kreeden
Virus of the Mind
Interesting point . I don't know about the U.S. , but here in Canada it often appears that those who are so pround to be " Indian " are often those who can pass as " white ". First Nation People tend just to be proud of their heritage , as they usually don't have to tell people that they are " Indian ".Draka said:A sad fact is that now that being Native American is not only okay but a point of pride then we have those who will claim it when they are barely Native American.
The term " half-breed " is quite offensive here . And our constitution recognizes a whole culture of " mixed blood " people , the Metis . But perhaps that is why the term is considered offensive here ?
I am not First Nation , although I have quite a few friends that are . And I have a story to share about offensive terms , in relation to a few of those friends . Before I do share this story though , I would like to appolizes for offending those that I am about to , for I am quite sure that the terms used will offend some ...
When I first came to B.C. . some 27 years ago , I met some people who would turn out to be very good and long term friends . The lady's name is Kathy , and she is Chilcoten . Anyway , they invited me to the lake one weekend , and at night fish were splashing ago the shore , but I couldn't tell what kind of fish they were . Being me , I had to find out . So I got a rod and decided to catch one . Now Kathy and her sisters thought I was being quite .. well , I'm not sure what they figured I was being , but they decided to tease me a bit . They told me that the fish were only " squawfish ". { a common name for a type of western carp } . I told them that we didn't have " squawfish " in the east and had no idea what they were ... well it just went from there . The girls were having a great time , laughing and giggling about it , but it all went over my head . { turned out that the fish were spawning suckers }. Anyway , the point of this story is that today , 27 years later , Kathy no longer laughs about that term . It is very offensive , although the fish are still called that name .
As for some hip-hop performers in buckskins , I think that there are worst things that we could be taking a look at .... but that is just my opinion .
Oh , and Draka , I don't mean for this all to be directed at your post . I think that you made some very good points there .