🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Aug4.140617.10961@dragon.acadiau.ca> alan@dragon.acadiau.ca (Alan McKay) writes:
>From: alan@dragon.acadiau.ca (Alan McKay)
>Subject: Re: *** QUESTION ***
>Date: 4 Aug 92 14:06:17 GMT
>gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener) writes:
>>>WHAT DOES NATIVE AMERICAN MEAN?
>>>
>
>>"Native American" is this week's PC buzzword for what you and I and 
>>most of the world would call American Indian.  I don't particularly find
>>it a very good term, since having been born in New York, I consider myself
>>a native American even though my grandparents weren't.
>
>I find "American Indian" to be a much worse term, as it is the term
>given to them by the white-folk, and not the term by which they called
>themselves or prefer to be called.  I liken the term to "nigger".
>
>Indians live in India.  First Nations' People live in North America.
>Native North American will do nicely though, or for those of you who
>don't know that there *is* a part of North America outside the USA,
>I guess Native American might suffice.  There are other terms as well,
>but they don't come to mind right now.  But again I state, that Indians
>live in India, not in North America.
>-- 
>--
>Alan W. McKay		| (902)542-2201.158	| Wolfville, N.S. Canada
>alan@acadiau.ca		| Acadia University	| SUB Box 6008, B0P 1Z1
>----------------------------------------- My Canada includes Quebec -----

And speaking of PC, _Native American_ has done one of those interesting
flip flops.  It began in the 19th century (ca. 1850) as a phrase
indicating a person of British or W. European extraction born in the
US of A, ie, a WASP, in contrast to the Irish, Germans, and later, 
other newer immigrants.  The Native Americans = the Know Nothings,
were active politically in anti-immigration movements.  They were
certainly anti-AMerican Indian.

And another new phrase I've been noticing in the past few years:
Asian Indian to refer to people from the Indian subcontinent
residing in the US or born here.  Clearly a formation intended to
clear up any ambiguity surrounding Indian.


debaron@uiuc.edu               (\                   217-333-2392
                               \'\             fax: 217-333-4321
Dennis Baron                    \'\           __________
Department of English           / '|         ()_________)
Univ. of Illinois               \ '/          \ ~~~~~~~~ \
608 S. Wright St.                 \             \ ~~~~~~   \
Urbana IL 61801                   ==).            \__________\
                                 (__)             ()__________)