MsLeFever said:
Squaw is considered a very offensive term to Native Americans as it refers to a part of the female body.
I don't want to start any controversy, nor do I want to condone the usage of the word, but........this is not entirely accurate.
Modern dictionaries define the word "squaw" as basically an American Indian woman or wife.
The word "squaw" was borrowed from the Algonquin 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New England and first appeared in the American vocabulary around 1634.1 It has been a familiar word in literature and historical documents for most of this countrys history. The Massechusett/Algonquin word means "young woman." The word is unknown in the languages of Native Americans of the southwestern United States.
The controversy over this term 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 suggested that the word "squaw" may have been derived from a Mohawk word for female genitalia. In a 1992 appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Native American spokesperson Suzan Harjo mentioned their theory and started the controversy. The theory has been proven false by linguists but that hasnt stopped the flood of political correctness activists from objecting to the name.
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 can form an opinion of the word is by observing how it is used in the English language and listening to the opinions of linguistic "authorities." I believe that there would be little objection to the word "squaw" among Indian peoples if they knew the true etymology of the word.
There is, in fact, a desire among many native Americans to preserve the usage of the word "squaw."
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