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Re: Names and their Meanings - Something Lighthearted!


 

Hi Bill,

Chuckle.

Did you know that Anna Pavlova visited the Navajo Reservation in the 1920s before her famous visit Down Under?? An enterprising squaw concocted a special dessert in her honor, beating some egg whites until soft peaks formed, adding sugar while beating until the mixture was glossy, and then sifting in cornflower, folding in vinegar, and cooking it over a hot fire for an hour.? The resulting concoction was a real treat, so everyone added ketchup and salt and called it squaw bread.? The word is that Ms. Pavlova loved it so much that she took the recipe with her.? People quickly forgot Ms. Pavlova because she had difficulty holding herself back and broke ranks during the traditional squaw dance, but squaw bread remains a reservation favourite to this day.

Blessings,

Ray

On Friday, 14 August 2020, 07:35:17 pm AEST, Bill Nichols <aerial073@...> wrote:


Ray:

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I can relate another story about an obscure Navajo chief with the unlikely name of Shortcake. Despite his name he proved to be a very brave warrior chief. When he died on the reservation after WW2, the US Indian Agency on behalf of the government offered his wife to bury Shortcake at the expense of the government; but his wife declined, saying: “No, squaw bury Shortcake”; which over time has proven to be a statement of independence, defiance and eventually a very delicious desert. ---Anon.

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Ray via groups.io
Sent: Friday, 14 August 2020 6:40 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [b4uc] Names and their Meanings - Something Lighthearted!

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Hi Mandy, Merlene, and everyone.

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Speaking of names... I was responding to an email from my sister Polly Anne who lives on the Navajo Reservation which commented on the minuscule amount of Asian in my DNA.? She asked, tongue in cheek, "Can we say we are people of colour because we are Asian?? Dat's my yoke.? Do you remember what [our Finnish paternal grandmother] Anni used to say "It toook me looong time to learn to said JJJam [pronounced yam], and den you come up wit Yelly."

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My sister's name means one who is excessively optimistic, which doesn't suit her at all.? She got the name as a hand-me-down from the nickname of our maternal grandmother Selma, which means "helmet of God" or "protected by God"; a no-nonsense pioneer one-room schoolteacher whose name fit like a glove.

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You are probably aware that I tend to write lengthy replies, but some of you may be able to relate this one to our study of Esther.Emoji? I had written Polly that my DNA showed 0.9% Asian, so I took an additional Y-DNA test (father's lineage) to check out a scientific paper that I come across and, bingo, my Y-DNA revealed a direct patrilineal linkage with Genghis Khan through his No. 1 son Jochi Khan (out of 3,000 sons) and his No. 1 grandson Batu Khan.? So that's the Asian bit.

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Anyway, I answered Polly's jocular question by displaying my complete lack of humour: "The maternal ancestry (mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA) shows nothing from Asia at all, but lists one match (out of over 6,000) as 'Native American.'? I haven't a clue how that got there, because Aili [Polly's daughter] doesn't show up in the database.? There are some Swedish/Norweigian hereditary matches with Spanish surnames Jimenez, Martinez, Pediera, and Carranza as well as a wildcard Nezamutdinov thrown in for good measure.? Mr. Carranza has a great grandmother with the interesting name 'Nannie Humble.'? Anyway, chalk this up as a great mystery, but it DOES mean that we have more Native American blood in us than does Fauxcohantus Elizabeth Warren; somewhere there is AT LEAST one such relative."

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Then I had a great idea, which included reflection on the meanings of names:

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"You know, Polly, what you COULD do if you were interested would be to document what you remember about your nannie in Mescalero [New Mexico, capital of the Mescalero Apache Reservation where we lived until I was 6 years old], who I seem to remember was Geronimo's youngest wife.? Did you know that Geronimo's birth name was Goyakla ("to yawn").? No one seems to know for certain when or where he got the name Geronimo or what it means.? The best tradition seems to be that he developed his life-long hatred of Mexicans when as a young warrior his wife and three babies were slaughtered by Mexican Colonel Jose Maria Carrasco of Sonora while he was away raiding.? This resulted in his legendary no-holds-barred loathing of Mexicans which manifest itself in an almost demonic super-human energy when battling them.? Apparently, the story goes, some Mexican survivors heard their peers who were being slaughtered scream "Geronimo" and that became his name.? The thought is that they were crying out the name of St. Jerome in their terror and anguish (perhaps like "Jerome, Noooo!").

