my referance to Squaw is from past experiance in re-enacting.... for many years I wore the dress of the Native Women of my area...The Great Lakes.... however more than once I would be called a Squaw in a tone that implied that I was a Whore ...... I know not all Native women are "Princesses" but they certianly weren't Whores either....I do believe that "our friend" who made the comments that lead to this discussion is one of the type who would use that tone and inferance....by the way has anybody heard from "our friend" lately?

I have always understood squaw to mean wife
or Indian woman, nothing derogatory just a name.
We must remember the importance of women to the tribe and nation. She is the well spring of all life. Mother to the warrior, mother to the chief. Homemaker, hide maker, fire builder,
mother, cook, clothes washer, partner, lover,
and at times fighter. Let us show proper respect for the squaw.

Oracle
formally known as: "Beached White Beluga Whale"

Never wrestle with pigs, eveyone gets muddy and
the pigs love it.

I have a good Squaw what i am in need of is a good cheap fur felt Hat ???

quote:

Originally posted by many lodges:
I have a good Squaw what i am in need of is a good cheap fur felt Hat ???

Don't push your luck.

i cant say i was offended by the squaw or greaser thing. thats how the people we try to live like spoke... my great grandmother was a blackfoot squaw, thats how my grandma told of her, all she said was she was a squaw... which pretty much just means she was a woman indian, but a question... what makes the word greaser a bad name? i really dont know so thats a question i have as to that...

quote:

Greaser (derogatory)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses of the term, see Greaser
Greaser was a derogatory term for a Mexican in what is now the US Southwest in the 19th century. It most likely derived from what was considered one of the lowliest occupations typically held by Mexicans in what is now the US Southwest, the greasing of the axles of mule carts. It was a common usage among US troops during the Mexican-American War.
The term was actually incorporated into an early California statute, the Greaser Act (1855), an expression of a virulent form of anti-Mexican sentiment among many Anglo Californians.
The term persisted in use through the silent film era, as evidenced by films such as Ah Sing and the Greasers (1910), The Greaser’s Gauntlet (1908), Tony the Greaser (1911), The Greaser and the Weakling (1912), The Girl and the Greaser (1913), The Greaser’s Revenge (1914), Bronco Billy and the Greaser (1914), and The Greaser (1915)[1]. Subsequently, however, Hollywood began to cut its usage of this particular derogatory term to improve its distribution in Mexican and Latin American markets.
The racist eugenicist Madison Grant made mention of the term with respect to the Mexican of mixed ancestry in his notorious work, The Passing of the Great Race, published in 1916 (pp.76-77, 1921 edition online at Google).
The term has also been used as a shortened form of "greaseball", an ethnic slur for someone of Italian origin.
The term was used in 1978 by rock critic Robert Christgau who called Willy DeVille "the songpoet of greaser nostalgia,."[1] although it isn't clear that this usage had anything to do with Mexicans or other Latinos rather than an allusion to the 1950's teenage style.

thank ya kindly

here's my 2 cents worth on both subjects. i own a green felt hat (really cheap ) that with sweat,dirt,tree crud ,etc stays on my head fairly well w/o a string . as far as derogatoty names and such,i grew up around some very bias people, being young i felt the same way.when i joined the service,i found out that we all bleed the same color .btw, i've been called everything but a white guy due to the fact i tan very well,and i really hate it.

Chuckles you are exactly correct, we all bleed the same and we all are trying to survive and get by in this demanding world....

Since we're off topic anyway, here's some info on the term squaw (see the link for more)
The Changing Perception of the Word "Squaw"

By Tom Jonas

May 6, 2003
http://www.tomjonas.com/squawpeak/squaw.htm
The Basic Meaning and Etymology of the Word

The English word "squaw" was borrowed from the Algonquian language family of a few Indian tribes in Canada and New England and first appeared in the American vocabulary around 1634.1 It has been used in literature and historical documents for much of this country’s history. The Massachusett/Algonquian word means "young woman." The word is unknown in the languages of Native Americans of the Western and Midwestern United States.

"Squaw" has been a familiar word in American literature and language since the 17th century and has always been normally understood to mean "an Indian woman or wife." The term as commonly used contains no disrespect to Indian women any more than the words "woman" or "wife" do to Anglo-American women.

