Velcro becomes “Koda”

 I met the parent of one of our high school students when I was out with the dog. She laughed at his name “Velcro” and asked that I consider giving him a Dakota name.

A name is sooooo important around here. In fact, there’s a ceremony where a child gets a new Dakota name when he/she becomes an adult (around age 12 or whenever the girl first gets her period.)

The pup’s name giving was not a ceremony,…. it was a conversation in a parking lot. But, since he doesn’t actually ever respond to his name anyway, we’ve now formally changed it to a Dakota name:

Koda

It means “buddy”… short for dakota which means “friend” but… several kids in our school have that as their first or middle name. Sooo… we’re gonna go with Koda. It is oh so much easier to say than the other suggestions unless you know the Dakota language sounds:

Wowiyuśkiƞ

Śunktokeća

Śunka

Ćo

Koda is properly said as 

Koh DAH, with the stress on the second syllable.

Of course, the dog himself seems totally unconcerned with a name in any language. As long as he gets treats… he’s a happy camper!