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"One of Geronimo's nine wives was Mescalero Apache, Ih-tedda, and he permitted her to return from his captivity in Fort Sill, Oklahoma to Mescalero with their two children Robbie and Lena, his only known surviving children.? However, he had at least two wives after her, Sousche (married 25 Dec 1905) and Azul (1850-1934).?

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"Per the internet, Harlan Geronimo (b. 1947) of Mescalero is Geronimo's great-grandson by Geronimo's wife "Kate", who died in 1954.? None of Geronimo's nine wives had an Indian name that sounds anything like "Kate", so my guess would be that Ih-tedda took on the name Kate as an English name.? That would make Harlan the grandson of either Robert or Lena.? Lena had a daughter Falling Cloud Geronimo who married Nightwolf Stormcloud, a grandson of Chief Joseph [another very famous Indian chief who fought the U.S. Army but escaped into Canada].? Their son married a daughter of David and Dorothy McKinney but died without issue.? That would seem to make Robert (1894-1966) the grandfather of Harlan.? He had a son Robert L. Geronimo Jr. (1931- ) with one of his three wives/partners Juanita Rodriguez (1902-1939) and also another son Albert (b. c.1939- ).? So that's it from a cursory search."

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So that's it.? I rather like the name "Nightwolf" but would have a little trouble with a wife named Falling Cloud Stormcloud.? Still, I guess that's a bit better than being named Cumulonimbus, the English equivalent of Stormcloud.

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By the way, I sent my sister a photograph of Geronimo with Ih-tedda, as well as one of Lena and one of Robert.? They were all extremely handsome and distinguished-looking people.?

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If you read this far, you are now party to knowledge that very few in this world possess.? Use it wisely.

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Blessings,

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Ray

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On Friday, 14 August 2020, 04:41:20 pm AEST, Mandy <mandyflynn01@...> wrote:

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Hi there Marlene I have a son David also and I did name him because of the meaning of the name? and Bible reference. Small world!! My daughter is Lisa shory? name for Elizabeth.? See you next week. Take care Mandy

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Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

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-------- Original message --------

From: Merlene <merlene@...>

Date: 13/8/20 3:08 pm (GMT+10:00)

Subject: [b4uc] Names and their Meanings - Something Lighthearted!

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Hi Ray and the Group,

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Once again, thank you Ray for a very informative session this morning.? A lot of interesting history, including wars and names (again!).

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During the last couple of weeks several email references have been made to names and their meanings – thank you to those who sent them through this Group.? Following on that thought, together with this morning’s class, how many of you considered the meanings of names when naming your own children??? I most certainly did.

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I was unable to have children for a couple of medical reasons.? Notwithstanding that, for a couple of years I prayed every day for a son, knowing it would take a miracle.? And it was!? and unbelievable as it was at the time, I was given a son.? I called him David – not that I particularly liked the name – it was the MEANING – “Beloved”.? He was never to be called Dave or Davey, which he never was to this day!

His second Christian name was that of his father.

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When my second son was born – on first glance I named him “Rod” – well actually “Rodney” for when he was a boy, knowing it would be shortened to Rod when he was adult.? And Rod has always been a “rod and staff” for me.? No prizes for guessing his second Christian name:? “John” – with all its Biblical inferences.

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The third son was named Stephen (for similar reasons as above)

His second Christian name was that of my father.

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My own name:? Both my parents continually told me they wanted a boy, expected a boy, and couldn’t accept the fact I was a girl when I popped out.? They had long chosen a name for me “Alan” which I have only now looked up the meaning – “rock, or harmony”.? Funny, as I have always strived for harmony in all relationships!?

Both parents told me I was nameless for more than a week before they could decide on a name for a Girl!

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I’m sure some of the group will have equally interesting stories to tell how you were named and whether or not you named your children for any special meaning or reason.? Anyone like to share?

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Cheers,

Merlene

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From: Ray via groups.io

Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2020 10:07 AM

Subject: Re: [b4uc] Invitation to U3A R09 What the Bible is about - a non-religious study of the Bible #Term3 #Esther

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