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We agree on many things, my friend. As one whose picture appears in the dictionary as an illustration of the term "Old Fart", I personally prefer the term American Indian to that other one.
I have had many American Indian friends over the years. They do as well. Or just Indian.
Interesting American Experience (PBS) programs on the Battle of the Little Big Horn and Geronimo this month. I noticed most speakers said "Indian". Including the Indians.
Has there been a thread in History on the American Indian Movement? That would be interesting.
I personally prefer the term American Indian to that other one.
Yep, me too. Comanche or Numu is even better. I think "Native American" is a term being pushed on us by non-NDNs. Another case of them telling us how we should feel or what is "best" for us.
I have had many American Indian friends over the years. They do as well. Or just Indian.
Interesting American Experience (PBS) programs on the Battle of the Little Big Horn and Geronimo this month. I noticed most speakers said "Indian". Including the Indians.
Has there been a thread in History on the American Indian Movement? That would be interesting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fullback32
Yep, me too. Comanche or Numu is even better. I think "Native American" is a term being pushed on us by non-NDNs. Another case of them telling us how we should feel or what is "best" for us.
Several years ago on a similar forum and in things I read I learned that most American Indians prefer Indian to Native American. I agree that it's an artificial term supposedly made up to be non-offensive to you. It doesn't seem as if those who coined the term ever asked any actual Indians about this, though.
I do like the shorthand NDN. I live in a part of the country where there are many people from India and very few American Indians. The NDN term differentiates.
Fullback32--Is "Numu" specific to one tribe/language? Educate us, please.
Several years ago on a similar forum and in things I read I learned that most American Indians prefer Indian to Native American. I agree that it's an artificial term supposedly made up to be non-offensive to you. It doesn't seem as if those who coined the term ever asked any actual Indians about this, though.
I do like the shorthand NDN. I live in a part of the country where there are many people from India and very few American Indians. The NDN term differentiates.
Fullback32--Is "Numu" specific to one tribe/language? Educate us, please.
Numu is what we Comanches call ourselves in our own language. An individual Comanche us a Numu; two or more (or the Nation as a whole) are the Numunu. The "u" is the short "u" sound. The Shoshone and the Paiutes use the same word as we all speak the same language with some dialectal differences of course.
The reason we are called Comanche is because of the Spanish. When they were exploring Texas, they had Ute scouts with them. When the Spaniards came across our ancestors, they asked their Ute scout who those people were. The scouts said kohmats, which in their language means "enemy." The Spaniards bastardized it and it morphed into Comanche. Many of the tribal names that people are familiar with are not what the people call themselves in their own languages.
Wow...that's the wrong reason to get enrolled IMO. BTW, the "benefits" aren't all that and vary from Nation to Nation. For some Nations, what benefits you receive also depends on whether or not you live on tribal land.
A CDIB card does NOT automatically qualify a person for tribal enrollment nor does it qualify someone for benefits programs. That is completely up to each individual Nation and blood quantum and documentation requirements also vary from Nation to Nation. All a CDIB card does is state, according to the BIA, that you possess a certain amount on Indian blood. The BIA will require legal documentation of native ancestry. Family stories won't cut it.
Agree. I have refused to apply for mine based on several factors--
No other group is required to have a CDIB / quantum to prove membership. Imagine if the government required blacks or hispanics to prove their heritage?
Another reason is because I do not want to be seen as looking for benefits. It ain't the benefits---it is the heritage.
I still check the NATIVE AMERICAN box on the demographic questions and completely ignore the fine print that is attached to the "requirement / elgibilty" to legally claim the designation.
I have never heard of the term "Indian Number." Yeah, we're Indian but the only evidence we have is records that my great-grandmother was half Indian, half French. She married a man that has relatives doing their searches and they, too are part-Indian, so they tell me.
I cannot register with the Cherokee nation without more proof. I only have Birth certificates for our Mom, and it says nothing about Indian or cherokee.
Millions of us in this nation are possibly Indian but we lack the records to prove it. That's okay, though I'd love to be registered, we do have the old, family stories and a few of the old ways, but way, too few.
Just some random thoughts from a mongrel. We have stories from two sides of the family that we have NDN ancestery. One of my great grandmothers was said to have endured the trail of tears, and when my great grandfather came home and learned of it, he went to OK, tracked her down and married her. On the other side, one of my great grandfather's middle name was Puthuff, and this was said to have been his Indian name.He came from Big Stone Gap, VA. I would like to learn if both or either story is true, and if so which tribe they belonged to. I don't want this information for any gain, but to know about my ancesters and to try to learn about their lives.This knowledge makes me not one bit better or worse, for I will always be who I am, but I don't want my ancesters forgotten in their own family. I suspect that many who are looking for their ancesters are doing so simply because the really want to know where their family comes from.
Just some random thoughts from a mongrel. We have stories from two sides of the family that we have NDN ancestery. One of my great grandmothers was said to have endured the trail of tears, and when my great grandfather came home and learned of it, he went to OK, tracked her down and married her. On the other side, one of my great grandfather's middle name was Puthuff, and this was said to have been his Indian name.He came from Big Stone Gap, VA. I would like to learn if both or either story is true, and if so which tribe they belonged to. I don't want this information for any gain, but to know about my ancesters and to try to learn about their lives.This knowledge makes me not one bit better or worse, for I will always be who I am, but I don't want my ancesters forgotten in their own family. I suspect that many who are looking for their ancesters are doing so simply because the really want to know where their family comes from.
Well masonsdaughter, the one ancestor of yours that survived the Trail of Tears could either be Choctaw, Cree, or Cherokee. These were the tribes that were forcibly removed by the Federal Government to the Oklahoma Territory in the mid 1830s, I too have a great grandmother and great great grandmother/grandfather who were on the Trail of Tears. I also use the real name of the Cherokee(Tsalagi--pronounced Jah-la-kee).
Numu is what we Comanches call ourselves in our own language. An individual Comanche us a Numu; two or more (or the Nation as a whole) are the Numunu. The "u" is the short "u" sound. The Shoshone and the Paiutes use the same word as we all speak the same language with some dialectal differences of course.
The reason we are called Comanche is because of the Spanish. When they were exploring Texas, they had Ute scouts with them. When the Spaniards came across our ancestors, they asked their Ute scout who those people were. The scouts said kohmats, which in their language means "enemy." The Spaniards bastardized it and it morphed into Comanche. Many of the tribal names that people are familiar with are not what the people call themselves in their own languages.
I knew that much. I live in NJ, which has a lot of place names that come from words of the original inhabitants' languages. They are so bastardized though that they rarely resemble the original word.
Thanks for the explanation and a little bit of info on the language and pronounciation. I've always found language fascinating.
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I think "Native American" is a term being pushed on us by non-NDNs. Another case of them telling us how we should feel or what is "best" for us.
