Mummy? Indians go "whoo whoo whoo whoo whoo" and wear big feather hats.

[MaMight]

Dd has learned that I is for Indian, and has come home with a Native American steriotype of the hand patting mouth whoo whoo whoo thing and rain dances and tomahawks and feather head dresses.

I have explained that Indians are people from India, and that what she is talking about is Native Americans.

But then I get a bit stuck because it is a bit of a narrow and outdated steriotype to apply to anyone, whether you are calling them Indians or Native Americans.

Can dd play "whoo whoo whoo" with feathers stuck in her alice band if she calls it playing Native Americans?

Have you never seen Peter Pan?

but aren't they called native american indians? i don't know but we called it cowboys and indians, don't really see a problem myself

i thought Native Americans celebrated their heritage?
if that' the case, then headbands and feathers etc are part of their dress: even if just for ceremonial use.

They don't go whoo whoo whoo whoo. They go wa wa wa wa wa.

The tribes collectively call themselves Indians.

I think I am uncomfortable because historically there have been some pretty patronising fictional portraits of Native American Indians. I don't want to perpetuate a negative steriotype.

I think. I don't know really.

It doesn't matter~ does it?

Why don't you buy her some children's books about different Indian tribes? I can't think of any stereotypical sources she is likely to come across nowadays, other than in Peter Pan.

I am Native American and this doesn't bother me so much. The woo woo you refer to would have been a war cry for some plains indians I think and some do where feathers. There are Native Americans who really hate these stereotypes though.
Diffrent tribes have diffrent traditions. For example everyone thinks that I have been in a tee pee but I haven't because I'm Cherokee and the Cherokee live in Clay huts( I grew up in a house no on a reservation so have no actual practical experiance of these things.
Maybe this would be a good time to introduce her to Native American culture. There are many books with Native American legends and folk lore.

These books were suggested to me, and I am going to order them at some point. They show how the history of each different Indian culture is unique.

www.amazon.com/Lived-Indians-Northwest-Coast-You/dp/0439260779/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=126589 9394&sr=8-3

My friends husband is half Cherokee ppb. He's gorgeous...

I know lots of really good looking Men who are Cherokee. I don't look Cherokee at all except my hair is really dark. My sister looks very Cherokee though.

Could you tone it down with a "SOME Indians/Native Americans go 'woo woo' and wear feather headresses, but some don't" then go onto explore Native American culture?

SOME is a lovely word to use, IME, with kids to try and avoid too many stereotypes - some people do this, some people do that, some people are like this, some people are like that etc

I DO think it's wonderful your dc learnt something today and is feeling so inspired about her school day

Enjoy. She'll work out about stereotypes and things for herself in the end and I am sure will have fun playing at Indians.

Is it unPC to say someone is not a good "indian", meaning they are better at leading than following. Or is it just my family that say that, my DH said something similar in front of an Indian colleague and only realised what he'd said much later.

In Canada they are called First Nations I think

pranma is quite right, it's not PC to call them "native americans", they are First Nations people. You're just trying to offend people!