I've had so many requests for the article on objections to Native
American tribe's names, that here it is:
 
"A Navajo Name From the Spirit," by Linda Kanamine.  _USA Today_, Final
edition, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1993. p. 6A.
 
        An effort by the Navajo Nation to change its name to Dine' goes
beyond mere semantics, tribal leaders say.
        "Navajo is not a Dine' word.  It's not part of our language; it
was given to us by outsiders," says Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah.
        As the tribe concludes a series of six hearings this week, the
biggest debate has focused on what exactly "Navajo" means.  It was a name
given these Southwestern natives, most likely by 17th-century Spanish
missionaries.
        Some say it's derived from the Spanish navaja, meaning pocket
knife - pejorative reference to war-like, criminal behavior; or has
Spanish or French origins for "worthless, flat piece of ground."
        Either way, it's not their word.
        Dine', legend has it, was given to these people by the Great Spirit.
        Tribal lore is based on belief of the Great Spirit - a supreme
being - and four levels of being: Level 1 - gods; Level 2 - people of the
mountaintop, or animals; Level 3 - people of the Earth; Level 4 - people
of the waters, or fish.
        And while there's little active dissent on the Navajo Nation
about Zah's proposal, people know change won't be easy.
        Navajos own the largest reservation in the USA - 17 milion acres
- and are world-famous for their silver, turguoise and weaving artisans.
        "We're known across the country and all over as Navajo.  Navajo
rugs, Navajo jewelry, Navajo weaving," says Alice Hawthorne, head of the
Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise in Window Rock, Ariz. "It will be
confusing."
        Another Arizona tribe, the Tohono O'Odham, changed its names from
Papagos in 1986, with minor confusion.  The Bureau of Indian Affairs, the
agency that oversees Native American policies, still often refers to them
as Papagos.
        More recently, the Sisseton-Wahpeton-Sioux tribe changed its name
to the Sisseton-Wahpeton-Dakota Nation.  When the change was announced in
October, leaders said many in the tribe considered the name "Sioux"
derogatory.
        The sweeping, arid landscape known as Navajoland still is rich in
native culture.  And a majority still speak the traditional language.
But throughout the reservation that's the size of West Virginia, signs
say: "Welcome to Navajo Nation."  Brochures, too.
        So it would be costly to launch a "massaive campaign to let the
world know" about the name change, says Roberta John of the Tribal
Tourism Office.  "It would take years."
 
Origins of the tribal names
 
APACHE: The Zuni tribe, who feared them, named them "Apachu," meaning
"enemy."
 
CHEROKEE: The Cherokee name for themselves was "Ani-yun-wiya" - "real
people."  The name Cherokee may have come from the Creeks, who called
them "Tciloki," meaning "people of different speech."
 
CHEYENNE: The Cheyennes called themselves "Tsistsistas," mening
"beautiful people."  The name Cheyenne was originally the Sioux name for
the tribe.
 
CHIPPEWA:  Also known as the "Ojibway": both names are variations of an
Algonquian phrase.
 
CROW:  The Crows called themselves "Absaroka," Sioux for "bird peple."
Their name among white settlers became that of the well-known bird.
 
HOPE:  Is a shortening of their own word "Hopituh," meaning "peaceful
ones."
 
MOHAWK:  Algonquian name for their Mohawk neighbors, meaning "eaters of
men."
 
SIOUX: Comes from the French version of a Chippewa word.  The Chippewa
tribe called their enemies "Nadouessioux," a kind of snake.
 
****************
 
The article apparently includes a map of Arizona and a photograph, but I
pulled this off of an online database, so those aren't in my version.
 
Carol