First Nation, Native Americans, Indians etc - which terms do you find acceptable? (1 Viewer)

[Rumpel]

How about American?

And so the Non-Indians are not Americans in your mind?
That's what your idea would mean.

 

[antiquity]

First Nation is what Canadian use. Eskimo and Inuit have nothing to do with the term Indians. The term redskin comes from early explorers who come upon Indians who dyed their skin red....
My step daughter has an full blooded American Indian boy friend....we don't refer him by anything but his name.

 

[MaryP]

And so the Non-Indians are not Americans in your mind?
That's what your idea would mean.

No it wouldn't?

 

[Rumpel]

My step daughter has an full blooded American Indian boy friend....we don't refer him by anything but his name.

You do not understand the topic.
And I suppose it will not be possible to explain the topic to you.
So I will just congratulate you to your presumed moral superiority.

On the other hand - did you not just refer to him as " full blooded American Indian"?

 

[Rumpel]

Eskimo and Inuit have nothing to do with the term Indians.

Indians and Eskimos and Inuit have something to do with America.
That they have in common.
That's why they appear in one and the same thread here.

 

[Rumpel]

@ Eskimo

Eskimo (/ˈɛskɪmoʊ/ ESS-kih-moh) or Eskimos are the indigenous circumpolar peoples who have traditionally inhabited the northern circumpolar region from eastern Siberia (Russia) to Alaska (United States), Northern Canada, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and Greenland.[1][2]

The two main peoples known as Eskimo are the Inuit (including the Alaskan Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Inuit peoples of Canada) and the Yupik (or "Yuit") of eastern Siberia[3] and Alaska. A third northern group, the Aleut, are closely related to both. They share a relatively recent common ancestor and a language group, Eskimo-Aleut.

Eskimo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

So the term Eskimo is a very useful term.
It covers several groups.

 

[Rumpel]

Etymology​

There exists a scholarly consensus that the word Eskimo etymologically derives from the Innu-aimun (Montagnais) word ayas̆kimew meaning "a person who laces a snowshoe" (an origin proposed by Ives Goddard at the Smithsonian Institution),[28] is related to husky (a breed of dog).[2][4][28][29] The word assime·w means "she laces a snowshoe" in Innu, and Innu language speakers refer to the neighbouring Mi'kmaq people using words that sound like eskimo.[30][31]

In 1978, José Mailhot, a Quebec anthropologist who speaks Innu-aimun (Montagnais), published a paper suggesting that Eskimo meant "people who speak a different language".[32][33] French traders who encountered the Innu (Montagnais) in the eastern areas adopted their word for the more western peoples and spelled it as Esquimau or Esquimaux in a transliteration.[34]

Eskimo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Rumpel]

Native American name controversy​

Supporters of the terms "Indian" and "American Indian" argue that they have been in use for such a long period of time that many people have become accustomed to them and no longer consider them exonyms. Both terms are still widely used today. "American Indian" appears often in treaties between the United States and the indigenous peoples with whom they have been negotiating since the colonial period, and many federal, state and local laws also use it.

Native American name controversy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ecofarm]

"I call them the Hoohoos because that's the sound they make when they attack! It's not offensive! I love the Hoohoos!"


This is what we're dealing with.

 

[Rumpel]

Who?
Who are the Hoohoos?
Or the Who-Whose?

 

[EMNofSeattle]

Actually, my Metis wife worked on a Dene dictionary when she lived in the Northwest Territories.
But the point that you don't seem to get is that It's not up to you or me or any Algonquin speaker to decide if the term is a slur. It's up to the Inuit.
"Eskimo" isn't English and the point of the wop illustration is that it's a slur because an Italian decided it is. Not because an Englishman decided it is. Get it?

Actually it pretty much is up to me if Eskimo is a slur since it is a word in English and in English it is not a slur.

 

[Grand Mal]

@ Indian, Métis, Inuit

Indian

The term Indian, when used to identify Indigenous peoples in South, Central and North America, is considered outdated and offensive. In Canada, the term has b...

www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

Now I will have to look up "Métis".

My wife's Metis. Her mother was Mi'kmaq. It's one Native parent and one White. Her first husband was Native though so

Actually it pretty much is up to me if Eskimo is a slur since it is a word in English and in English it is not a slur.

It's not a word in English. And is it up to you if 'kike' is a slur? The term came from Jews at Ellis Island who couldn't write in English and didn't want to make an 'X' which is a Christian symbol so they made a circle, a 'kikel'.
Is it up to you if 'chink' is a slur?
I repeat, why is this a problem for you? They prefer to be called Inuit, would it offend you to call them Inuit? Would it represent capitulation to a leftist agenda? Go ahead, say it, "Inuit". That didn't hurt, did it? Didn't make you question your gender identity or want to take all their money away from billionaires, did it?
Why is it a problem for you to call a people by the term they prefer?

 

[EMNofSeattle]

My wife's Metis. Her mother was Mi'kmaq. It's one Native parent and one White. Her first husband was Native though so

It's not a word in English. And is it up to you if 'kike' is a slur? The term came from Jews at Ellis Island who couldn't write in English and didn't want to make an 'X' which is a Christian symbol so they made a circle, a 'kikel'.
Is it up to you if 'chink' is a slur?
I repeat, why is this a problem for you? They prefer to be called Inuit, would it offend you to call them Inuit? Would it represent capitulation to a leftist agenda? Go ahead, say it, "Inuit". That didn't hurt, did it? Didn't make you question your gender identity or want to take all their money away from billionaires, did it?
Why is it a problem for you to call a people by the term they prefer?

