An Eskimo Boy And Injustice In Old New York

Ken Hanly khanly at mb.sympatico.ca
Fri Mar 17 09:35:56 PST 2000


I really can't answer that. The derivation is not absolutely certain. It was regarded as pejorative by the Inuit and apparently used pejoratively by an Algonkian group. You were the one that made-up "snowshoe guy". It is probably more like "snowshoe goon" or "snowshoe simpletons". Anyway it is not too strange that a people should want terms that are standard self-descriptions to be used, rather than other people's designations of them especially if they are regarded as pejorative but even if the term is not. Was the term "negro" pejorative?

Cheers, Ken Hanly

Brad De Long wrote:>The Algonkian language term "Eskimo" was pejorative...


>
> Let me repeat: How is calling people "the snowshoe guys" pejorative?



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