If you don’t mind me asking, are you Indigenous/Native? This is so similar to how I view Roma issues precisely, and I find Roma and Natives tend to have a lot of oppression in common — especially the idea of those being more well-off or distanced from the traditional culture to be the ones who care about less important things. If you are not that though then I apologize for asking.
got more attention than a debate about phrasing.
Yes this is EXACTLY how I view the Gypsy slur debate too! Like sure, it can be used in a discriminatory way. But if you’re advocating for us and using that word, it’s say better than someone who says ‘Romani’ and otherwise doesn’t care about us. Some things just matter more than other things.
Yes ma'am, I am an indigenous person from Canada. The correlation of the disconnected choosing to spend most of their time engaging in circular culture war debates about names from their comfortable living situations is too damn high! Some people use a name for my group that I personally don't approve of(eskimo), and occasionally I tell people not to do that but more often than not I feel much better by directly helping people or discussing more substantive issues than the name/costume debates around our people.
Maybe even you feel something similar, where like tbh I don't really care about the name being used unless its a clearly derogatory context because otherwise, the global fascination with the culture means that I can go essentially anywhere in the world and people seem fascinated by me and treat me very right. I can go to economically depressed areas of countries where I barely speak the language, mention that part of me, and its like a red carpet rolls out(this is likely where the experience diverges from your peoples...) and I am no longer lumped in with clueless colonists.
I seem to be able to use the outdated naming issue as a great springboard to actually connect with others and raise awareness of living conditions, whereas many who don't live in traditional territories or alongside cultural practices, seem very deadset on only stopping the use of the term alone... and sometimes it means them arguing futilely with other people from the exact same group.
IDK I feel your pain... some prominent activist against this in my community was given a great chance to have a paid position helping material circumstances and he turned it down to focus on the debate over the name.. like wtf dude? Why focus on that rather than help people dying in the streets?
It truly is a weird phenomena. I think in a lot of ways, it’s less-connected people wanting to like... have a taste of the more extreme oppression others of us face? Like they cannot relate to living without electricity, but “people call me Gypsy!!!!! I understand” when they really don’t. But maybe that’s an unfair assumption idk.
this is likely where the experience diverges from your peoples…
Haha yeah, as you said, can’t relate to this point necessarily cause most people/countries tend to dislike Roma but I definitely feel this way when meeting other Roma! All the suspicion melts off the other person, and you both feel much safer. But I’m glad you can experience what you just mentioned. It’s nice to have something that is usually something people look down on you for to instead be like... admired by others? And I don’t know about you, but I personally enjoy answering people’s (respectful) questions about the culture too.
Also wow that’s so sad... Such a wasted opportunity! And I get it to a degree, but actually being in a position to HELP others is so valuable. Who cares about the damn name!!!!
I don’t hear much from Indigenous Canadians. You don’t have to answer, but if you want to: do you find a lot of people who claim ancestry of your people, but are either like 1/1000 Indigenous or straight up lying? I know that’s very common for Native American tribes, and something Roma people relate to a lot. Also I’ve only heard the term Eskimo before too if I remember right. What is the preferred label of your group if there is one?
Most of us in Canada and Greenland prefer to be called Inuit(plural, inuk singular), though there's a thing where older generations care less and actually prefer Eskimo. Also, those located more in the western parts of Inuit lands and sea seem to prefer Eskimo more than those in the east...but the term was first really used heavily in the east so I think Western Arctic people just care less because they don't see as much connection to it and something derogatory.
People definitely try to false flag as inuit, though given we are such a small group its not as common as say, coming across people who think their great great great grandma was a Cherokee princess or whatever. I think if we were bigger, we'd get more pretenders.
Also, I definitely think you're kinda right with your first point... generally, in my anecdotal experience, the people I know focusing on cultural appropriation stuff in its narrow sense are those using it as a tool to set themselves apart from the colonizers while having living conditions and lifestyles more similar to colonizers than the average inuk.
The location thing is really interesting! Thanks for sharing. Also I find it a bit similar in a way where in different countries, there are different words for Roma that may be translated to 'Gypsy' in English but have WAY worse connotations (like 'slave' or 'dirty'). I don't know if there are cases like that for Inuit people.
No problem, happy to provide some insight and I am happy to hear more about your situation given there is a similarity in how mediatized and well known both our groups are such that people who will never meet us generally have some sort of idea in their heads when they hear of us.
Also you can just call us inuit, as it already means people! inuk means person, inuit means people. some areas can say inuuk and it would mean 'two people'.
Ooh thank you for letting me know! That makes sense. It’s kind of opposite with Roma, people will say “the Romani” but Romani is just an adjective so it makes no sense lol
'Romani' basically translates to Roma, as an adjective. Romani fashion, Romani people, etc. Also can be used to be the noun for the Romani language, Roma is both a subgroup of Romani people, can refer to a group of Roma, OR can also be used to mean a singular female Romani woman. Rom is a singular Romani man. Many of our words mean multiple things lol. But the best way to describe us is Romani people, the Roma, or Romani Gypsies :)
If you don’t mind me asking, are you Indigenous/Native? This is so similar to how I view Roma issues precisely, and I find Roma and Natives tend to have a lot of oppression in common — especially the idea of those being more well-off or distanced from the traditional culture to be the ones who care about less important things. If you are not that though then I apologize for asking.
