"Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie" - Salli Benedict

 TAHOTAHONTANEKENTSERATKERONTAKWENHAKIE

Sally Benedict  (click here for even more about the author)

 Deep in the woods, there lived a man and his wife, and their newborn baby boy. The baby was so young that his parents had not yet given him a name. Hunting was very bad that winter and they had very little to eat. They were very poor. One day around suppertime, a little old man came to their door. He was selling rabbits.

 "Do you wish to buy a rabbit for your supper?" he asked.

 The woman who met him at the door replied that they were very poor and had no money to buy anything. It was growing dark and the man looked very tired. The woman knew that he had travelled very far just to see if they would buy a rabbit from him. She invited him to stay for supper and share what little they had to eat.

 "What is your name?" the husband asked as he got up to meet the old man.

 "I have no name," the little man replied. "My parents were lost before they could name me. People just call me Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie which means, 'He came and sold rabbits.' "

 The husband laughed. "My son has not been named yet either. We just call him The Baby."

 The old man said, "You should name him so that he will know who he is. There is great importance in a name." The old man continued, "I will give you this last rabbit of mine for a good supper, so that we may feast in honor of the birth of your new son."

In the morning, the old man left. The parents of the baby still pondered over a name for the baby.

 "We shall name the baby after the generous old man who gave him a feast in honor of his birth. But he has no name," the mother said.

 "Still, we must honor his gift to our son," the husband replied. "We will name our son after what people call the old man, Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie which means, 'He came and sold rabbits.'"

"What a long name that is," the mother said. "Still, we must honor the old man' s wish for a name for our son and his feast for our son."   

       So the baby's name became Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie which means, "He came and sold rabbits," in honor of the old man. The baby boy grew older and became very smart, He had to be, to be able to remember his own name. Like all other children he was always trying to avoid work. He discovered that by the time his mother had finished calling his name for chores, he could be far, far away. Sometimes his mother would begin telling him some thing to do, "Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie . . . hmmmm . . ." She would forget what she wanted to have him do, so she would smile and tell him to go and play.

    Having such a long important name had its disadvantages too. When his family travelled to other settlements to visit friends and other children, the other children would leave him out of games. They would not call him to play or catch ball. They said that it took more energy to say his name than it did to play the games.

 News of this long, strange name travelled to the ears of the old man, Tahotahontanekentserakerontakwenhakie. "What a burden this name must be for a child," the old man thought. "This name came in gratitude for my feast for the birth of the boy. I must return to visit them."

   The old man travelled far to the family of his namesake, Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie. The parents met the old man at the door and invited him in. He brought with him food for another fine meal.

    "You are very gracious to honor me with this namesake," he said. "But we should not have two people wandering this world, at the same time, with the same name. People will get us confused, and it may spoil my business. Let us call your son Oiasosonaion which means, 'He has another name.' If people wish to know his other name, then he can tell them."

 Oiasosonaion smiled and said, "I will now have to call you Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie tanon Oiasahosonnon which means, 'He came and sold rabbits and gave the boy another name.'"

       Everyone laughed.

Analysis/reasoning:
   I choose this story for my anthology because it shows historically how native americans received their names as well what they mean. In Utah's 4th grade Social Studies core the second standard is "student's will understand how Utah's history has been shaped by many diverse people, events, and ideas." This short story fulfills this standard because it gives students a glimpse into how naming takes place in a native american tribe. Utah got it's name because of the Ute tribe that occupied the original territory. I want my future students to discover how Utah was named, the tribes that occupied the territory, how each large city/area in Utah was named, and also find out how they got their name. This story shows how names change so that you can identify one person from another who has the same name, I would have students find a native american name with it's meaning and bring it in to share with the class. Along with students bringing in a native american name I would have students create their own name and a story to go with it similar to this.

Core Standards:

Social Studies Core:
      Standard 2: "student's will understand how Utah's history has been shaped by many diverse people, events, and ideas." 
          -objective 1: "Describe the historical and current impact of various cultural groups on Utah."
          -objective 2: "describe ways that Utah has changed over time."

Reading Core:
   Craft and Structure- Standard 4: "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology."
   Phonics and word recognition- Standard 3: "Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words."
            Sub-standard A: "use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context."

Writing Core:
     Text type and purpose- Standard 3: "Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.