Opinion: White man's misinterpretation led to misnomer of tribe

Wednesday, January 19, 2011  

"Back in the early 1970s during my broadcasting days, I was conducting a breakfast show on the radio early each morning, which was broadcast from the restaurant of a nearby Miami, Okla., hotel.

One particular morning I was to interview the chief of the Quapaw Indian Nation over a cup of coffee. Their names slip my mind just now, but when the chief arrived he was in the company of his lovely daughter, who was, at that time, about 20 years old. After the introductions on the air, we began talking about something of interest relating to the history of the Quapaw Indian Tribe. However, the subject soon wandered to the Quapaw sign language.

The young Indian princess was attempting to show me (on the radio) one of the basic sign language maneuvers with her hands as I was trying to describe it to our listeners.

Apparently, I wasn’t doing so well, because the chief interrupted with, “My son, you need to get this right, because if you make a wrong interpretation of a sign language, you might become a little one. Our history is full of white man’s misinterpretations, and that is how we became the Quapaw.”"

Get the Story:
Ted Stillwell: Misinterpretation changes Native American names (The Independence Examiner 1/19)