The Names of the Wyandot

In this unique book, John Steckley discusses and catalogues the various names of the Indigenous people known as the Wyandot, including clan names, nicknames, differences in naming conventions by gender, and the names the Wyandot gave to the European settlers they encountered.

Following first contact with Europeans in the early 17th century, the Wyandot were forced to move several times, first from their homeland in what is now Ontario, then from temporary communities around the upper Great Lakes. In the early 18th century, they moved to the Detroit area, where the Anderdon band still lives. Later that century some moved to Ohio where in Upper Sandusky and elsewhere they established a new homeland, only to be driven out in 1843 by settler expansion. They went first to Kansas, where a community still exists, and then to Oklahoma, where their only federally recognized tribe lives today as the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma.

Over the centuries the Wyandot developed rich and evocative naming traditions and conventions. The author draws on nearly five decades of work studying the Wyandot and Wendat languages, and on his tenure as the tribal linguist for the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, to provide a comprehensive guide to Wyandot naming practices. In addition to explaining basic naming conventions, Steckley discusses efforts to document Wyandot names, the evolution of those names over time, and the origins and nature of nicknames and clan names. The book closes with a comprehensive chapter setting out dozens of translations of Wyandot names.