"Indian Country Radio" in NYT

[Beverly Flanigan]

At 10:42 AM 2/4/01 -0800, you wrote:
>
>Today's NYT has a good article in the Arts section titled"Indian Country
>Radio Sends a Strong Signal".  The following URL is what I picked up from
>the site -- I hope it works:
>
><http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/04/arts/04ROBB.html>http://www.nytimes.com/
>2001/02/04/arts/04ROBB.html
>
>The article is very informative on a topic I was unaware of -- radio
>stations run and programmed by Indians, such as the Hopi and Navajo.
Why on earth wouldn't Indians have their own stations?  They're not our
wards anymore, you know!

>
>It also uses "Indian" consistently and without apology, and quotes Indians
>who say "Indian".
>
>This is a topic I know little about, but it's my impression, FWIW, that
>very often the group of people we call "Native Americans" out of respect
>or political correctness, or whatever, refer to themselves as "Indians of
>the _______ tribe" as a way of identifying themselves.  "Indian", and
>"Indian Country" used in this way seem to be of "Native American"
>origin.  But I could be mistaken.
>Anne Gilbert

The use of "Indian" is OK again, yes.  It's been around for 500 years,
after all, so it's accepted as a convenient pan-tribal label.  "Sioux
Indian," "Lakota Indian," "Hopi Indian," etc. serve as specifiers.  And
I've heard "Indian Country" in South Dakota too.

_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm