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American Indian Language Translations: Words for Tattoos, Literature or Art

This is an expansion of our popular Native American Pet Names fundraiser. A lot of people write to us looking for an American Indian word to put into a tattoo, jewelry inscription, piece of artwork, story they're writing, grandfather's birthday cake, and so forth. In most cases this is something you can find yourself for free if you are willing to spend the time--check out our Amerindian index for a large number of language-related Internet resources including online dictionaries and lists of American Indian words from various North American languages. If you don't care to do this, though--it can take a long time to do Native American translation if you're not familiar with these languages and you don't already know which language you're looking for--you can ask us and we'll do it for you, in exchange for a $10 donation to our nonprofit organization (which will then be used to preserve and promote endangered Indian languages). Languages we can currently provide translations for include Abenaki, Algonquin, Apache, Athabaskan, Bella Coola, Blackfoot, Caddo, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chipewyan, Chippewa, Choctaw, Comanche, Cree, Creek, Crow, Dakota Sioux, Dene, Delaware, Haida, Hopi, Inuktitut, Lakota, Lenape, Maliseet-Passamaquoddy, Mesquakie, Mohawk, Mojave, Munsee, Muskogee, Navajo, Nez Perce, Nuxalk, Ojibway, Oneida, Osage, Pima, Potawatomi, Salish, Sauk, Seneca, Shawnee, Shoshone, Tohono O'odham, Tlingit, and Yaqui. We may also be able to provide an American Indian word from other languages--contact us first if you have a different language in mind.

Please note that this is only a fun way to raise money for a good cause. We will not give you or anyone else a "spirit name," nor will we bless you, the words, or whatever you are writing them on. These requests are offensive to Orrin; please respect his beliefs and do not misrepresent him or our role in suggesting these translations. They are no different, spiritually speaking, than American Indian words you looked up in a language dictionary. If you are looking for an Indian name with spiritual significance, please talk to an elder in your community. No stranger can do this for you over the Internet, any more than you could get baptised over the Internet. Also, if you are planning on getting a tattoo, please be aware that using words as tattoos is a modern practice, not a traditional one in any Indian tribe that we know of. If it is important to you to have a traditional style tattoo, please see Orrin's article on Tribal Tattoos to learn more about that difficult quest.

On the other hand, if you are looking for the translation of a word into a few Native American languages for a modern style tattoo or some other creative but non-religious endeavor, then please fill out the form below. After you send it you will be prompted to make a $10 donation. If you prefer, you can also write down this information and send it along with cash or a check (made out to Native Languages of the Americas) to our postal address:

Native Languages of the Americas
PO Box 130562
St. Paul MN 55113-0005

We will email you three possible Native American words that match your criteria, along with their meaning, language, and pronunciation, and you can pick the one that appeals to you the most. Please note that some American Indian languages use modified European alphabets, so they may have diacritics (accent marks, or other notations above or below some of the letters). You're welcome to ignore these or even use a simplified spelling that looks better to you if you like. Except for Cree and Cherokee, Native North American writing systems originally came from outside the community anyway.

Native American Translations for Tattoos, Stories, and Inscriptions

1. What are you planning to do with this word? (Tattoo yourself, inscribe it in a ring, use it in a short story,
spraypaint it on the walls of Alcatraz? :-D You don't have to answer this if you're providing the word yourself,
but we can't suggest a word to you if we don't know what it's for.)

2. What word are you looking for, or would you prefer we just suggest a few with positive meanings?
(Note that verbs and abstract nouns are long and complex in many native languages--kinship terms or the
word for a kind of animal that inspires you are usually good bets for a short word for tattoos or artwork.)

3. Do you have a particular language you are interested in, or do you want us to suggest
American Indian translations from several different languages?

5. How concerned are you with the word's length?
(Some Native American languages tend to have very long words and it will limit your options if the word
must be a short one.)
Doesn't matter, a long or complicated word is fine
Somewhat important, please give me words no longer than 8 letters
Extremely important, this word needs to fit on an earring or something

5. How concerned are you with being able to pronounce the word easily?
(Some American Indian words have very different sounds from English and it will limit your options if the word
must be easy for English speakers to pronounce.)
Doesn't matter, it will only be written not spoken
Somewhat important, please give me a word I can learn to pronounce without much trouble
Extremely important, I want readers to be able to figure out how to say this word without my help

6. We will get three suggested translations to you within two weeks after receiving your payment. Is that soon enough?
No, I need the words right away--please ignore my language and meaning preferences if it will get me the translation faster
Yes, two weeks is fine, it's more important for you to follow my preferences as closely as possible

7. Email address you want us to send the Native American word translations to:
Please note this field is necessary. We are not psychics, we can't send you any information unless you tell us where to send it to!

8. We can accept credit card payments via PayPal, or you can mail us cash or a check. We ask for a $10 donation for our nonprofit work in exchange for the American Indian translation suggestions. (Donations are voluntary and are tax-deductible.) If you don't want to give money, you can put a link to our organization on your website instead, or volunteer to help out with one of our projects.
I will make a credit card/PayPal donation
I will mail you a donation
I will link to your website or volunteer some time
No thanks, I'd rather not do any of those things

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