Origin of word "redskin"

[Beverly Flanigan]

Ron, I hope you'll pass this on to the very pompous Frank DeFord.  I was
also skeptical about the claimed etymology, as I am about much of what he says.

At 01:44 PM 5/26/2005, you wrote:
>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
> >
> >