Re: Amerinds (was: Gallopavo (was: Re: fruitbats))

Staving Tom Chappell:

>For some time the accepted academic designation was "Amerind".  You
>can see this in linguists' articles from that time.
>
>Nowadays our own autonym, and therefore politically correct ethnonym,
>is "Native American".  In my view this is insufficiently
>specific; "Native American" means "born in America", and so would
>include anyone who is not himself or herself an immigrant.  To
>me, "Indigenous American", "Aboriginal American" or "American
>Aborigine", or "Autochthonous American" would be better -- though I
>don't really see what was so bad with "Amerind".
>
>(The views just expressed are my own, and not necessarily shared by
>even a single other Cherokee.)
>
I have heard that some "Native Americans" prefer to self-designate as "Red"
- for example, there is a lobbying group called WARN, which stands for
"Women of All Red Nations".

I don't know if this proves anything, other than that self-designation is a
matter of personal taste.

Pete (who self-designates as "English").

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