Supplied transcript documents. Text and transcription uncertainties are preserved as supplied.