Using Indigenous Names Is Okay

By Canaar Chanar

Did you know that there are a lot of Native students that attend UAF and have an Indigenous name? The names they used to identify with are given to them by their families or their communities. I know at the University of Alaska schools most Native students are known by their preferred name in the community they grew up in. These communities are remote villages in rural Alaska. Many of us also have an English name. For me, like any other person, I have a preference on what I would like to be called by.

Growing up in the village of Toksook Bay, Alaska, everyone in my community, the neighboring villages, or any other communities in the Yup’ik region know me only by Canaar. Many of those people that know me by my Yup’ik name are surprised when they find out that I have an English name because I never use my English name while I am in the region. A lot of them are weirded out because they never knew me by Elton, and they tend to say I do not look like an Elton to them.

We use our English names because of social pressure not to use our Native names. There is also pressure to have our Native names said correctly. When I first came to the University, I thought it would be easier to use my English name because I thought it would be easier for others who are not familiar with an Alaska Native name, but in fact, I felt out of place without using the name I grew up and identified with.

My great grandparents were born in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. They were the generation that were forced to get English names by the government and the missionaries. They were to get their first and last non-Native name that came from the Bible. Another option for my great grandparents was to create an English version of their Native name, so the non-Native speakers could more easily pronounce them. Ever since getting an English name became required in today’s societies, a lot of people receive English names even though they are recognized by their Native names.

I was named after my great grandpa Cyril Chanar. He was known by Canaar or Nuyaralegem Atii which means “the father of Nuyaralek” in the Yup’ik language. I used to hear a lot of older folks utilize this way of calling someone, but I rarely hear people use that in the region. Nuyaralek was his oldest son and calling my great grandpa by “Nuyaralegem Atii” was a respectful way to address someone in the Yup’ik culture and it is very much equivalent as to calling another person “Mr.” or “Mrs.” in the Western cultures.

In my great grandpa’s case, the government and the missionaries changed his last name to an English version which is “Chanar” from the original Native version which is “Canaar” in order for the non-Native speakers to say it better. His siblings on the other hand, did not have an option to have their last name be connected to their Native names. One of his two younger siblings was given the last name Moses and Jimmie, tied to names in the Bible.

The reason I started using my Native name away from my home region is because it is what I have always been known by. I wanted to reclaim my name Canaar, so I do not feel like an impostor while I am away from my home region. This is a way for me to heal from the harm that was done by colonization to the generations that came before me. This is a way for me to decolonize from the ongoing effects of colonization we have today. I do have a community here at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and how I identify should not be different from the way I identify in the community I grew up in.

Anyone can embrace their identity as I did. The reason is that you will feel more satisfied and feel like you are connected to your own self, your relationship to your community, and your loved ones. You will be able to gain more confidence about yourself and who you really are instead of feeling out of place and like an impostor. The Indigenous peoples in the U.S. were forced to learn a language that is not theirs. It shouldn’t be hard to say a word or two in the Native language. When a Native person mentions a name that they wish to be called by and the name seems hard to pronounce, feel free to ask how to say it.

It is okay to make mistakes.