Yes this is EXACTLY how I view the Gypsy slur debate too! Like sure, it can be used in a discriminatory way. But if you’re advocating for us and using that word, it’s say better than someone who says ‘Romani’ and otherwise doesn’t care about us. Some things just matter more than other things.
Yes ma'am, I am an indigenous person from Canada. The correlation of the disconnected choosing to spend most of their time engaging in circular culture war debates about names from their comfortable living situations is too damn high! Some people use a name for my group that I personally don't approve of(eskimo), and occasionally I tell people not to do that but more often than not I feel much better by directly helping people or discussing more substantive issues than the name/costume debates around our people.
Maybe even you feel something similar, where like tbh I don't really care about the name being used unless its a clearly derogatory context because otherwise, the global fascination with the culture means that I can go essentially anywhere in the world and people seem fascinated by me and treat me very right. I can go to economically depressed areas of countries where I barely speak the language, mention that part of me, and its like a red carpet rolls out(this is likely where the experience diverges from your peoples...) and I am no longer lumped in with clueless colonists.
I seem to be able to use the outdated naming issue as a great springboard to actually connect with others and raise awareness of living conditions, whereas many who don't live in traditional territories or alongside cultural practices, seem very deadset on only stopping the use of the term alone... and sometimes it means them arguing futilely with other people from the exact same group.
IDK I feel your pain... some prominent activist against this in my community was given a great chance to have a paid position helping material circumstances and he turned it down to focus on the debate over the name.. like wtf dude? Why focus on that rather than help people dying in the streets?
:angery:
It truly is a weird phenomena. I think in a lot of ways, it’s less-connected people wanting to like... have a taste of the more extreme oppression others of us face? Like they cannot relate to living without electricity, but “people call me Gypsy!!!!! I understand” when they really don’t. But maybe that’s an unfair assumption idk.
Haha yeah, as you said, can’t relate to this point necessarily cause most people/countries tend to dislike Roma but I definitely feel this way when meeting other Roma! All the suspicion melts off the other person, and you both feel much safer. But I’m glad you can experience what you just mentioned. It’s nice to have something that is usually something people look down on you for to instead be like... admired by others? And I don’t know about you, but I personally enjoy answering people’s (respectful) questions about the culture too.
Also wow that’s so sad... Such a wasted opportunity! And I get it to a degree, but actually being in a position to HELP others is so valuable. Who cares about the damn name!!!!
I don’t hear much from Indigenous Canadians. You don’t have to answer, but if you want to: do you find a lot of people who claim ancestry of your people, but are either like 1/1000 Indigenous or straight up lying? I know that’s very common for Native American tribes, and something Roma people relate to a lot. Also I’ve only heard the term Eskimo before too if I remember right. What is the preferred label of your group if there is one?
Most of us in Canada and Greenland prefer to be called Inuit(plural, inuk singular), though there's a thing where older generations care less and actually prefer Eskimo. Also, those located more in the western parts of Inuit lands and sea seem to prefer Eskimo more than those in the east...but the term was first really used heavily in the east so I think Western Arctic people just care less because they don't see as much connection to it and something derogatory.
People definitely try to false flag as inuit, though given we are such a small group its not as common as say, coming across people who think their great great great grandma was a Cherokee princess or whatever. I think if we were bigger, we'd get more pretenders.
Also, I definitely think you're kinda right with your first point... generally, in my anecdotal experience, the people I know focusing on cultural appropriation stuff in its narrow sense are those using it as a tool to set themselves apart from the colonizers while having living conditions and lifestyles more similar to colonizers than the average inuk.
The location thing is really interesting! Thanks for sharing. Also I find it a bit similar in a way where in different countries, there are different words for Roma that may be translated to 'Gypsy' in English but have WAY worse connotations (like 'slave' or 'dirty'). I don't know if there are cases like that for Inuit people.
Thank you for answering my questions!!
No problem, happy to provide some insight and I am happy to hear more about your situation given there is a similarity in how mediatized and well known both our groups are such that people who will never meet us generally have some sort of idea in their heads when they hear of us.
Also you can just call us inuit, as it already means people! inuk means person, inuit means people. some areas can say inuuk and it would mean 'two people'.
Ooh thank you for letting me know! That makes sense. It’s kind of opposite with Roma, people will say “the Romani” but Romani is just an adjective so it makes no sense lol
yeah, I figured it would be something like that tbh.
what does roma/romani mean as a word then?
'Romani' basically translates to Roma, as an adjective. Romani fashion, Romani people, etc. Also can be used to be the noun for the Romani language, Roma is both a subgroup of Romani people, can refer to a group of Roma, OR can also be used to mean a singular female Romani woman. Rom is a singular Romani man. Many of our words mean multiple things lol. But the best way to describe us is Romani people, the Roma, or Romani Gypsies :)
Thanks for all that insight, the language seems very cool!