I changed my name

[Absaroka]

Hi folks,

I wanted to let people know that I changed my name. Kind of self indulgent of me I suppose but I did it anyway. When I came here I just sort of latched onto the name Andrea as the first thing that came to mind that made sense but after a while I wanted something a bit different and something that reflected more of something about me so I have changed it to Absaroka.

So now I will get a bit more self indulgent and tell you a bit about it.

First off the name has no obvious gender which was appealing to me. Yet I personally consider it a beautiful name.

Secondly, the Absaroka Mountains are in my opinion some of the most terrifyingly beautiful mountains I have ever seen. A place where the unprepared ought not venture too far alone. Seemed kind of appropriate to these forums and what we help each other with here.

I'm on a self improvement thing, losing weight, rehabing a leg injury and getting back in shape. When I am ready I want very much to go back there (it's been a very long time) and do some exploring. The name will remind me of my goal. They have always seemed like a place of such mystery to me.

The connection to the Earth is an important one I think. And it has a lot in some way that I can't explain to do with the whole male/female thing. Something about the yin yang of male female where they are both a source of our strength. The dust we were fashioned from by the Creator as both our mother and father. Am I profound yet?

I'm not romancing the wilderness. (Or at least I'm tyring not to over do it) I have become very aware over the years just how easy it is to come to grief there. Without the support of civilization I wouldn't last more than a couple of days. The possibiliteis are endless what with getting lost, falls, hypothermia, lack of sustenance and the creatures who live there that consider us to be, well, yummy. But it is also something that over the years I have gotten strength from albeit sometimes very fearfully.

So there you have it and hopefully in another year I'll be posting a photo of me in my favorite black slip atop some mountain peak. Or maybe it will be in so many unisex hiking clothes no one will be able to figure out why the picture is on this forum. Who knows.

Thanks for listening

Andrea / Absaroka

[SilverLady(SO)]

Hello, Absaroka

Please tell us more about this beautiful name you have chosen and the mountains that mean so much to you. I've never heard of the Absaroka Mountains - where are they located, and how did you come to see them so many years ago?

I can understand the reasons for your name change, everyone evolves as time marches on, and the ability to change your name to one that has more meaning, and purpose, for you is equally as important.

I hope your dreams come true. And if you do eventually post a photo of you atop that mountain peak hidden under unisex hiking clothes - please make sure that your favorite black slip is mounted onto your walking stick first!!

[Marda]

BRAVO * Absaroka *

* Great * name
- it sounds of
* Good Thunder *

CU on the mountain

/Marda

[Kersten Lee]

Absaroka,

Beautiful!

Kersten

[Kyra]

Hi Absaroka,

Girl, self-indulge at will! So often we see ourselves in such negative light. Fear and apprehension seem to be ruling factors in our lives. It's nice to see someone challenge the beast...and overcome!

It's a beautiful name.

They're beautiful mountains.

Walk proud, whether in stilhettos or hiking boots.

Hugs and happy new year,
Kyra

[Anita]

Hi Absaroka--
I, too, have not heard of these mountains. A name change can be quite profound. Two of my sisters changed theirs, and one of my nephews changed his. There is a "new" person created, in my opinion. So enjoy getting to know your new self.

[Virginia]

I knew it!!!!!! There could not be three people that could blind fold this blond and spin her around like Andrea and Marda - I just knew that there could not be three people with that talent!
Love ya,
Virginia

[Absaroka]

Gee thanks Virginia. I am very flattered.

Silver lady in answer to your question and those of others, the Absarokas (pronouced Ab Zar Kuh for those who are interested) are in Northwestern Wyoming and Southwestern Montana. If you drive to Yellowstone from the East you will pass through them.

An overwhelming impression was that the Creator decided to let him/herself go a bit while working there. First of all there are the colors. Different than those you find out East, that's for sure. The Earth, which is mostly rock, tends to be mostly red colored. Then there is occaisional grass the color of dried straw, but it's still alive. And then the silvery gray sagebrush everywhere. The sage has an absolutely wonderful smell to it. There is just something about the air generally out there. It's kind of different. And the sky which is huge. There is a reason they call this big sky country. The rocks are in strange shapes sometimes also, a lot like you find in the Southwest.

The first time I brought my wife out there she stepped out of the airport, looked at the sky just turning to night and the surrounding cliffs and said now she understood why I had wanted to bring her there.

The name comes from the Native American word for the people who lived there, the Absaroka. It translates to Crow and the Indians who lived there are known as the Crow Indians. There is a river running through it called the Shoshone which was named for the Shoshone Indians. It translates to fish eater I think and was considered a term of derision. Actually I read somewhere that most of the native American names are ethnic slurs used by other tribes to describe each other. So I wonder what was insulting about Crow.

Way back when, the early White settlers refered to the mountains as the Absarkies.

If you wander into them a bit it is easy to forget that other people exist and it can be very scary. You wind up longing for the sight of a McDonalds in the distance just to reassure yourself that civilization exists. Makes you understand why the early Europeans here wanted to cut down the trees and dam the rivers and so on.

There is a big canyon called Shell Canyon. One of those places where the river just carved out a chunk of the Earth and didn't leave enough water behind for the vegetation to cover it up afterwards. Sometimes you just have to stop to look at it all and laugh for a while, not because it's funny but because it is so overwhelmingly, well, overwhelming.

