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Tuesday, February 11, 2020

What Word/ Term Should I Use?

By Claudia A. Fox Tree
Sketch by Claudia A. Fox Tree

I can't imagine a single Indigenous person who knows their nation (tribe) wanting to be called anything except that. All "Europeans" much prefer "Irish" or "German" or whatever - to "European." The more specific, the better. Having said that, there are times when one needs to talk about "everyone" in some way (even Europeans).  For example, when we want to discuss land being taken away from the people, or resistance, or current events, we might want to highlight the entire group versus a specific tribal nation.

In fact, Indigenous People were known by individual nation/ tribal names well into the 20th century. Scholars argue that it was the advent of laws and boarding schools that created the "need" to name everyone one term and assign that group of children during the removal acts which did not end until 1978, at which point boarding schools ended, but other removal programs, like foster care, adoption, and sterilization programs, increased. Removal children and forced sterilization are hallmarks of genocide.

No term to describe Indigenous People is great. "Native" can be anyone/ anything (plants, animals, too) born in a location, such as, the United States. "American" can be anyone born on the continents of North and/ or South America, and, of course, the Unites States  seems to "claim" the term. Google will give you the same results whether you put in "Native American" or "American Indian." There is no agreed-upon perfect term to describe the entire group of Indigenous people of the western hemisphere before it was named in 1492… yet. All these names have problems, and I want to focus on one word, "Indian," for a moment.

"Indian" is currently related to another country and its people.  When we think of our elders, their generation will frequently say, "just call me Indian, that's what we've always been called." Here's a bit of history that they know and you probably do not - the country of India itself was known by the Persian epithet as "Hindustan,” not India, during Columbus's time. No place used the word Indian, until after 1492, so as the elders say, "We had it first. Why should I be the one to change?"

There is some evidence that Christopher Columbus said a phrase resembling, "una gente in Dios." In his journals, he makes six references to India or the Indies, and four to Indios. I have lost the reference, but along my education, I learned that the first printed use of "Indian" was when the Jesuits arrived, interacted, and named the people in print, probably around 1609. As an aside, if Columbus thought he was really arriving to Cipangu (Jipangu, Zipangu, Jipang, or Zipang), the kingdom of current day Japan, he would have brought a lot more gifts for the emperor. He actually only brought trinkets, which makes scholars question his motives and knowledge - did he really not know where he was going?

While none of the name descriptors are particularly good, some are worse than others, depending on how much you know about them. The R*dsk*n term, for example, is particularly offensive. It is what was said when claiming bounties (money) or exchanging them at trading posts. So, "I have some beaver pelts and r*dski*ns to exchange today." This meant they have murdered and scalped Indigenous People and were bringing in proof of payment.

Other terms have been used throughout history and in legal legislation. When Thomas Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence he used the phrase, "merciless Indian savages." "Savage" was, and continues to be, used to dehumanize Indigenous peoples and to normalize their genocide and the taking of their land. Jefferson believed it the duty of the government to “pursue them to extermination.”  Institutional policy saw Indigenous people as less than human, and as a result, it was easier to justify abuses against them. 

Terms to describe the Indigenous people of the Americas have changed over time. The northeast tends to use Native American and the westcoast tends to use American Indian. I happen to like First Nations People which is THE term used in Canada. Currently, I tend to use "Indigenous." While it represents ALL Indigenous people world wide, it also affirms our solidarity. In addition, it is the current political term being used, as in "Indigenous People's Day."

In formal writing, I try to footnote the controversy and acknowledge which term I'm choosing to use and which terms I am capitalizing (i.e.: Black, Brown, BIPOC, white, Indigenous) so reader know it is a conscious choice, not an accident and not because I don't know my grammar. Why should I follow a colonizer's prescription on these words? The American Psychological Association cannot possibly know the cultural meanings and racist/ racial impacts connected to these terms.

Having said all that, the best thing to do is to use the tribal nation name. The one that they use. So, not Navajo, but Diné, because that is their reclaimed name. Is that extra work? Yes. Should we spend the time? Yes. Why? Because we want to demonstrate our willingness to listen when folks tell us what they want to be called. Because we want to show our ability to find out information on our own and not just have the oppressed group be out teachers. Because we want to build solidarity, and one way is by respecting traditional tribal names and/or regions.

Below is an example of traditional names (many being reclaimed) and contemporary names. Decolonizing ourselves means going with Indigenous voices, instead of colonizer choices.


Here is a map of regions in the United States.


Here is a sampling of the many different tribal nation names in the United States.

http://www.runningdeerslonghouse.com/webdoc111.htm

Alaskan tribal nation names samplling.


Central American tribal nation names sampling.

South American tribal nation names sampling.