It’s like the term “Asian.” Few people identify as generic “Asian” and it would be incorrect to equate it with a nationality or specific culture. But it does work at a high level to address a group of people who have something in common on a political dimension.
1) The label was overbroad, since the attacks were on East Asians, not south Asians.
2) The whole thing was manipulated by white liberals for their own purposes. They blamed Trump and “white supremacy” for the attacks, when in reality the attacks where happening in liberal cities like SF and NYC, and most of the attackers were non-white themselves.
In fact, the “Asian” label and identity was used to undermine the interests of Asians. Progressive identity activists used it as an opportunity to attack white conservatives, while reaffirming the need for reduced policing. But that’s not what actual Asian voters in these cities wanted: https://www.slowboring.com/p/yang-gang. They wanted more policing and measures to control the homeless. In NYC, for example, Asians overwhelmingly supported Andrew Yang, who was attacked for expressing moderately law and order views. And in the general election, heavily Asian communities in NYC voted in significant numbers for the Republican candidate, even though the Democrat also ran on a law and order platform: https://www.thecity.nyc/politics/2021/11/11/22777346/chinese.... The Republican candidate was otherwise a complete joke (even the NY Post endorsed the Democrat). But he got 46% of the vote in Brooklyn’s 70% Asian China town.
Sometimes these broad, politically constructed group labels are unavoidable. But labeling a group and getting people to identify with that label is also a tool for manipulating people. Indeed the term “Asian” to refer to a bunch of unrelated nationalities—who often have deep animosity towards each other—was coined by Berkeley political activists: https://time.com/5837805/asian-american-history/
I'm not. I'm reiterating what has been told to me by close to a dozen Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni indians.
Why would some random archaeologist decide for a large group of people what they should be called, when they call themselves something else?
I happen to have the January 6, 2020 edition of The Navajo Times on my desk. Just skimming the headlines (because I haven't read it yet), I see the following:
"Phoenix Indian Center," "Gallup Indian Medical Center," "Indian Health Service," "Santa Fe Indian."
The Four Corners region of the United States is called "Indian Country" by the indians who live there.
What give you the right to tell people what they can call themselves?
Part of this whole respecting preferences is that individual terms have to be treated separately. "Indian" is different than "American Indian" which is again different from "Indian country" or "Indian law". Someone may dislike some or most of these without necessarily disliking the others. The ones with specific technical meanings we're unfortunately stuck with in context.
Another popular example of this sort of issue is "Navajo" itself, as many would prefer to be called Diné or some derivative thereof.
He's also put out a number of tangentially related videos inspired by his research work on Indians:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABMV4wXx6Xo
Well....maybe. 2 years is a long gap, even for Grey. I would assume he had hoped to put out much more by now. That he didn't is probably a reflection not just to COVID productivity but also lost motivation.
I hope that's not the case, but who knows...
Always awkward after conquests.
That being said, some tribes use their enrollment offices as a power play on some members. I do wish the federal government would step in some way. Its a tricky subject.
Yes, what Native Americans could use is more federal meddling in their lands, tribes, and affairs... /s
You can't take the easy way out and ignore the problem because you are part of the problem.
1) I remember a band that I thought was called "Beads and Feathers" that had Native Americans and Indians.
I've gotten the sense from Brown Pundits that among themselves they refer to themselves as Desi. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desi )
First Nations is what they say on the CBC, but "Indian" hasn't been stamped out completely.
Well, the same is the case with Europeans, Asians, and so on, so?
We have smaller identities, and larger group identities, it's not belonging or being categorized in one precludes the smaller more unique identity...
Does "Inuit" have two meanings?
Part of it is the word Eskimo. Not popular and falling out of fashion, people look for a replacement, and grabbed what a large subgroup of the people called that calls itself. And thus mislabeling those that are not in that subgroup.
To stretch the analogy again, lets assume for some reason "North American" has become a word to avoid, so lets just call all North Americans what the people from the USA call themselves to be more considerate. And the Canadians aren't happy with that.
I'll admit "inuit" is pretty widely accepted nowadays, but it's not universally so. The relevant ANLC page gives a good summary of the situation: https://www.uaf.edu/anlc/resources/inuit_or_eskimo.php
I've heard plenty Indians call themselves Indian. Probably tied to locality
When my father was in school in Northern Ontario they were having students cross out "savages" in text books & write in "Indians". While I was growing up the term was moving to aboriginal
All of this leads to the old joke, "What do you call 64 Cheyenne in a room?" "One indian."
The linked article unfortunately bases its conclusions on "self-identification," which is problematic. When the federal government sent the tribes billions of dollars in COVID relief money, suddenly there were newly-minted, self-described "indians" crawling out of the woodwork trying to get a check.
Also realated, there's currently a bunch of people on a reservation outside of Seattle who are being kicked out of their homes because they're not tribal enough. The tribe changed its definition, and because these people are from a related tribe up in Canada, they no longer qualify.
/Friends with a lot of indians. Subscribe to two indian newspapers. And yes "Indian" is correct. It's only white people and city indians who embrace the term "Native American." Rez indians call themselves "indians." Proudly.