Activity – Naming of an O’odham Passage
Traditions
Naming of an O’odham Child
Excerpt from https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/upload/ENC-01-The-O-odham.pdf
In O’odham culture, an important ceremony is the naming of their children. Before a child is a year old, the child is named by friends of the parents in the following manner: the friends, or godparents, accompanied by other visitors, come for four mornings in a row. Before sunrise, they sit on the ground in front of the house where the child lives. First one and then another of the company holds the child for a moment. If it is a boy, the kompalt godfather repeats a ceremonial speech, passing his hands across the baby and holds him up to receive the first rays of the rising sun; then he gives the boy the name by which he will be known throughout life. However, nicknames are common and often are used instead of the baptismal name. If it is a girl, the kamult, godmother, delivers the speech and gives the name. The parents in their turn name the children of godparents that just named their own child. “From the age of ten until about the time of marriage neither boys nor girls are allowed to speak their own names. The penalty is bad luck in losing arrows in the case of the boys, and the rsalika or kiaha stick for girls.” The name of a dead person is not used; he is thought of as the brother of So-and-So. The word or words in the name, however, are not dropped from the language.
Check for Understanding:
- According to this passage, an important ceremony in O’odham culture is
- birthday ceremony B. healing ritual
- naming ceremony D. dance ceremony
- Before a child is a year old, the child is named by their parents.
TRUE FALSE
- In O’odham kompalt means
- godmother B. godfather
- mother D. father
- In O’odham kamult means
- godfather B. godmother
- mother D. father
- The penalty when boys or girls speak their own names before age 10 is
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