Called By My Name

I remember back in 2014 when I started working in Coast Salish communities. Distinctly I remember being told the language of the people here: Hulquiminum. It was so foreign to my brain and my tongue, I wondered how I would ever remember it. The same thing happened when I met my friend Qwustenuxun. And then Wholwolet'za. At first it seemed so complicated, but now I don't think twice about any of it.

It can be intimidating at first. And then one day, it's second nature.

When George shared this weeks Teaching's Tuesday with me, it warmed my heart. It's okay to be intimidated, and he doesn't expect perfection. Practice makes competent.

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Uy skweyul siiye’yu (Good day friends),

A little while back, I shared a Teaching Tuesday about the pronunciation of Traditional names. I shared some stories of people who had hesitations about saying my Traditional name, people who were afraid of getting it wrong. Today I want to share what happens on the other side of that fear, what it feels like when someone chooses to try anyway.

As I mentioned in that previous Teaching Tuesday, I carry both my Traditional name and my English name on a lot of my personal and professional name tags. Both names appear on my email signatures and on my virtual call names. Most of the time my Traditional name is listed first, and some platforms even allow for multiple names to be shown at once. Having both names visible has always felt important to me. It is a quiet invitation for people to try, if they are willing.

During a team meeting at my job with CheckingIn, we have a weekly practice where everyone takes turns sharing something positive from the previous week, a lesson or insight we have learned, and something we are looking forward to. Some of what people share is professional, some of it is personal. When someone finishes sharing, they choose who goes next.

One particular week, my friend and colleague Conor said my Traditional name to call on me. When I heard my Traditional name spoken out loud in that space, it uplifted my spirit in a way that is hard to fully put into words. What Conor did is something that happens very rarely for me and for my people. Hearing my Traditional name used so naturally made me feel more welcomed in that space than I had ever experienced before. I had not asked Conor to use my Traditional name. He was not introducing me to a room of strangers. He is simply a friend and colleague who saw both names sitting there, side by side, and chose the Traditional one.

Huy ch q'u (Thank you), Conor, for using my Traditional name. Thank you for taking that leap of faith. Huy ch q'u for your willingness to learn my Traditional name. I honour and respect the spirit you carry, and the love that you have for me, my people, and our culture.

Another moment happened not long ago, during an appointment with my Nurse Practitioner. She subscribes to our newsletter and had read my earlier Teaching Tuesday about the pronunciation of Traditional names. Near the end of our appointment, she asked me how to pronounce my Traditional name, mentioning she had read about it in that piece. I said it out loud for her and shared that this has been a journey for me, learning to let my Traditional name come out more often, into more spaces.

I mentioned that I had heard it is possible to have a Traditional name added to certain government identification, like a passport. That is when she asked me a question I did not expect: "Would you like your Traditional name to appear alongside your other name in your file?" I was genuinely moved. I had never imagined that kind of question being asked of me in a clinical setting. I said yes, of course. Then she asked a second question: "Would you like your Traditional name or your other name to come first?" I chose my Traditional name.

Huy ch q'u (Thank you) to my Nurse Practitioner who asked me about my Traditional name and offered to include it in my file. It tells me we are moving in the right direction when we have people like her who genuinely care for our people holistically, in mind, body, spirit, and soul.

Every time I use my Traditional name, it feels like reclamation. It feels like coming home to who I am and where I come from. And when someone outside of my community chooses to use it too, whether it is a colleague calling on me in a meeting or a Nurse Practitioner asking how to spell it correctly, it makes me feel seen, heard, and truly welcomed into that space.

These two stories might seem small on the surface. A name spoken in a meeting. A question asked at an appointment. But for those of us who have spent our lives watching our names get shortened, mispronounced, or avoided altogether, these small moments carry enormous weight. They are proof that people are listening, learning, and willing to try.

So if you are reading this and you know someone with a Traditional name, I want to leave you with this thought: you do not need to wait for a formal introduction or a perfect moment. Sometimes all it takes is seeing the name, and choosing to say it.

Huy ch q'u | Thank you

Wholwolet'za | George Harris Jr

Huy ch q'u, George.

"Sometimes all it takes is seeing the name, and choosing to say it." That's the whole thing, isn't it. Not perfection, just the choosing.

🧡 Kim + the CC Team