Truth be told I never got to do that much exploring. I was always on my way to somewhere else a bit less intimidating. I did spend a weekend in a nearby town once when my car broke down and had some very interesting experiences. Decades later I still write to a woman I met there.

Jeremiah Johnsons grave is there.

I guess you would say it is high on my list of places I would like to get to know better.

The Bighorn Mountains are a few hours away. I did get to spend a couple of weeks there one time, a couple days walk from the road. This is where the movie Brokeback Mountain was supposed to take place although they did not film it there, they filmed the mountain scenes in Alberta. Too bad. It was a great movie by the way.

Wyoming is known as a conservative place but it was also the first state to allow women the vote. I have always thought it had to do with the kind of woman who would go live there and I do not think they were given the vote by men, I think they probably told the men they would be voting and that was just how it was going to be.

Some day I will write you a lot more about them but that is a couple years from now.

Absaroka

[Marda]

... There is a river running through it called the Shoshone which was named for the Shoshone Indians ... If you wander into them a bit it is easy to forget that other people exist and it can be very scary ...

" Rolling Thunder, Shoshone Indian Medicine Man,
quoted in Douglas Boyd, Rolling Thunder "

"wovoca.com/prophecy-rolling-thunder-people."

/Marda

[Kerri]

Hi Absaroka,

I dont know, I always thought that mountains were masculine entity's.
If you like it then go for it!
I have misgivings over the hard sounding "k" near the end. It has a male sound in my opinion.

tara

Kerri

[CJ]

I have misgivings over the hard sounding "k"...

Heh. Will Kerri ever become Sherry? (Just razzing you, Kerri!)

I think name changes reflect a spiritual trajectory. I'm happy that you've found meaning in this change, Absaroka. I like the name.

Love,
CJ

[Absaroka]

Well there is always mother Earth/father Sky which would make mountains feminine. Not far away are the Teton Mountains which someone got their name because someone thought they looked like breasts. Who knows? No offense taken...

I don't know enough (actually I don't know anything at all) about Native American language to say if the name is masculine or feminine. I do know that some European naming customs are far different from how it is done in English. For instance in traditional Scandinavian culture your last name changed depending on gender. John Johnson would have a son named say Anders Johnson. The same name for a daughter would be Andrea Johnsdatter. If she married a Pole named Stan Johnski her last name would be Johnska. Interesting how these things are handled in different languages.

More to the point the mountains in many cultures are where you go to find or learn something. The Crow males would bury themselves naked in the scree over night at the top of the mountain in search of visions. I remember seeing a couple of "burial trenches". The shallow grave provided protection from the weather. Interesting that you could be buried alive in the ground but the dead were put up on platforms above ground. I guess the vision was at least partly a product of hunger, fear, and hypothermia. It was an important rite of passage that I have no desire whatsoever to partake of.

How would this apply to cross dressing? Would you be covered with men's scree vs. womens scree. Maybe womens scree is called babies......I wonder if women now are allowed to have vision quests? I think it was a male thing back then.

Absaroka

[Kerri]

Hi Absaroka,

Sherry here

You must realise that I never intended to offend, and I dont believe offense was taken. I just say it as I see it.
Your reply is interesting. I dont know enough about other languages and cultures. I am aware of the son part of Norsk culture, but it was a revelation about the daughters. Being a Scot it interested me to note that in certain parts of Scotland the clan name Mac or Mc meant "son of" as in MacDonald. Also of interest is the fact that I have just finished reading a book by Sue Harrison called Mother Earth Father Sky. I have never heard of the title phrase before, yet encounter it twice in space of a month. I am now reading My Sister the Moon.

Here in Scotland our mountains are very old and worn by the elements. They are dwarfed by the newer chains in USA. I live amongst the Grampian Hills, and Cairngorm Mountains, the most famous of which are Benachie and Tapo'Noth. Nearby are Driech and Mayar which I climbed in my youth. The most talked about mountains are Ben Nevis, Ben Macdui and Cairngorm. Almost all are named in Gaelic, with a meaning translated into English eg Carn Bhac - peak of the peat banks; Beinn lutharn Mhor - big sharp ridged hill.
More may be seen at the following web page:-

http://www.munromagic.com/

I am sure your name will grow on me in time!

Take care

Kerri

[Absaroka]

Kerri no offense was taken at all.

I actually have a little Scottish ancestry in me. Apparently a several times great grandmother Scotswoman followed the English army over the last time they invaded Norway (next to last time as I am not refering to WW2). She stayed and married a Norwegian. Relatives who are into genealogy tell me she is in some way descended from Niall of the nine hostages whoever he was. Sounds like he should be famous.

Absaroka

[Kerri]

Hi Absaroka,

I "Googled" Niall and the nine hostages, I came up with this link:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/ ... ages.shtml

History is not my subject, I could be shot down on almost every turn on that subject. I rely on other people to research geneology.
I have a defined line based on research which goes back to 1740.

But there is the romantic idea based on our family name which goes back to 12th century (ish) whenever the Norman's conquered England. Like I said history is not my forte. Apparently we were descended from Norman mercenaries who fought on the Scots sideagainst the English at Bannockburn. This could be a load of coblers though.

If Niall was Irish you may have a link to his Tartan, you could get a nice dress made from it for your next Celtic reunion.

Take Care

Kerri