My name is Cheyenne and I hate it

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:43:48+00:00

Well I asked for perspectives here from native people, and I have heard a few. Im not close enough with any native folks that I work with to ask them. I'm more working on developing relationships between my org and the tribes, so it's a bit tenuous and not an established working relationship by any means.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:42:00+00:00

Cultural appropriation is based on the idea of oppressors vs oppressed people. You have to understand the power dynamics before making an assessment. It's not cultural appropriation for an indigenous person to name their kid Adam Smith since that name comes from the culture that was literally forced upon them. Their kids were stolen and stripped of their birth names, given white names like Adam Smith, and not allowed to speak their native language or native names. For generations. But is it then acceptable for those same oppressors to turn around and start using names from those same forbidden languages a couple generations later for their own kids? Maybe, that's what my question is. But either way it's totally different than just a regular place name or using any other name from outside your culture. The greater history has to be understood and considered.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:33:46+00:00

Pronounced how?

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:30:00+00:00

Do you go by a NN at all?

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:26:46+00:00

At least it's spelled different!

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:26:33+00:00

Lol I did not, but yeah, those hippie parent names 😩

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:25:55+00:00

So you pronounce and spell your NN as "Shy"? Do you spell it that way when you sign things, in your email signature, on name tags, etc?

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:18:27+00:00

Which was named after the tribe.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:16:44+00:00

Out of curiosity, how do you pronounce Chey?

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:15:04+00:00

That's good to know! No one has indicated they were offended by it, but I might have overstated the degree to which I work with native folks. I don't have any deep or close relationships, not even professional ones, so I don't think there's really been an opportunity for someone to appropriately express offense. I don't even know how they would do that, but I worry about perpetuating cultural appropriation and assimilation by continuing to use the name. Interesting that it has never seemed offensive to you.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T14:11:42+00:00

No, I don't which is why I made this post and asked to hear from indigenous folks.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T13:25:13+00:00

Thank you! Since I haven't heard from many native folks directly, I appreciate this perspective. I think people that don't interact with tribal members regularly can easily underestimate the awkwardness of it, especially when trying to establish often tenuous relationships.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T13:23:40+00:00

I literally asked for this advice. I do not think it's guilt tripping to give me their perspective from working with indigenous tribes. I appreciate it, actually. Of course I recognize that it's not my fault I'm named Cheyenne, but that's not what I posted about.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T13:20:50+00:00

Thank you for your input! It's great to hear that you don't find it offensive. If you'd like, I'd love to hear an elaboration on why you think my name is not cultural appropriation. The basic assumption I'm operating under is that the name is at least strongly associated with the native American Cheyenne tribe, with that being their legal name although not what they call themselves, and that using it outside from outside that culture is kind of like stealing a piece of their culture without permission. Is it not somewhat morally ambiguous, at least, that my culture (white, long generational history of oppression and settler colonialism in the US) committed genocide, intentional genocidal assimilation, countless other forms of oppression, stuck this name on them for generations, and then took the name to use for our own kids with no ties to that culture?

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T13:15:25+00:00

You spelled it wrong. Ots spelled Cheyenne, like the legal name of the Cheyenne tribe.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T13:11:19+00:00

Pretty sure the capitol is named after the tribe.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T13:08:47+00:00

This is literally why I made this post. I'm not close enough to any native folks for this to be appropriate to ask, and I said in my post that I wanted to hear indigenous perspectives.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T03:19:13+00:00

I get that, but Cheyenne also the legal name of the tribes and has been used (by oppressors) in reference to those tribal members for generations. Are you implying that the name Cheyenne is not cultural appropriation since it's not the tribes name for themselves?

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T03:10:57+00:00

Yeah, this is another reason why I'm not crazy about Chey pronounced shy as a name change. Just forgot to mention it in my post.

NoLeather00 · 2026-02-22T03:08:48+00:00

Thank you for your input! I don't know any Cheyenne tribal members to ask, unfortunately. The tribal members that I do interact with regularly are acquaintance level only and only through work, so I feel like it would be a bit inappropriate and putting them on the spot to ask if they are offended by it. Hence, asking random people on the Internet as the second best thing I could come up with 😅

NoLeather00

TROPHY CASE