Wasi'chu
Wašíču is the Lakota and Dakota word for people of non-indigenous descent,[1] with derogatory connotations. It expresses the native population's perception of the non-natives' relationship with the land and the native population. Typically it refers to white people,[2] but does not specifically mention skin color or race. The term "black wasichu" has been historically used to describe a person of African descent, and a Native American who adopted non-native ways could "make himself over into a wasichu".[3]
Wasicun means "non-Indian".[1] The Lakota word for "taking the fat" (wašin icu)[2] is spelled and pronounced similarly, and it is used by natives in puns to refer to non-Natives who collectively rob tribes of their resources.[1]
In Dakota, Wašicu also means the English language.[4]
In popular culture
"Wasichu" is a fifth-season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, about a lobbyist and Indian gambling.[5]
Notes
- 1 2 3 Setting the Record Straight About Native Languages: Wasichu. Native Languages of the Americas. (retrieved 23 January 2011)
- 1 2 Simcikova, 88
- ↑ Staub 62
- ↑ LaFontaine and McKay, 145
- ↑ "Wasichu (#5.14)." Internet Movie Database. (retrieved 23 Jan 2011)
References
- LaFontaine, Harlan and Neil McKay. 550 Dakota Verbs. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-87351-524-5.
- Simcikova, Karla. To live fully, here and now: the healing vision in the works of Alice Walker. Lexington Books, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7391-1160-4.
- Staub, Michael E. Voices of Persuasion: Politics of Representation in 1930s America. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Press, 1994. ISBN 0-521-45390-9.