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Never Do This

Never Do This

What are some things I should Never Do when visiting a Nation's territory / site?

This Never

Well there are obvious things that you would not do regardless to it being Native or otherwise:

Do no...

* Make fun or laugh at things that are considered sacred to others
* Do not deface or defile religious objects
* Do not use insulting slang terms, but address by the proper name
* Do not assume anything

I think the last one is the most important.

Never Do This History & Civil Business Politics

Don't call any native women "squaws". I was appalled when I looked at the Indian avatar gallery on this site, and found that many of native woman pictures were called "Squaw-Woman" or something to that effect. I'm not sure if you all realize this or not, but the word squaw is related to prostitutes, promiscuous sex, etc. and it is highly insulting to EVER refer to a native woman as a squaw.

So that's definitely a big one.

Also, never point. That is considered rude by many tribes.

This Never

Wow, I did not know that the term "squaw" was an insult! I was going off of this:

I thought it just meant "woman" and not anything related to sex - is that modern terminology?

This Never

The original word "squaw" could very well mean something as innocent as "woman" when you take it at face value. But over the years, it has come to be associated with unsavory sexual things. I think a lot of it had to do with old Western movies and the like. At a time when all native women were referred to as squaws, that was also the time when unpunished rapings by men of other races towards native women were most prevalent. So I'm sure you can understand why we don't like the word. It may mean simply woman, but it's come to be a racial and gender degrading term, a stereotype, an insult, etc. Squaw is to natives what the n-word is to African Americans.

Never Do This

I understand, that is definitely eye opening and I will go now and change the name of those 'squaw' image files to something more palatable. Are there other things that should be noted with regards to things people outside of your culture do that may offend?

Never This

Thank you very much. :] I can't think of anything else you would need to know at the present moment, but if any thing comes up in the future, I will be the first to have something to say about it.

Never This Politics Business Civil & History

'Squaw' still Utah moniker

PROVO - While states across the nation move to sweep the word "squaw" - a term deemed derogatory by many American Indians - from state and federal maps, Utah has yet to broach the subject. In 2008 alone, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names has renamed 22 geographic features to eliminate the word "squaw" from locations throughout Arizona, Maine, Montana, South Dakota and Washington. The board's actions effectively approve revision of federal maps and documents to reflect the areas' new names. The term squaw is considered highly offensive by many American Indians.
Ref. https://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700225122,00.html