The controversy over the use of the word "squaw" appears to have started in 1973 with the book Literature of the American Indian, by Thomas E. Sanders and Walter W. Peek. Sanders and Peek are members of two different Indian Nations in Florida. Although they are not linguists, their book puts forth a rather racist and inflammatory accusation about the origin of the word ‘squaw’:
That curious concept of "squaw," the enslaved, demeaned, voiceless childbearer, existed and exists only in the mind of the non-Native American and is probably a French corruption of the Iroquois word otsiskwa meaning "female sexual parts," a word almost clinical both denotatively and connotatively. The corruption suggests nothing about the Native American’s attitude toward women; it does indicate the wasichu’s view of Native American women in particular if not all women in general.2
There are several serious problems with this statement:
All English and Native American linguists agree that there is absolutely no connection between the Mohawk [Iroquoian] word otsiskwa (also spelled ojiskwa) and the Algonquin word squa.3 One scholar writes "I am reliably told that Mohawk speakers do not equate the English word with their word and take no offense at the English word on that account."4
It accuses non-Native Americans of having a low opinion of Native American women. I do not believe the majority of whites ever held this attitude.
It accuses the "wasichu"5 of applying a vulgar term to Native American women.
The statement has anti-Anglo undertones, as demonstrated not only by the implication of the statement but also by calling the whites "wasichu."
In a 1992 appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Indian activist Susan Harjo broadcast this erroneous but inflammatory theory to a national audience, inflating it in the process. Harjo stated in part:
"The word ‘squaw’ is an Algonquin [sic] Indian word meaning vagina, and that’ll give you an idea of what the French and British fur trappers were calling all Indian women, and I hope no one ever uses that term again"6
Ms. Harjo is a Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee Indian and is largely responsible for a 1992 lawsuit against Pro Football teams that use Indian names.7 I’m sure her comment was successful in stirring public outrage against her political opponents. The fact remains, however, that the word doesn’t mean what she claims.
Since the word "squaw" has never been a part of the native vocabulary in the western three-quarters of the nation, the only way the Indians in the Southwest can form an opinion of the word is by observing how it is used in the English language and listening to the teaching of linguistic "authorities." I believe that, until the occurrence of the two events mentioned above, the word ‘squaw’ was considered a completely acceptable word by both Native and non-Native Americans.
Usage of the Word
Despite the fact that the word ‘squaw’ has a perfectly acceptable definition, I don’t deny that it can be applied in a demeaning manner. I would never refer to an Indian woman as ‘squaw,’ just as I would never address any female as ‘woman.’ Perfectly honorable and acceptable words may be used in a disrespectful way. As one man said "It’s the way you say it, it’s not the word."8 Just because it’s possible to use a word in a disrespectful way does not mean it should be stricken from our language.
Are we going to purge the word 'squaw' www.wordorigins.org/wordors/htm#squawfrom the historical novels of Washington Irving and James Fennimore Cooper? Are we going to obliterate it from our Native American history? If not, why are we removing it as a historical name on a mountain? Although I would not apply the term squaw to a woman, I see nothing wrong with using it in a historical account or as a historical place name. There are well over 100 place names in Arizona that employ perfectly acceptable words that can be used as slang vulgarisms, or offensive terms. We could not possibly purge our language and history of everything that could offend someone.

We should still be free to use words in a respectful way. There is, in fact, a desire among many native Americans to preserve the usage of the word "squaw." Marge Bruchac (an Abenaki9 Indian) writes in her article Reclaiming "Squaw" in the Name of the Ancestors10:
When our languages are perceived as dirty words, we and our grandchildren are in grave danger of losing our self-respect. We must educate, rather than tolerate the loss of our language due to ignorance.
Ms. Bruchac suggests that we treat the word ‘squaw’ in the same way that the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women has: "They have declared that it will no longer be tolerated as an insult, but will instead be recognized as a term of honor and respect."11
The word ‘squaw’ does not refer to a body part but to the totality of the woman. The place name ‘Squaw Peak’ does not refer to an individual woman – it’s the name of a mountain. As such it is not demeaning to any individual. Squaw Peak is a prominent landmark in Phoenix with a historic name that has, until recently, been unquestioned. Many of us have grown up climbing and picnicking on its slopes and seeing in on our skyline every day. It’s in our family pictures and our memories. Let’s not throw that away because of a divisive accusation based on a false premise. In the last few years, the political correctness movement seems to be on a quest to search out any and every word that could possibly be used in an insulting or vulgar way and eliminate it from the English language. If this trend is carried to its logical end we could lose a large part of our vocabulary. Even seemingly innocent words like "God" and "mother" can have a vulgar use. The recently released book The Language Police by Diane Ravitch adds such innocuous words as "jungle," "courageous," and "founding fathers" to the list of offensive words. How far will we allow this to go? Let’s educate rather than decimate our language and our ability to express ourselves. Our history is important, we should preserve it.
ENDNOTES

