Pidgin english was a way for the settlers and cowboys to trade with the various tribes. That "How!" isn't making fun of them, it's what an old-timey indian would learn as a greeting.
The etymology of "red skin" was probably a french translation (peaux rouges) in the early 1700s, and it didn't have a pejorative meaning until around 2005. Just like "black" or "white" isn't considered prejudiced in modern context, but "yellow" is, I'd say it's murky waters where wording is concerned. Did natives actually have red skin? I'm not sure, but I know I get flushed when I drink. I always thought the Peter Pan indians were all drinking and having a solid pow-wow, didn't they smoke a pipe with children in that movie? That cartoony caricature wasn't seen as problematic until the late nineties in my memory.
Pidgin english was a way for the settlers and cowboys to trade with the various tribes. That "How!" isn't making fun of them, it's what an old-timey indian would learn as a greeting.
The etymology of "red skin" was probably a french translation (peaux rouges) in the early 1700s, and it didn't have a pejorative meaning until around 2005. Just like "black" or "white" isn't considered prejudiced in modern context, but "yellow" is, I'd say it's murkey waters where wording is concerned. Did natives actually have red skin? I'm not sure, but I know I get flushed when I drink. I always thought the Peter Pan indians were all drinking and having a solid pow-wow, didn't they smoke a pipe with children in that movie? That cartoony caricature wasn't seen as problematic until the late nineties in my memory.