I’ll give you an example of a Native American name that won’t make sense until you understand the stories behind them.
Spotted Elk’s Wife
“Bear Don’t Smell Like Fire” is how her name was documented by Indian Agents.
In the Lakota way, this was a sacred name given to her… some of her relatives were shortened to “Bear Robe” but even that doesn’t capture the meaning.
When they used to tan the Buffalo, bear or elk hides.. they smoked them in the tanning process.
Because her robe didn’t retain the smoke smell, it was considered special. ^^^
