January 25, 2012

List of stereotypical Indian labels

Speaking of "little things" and the harm of Native stereotyping, a Mohawk provides a comprehensive list of labels used to describe Indians:

The Indian Lists: Sh*t They Call Us and Sh*t We Call Ourselves

By Alex K. JacobsLos Indios (The Indian List)

(This is what they call us)

Los Indios, Indio, Indian, Indianner, injuns, Americans, American Race, redman, redskin, redstick, redbone, Peaux-rouge, salvage, savage, sauvage, salvaticho, skraelings, wildmen, pagan, heathen, infidel, primitive, barbarian, cannibals, Caliban, new world man, sons of another adam.

Red devil, tawny devil, tawnies, darkies, darklings, brownies, greasy heathen, copper-colored, copper-skins, copperhead, red nigger, backward, undeveloped, obstacle to progress, stoic, the plight of the Indian, Indian giver, Indian coffee, sly as an Indian, Indian lover, praying Indians, friendlies, hostiles, renegades, red line of cruelty, bloody border warfare, Indian Country, Indian menace, Indian peril, savage barrier, vanishing Indian, Lo! The poor Indian, Mr. Lo, poor Indian, blanket ass, feather head, le plume, lazy Indian, dumb Indian, playing the dumb Indian, wooden Indian, cigar-store Indian, Indian princess, Indian summer, Indian camp, firewater, debased, debauched, downtrodden, scalp, scalp-lock, scalp-knife, cruel, bloodthirsty, massacre, bury the hatchet, smoke the peace pipe, red children, visit the great white father, the Indian question, the Indian problem, Indian law, American Indian Law, you can not change an Indian, the only good Indian is a dead Indian, nits make lice.

Siwash, chollo, chief, brave, buck, squaw, papoose, gut-eater, dog-eater, puppy-basher, scalp-lifter, hair-lifter, wagon-burner, teepee creeper, wahoo, yahoo, wild as an Indian just off the reservation, working harder than an Indian, ugly as an Indian, meaner than an Indian, Indian Joe, Indian sidekick, Tonto, kemo-sabe, Indian scout, Geronimo, Hiawatha, Kawliga, Minnehaha, Pocahontas, Hollywood Indians, walk Indian file, read Indian sign, Indian head, Indian head-dress, Indian wrestling, Lamanites, Lost Tribe of Israel, el fatalismo del indio, give it back to the Indians, warpath, warpaint, war pony, warrior, timber nigger, prarie nigger, save a fish-spear an Indian, Indian mascots, Indian gurus, spiritual advisors, Indian spirit guides, witch doctor, medicine man, shaman, shamaness, shaman poet, new age Indian, new age tribe, wannabes, wopahoes, gone injun, jumped the reservation Injun, they’ve all gone Indian, my grandmother was an Indian princess, I was an Indian in another life.

(& This is what we call ourselves…)

Metis, mitchif, mestizo, mestizajes, coyotes, lobo, creole, zambo, sambahigos, gente de razon, californiano, gibaro, guajiro, campesino, la raza cosmica, breed, mixed breed, mixed blood, halfblood, halfbreed, half people, owl eyes, full blood, bloods, hoops, skins, chips, joes, 24 hour Indian, pure boy, pure girl, rez bunnies, mongolian tourists, red power, red muslims, AIM guys, AIMSTERS, assholes in moccasins, apples–red on the outside, white on the inside–malinchista, uncle tomahawks, tomahawk rock, heya-heya music, yatahey boys, antelope legs & buffalo hips, rez-mama, rez sisters, FBI’s–Full Blooded Indians–Billy Jacks, peyote eaters, jerky pounders, frybread eaters, scones, bush scones, rez scones, city scones, sconage, (lookin’ jake, pretty goot, Aaaa, buh, weh, CHOWUR, O-WAH), buckskinners, cornplanters, buffalo chasers, rabbit chokers, ghost dancers, sage burners, bingo dabbers, the Casino Clan, Mohogs, Mohacks, man-eaters, Indian cowboy, tourist Indian, government Indian, treaty card Indians, status Indians, non-status Indians, Indian Act Indians, I’m just a poor Indian, I’m just a dumb Indian, commodity Indian, commod bods, skinjins, roas allowance people, leave the blanket, buckskin curtain, corporate Indian, New Deal Indians, sell-outs, progressives, traditional, Real Indians, Euro-Indians, Amerinos, indigen, indigenes, indigenous, autochtones, naturals, Natural Americans, native, Native Americans, Native North American, Native North American Indian, American Indian, Amerindian, aboriginal, abos, OP’s, original peoples, original inhabitants, Original Americans, American Originals, First Americans, First Nations, Fourth World. It’s turtles all the way down.
Comment:  I gather Jacobs considers this a poem, though it doesn't exactly read like one. But it's a good list regardless of which genre it belongs to.

For more on the subject, see Conservatives Use "Language of Savagery" and Grinding Indians into the Ground.

Below:  "Shoot me, I'm a savage! I deserve it!"

1 comment:

dmarks said...

"Indian Country" should be moved to the 'what they call us' to the 'what we call ourselves' list.

Of course, so should "Indian".

One "label" entirely missing, and belonging on the 'what we call ourselves' list is "NDN"

And to the 'what they call us' you can add "Feather Indian", a term some in the UK use and think is "cute"