1. www.wordorigins.org/
2. Literature of the American Indian, Thomas Sanders and Walter Peek, Glencoe Press, 1973, p. 184
3. Bright, William The Sociolinguistics of the ‘S-Word’: ‘Squaw’ in American Placenames, p. 2
4. Goddard, Ives The English Word "Squaw" , 1996, p.4
5. derogatory Lakota Sioux name for the white man
6. quoted in Is ‘squaw’ an obscene insult? By Cecil Adams www.straightdope.com/columns/000317.html
7. Susan Harjo’s online biography on Indian Country Today at http://www.indiancountry.com/author/26
8. Bright, William Sociolinguistics of the ‘S-Word,’, p. 4, quoting Schmitt 1996
9. The Abenaki are an Algonquian-speaking tribe in New England.
10. Reclaiming "Squaw" in the Name of the Ancestors http://www.enia.net/users/dpanther/page10.html.
11. ibid.

Biziw -

quote:

It was recently asserted by a TV celebrity that the term was derogatory, referring to female genitalia. This, of course, is entirely false.
I don't think the term took on negative connotations until the mission boarding school era, when a squaw was associated with traditional culture and the Native American equivalent of a common law wife. Both of these things were against the wishes of the missionaries and the Government.
Next came the movie/TV era, where a squaw was the dumb grudge-property of the treacherous savage warrior/buck.

Thta first comment is based on the book from 1973 as noted above (written by two NA's) and I believe you are referrring to Ms Haro on Oprah in 1992.
The derogatory use of the terms squaw and squaw man dates back to at least the 1840's during the mass move west. The early Victorain era easterners traveling west came into contact with ex-mountaineers and mixed bloods who they considered "dirty and unkempt" and being "married" to an Indian was the lowest of the low...

quote:

Lucas "too white to be Native American, too Native American to be white" Roy, who BTW is often mistaken for Hispanic.

Join the club my young friend - been that way for me for 55 years I'm mixed blood of Choctaw and Tuscarora, Cajun and Creole French, Scots, Welsh, and Irish descent - dark skinned, dark haired and my mother's maiden name is Delacruz (not Mexican but South Louisiana Spanish).

Back on topic.....
As for brimmed hats - I wear one out here in the windy (average 10-15 mph with frequent gusts) Rocky Mtn west all the time - just shove it down hard and unless it's gale force no problemos....On the other hand some of the early SW Spanish and Californio prints illustrate the use of simple hat strings now commonly known as stampeded strings. During the cowboy era they often used there bandanna to tie there hat down - it also helped keep ones ears warm....

Chuck, thanks for the info on the word. I for one never thought it a female body part,but rather a word for woman and was always told I was wrong. Now I can say I was right .
I wear a wide brim hat and just pull it down tight and then some on wendy days.

I agree with a few others posting here. Maybe there were a few hats with 'stampede straps,' but a properly fitted hat will stay on in a hurricane. I wore a felt hat everyday of my life for years, i very, very seldom lost it in the wind. More likely to lose a ball cap in teh wind. You soon learn how to hold your head. Slight little variations of tilt to the hat or your head, the flex in the brim actualy causes the wind to hold the hat down, like an airplane wing in reverse i suppose. A good hatband is important too, once a hat gets wet it'll get looser the hatband will let it dry back to the size of your head. Probably some people who had a crappy fitting hat HAD to tie them on with straps. All this is for a hat with with a medium sized brim...6 inches or less? With a really wide brimmed hat, or a really stiff brimmed hat, you might need a strap.