"I am an American Indian,, Not a Native American!"

[scotto]

"Native American" A "Generic Government Term"
The term struck many as dry and bureaucratic, in much the same way that some dislike the Census Bureau's use of Hispanic as an umbrella term to cover the whole of the U.S.'s diverse Spanish-speaking population. As the Bureau of Indian Affairs elaborates:

The term, 'Native American,' came into usage in the 1960s to denote the groups served by the Bureau of Indian Affairs: American Indians and Alaska Native (Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts of Alaska). Later the term also included Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in some Federal programs. It, therefore, came into disfavor among some Indian groups. The preferred term is American Indian.

Russell Means, the Lakota activist and founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM), has strongly rejected Native American in favor of Indian:
I abhor the term Native American. It is a generic government term used to describe all the indigenous prisoners of the United States. These are the American Samoans, the Micronesians, the Aleuts, the original Hawaiians, and the erroneously termed Eskimos, who are actually Upiks and Inupiats. And, of course, the American Indian.

I prefer the term American Indian because I know its origins . . . As an added distinction the American Indian is the only ethnic group in the United States with the American before our ethnicity . . . We were enslaved as American Indians, we were colonized as American Indians, and we will gain our freedom as American Indians, and then we will call ourselves any damn thing we choose.

"I am an American Indian, Not a Native American!"
statement by Russell Means

[redtanker]

thats interesting.... I personally think we have made the world to PC.. Eventually all the PC terms with be considered to be no longer PC

[stormulf]

Well, when you consider the 'semanto linguistic' origins of the word "Indian" and the 'Indian continent/nation' why not go the extra mile and call yourselves 'Baharati?'

Actually how about Homo Sapiens Sapiens? Or HU Wo/Men? Hu being, of course, the source for the English word God and the name of the ancient Sumerian Geneticist En Ki(a) Or Lord of the Earth. A title he stole from his brother En Lil. HU/Enki's logo was the caduceus. He is also called Hermes Trismagistus among other things.

Of course there is some speculation that the American "Indians" really are from India, originally, but...you know how that stuff goes. The book of Hopi tells a more interesting tale. Rainbow Warriors anyone?

Personally I think we're all spacemen. And it would appear that this planet drives 'people,' all of them, absolutely stark raving mad!

[scotto]

Originally Posted by stormulf

Well, when you consider the 'semanto linguistic' origins of the word "Indian" and the 'Indian continent/nation' why not go the extra mile and call yourselves 'Baharati?'

Actually how about Homo Sapiens Sapiens? Or HU Wo/Men? Hu being, of course, the source for the English word God and the name of the ancient Sumerian Geneticist En Ki(a) Or Lord of the Earth. A title he stole from his brother En Lil. HU/Enki's logo was the caduceus. He is also called Hermes Trismagistus among other things.

hmmm,,, Naa I think we will just stick with American Indian.

[conlor]

I've thought 'American Indians' should go by their tribe names. The explorers who came here thought they were going to India which is why our Indians are called Indians. They really aren't, unless it can be proved that their ancestors came from India. I think some may have come from Spain, through Central or South America. But we could have easily come from other areas if the theory of Continental Drift is accepted.

Continental Drift - Fossils

[scotto]

We, Ojibwe, call our self’s Anishinaabeg It means “Human being” or “original people”

A few Ojibwe words and there meanings
Chippewa: What the white man calls us.
Ojibwe: What other tribes call us
Anishinaabeg: What we call each other. It means “Human being” or “original people”
Sagawadee- Anishinaabeg: Mixed blood indian
Shinnob: Slang, from whence lowered the male of the species.
Neegie: Friend.
Megwitch: Thank you.
Chimook-a-man: White man

Native American vs. American Indian
I have never much for being politically correct.
I remember a few years back I was in Nay-tah-wash (a small village on the White Earth Indian Reservation and my home town) and was talking with a tribal elder. He said “ ya know something Scottie, I just found out that I’m not an Indian” I asked him what he meant, he continued, “a young Chimook-a-man from the cities came up to me and told me that I was not an Indian That I was a Native American. And here all these years I thought I was an Indian and now the white man tells me I’m not” Most Indians that grew up on the rez prefer, and refer to themselves as “American Indian” i.e. AIM.

Blood quantum and tribal enrollment
Although I am only ¼ Ojibwe the federal government classifies me as Indian. I find it strange that American Indian is the only “ethnic” people that needs an enrollment number to prove who they are or there heritage. Some may think that this is for monies received for land taken or for casino monies but we, White Earth Band members, do not receive a monthly check from the federal government or our casino. When our ancestors were relocated to our rez the Chimook-a-man wanted to turn us into farmers and it was at that time that blood quantum of individual Indians were determined and enrollment numbers were issued to people that possessed ¼ or more Indian blood. Such methods as the measuring of cheek bones and nose or foreheads were used to determine the blood quantum of each person. Then the land was divided up into sections and deeded to each family. The idea of land ownership was a strange concept to American Indians. After all this land has been here for billions of years before us and will be here for billions of years after we are gone. Compare that to the human life span and the Idea of land owner ship seems ridicules. So when the Chimook-a-man realized that the land they had deeded to us was rich with white pine and other valuable timber land grabbers and timber barrens came and offered trinkets and pennies to the Indians if they signed over there deeds. Sure that’s a good deal we don’t own this land anyway and that’s just a peace of paper. In some cases land was handed over for a bottle of booze. Thank god the chef and other tribal elders knew better and treaties were made such as health care for all enrolled Indians for timber rights and we should retain all hunting and fishing rights through out the entire reservation.

Treaties
Promise them anything, after all we issued them enrollment numbers and since the minimum blood quantum is ¼ in time there will be no Indians and then the treaties will be a “moo-point” (moo-point = a cow’s opinion, doesn’t matter) I once told my grand mother that I felt that I did not deserved any the benefits from treaties as I am only 1/4 blood. She straitened me out on that. When my grandmother was a small child medical students from Rochester school of medicine in Rochester MN, came to the reservation and took her along with other all other Indian children her age and removed there tonsils whether they needed them removed or not as part of there medical training. She was then sent to Indian boarding school. My mother, who is half Ojibwe and her sisters were not sent to boarding school however they were sent to work in sewing factories in Chicago Illinois during the summer. My grandmother also told me that our ancestors made these treaties for future generations and to not take advantage of the treaties made would be an insult to them.

Language
My grandmother could speak fluent Chippewa (Ojibwe) but never passed the language down to her children so my mother only knows phrases. At the time my mother and her siblings were growing up in the 1920’s and 30’s it was thought that the children would have a better chance in the outside world if they assimilated more with the “white” world, left the reservation and only spoke the Chimook-a-man language. American Indians and anything associated with Indians were looked down upon at the time. Today, fortunately that’s not the case and the Anishinaabeg language is being taught to the young people on the rez. I remember when I was a small child at night listing to my grandma and other Ojibwe women speaking the language and laughing while playing cribbage. My grandmother and here sisters would speak Ojibwe when they didn’t want us kids to know what they were talking about. Another memory that I have is being out in the garden with her and a three legged would be digging up here plants she would yell “giee-gaagaa-win aniemush” (get out of here you stupid dog) then mutter to her self dam neighbor and his three legged dog, I guess you cant eat a good dog all at once. I miss my grandmother so much.

Megwitch Neegie for taking the time to read this.
-scotto

[scotto]

Originally Posted by redtanker

thats interesting.... I personally think we have made the world to PC.. Eventually all the PC terms with be considered to be no longer PC

PC, or "Political Correctness" is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.