[OT] Inuit? Eskimo?

[Floyd Davidson]

"Andrew Dalke" <adalke at mindspring.com> wrote:
>Floyd Davidson:
>> The term "Native American" is a coined word that the US Federal
>> government came up with to reference *all* indigenous people in
>> the US and its territories.  Hence it includes American Indians,
>> Eskimos, Aleuts, Hawaiians, Puerto Ricans, Guamanians, American
>> Somoans and probably somebody I've forgotten to name.
>
>When did the phrase come into use?  I'm thinking about the

In relatively recent times.  For some reason the date 1948
sticks in my mind, but that may be off by a few years either
direction.

>> indigenous to Alaska was to use the term Native.  Hence, they
>> adopted the phrase "American Indian and Alaska Native peoples".
>>
>> You'll find that phrase has been widely adopted by the US
>> Federal government when it refers specifically to that group of
>> people, as opposed to the wider significance of the term Native
>> American.
>
>Interesting.  One of the local radio shows is "Native American
>Calling".  It's a talk show, and people from Alaska call in.
>They also include news from around the US and Canada.
>I'll be on the lookout now to see if/when they say "Alaska
>Native peoples"

You'll hear lots of Alaskans!  And they will almost all use
the term "Native" with regularity.  When they want to
distinguish Alaskans from everyone else, it will be "Alaska
Natives" or "Alaska Native people".

>There's also the low-grade complaints because some people
>use the term "Indian Country" while others don't like that term.

That one is a real problem, because there is the common
vernacular and there is the legal term too.  And if you want
bitter fights, get involved in the legalities of just what is or
is not legally "Indian Country".  The courts, and in particular
the US Supreme Court, want to reduce the application of that
term because with it comes sovereignty that they would like to
diminish.

Indian Law is a maze of tricks and word games, all designed to
remove ownership of whatever it is that Native people have that
non-Native people want.  And "Indian Country" is right in the
middle of that.

What you'll notice is that most people who like the term "Indian
Country" also use it as a stick to poke non-Native legal
philosophy in the side.  However, here in Alaska the courts have
found ways to deny either that fact of Indian Country or the
effect.  First they say that only Native Allotments are Indian
Country, and then they say yes they are, but tribes have no
governing authority over them individually, and therefore cannot
exercise sovereignty on them.  Translate that to: The State of
Alaska government is good enough for me and it will damned well
be good enough for you, even if it does *nothing* for you.

>Speaking of naming ethnicities, I've heard about Americans
>applying the "African-American" to black people in the UK. :)

Heh heh, there are more upsetting things than that.

My children are Yup'ik Eskimo (Central Alaskan Yupik), and grew
up in a Yup'ik village.  They think of "white" people in terms
of culture more than skin color, and use the traditional Yupik
word to name it: Kass'ak (gu-suk).  (It was originally derived
from the Russian word, Kaz'ak, which became Cossack in English.
Technically it means "stranger", but commonly is used to mean
"white man".)

So in the late 1970's we moved to live near Eielson AFB in the
Fairbanks area.  My children were pre-teens / early teens, and
went to schools on base, and I worked on base.  So they dropped
by my work location after school if they needed a ride home
later than the bus run.  That lead to an interesting experience
for some of the young black GI's.

When the subject of race relations came up (keep in mind that I
was just old enough to be the father of these young men, so we
our relationship is pretty much father/son rather than
co-workers and/or friends) I couldn't resist telling a couple of
them that, welllll...  my kids just figured they were "Kass'aks
with black colored skin".

Can imagine their shock when they said, "What's that mean?", and
I said with a grin, "White man! Because to them you are just
another White Man!".  A totally new concept to a young black
fellow... but a very good experience to have because it is *all*
relative.

-- 
Floyd L. Davidson           <http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)                         floyd at barrow.com