COLUMN: Indian or Native American … just make up your minds

Friday the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights asked non-Indian colleges and universities to stop using Indian likenesses and names as mascots.

I’m all for that, but what I really wish is for Americans to stop using the word “Indian” to describe people who lived on this continent before Europeans discovered it. What, then, do you call people from India?

Canadians have a lovely way of dealing with this dilemma: People native to this continent are called First Nations Peoples (as in, they were here first) and people from India are known as East Indians. It makes life so much simpler. People here must clarify which group they’re talking about beyond the word “Indian.” Are you talking about people from India or natives of North America?

Since coming to the United States., I’ve heard several different views on this issue. I had one professor applaud Canada for its sensitivity in the naming of indigenous people, and another say that Indians prefer to be called just that.

So which one is it?

I don’t know which label native people in the United States prefer – American Indian, Indian or Native American – but whatever it is, we should try to use it. Perhaps people of that ancestry need to get together and come to a consensus and let the rest of the world know. It’s all terribly confusing.

Different cultural groups in the United States like to keep themselves distinct by using terms such as Irish-American, African-American, Chinese-American and the like. Hmmmm. Maybe I should call myself Canadian-American. Will I get special privileges, too?

For whatever reason, whether a result of the lack of such double-named distinction or not, Canada doesn’t seem to suffer the same sort of racial tension the United States battles on a daily basis. Maybe it’s because up there, where you come from isn’t necessarily as important as where you are. Unless you’re American.

There shouldn’t be a need to label people anything at all, but humans have this insatiable need to categorize. Are you a summer or a fall? Indian or Swedish? Coke or Pepsi? And if we’re going to categorize people, can we at least do it in a respectful way?

In the northern regions of Canada, the native people, for the most part, want to be called Inuit (IN-yew-it), the plural of Inuk (i-NOOK), their word for man. Somehow, the word Eskimo has ended up in the hands of Americans and is used to refer to these people. Fine. But I wouldn’t approach a person in that area and start throwing that word around. You might find yourself on an ice floe.

As for the use of Indian likenesses and names for mascots, I vote they change. Tradition can’t be more important than an entire group of people. Some groups, however, appear not to be affected by it. I read in Sunday’s Herald Journal that the Seminole people of Florida don’t mind mascots named after their tribe. Well, to each his own. But schools that have received complaints ought to heed them and create a more comfortable atmosphere for students of that background.

Can you imagine going to a school whose mascot is dressed like a pioneer and wields a handcart? The Fighting Mormons. Would you want to go to school there? No thanks.

In the end, would the United States be a kinder, gentler place if it followed the example of its Neighbour to the North? Probably. Less tension, less fighting, fewer shootings. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

So decide on a name already. And don’t use Indian. It’s taken.

Heather Fredrickson is a senior majoring in journalism. You can email comments to her at slr4h@cc.usu.edu.