Bad Words

I read an article recently that took me by surprise. Apparently, the word "squaw" is considered a derogatory term and has been removed from 167 geographical landmarks around our nation. It's referred to as the "S-Word." When I was a kid, I was led to believe that a squaw was a young, female Indian (the term we used to use back in the 70's, before that word fell into disfavor too). In fact, my school mascot was an Indian, and all our elementary schools had Indian related names. Today, my kids look at me funny when I tell them to sit "Indian style," because the politically correct terminology is now to "sit like a pretzel." I'm waiting for the ACLU to pounce on that term, considering pretzels were first baked as a symbol of prayer by Christian monks. But I digress.....

According to wordorigins.org: "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 It has been used in literature and historical documents for much of this country’s history. The Massachusetts/Algonquian word means "young woman."

However, in a 1992 appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Indian activist Susan Harjo broadcast this inflammatory theory to a national audience, inflating it in the process. Harjo stated in part: "The word ‘squaw’ is an Algonquin [sic] Indian word meaning vagina, and that’ll give you an idea of what the French and British fur trappers were calling all Indian women, and I hope no one ever uses that term again."

Even more fascinating to me, in the book, The Language Police by Diane Ravitch, the words "jungle," "courageous," and "founding fathers" have been found to be offensive words to some people. My daughter would be glad to add a few words to the list that she would be more than happy to never hear again. She actually thinks the words bonanza and Wichita are creepy. Maybe we should get rid of those too?

As far as the whole Native American controversy goes, I'm not exactly sure what "expert" to believe. Except to consider that our country probably has more significant problems than those cooked up on Oprah.