Origin of word "redskin"

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

Thanks, Dennis, for remembering me!

Native Americans aren't really "red," are they! The blood-dripping scalp
story, though, is pretty clearly not historically true. The term was in use long
before scalp-taking was even thought of. (Since scalp-taking is more often
thought of as a practice practiced by Indians rather than on Indians, it seems
unlikely, anyway.) One etymology has it that early settlers in New England
encountered indigenous folk who used red body paint.

David Barnhart and I both worked on the history and present meaning of
"redskin." Except as a term applied to peanuts, fire hoses, motorcycles, and the
Washington, DC, football team, the term is actually pretty much obsolete today.
No one would say, "A Redskin family moved into my neighborhood today" without
expecting that people would assume that they were speaking of folks who had
affiliation with the sports team.

Most recently, a federal court ruled that the football team has a legitimate
right to the trademark--that it is not "scandalous" or "defamatory" or
"derogatory." The court overruled a decision to the contrary by the federal trademark
board.

In a message dated 5/26/05 8:07:07 AM, preston at MSU.EDU writes:


> Ron Butters (Duke) has done a great deal of work in "Redskins" (as
> the team name), and his conclusions may surprise you (and your BS
> detector). I'll let him speak for himself (how could I stop him?)
>
> dInIs
>
>
>
> >Sorry if someone already posted this.
> >
> >While driving to work Wednesday morning, I caught the NPR segment
> >with Frank Deford talking about sports teams names and American
> >Indians.
> >
> >The thing that Deford said which set off my BS detector was that the
> >origin of the word "redskin" was NOT in relation to the color of the
> >Native American's skin, but rather the scalp that he sometimes took
> >from a victim, (with blood dripping?).
> >
> >I hope my link to the interview will work
> >http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4665930
> >
> >The OED cites it from 1699, but it isn't clear in that cite to me.
> >And the next cite there is from 1823, so leaves a big gap.
> >
> >Anyone done work on this one?
> >
> >Sam Clements
>
>
> --
> Dennis R. Preston
> University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
> Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages
> A-740 Wells Hall
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, MI 48824
> Phone: (517) 432-3099
> Fax: (517) 432-2736
> preston at msu.edu
>
>