Does the Native American Project for First People's Project have a policy on LNAB for those without a surname?

Question

I don't normally work with many Native American profiles, but I'm currently working on adding one for a woman known as Marianne-Cecile who was a member of the Chitimachas Tribe in Louisiana.  Unknown doesn't seem appropriate to use as her LNAB, and I know No Last Name is an option which I'm using until I find out if the Native American project has a policy (I couldn't find one) regarding LNAB such as using the name of the tribe or maybe even Sauvagesse which was commonly used in French-language parish records of Canada and Louisiana.  

Thanks!

Answer 1

Right now our policy is to use the name of the tribe for a surname in profiles who did not have a surname.  It is the current best solution for these profiles.

Comments

Thanks Jeanie!  Does the project have guidelines/solutions like this posted somewhere? If not, it might be a good idea.  I know the Acadian project has name-spelling guidelines and it's accessible right off of the wiki style and standards page. Very easy to find.

---

Donna, here is the project page:

Native American Project

It currently does not include its policy on LNAB, but it should.

---

Yes, I looked over that page several times looking for the policy.

Answer 2

Hi, Donna,

I am having the same problem.

The official English name of my tribe is the Crow Tribe of Indians and, as suggested, I am, for the time being, using the name of the tribe-Crow-as the last name.  However, it is of no use whatsoever when doing a search.  First of all, there are so many Crows to sift through and so far none have been connected with the tribe?  Secondly, I have found no documents for any of my ancestors with the last name of Crow.  If I search using their Indian name such as Sarah Strikes the Gun, I have better luck.  I wonder also if I should have used the Indian name of the tribe which would have been Apsáalooke instead of the English name.  

I plan to go to the Crow Indian Fair this summer so, hopefully, I will have time to talk to someone on the tribal council to see what they would prefer I do.

Hope you reach a workable solution.