SQUAW

[cblackhawk]

I agree, people who use that word deffently mean to disrespect, if they dont know the meaning than they shouldnt use it.

cheyenne

[ghstdncr_PREV (deleted)]

It is not right. the people that use it dont know or they just dont care. either way praise the women today who stand up proud and loud; and refuse to be a sterotype.

[dragnfly_PREV (deleted)]

As a strong Native Women I look at all of the hard ships that my mother and even my grandmother suffered from the ways they were treated in their youth and today to say that no one could know that the word squaw would offend a Native is like saying that no one knew that the "N" word would offend and African American. Ignorance is not an excuse and I was always taught that if you don't know the meaning of the word then don't let it exist in your vocabulary. Today better yet if you know the meaning of the word and it is offensive, then if you don't have anything good to say don't say anything.

Dragnfly

[scottishgirl_PREV (deleted)]

you know.... this is the last thing i was expecting to find here and it really saddens me.

people all over the world suffer at the hands of others .... it isnt right and we all know it

however...educating people is the way to change them and raising kids to know better is the only weapon good folks have to change the world for the better. so stop griping...coz everyones grandma had the kinds of problems we dont usually have to face (thank god eh ).

so if things like name calling gets on your nerves get down off your soap box and do something about it .... im tired of folks all over moaning about this and that. freedom of speech isnt just for those whos opinions are the same as yours or mine, but griping about a few words changes nothing ..... and incase u aint getting the point...... i too find the word offensive....but hey ...sticks and stones...

i mean for heavens sake...my kid ...when he or she is born ....will be half scottish and half tlingit ..... is gonna have to worry bout more than being called a squaw if its a girl...but im hoping my kid will be proud of its heritage on both sides ......and not feel the kind of sadness, and bitterness i have read on these 2 pages.

[cherokie1_PREV (deleted)]

TRUE, the word is an offence to native women and i agree if you dont know the meaning then dont use it, i think the correct word is chimeash meaning a respectful lady ,please correct me if im wrong, iv lived with west indian carrib people all my life and as far as im concerned its like calling a afro carribean a n..ger and i wouldnt want it used against my children, one love cher.

[frybreadlicious]

Well, I am a new user on this site, and of-course myself having to look around at all the interesting topics to see, I came across this one. I also noticed that most of the people in defense of the word/term " Squaw", were infact deleted users? Is it because they spoke up?

Squaw infact was a term used by male settlers or male officers to refer to a Native woman as a slave/ (other relations) if you get my terminology.

I am not trying to break any rules on this board, it would be considered at racist remark if I did, but let it go. Your not here to argue over a screen name. If that's the case go to my board and blog about it. :D

[feedback]

Welcome to the site, and to the forums area.

In case anyone thinks this might be the case, we just wanted to make it clear that we did not delete any members due to their comments in the forum. When we run across inappropriate posts within the forums, we delete the comments. Usually this type of action is taken due to spam issues, rather than anything else though. If someone does spam though, they are likely to be deleted from the network as well, along with their comments.

The deleted members within the forum likely deleted themselves. When this happens, we do not delete comments made by the members previously, so that the forum threads can continue without holes in them.

Thanks,

[pinkmoonraven]

I read all your posts about the word squaw. I have a better one for you. It seems "Dog" Chapman, the bounty hunger got in big trouble for being recorded using "the 'N' word" repeatedly. Well people. We need to unite and start a ruckus whenever anyone calls us Indians. Do you agree? Are you offended? Are you an Indian? I'm not. Indians are from India. Stupid mistake by Chris Columbus. What an idiot. We need an NAANA! Don't let anyone call you anything but Native American, (or better yet specify your tribe. I'm Tsalagi myself.

[fawnrain_PREV (deleted)]

here is some info i found on the net, very interesting! i think it is important to deconstruct histories and know where things come from originally, as well as thier original intent. also to understand how words and language and meanings change over time, but to not take on "new meanings" as original meanings. and that pretty much goes for everything in life, not just the word squaw. please read the article and decide if it site well with you or not.

peace

Reclaiming the Word "Squaw"
in the Name of the Ancestors

Kwai kwai. Greetings. I write to you as an alnobaskwa, an Abenaki woman, questioning the motion to gut our original language in the name of political correctness. Over the past few decades, in my travels as a traditional storyteller and historical consultant, I have met many indigenous speakers and elders who are concerned at the efforts of otherwise well-meaning people to remove the word "squaw" from the English language.

