Commissioner Thomas J. Morgan made war on what might be the most elementary of cultural signifiers: names. Morgan argued in a March 1890 circular that there will be “needless confusion” and “considerable ultimate loss to the Indians if no attempt is made to have the different members of a family known by the same family name on the records and by general reputation.” This was just one “among other customs of the white people it is becoming important that the Indians adopt,” he explained. He also condemned the translation of Indian names into English, a practice that often resulted in “awkward
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