Origin of word "redskin"

[Laurence Horn]

>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.

Obsolete, perhaps, but still functional when needed as a slur.  If it
were really obsolete, the various "dirty redskin" hits on google
wouldn't be understood.  (Their source does not appear to be Cowboys
or Giants fans.)  And this in turn makes me wonder about the
non-derogatory claim of the federal court below.  No, "a redskin
family moved into my neighborhood" wouldn't be heard, but that would
be the wrong register, as would "The underrepresented minorities in
the student body include 8% African-Americans, 7% Hispanics, and 0.5%
Redskins".  "Injun" is also obsolete,  but would the "Oklahoma
Injuns" be acceptable?

Larry

>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.
>