A New Name for Naitaka

In 1924, the dreaded Naitaka was given a new name. A Vancouver Board of Trade meeting was being held in Vernon. Bill Brimblecombe entertained the delegates by singing about the monster of Okanagan Lake that everyone was talking about. He made up new words for a popular English music hall song called Ogopogo. The next day, the Vancouver Province newspaper reported that Ogopogo was the official name of the Okanagan Lake monster. The silly name stuck. Soon it replaced the name Naitaka, that had been used by local people for many years. Along with the change in name came a change in how people felt about the sea serpent. It was no longer thought of as a terrifying monster that the name Naitaka suggested. Instead, it was a funny, harmless creature to suit the funny name Ogopogo. The word ogopogo is a palindrome because it reads the same forwards or backwards.