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No, I got that part, but the term actually has a meaning in the current world other than the composition of its parts which is different than the examples you c

No, I got that part, but the term actually has a meaning in the current world other than the composition of its parts which is different than the examples you cite. > I am sure most white folks would sound like heathens when visiting a reservation and trying to engage the members of the tribe. Not in normal conversations, its still America (or Canada for reserves), but anyone debating what someone else should call themselves does lead to a bit of trouble. The history of the Sioux alone shows that.

Mz 11y ago
Oh, no, I was not debating what someone else should call themselves. I was tossing out an off the cuff suggestion as to why a particular site may have used the phrasing it used, even though I am not the author of the site, so I don't actually know why it was called that. I personally find every one of those expressions -- Indians, Native Americans, Indigenous Peoples -- problematic. Indians: Columbus thought he had discovered India. It thus completely annihilates the identity of the peoples of this continent by assuming they are something else entirely and, oh, hand wavy, SKIN COLOR, close enough! --- we don't really care that they aren't. Native Americans: There was no "America" to be "native" of before white peoples came and stole the lands of the indigenous peoples. Nor was it even called America when Columbus first found it. He thought he found India. It was called The New World for a time. It wasn't named America until Amerigo Vespucci came here. (No, I don't recall all the details.) It is rather insulting to retroactively designate them by a country name that didn't exist when this was their lands. Indigenous Peoples: Most Americans hear that and think you mean tribes in some other part of the world, not tribes native to this continent. I don't think we have a really good expression for the entire group of many different tribal peoples who are descended from the people who were here well before Europeans discovered this continent and ....lots of events later a country called The United States of America was formed. Even the term "America" as a means to refer to citizens of the U.S.A. is problematic when speaking on the Internet because Canadians and people living in South America and Central America (etc) feel like we are appropriating a term that could also refer to them. The arrogance of mainstream culture in the U.S. is incredible and galling and I am not fond of it. But I am only one person and often use terms I do not like because I am just one person and I need to communicate with other people and communication requires that we use terms that will get us understood, no matter how much we think their history and usage is deeply troubling and problematic.

Mz 11y ago

Oh, no, I was not debating what someone else should call themselves. I was tossing out an off the cuff suggestion as to why a particular site may have used the phrasing it used, even though I am not the author of the site, so I don't actually know why it was called that. I personally find every one of those expressions -- Indians, Native Americans, Indigenous Peoples -- problematic. Indians: Columbus thought he had discovered India. It thus completely annihilates the identity of the peoples of this continent by assuming they are something else entirely and, oh, hand wavy, SKIN COLOR, close enough! --- we don't really care that they aren't. Native Americans: There was no "America" to be "native" of before white peoples came and stole the lands of the indigenous peoples. Nor was it even called America when Columbus first found it. He thought he found India. It was called The New World for a time. It wasn't named America until Amerigo Vespucci came here. (No, I don't recall all the details.) It is rather insulting to retroactively designate them by a country name that didn't exist when this was their lands. Indigenous Peoples: Most Americans hear that and think you mean tribes in some other part of the world, not tribes native to this continent. I don't think we have a really good expression for the entire group of many different tribal peoples who are descended from the people who were here well before Europeans discovered this continent and ....lots of events later a country called The United States of America was formed. Even the term "America" as a means to refer to citizens of the U.S.A. is problematic when speaking on the Internet because Canadians and people living in South America and Central America (etc) feel like we are appropriating a term that could also refer to them. The arrogance of mainstream culture in the U.S. is incredible and galling and I am not fond of it. But I am only one person and often use terms I do not like because I am just one person and I need to communicate with other people and communication requires that we use terms that will get us understood, no matter how much we think their history and usage is deeply troubling and problematic.