Re: Amerindian resistance mode (was: amerindian an offensive

frank murray (fmurray@pobox.com)
Wed, 14 Aug 1996 07:18:53 GMT

On Sun, 11 Aug 1996 23:13:37 GMT, Paula.Sanch@emich.edu
(Paula Sanch) wrote:

>
>Perhaps your acquaintanceship of NAs is more comprehensive than mine,
>Gerold, but I doubt it, and I've never encountered anyone who was
>ashamed. Is that truly the word she used? If so, did you ask her
>*why* she was ashamed? I would be very interested to know why any NA
>was ashamed.

many of my relatives and several other families that i grew
up around are of filipino/tlingit ancestry...until the
sixties, most of these spoke of themselves as filipinos...

this self-description was quite clearly chosen on the basis
of accurately percieved difference in social standings of
the two choices...filipinos in the pac nw had long been a
highly organized ethnic group...alaskan natives not so...

but the younger generation is more likely to consider
themselves influenced by their indian ancestry...i'm not
speaking of any denial of filipino roots, but only shift of
emphasis...as most of the filipino/tlingit marriages were
between solo filipino men and tlingit women with extensive
local families, the shift was inevitable...

neither emphasis resulted from "shame", but from the
changing practicalities of the situation...

>-----------------------------
>My object is to be perfectly frank, without hurting anyone's
>feelings.

mine too,

frank