Calling a place by its true name transforms wilderness into homeland

Evidence

Tahawus is the Algonquin name for Mount Marcy, the highest peak in the Adirondacks. It’s called Mount Marcy to commemorate a governor who never set foot on those wild slopes. Tahawus, “the Cloud Splitter,” is its true name, invoking its essential nature. … When we call a place by name it is transformed from wilderness to homeland. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 123

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the distinction between public names and true names, a concept central to Indigenous land relation—true names are used only by intimates and in ceremony.
• XREF: Connects to ‘Maps’ by Farah Nuruddin and to soundscape listening-as-method: knowing a place by its intimate name echoes attending to a place’s own voice rather than the settler label; also parallels ch3 named nut trees. — connects to: Wilderness recreation is a class privilege that devalues rural land-based labor — William Cronon, The Trouble with Wilderness; or,…, 65; Wilderness is a cultural construct, not a place that exists apart from humanity — William Cronon, The Trouble with Wilderness; or,…, 5; Learning one place’s name can unravel a whole unnoticed topography (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Learning one place’s name can unravel a whole unnoticed topography #expands (0.85)
• Renaming Palestinian places in Hebrew fabricates an ancient biblical claim to the land #complicates (0.85)
• Archaeology and renaming manufacture an originary claim to contested land #complicates (0.80)