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Last name help!

Last name for Native American (Cherokee) Male MC.

  • Whitecrow

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OK, this charater's last name is bugging me. I need to name him, but I can't decide on his last name.

So let me introduce you to him.


Alex: Full-blooded Cherokee. His wife is white, but suspects due to family lore that she has Indian blood somewhere along the line, but they haven't been able to prove it.
Lives on the Tribal lands AKA reservation in Oklahoma.
More info:
He's getting old, wanting to do some "fieldwork" outside of what he's used to because, if not now when?
The daughter's name is Ravena. She teaches Native American Art History at Cambridge and UCLA.
Alex Has a Ph.D. in Archeology and is the curator of the "museum" AKA the Cultural center. His main focus up til now has been preserving and protecting the artifacts important to the Tribe. However, now that he is getting on, he wants to spread his wings and starts poking around at crimes committed due to superstitions/mythology/religion, etc.
The series will focus on one true crime per installment that has been committed that he finds fascinating.
His sidekick is Tommy: a Grad. student, older than most, (Working on his Thesis, which is how he keeps getting roped into these adventures.) former special forces for the Romanian military.
Tommy is an Orphan. Currently studying Archeology but his focus is more on Mythology and folk medicine Pre industrialization of the world.
These guys are not your Carters. They aren't out there digging up long-lost tombs. They are interested in the underlying ticking of the world and how, why, if that ticking has changed over time.

Cherokee names found on the rolls are either too feminine sounding OR I just dislike them for various reasons.
The last name should be one that can be used within the non-tribal communities and still sound ok. So no "Walkingstick" Or "jumping frog." "Bushy head," Etc.
One consideration is Whitecrow. As in this is Dr. Whitecrow.... But I'm not 100% sure about that.
Another suggestion was Northstarr. which I moved to Guidingstarr, but meh, I just don't love it. It doesn't seem to fit him.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
How old is he? You mention he's getting along there, but was he one of the children who were taken by the American government and forced into boarding schools to beat the indigenous out of them? Many of those kids refused to reveal their family names and instead ended up being called some variation of "Bia," for Bureau of Indian Affairs.
 
Have you rejected the "killer" names common in Cherokee? Mankiller, Sixkiller, Whitekiller, etc. Surely those wouldn't sound too feminine. All a name like that would mean is he's descended from a warrior who made a name, literally, in battle. If Alex is a pacifist, he could wear his surname ironically.

If he's a crime solver, there could be a new layer of meaning added to a "killer" name: he isn't killing anyone, but he's still defending the people. Which was the point of honoring the warriors for their kills.
 
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