The "What's In A Name - Part I?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Watching the Seinfeld episode where Jerry presents Elaine with a cigar store Indian as a peace offering for making her take the subway, in large part to show off his generous side to Elaine's friend Winona who happens to be a Native American.  The episode was funny, but very offensive to Native Americans all over the world.  That was back in 1993 and it was offensive back then.  Today you just wouldn't think of saying something that offensive.  At least you shouldn't!  When my daughter, Brynn, was applying for state aide for college back in the 1990's, she filled out quite a few documents.  On one of those documents must have been a question asking if you were a Native American.  Evidently she wasn't thinking when she marked the box.  Before long she was being offered quite a bit of Federal aide to help pay for her college.  Needless to say we called to explain that she had made a mistake when filling out the form.  Seems the government was trying to right some of the many wrongs they had made over the years in reference to our Native American population.  So what do you call someone who is an American Indian.  Many people believe that the term "Indian" is a misnomer.  When Columbus and other European explorers first sailed they were sure they had found a direct route to India, hence they called the people they encountered Indians.  The word Indian has been in usage for more that 500 years and many Indians refer to themselves as Indians.  But, in today's society, calling someone an Indian is offensive.  Seems that non-Indians today are trying to relieve their guilt over the atrocious treatment and government policies toward the Native American population that they have shunned the term "Indian" in favor of Native American.  But, does changing the name make up for all that has been done to the population that inhabited our nation when Europeans first landed and began to kill and torture those that had lived in North America all their lives.  In Canada the term "First Nations" has been used as a non-offensive name for those that inhabited that nation when it was settled by explorers from Europe.  

Street signs such as this are common along the Susquehanna River.

I recently read a story written in 2008 by W. Fred Kinsey, PhD, an authority on Native Americans, who told about a group of students from Warwick High School, a school to the north of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, whose school's nickname was "The Warriors" and who felt the name was inappropriate.  Dr. Kinsey told the students he understood their concern, but didn't think the term "Warrior" was offensive nor did he think most Native Americans would find it offensive.  

Click on image to enlarge.

The story he told happened in 1972.  Fast forward to 2008 when he and his wife were driving through Navaho country in the south-western corner of Arizona when they saw a high school banner that proclaimed the school as "Home of the Warriors".  But, that was 11 years ago.  To many that was a lifetime ago.  What about today?  Lancaster County was home to quite a few Native American groups.  I recently took a drive along the Eastern side of the Susquehanna River and came upon a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker in Washington Boro.  It read: This area contains one of the highest concentrations of archaeological sites in Pennsylvania.  The sites range from small camps to large villages and cover 11,000 years of Native American culture.  The largest villages were built by the Susquehannocks who controlled the fur trade in the region until 1675 when they were overcome by warfare and disease,  Archaeology here has shaped  our understanding of Native American lifeways.  

A few miles south of that sign was another sign placed along the road by the Safe Harbor Water Corp. that read: Conestoga Indian Town - The Conestoga Indians lived in scattered settlements along this stream.  They were the last of the once mighty Susquehannocks.  Their final location was the Conestoga Indian Town which was along the road leading to Creswell.  Wlliam Penn visited the Conestoga Indians in 1701.  The remnants of this tribe were massacred by the Paxton boys in December 1763.  I have written about the Paxton boys in the past and if you care to read about them, type "Paxton Boys" in the white box on the top left of this blog to see the two stories.  Tomorrow I will finish my story about the Indians, or Native Americans, if you wish.  Their history is unlimited in the area I call home.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.