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Special Feature: Naming Traditions of the Indians of Hatteras Island By Scott
Dawson
There is an oral tradition on Hatteras Island that has been passed down from generation to generation concerning the naming of male children amongst the people of Croatoan. Tradition has it that male children were born with one name and given another after their time of trial. The time of trial was a "coming-of-age" ritual that usually took place once a young man reached 15-years-old. The young man facing his "time of trial" would be sent off into the wilderness to live for a few days, or sometimes weeks with no provisions. When he returned to his village after the "time of trial", he would be given a new name and a ceremony was held that signified crossing into manhood. The new name was always a verb, which signified action or movement. The reason for this is the new name was to represent the energy of the soul, which is always in motion, and as such, can not be adequately described by a noun. To explain a little more clearly, the spirit has always existed and will continue to once you die and because of that it is a constantly moving, living thing. Some examples of these traditional names are:
A young man would determine his name during his time spent in the wilderness. While facing his "time of trial," he would spend a significant amount of time observing nature. His name would be revealed to him by the Great Spirit through an epiphany and would be inspired by what he was looking at when the epiphany occurred. For the Croatoan, it was a way-of-life to respect animals, nature and each other. It is believed that only once a certain level of harmony of those three things is met that the people of the "water planet" can return to the "sky rock" again. You can order Scott Dawson's book Croatoan: Birthplace of America from Buxton Village Books. Send an e-mail to bvb2@mindspring.com and in the body of the message, just request this book by title. Cost is $16.00 + shipping.
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©2004-2007 Coastal Carolina
Indian Center. All Rights Reserved.
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