Some Wappo Names for People and Languages

UC Merced The Journal of California Anthropology Title Some Wappo Names for People and Languages Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0q80d4f3 Journal The Journal of California Anthropology, 3(1) Author Sawyer, J. O. Publication Date 1976-07-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Some Wappo Names for People and Iânguages J. O. SAWYER HE Wappo, a group of Indians located particularly shortly after a death. This T about one hundred miles north of San avoidance may have been less binding on Francisco, had a fairly usual set of traditions unrelated persons who sometimes would not for naming people. It is now too late to recover know that a death had occurred, and it was much information about their names—they probably also less binding after some time had have been mostly forgotten as have the people passed following a death.' Another taboo who were named. One aspect, however—their restricted the use of names of relatives by names for some of their neighbors—seems marriage. This taboo was carried over into interesting enough to merit separate comment English usage. Laura Somersal, perhaps the and justifies a brief review of some parts of last Wappo speaker, was usually called their naming traditions. "Laura" by her adopted son, but "aunty" by his The Wappo identified people by personal wife. The use of kinship terms for relatives by name, by kinship term, by where they came marriage as well as others was certainly part of from, or by the language or dialect they spoke. the solution to the naming problem, but not a It would appear that so many possibilities very important one. While it was possible to be would make identifying either individuals or specific and accurate in using kinship terms, a groups easy, yet there is no clear pattern of great many relationships were simply passed naming, and each method seems to fail in some over with general terms like "aunty" or "grand way or other. One concludes finally that names father" or "uncle." were really rather rarely used, and their use A final taboo is so amorphous that it was sometimes both improper and trouble should perhaps be ignored, but I think it was some. This conclusion about names, and, per real to the Wappo. Apparently all females and haps, relationships is supported by such facts probably many males could have several as that a half-brother and sister living only fifty names bestowed by female relatives and female miles apart, might remain unknown to each friends. These names remained the property of other, the relationship being finally discovered the named individuals who, if they were when the brother and sister find in conversa female, might give their names to children of tion with each other that they claim the same their choice. Female names survived by father. inheritance.- For males, names tended to die The avoidance of Wappo names is illus with their bearers. These customs account for trated by certain taboos. For instance, the the preservation of a handful of Spanish names of the dead were avoided. This taboo feinale names first bestowed on infants apparently applied to immediate relatives and baptized at the Mission San Francisco Solano WAPPO NAMES 121 at Sonoma or perhaps at the mission at San bad luck away from the namebearer. Although Rafael. Among these we find ddloris,fermina, the names //'it'p/'Flatulent Lady\ydwto^met'e keteri-a,mari-a, and teresa (Sawyer 1964:175). 'Devil Woman', and hayuwdw'pi 'Albino No Spanish male names survive from the Bitch' suggest that the men had no corner on mission period. The taboo here is evidenced by the market in unusual names, the women do the fact of secrecy for non-Caucasian names. seem more often to have had pleasant names, No one knew what tribal names you might own such as sintupe-pi''Tarweed Quail Top Lady'— and you might not tell them to anyone, or only the tiipe is the feather which marks the reluctantly. Presumably one was informed by California male quail—or hi le hut'one-pi'Aha- one's mother, or, more likely, grandmother lone Bangs Lady'.'' The hairstyle "bangs" when one was old enough to learn the tribal seems to refer to the lady rather than to the lore, or perhaps the person who had given you abalone, despite the fact that "lady" appears a name told you that you had received such a only in the suffix. Actually, the reference is gift. These names were viewed as property, and more hkely to the abalone pendants that to a certain extent, they and their bearers were ornamented the headdress worn by women in thought to be endangered or insulted if a name some of the dances. These pendants hung became common knowledge.^ Moreover, the down in front of the eyes in a way designed to name one actually used was not necessarily one make it difficult to see what was going on. of these. The name used might be an informal Raising the eyes was discouraged in certain nickname like "Geyserville Joe" or perhaps an dances. English or Spanish name like Mrs. Laura Fish Names in themselves were not identified as Somersal, in which the "Laura" is a shortening either male or female. This fits with the fact of "doloris," "Mr. Fish," a translation of her that women were the name distributors and father's Southern Pomo name, '^dhsan, and purveyors. It fits well with the fact that the "Somersal," the last name of her husband, Jim language rarely marks masculine and femi Somersal, a Pomo. All the Wappo I have nine. The third person, for instance, is cephi, a known have always had an "American" name deictic that refers indifferently to "he's" and for use and one or more Wappo names which "she's" and "it's" in the immediate environ might be used or not. I could know their ment. When one wanted to specify sex one Wappo names only because I do not believe in could add met'e 'woman' to some names, and the tradition. Non-believers seem to be taboo- elsewhere met'e was inserted following a noun free. in utterances when required, met'e, however, Some rather amusing and almost scurri does not seem to have been really polite when lous names for males existed well into the used in names. If female was not specified, twentieth century. These names appear to have male was assumed, this in spite of the fact that originated as a result of the working of the the Wappo appear to have had matriarchal system of name taboos, and they represent still tendencies in their social organization. At least another aspect of the taboos. Like "Geyser two female chiefs are recorded, and presum ville Joe," these are names that were actually ably there were others. However, the powers of used. Here we have such gems as Ara'/^'^^-^'Mr. female chiefs were limited to directing the Vagina' and m/<?V-/ie/'Turtle Ass'. These kinds activities normally carried out by women.^ The of names are not really amusing to the Wappo. term for female chief, female leader, is k'anih They are only names, although the Wappo are md'ya'^pi. perfectly aware of their incongruousness. Such Sex distinction does enter into names via a names seem to have been selected in order to pair of honorifics. Here, however, both the direct the attention of the forces that produce female and male can be specified.-The suffix 122 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY -pi—compare the word for female leader, An intermediate sort of solution existed above—is a polite female marker surviving in in the tendency to identify people and groups kinship terms and in most personal names for of people by their geographical location. women: -vap/''younger sister'; -a'/zH'fl-p/'sister- This not only meant that an individual might in-law', compare -cihwa 'husband's or wife's be marked as coming from a certain town brother'; -''dchpi 'younger brother's wife', or village, but more Hkely that he spoke the compare -^dcha 'any male cousin'; -êyk'a-pi Indian language that had once been com 'daughter', compare -êyk'a 'son, baby, child'; mon there. As time passed, the old village -"êkhe'pi 'daughter's daughter', compare names disappeared, and dialects and people -''ekhe 'daughter's son'; -''ese-pi 'daughter-in- began to be labelled with American names. law, son's wife, mother's sister's son's wife, From time to time, I have heard Mrs. Somersal son's son's wife, daughter's son's wife', com refer to people as Hopland people—Napa, pare -'êse 'son's daughter, son's son'; -"êchpi Cloverdale, or Ukiah people. In each case, she 'wife of a nephew, any female cousin, any meant that the person spoke the kind of niece', compare -''echa 'elder sister'.* The language or dialect which characterized each hyphens mark the fact that kinship terms are town at some past time, perhaps a half-century inalienably possessed, requiring the appropri or so ago. The fact that these placenames ate pronoun prefix in all their occurrences. catalogued dialect varieties was sometimes In the case of the honorifics, "male" is expanded by gloomy or at least negative marked by the suffix -has. -has differs from -pi, lucubrations, such as "Them Napa people though, in that it does not occur in any ofthe always drag their words." kinship terms, it is rare (whereas -pi occurs in The geographical pattern became impor most female names), and it seems not to be tant in a slightly different way in the late really serious.

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