Squaw means the totality of being female
Squaw is NOT an English word. It IS a phoenetic rendering of an Algonkian word that does NOT translate to "a woman's private parts." The word "squaw" - as "esqua," "squa," "skwa," "skwe" and other variants - traditionally means the totality of being female, not just the female anatomy. The word has been interpreted by modern activists as a slanderous assault against Native American women. But traditional Algonkian speakers, in both Indian and English, still say words like "nidobaskwa" = a female friend, "manigebeskwa" = woman of the woods, or "Squaw Sachem" = female chief. When Abenaki people sing the Birth Song, they address "nuncksquassis" = "little woman baby."

During the contact period, northeastern American Indian people taught the colonists the word "squaw," and whites incorporated it into their speech. English observers described women's medicinal plants such as "squaw vine" and "squaw root," among many others. There are rumors about the word's usage as an insult by French fur traders among western tribes who were not Algonkian speakers. But the insult was in the usage, not in the original word.

Any word can hurt when used as a weapon. Banning the word will not erase the past, and will only give the oppressors power to define our language. What words will be next? Pappoose? Sachem? Pow Wow? If we accept the slander, and internalize the insult, we discredit our female ancestors who felt no shame at hearing the word spoken. To ban indigenous words discriminates against Native people and their languages. Are we to be condemned to speaking only the "King's English?" What about all the words from other Native American languages?

Let me tell you a story. A good friend, a revered New England Algonkian elder, gave her granddaughter a traditional name that ended in "-skwa" meaning "powerful little woman." That poor girl came home from school in tears one day, asking, "Why did you name me such a horrible name? All my teachers told me it's a dirty word." When our languages are perceived as dirty words, we and our grandchildren are in grave danger of losing our self-respect. That school is now being taught that squaw is NOT a dirty word, but an indigenous term that has been misused and misunderstood, and that it is an appropriate, traditional, and honorable part of this girl's name.

Some American Indian activists have written to me saying, "well, YOU can use the word if you want, but WE consider it obscene." This labeling of my indigenous language as obscene is a racist statement. It makes no sense for Native people to cling to and accept a wrong translation. We must stop now and educate, rather than tolerate the loss of our language due to ignorance.

if you would like to read more, please go here:

(removed)

[randielynn_PREV (deleted)]

.thnaks

[(deleted)]

.That's what I'm looking for too as my ad said. I've had so many wanting just a fling etc & I'm not into that. If you email me at my ------- it's faster & better.

[blackfootedgirl]

`Having had this discussion with a few friends in the Gay and Lesbian community, they told me that the words like "Fag","Dyke","Queer"and even "Lesbian"were words that at some point in recent history were deemed derogatory and offensive, but their community started using those words amongst themselves to take the sting out of hearing them so that those being discriminative,hateful or just plain ignorant could no longer use them with their former intent because they were no longer thought of as derogatory in the Gay and Lesbian community. I think through patience and education attitudes will change and those offensive words will either no longer be used or die out with those who refuse to change.

[cheybear74 (deleted)]

Most people don't know that the word "Squaw" comes from an Algonquian word "Minisquaw" which means "wife". Later the term was deemed derogatory from all those Cowboy movies that most of you have watched where the fur trapper refers to women as a squaw, and look at them as a mere s----l object and nothing more.

[(deleted)]

IT'S JUST A WORD I DO NOT LET WORDS BOTHER ME..IN FACT IN ALL MY YEARS ON THIS EARTH I HAVE NEVER BEEN CALLED SQUAW


The English word "squaw" was borrowed from the Algonquian language family of a few Indian tribes in Canada and New England and first appeared in the American vocabulary around 1634. It has been used in literature and historical documents for much of this countrys history. The Massachusetts/Algonquian word means "young woman." The word is unknown in the languages of Native Americans of the Western and Midwestern United States.

"Squaw" has been a familiar word in American literature and language since the 17th century and has always been normally understood to mean "an Indian woman or wife." The term as commonly used contains no disrespect to Indian women any more than the words "woman" or "wife" do to Anglo-American women.

[hstreet_PREV (deleted)]

I would like to say miigwetch to fawnrain for clarifying this to those who don't know. That word, and it's variants, comes from my Algonquin language as well as those tribes who speak an Algonquian dialect. It is an honorable word and one that my people own within our language. I am very proud of my people and my language... madjashin