INDIAN vs. INJUN

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 1/9/2001 8:32:42 PM, prichard at LINFIELD.EDU writes:

<< ...not to mention Indian rub or all the expressions with Injun. Now: talk
about un-PC... >>

well, I don't THINK that Barnhart's point was that compounds in/derivatives
of INDIAN are by definition perjorative. Indian Summer? Indiana?

Yes, INJUN has indeed a long history as a slur. I'd say that INJUN : INDIAN =
NIGGER : NEGRO (in the days when NEGRO was the self-reference term of
preference, of course). In other words, the status of INJUN does not in any
way illuminate the status of INDIAN.