May 30, 2008

"Sioux" trips up student

Local student out of spelling beeMadison County student Austin Hoke was eliminated from the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday when he misspelled “Sioux,” the name of the American Indian tribe.

Hoke, 14, an eighth-grader at Mount Vernon Middle School in Fortville, spelled the word as “sou” during the second round of the event in Washington, D.C.
Comment:  I could see "Souix," but "Sou"? How about "Soo," "Sue," or "Sew"?

In other words, give me a break. America's ignorance about Indians continues.

Below:  Not a sou.



A sou.

4 comments:

dmarks said...

I always thought of the Sioux as being multiple tribes. Now I am not sure of the definition of tribe.

Rob said...

We know "Sioux" is synonymous with "Lakota" and the name of a group of tribes. But the article's writer or editor evidently doesn't know it.

I suppose the people responsible could say they meant the Sioux family of tribes when they wrote "tribe." But that would be stretching it.

dmarks said...

Actually that is a misperception, fueled by "Dances with Wolves" and other Lakota-centric things. The Sioux also include the Dakota and Nakota, not just the Lakota.

Rob said...

The Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota are closely related groups. And the Lakota dominate in terms of numbers. Right?

Therefore, I'd say it's fair to say "Lakota" and "Sioux" are synonymous. Not the same, but similar.