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

At 12:19 PM -0500 22/11/05, Steg Belsky wrote:
>What about _Native American_ (=Amerind) vs. _native American_ (born in...)?
That doesn't work in speech, though, which is where so many of the
misunderstandings and disputes occur. I've seen a genuine all-out
fistfight over this ambiguity, between patriotic white country boys
and, er, the *other* kind of "REAL Native Americans".

There's always the issue of in-group vs. out-group usage, too. I've
got some reservation-dwelling cousins who pretty vocally insist that
whites call them "Native American", though I've never heard them use
anything but "Indian" themselves in un-mixed company.

The thing with 'aborigine' is that, in American English usage at
least, it seems to have such strongly pejorative connotations that I
can't imagine it ever catching on. Except as another term of abuse,
anyway. Which is unfortunate :(

True story: as a very young kid, when I read about "Amerinds" at
first I thought it meant a kind of fruit. You know, like tamarinds.

K
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