Nakoda
/nəˈkoʊdə/noun
A self-designation used by the Stoney Nakoda and related Indigenous peoples of the northern Great Plains.
Did you know?Nakoda belongs to the same broader naming family as Dakota and Lakota, whose names also carry the idea of alliance or friendship rather than hostility.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Siouan
ną́koda
“An Indigenous self-designation traditionally glossed as “friend” or “ally.””
18th Century
French/English records
Assiniboine
“A widespread outsider name for the people now commonly associated with Nakoda; it was not their primary self-designation.”
19th Century
English
Stoney
“An English exonym referring to the people’s use of heated stones in cooking.”
20th Century
Nakoda/English
Nakoda
“The spelling became increasingly used in English to represent the people’s own name and distinguish it from outsider labels.”
Modern English
English
Nakoda
“A proper noun referring especially to the Stoney Nakoda peoples and, in broader usage, related Nakoda-speaking communities.”