Quick links
Amerind
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Non-Canadianism
This is a word that our editors have determined is not a Canadianism.
1n. — Ethnicities, derogatory
a North American Indian.
The term Amerind is a contraction of the words American and Indian. It was reportedly proposed at an 1899 Anthropology Society meeting as a shortened substitute to define "all the aboriginal tribes of the American continent and adjacent islands" (see the 1901 quotation). Sources use it in this general, all-encompassing sense for aboriginal groups from North America (see the 1905 quotation) to the equator (see the 1952 quotation) and further south.
This term should no longer be used as it carries negative undertones. The adjectival use, as in Aboriginal person or "indigenous person", is to be preferred.
Quotations
1901
A a meeting of the Anthropological Society of Washington, D.C., held May 23, 1899, the name "Amerind" was proposed as a substitute for the term "American Indians," and met with a general approval from the ethnologists there present. This name "is proposed as a designation for all the aboriginal tribes of the American continent and adjacent islands, including the Eskimo."
1905
It is not only the story of the explorers that we have here, but that the picture presented may be stronger in its outlines and more vivid in its details. Mr. Dellenbaugh has gone farther than this, and sketched for us the characteristics of the chief denizens of the pristine wilderness; the beaver, the buffalo, and their close associates, the indomitable, iron-nerved race is that passing away, the North Americans of yesterday, the Amerinds, as the author calls them.
1952
If he is to be a good druggist, he must be a well-informed citizen of the world. Knowledge of the humanities and the sciences enables him to consult untranslated technical works - and to locate, on his own, new pharmacal knowledge from distant civilizations. It was a well-informed person, for instance, who discovered that curare, a poison used by equatorial Amerinds, was invaluable as a heart stimulating drug.
1978
Certainly the Metis can be used as a symbol for that struggle as it was an important element in the rebellion. However, the Metis can be used with equal accuracy as a symbol for the struggle between the Amerinds and the two language groups of Canadian taken together. [...] They had blended cultural elements of the Canadiens and Amerinds in their lifestyle and had added innovations of their own.
2009
Even the article in Sunday Reader is self-contradictory: "Humans have the same ancestors, groups of people who left the African continent between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago."
The concept of different races was based on ethno-geographic origins such as Asian, Caucasian, Amerinds, etc. This is baseless scientifically but used by many as a means to divide and conquer.
2adj. — Ethnicities, derogatory
of or relating to American Indians.
See meaning 1.
See: Amerindian
See usage note with meaning 1.
Quotations
1933
At women's culture clubs I almost never hear of a dish they have invented, a design they have originated or an article of use and beauty they have executed, but among Indian I am shown a beautiful piece of pottery they have designed and decorated, a blanket they have woven and perhaps dyed and patterned, a lovely silver bracelet or necklace or ring they have made, and sometimes a song they have composed or a picture they have painted. That is why I feel that Amerind culture is deeper-rooted and more reliable than the culture of Americans. It has beauty because of reality.
1996
A search of more than 500 DNA samples from populations around the world revealed a mutation on the Y chromosome found only in Indian populations in North and South America and in Inuit groups. The one-time mutation is a genetic footprint of prehistoric wanderings across the Americas. "We think somewhere back in human history, there was this unique mutation event," says lead researcher Peter Underhill. The mutation has been found in samples of blood and hair of Amerind people, represented by South American Indians, the Na-Dene and Inuit-Aleut.