Our Office Critter Finally has a Name

Matatopa. I've been looking for an appropriate name for a year now: something that was both authentic (Native American) yet would be chiropractic/health-related at the same time. Here is what we know about the Woodpecker according to the Ojibway: "The woodpecker is known for his understanding of the rhythms, cycles, and pattern of life.

He is the earth's drummer. He pecks away at deception until the truth is revealed. Their connection to the earth and their ability to find the hidden layers make this bird an important one." The name "Matatopa" is not actually Ojibway but from the Sioux (which is a nearby tribe in the USA), which means "Big Medicine Eagle." Admittedly an Eagle and Woodpecker are not the same types of a bird at all, but both being bird I've made the link.

The connection is that the developer of chiropractic, BJ Palmer (who wrote the vast majority of all those thick green books in the reception area at the office) was also a blood brother of two native American tribes. He was affectionately known as "Skikihushu" (which means "Big Four Bears") of the Blackfeet tribe in Montana and as "Matatopa" of the Sioux tribe in South Dakota. See "The Story of 'The Chief' on Page 320 in Fight to Climb (Volume XXIV, 1950) among those green books. So that is the story of that, and after a year our office critter finally has a name!