Indians and Chiefs

Today I had the unfortunate experience of having to correct a colleague in the middle of a faculty meeting when he announced that he was just one of the Indians and not a chief.  He was fairly defensive.  I asked him to keep the racial descriptions to himself, or something like that.  I don't remember exactly what I said, to be truthful, because it happened so quickly.  That's always the way it happens- someone says something unattractive and I just react before I even have a chance to think it over.  I suppose it's better that way- if I stopped to think, I would probably self censor myself.  It's embarrassing to correct people from using offensive language- sometimes I wonder if it's more embarrassing to me or to them.  I feel my face get all flushed and I get worked up and incredulous that someone would say something like that.  It's just ignorant, that kind of language.  You wouldn't talk about being one chink in a nation of billions, or being one of the slaves and not one of the masters, or any other similar racial slur.  But for some reason, those native figures of speech persist in our culture, despite all logical reasons why they wouldn't be appropriate.

I think in almost every job I've ever had, I've been put in a position where I felt I needed to ask people to stop using these terms.  Lowest man on the totem pole, let's have a pow-wow, you've heard them.  The weird thing about these figures of speech is that people get really defensive when I ask them to stop.  They don't understand that the lowest figure on the totem pole is actually the one deserving of the most respect.  That a powwow is not the same thing as meeting to go over the agenda for the McMillan conference.  And that native culture is not about hierarchy where the population (the Indians) work for or follow the leaders (chiefs).  Usually when I make this sort of correction, the offending person then gets defensive and asks me (with not a little snottitude) what sort of language would I prefer they use?  Like there aren't a million ways to say these things- lowest rung on the ladder, worker bees, have a meeting, let's be creative here.  

I don't really understand why it's okay to say these things?  and why am I the one who ends up doing the correcting.  I don't like to do it, it's really uncomfortable for me.  It sets me up as someone who is in charge of correcting people's language, and that's just not appropriate.

Comments

[jen]

ugh.

here, a LOT of people still say "red Indian", or use other offensive native stereotypes. and as i'm usually the only American around, i feel the need to correct, even though i'm not of any native heritage.

it's terribly annoying, but somehow i can't NOT do it.