We are not talking about “kike” or “chink”
I am not aware of those words having any history as being a neutral description of groups of people. Best I can tell they’ve always been a slur. Whereas Eskimo is a neutral descriptor.

We are talking about Eskimo, which in English is not a slur.

I have no problem calling Inuits Inuits.

But Eskimo does not mean “Inuit” just like if you were to insist “Slavic” is a slur and then go “why can’t you just say Polish?! Is that so hard?”

To claim Eskimo is a slur, when it is not a slur and has no history as a slur, and is used as an overarching term much like “Germanic” includes Swedes, Danes, some Swiss, etc and Slavic includes Russians, Czechs, Serbs , Poles, etc and Latino include all kinds of different people, is simply dumb.

I don’t buy the story that the Algonquin used it as a slur, and even if Wendigo used it as a slur that has no bearing in its use in the English language.

 

[Grand Mal]

We are not talking about “kike” or “chink”

We are talking about Eskimo, which in English is not a slur.

I have no problem calling Inuits Inuits.

But Eskimo does not mean “Inuit” just like if you were to insist “Slavic” is a slur and then go “why can’t you just say Polish?! Is that so hard?”

To claim Eskimo is a slur, when it is not a slur and has no history as a slur, and is used as an overarching term much like “Germanic” includes Swedes, Danes, some Swiss, etc and Slavic includes Russians, Czechs, Serbs , Poles, etc and Latino include all kinds of different people, is simply dumb.

I don’t buy the story that the Algonquin used it as a slur, and even if Wendigo used it as a slur that has no bearing in its use in the English language.

What's dumb is taking a Cree word for the Inuit people, applying it to other people all around the Arctic circle and thinking that makes the term legitimate. That's just dumb. If the Inuit don't like the term Eskimo and prefer to be xalled Inuit, there's no more room for discussion. Likewise the Yupik and Sami and whatever the Siberian natives prefer to be called.
Why would you insist on Eskimo if those people don't like to be called Eskimos? That's what matters here, not your or my understanding of the words.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

What's dumb is taking a Cree word for the Inuit people, applying it to other people all around the Arctic circle and thinking that makes the term legitimate. That's just dumb. If the Inuit don't like the term Eskimo and prefer to be xalled Inuit, there's no more room for discussion. Likewise the Yupik and Sami and whatever the Siberian natives prefer to be called.
Why would you insist on Eskimo if those people don't like to be called Eskimos? That's what matters here, not your or my understanding of the words.

русские do not call themselves “Russians” and Magyar do not call themselves Hungarians. What is your point?

A certain number of left wing eskimos who are activists poisoned by left wing social theory may not like it. Who cares?

 

[Rumpel]

.... and Magyar do not call themselves Hungarians. What is your point?
A certain number of left wing eskimos who are activists poisoned by left wing social theory may not like it. Who cares?

Exactly! That's what I keep saying.

 

[Rumpel]

I now invent another example.

Imagine that some ultra-leftist Germans decide that saying "German" is an insult and a slur.
The whole world is then ordered to say: "Bavario-Prussians" instead of "Germans".
And those who still say "Germans" are then branded as "racists!"

 

[Rumpel]

A certain number of left wing eskimos who are activists poisoned by left wing social theory may not like it. Who cares?

What I think:

If some of those Right Honourable Eskimos are so terribly upset that elsewhere the world uses the term "Eskimo" instead of "inuit" - then they should count themselves lucky that apparently they have no real other problems.

Lots of countries around the world have different names in different languages, and they can happily live with it.

 

[notquiteright]

First Nation, Native Americans, Indians etc - which terms do you find acceptable?

The Native Americans I work, hang with just say Native. Works for me

 

[Rumpel]

If the Inuit don't like the term Eskimo and prefer to be xalled Inuit, there's no more room for discussion.

And if the Hungarians do not like it that their country is called "Hungary" and prefer the name "Magyarország" - then there is also no room for discussion?
The whole world must then say Magyarország?

 

[calamity]

Who?
Who are the Hoohoos?
Or the Who-Whose?

Who is on second. What’s on first.

 

[Rumpel]

@ China

According to some of the "logic" that I came across in this thread, it will soon be politically incorrect to call China "China", as the Chinese call their country differently.

So now let's all say " Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó" instead of "China", so as to be polite and not racist.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

@ China

According to some of the "logic" that I came across in this thread, it will soon be politically incorrect to call China "China", as the Chinese call their country differently.

So now let's all say " Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó" instead of "China", so as to be polite and not racist.

I believe that’s 中华人民共和国

If you use our oppressive Roman alphabet you are forwarding white supremacy

 

[Rumpel]

I believe that’s 中华人民共和国

If you use our oppressive Roman alphabet you are forwarding white supremacy

And what if I use the old Germanic runes?

 

[Rumpel]

Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-tung or 毛澤東 / 毛泽东, - what do you say?