A Hate Word Defined
When the Native American is referred to as a REDSKIN they are being called a non human.
What you are being told is the part of you that is Native is a GODLESS BEAST.
If you do not feel this, it is because the ones who hate you have destroyed the Human Being that should exist in you.
You can be sure your ancestors know what this word means.
What you have missed is how the word REDSKIN came into existence and how it has been used.
What you have missed is how it has never changed...
To the non-Native:
Long ago when our people first met. You gave us a name to express your hatred. That name was "REDSKINS." You viewed the "REDSKIN" as a big dumb animal. You slaughtered our children as you would slaughter the wolf. You skinned the bodies of our families and made leggings and tobacco pouches. You turned in the REDSKIN of the Native American for bounty. Yes, you took away our religion, and you said, "What animal understands a higher power?" You confined us to areas because the modern man keeps animals in a game reserve. It was your game, your sport and your joy.
When we hear and read the name REDSKIN, we remember the past. This is the modern day, the dawn of the 21st century, but as Human Beings we see you have no respect for us in the present. We are not allowed to move freely or to be free from your words of hate.
We are treated like you treat the animals,
"Stay out of sight and keep quiet REDSKIN, and you can have your life."
A REDSKIN IS AN ANIMAL
Then there are others who sell out and use the word to make money for themselves. These people don't know or don't care how their fellow Natives feel.
3 comments:
Writerfellahere --
writerfella recalls John Huston's 1960 film, THE UNFORGIVEN, with Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn. In it the term 'Red Stick' was used to slander the Kiowans who wanted their stolen girl child returned. Though writerfella's distant uncle, George Paugyeah was the film's technical advisor (he taught Kiowan to the white and Mexican actors), even he was puzzled over that term. No one seemed to have heard it before and Natives in Oklahoma who saw the film thought the words were uproarious.
Years later, Harlan Ellison was writing a story about a group of anti-government white supremacists and wanted to include a 'roll call' of racist names and slurs that the supremists had to recite by heart before becoming full-fledged members. During the Clarion Workshop at Tulane University, he approached writerfella with trepidation to ask, um, er, uh, what are the racist and hurtful names that whites call Natives? writerfella was amused and asnwered, "Well, it's a short list -- Indian, Injun, dirty Injun, Redskin, Red Man, Red Stick, guteater, dogeater, blanket ass, and Prairie niggers." Harlan was astounded and said, "But...those are...STUPID! What are the ones that cut and tear and burn and crush?" And writerfella replied, "That's the lot. Either we were behind the door when the white man handed out those pieces of his mind or we just lucked off. That last one is the most stupid because how could you use it on a Klamath or a Havasupai?"
Harlan wrote down the short list and it appears in his short story, "Knox." writerfella was given food for thought and eventually wrote an entire story, "Twenty Minutes Past The Hour..." that attempted to explain why that short list both is brief and mostly innocuous...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
So you think insults are innocuous? You're obviously ignorant of the psychological research done on the harmful effects of name-calling.
Which explains why you're shilling for a publication with an ethnic slur in its name. Apparently "Nigger" magazine was occupied so you went with Redskin magazine instead.
How about if I go up to a randomly selected group of Native children or elders and call them every name in the book? I have $100 that says I could make some of them feel upset or angry.
I'm glad that you, an ex-military man, are brave enough to stand up to harsh words. Alas, that's irrelevant to the issue of how most Indians feel about "redskin."
An e-mail from a non-Native correspondent:
Dear Rob,
It seems there is a sickness in the souls of a vast majority of people who have a need to dehumanize others in order to commit terrible crimes against them out of greed to possess the resources they have. Thus insulting words emerge by a process not quite known--words meant to demean the 'other' and make them less than human. Alas, 'Redskin' is not alone. Think of any ethnic group and a gross slur is also associated with them. When will we ever learn?!
Appreciatively Yours,
Amy
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