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chug
DCHP-2 (Apr 2015)
n. — derogatory, extremely offensive, Ethnicities
an ethnic slur referring to Aboriginal people.
Type: 6. Memorial — In Canada, chug is a slur aimed at Aboriginal people. The term likely derives from the colloquial verb to chug. OED-3 (s.v. "chug") defines to chug as 'to consume (a drink) in large gulps without pausing'. Chug derives from the colonial stereotype of the "drunken Indian". There is some evidence of the younger Aboriginal generation trying to reclaim the word and strip it of its racist connotations (see the 2011 quotation). Unfortunately, as the 2007 and 2014 quotations demonstrate, the term used as a racist epithet is still in circulation.
The term is included for reasons of historical accuracy and completeness. It is not intended, as clearly indicated in the usage labels "derogatory" and "extremely offensive", as a term for current use or a term, meaning or usage that is in any way condoned.
The term is (much) older than our earliest attestation listed. Its late attestation points to the oral nature of the slur, but also testifies to the long invisibility of aboriginal people in Canadian writing, even when referred to negatively.
Quotations
1990
Seven native kids, aged 14-17, agree to meet the press. [...] Self-esteem is a luxury beyond imagination in a society that calls them chugs, redskins, winos, bums, rubbies, druggies, squaws, sluts, big bucks, wagon burners, skids and drunks.
1993
A 17-year-old former inmate told The Province that fighting and racism are rampant at the institution, and staff do little to control it. "Natives are picked on bad," said the youth, who was released from Willingdon two months ago after serving 30 months for murder. "The guards call them 'chugs' and 'bums' in front of everyone."
1998
After playing hockey for a few years in a league where racial taunts are part of the game, Jon Cardinal says he shouldn't have let the slur "chug" make him angry enough to end up in the penalty box. But as a native hockey player for the Saddle Lake Warriors, sometimes he can't ignore comments like that.
2007
I haven't seen the new $50 bills, but the $20's and $100's I have seen. I have talked with a few people about them (who aren't [White supremacists]) but they don't like the fact that there is native stuff on the bills. I mean, who wants to pay for something and be reminded of a chug? Not me!
2011
It's not just a racial term. It's also a greeting. "Chug is, I don't know, from my point of view it's not really racist. It's one person saying it to another person, 'Sup, chug'? But usually cause we're on the street it's more family," Posey says.
2012
"It was the only time I felt bullied. And it kind of made me go distant with my aboriginal identity." But graduation has rekindled [Hall's] solidarity with other aboriginal students. He recalled how one day the slur "chug" - a derogatory word used against first nations students - came up one day in class. The teacher, Jack Neu, talked about the history of colonization, residential schools, and about the low aboriginal graduation rates.
2014
Racism against aboriginals in B.C. runs so deep that we barely recognize it. It's in our DNA, it's in our children's vocabulary, it's absorbed by new immigrants as soon as they land. The stereotypes: Indians don't work, don't pay taxes. They're "chugs" -- lazy drunken welfare bums. They're chronically poor because they settle for handouts, and they deserve what they get. Many average Canadians harbour these attitudes, legacies of racist policies baked into government laws that continue to reverberate throughout our institutions.
References
- OED-3