[wiki summary]

Guidelines for posting in a dog thread You shall make no more than 1 post in a dog thread unless you have posted or replied to a trip report (or photo) since your last visit. Thanking someone for their contribution goes a long way to building and fostering a sense of community!

[cambajamba]

It perpetuates the myth that native people have a primitive culture. It reminds people of native descent that they are seen as inferior or primitive to the ruling class. It perpetuates the stereotype that native people speak simply, or differently from american culture at large. It recalls a legacy of borrowing tropes and symbols from native culture to advance the outdoor culture of "american" youth at summer camps during the formative decades of the 20th century, while at the same time teaching limited or outright incorrect information and history surrounding the wholesale genocide committed against native people BY OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. In so many ways I don't have time to educate on, it reminds me that what could have been my proud heritage is instead a source of constant misunderstanding and ridicule. In the way my Irish, Italian, or Dutch or Practically Anywhere Else peers celebrate their culture in parades, festivals, official holidays, etc - when indigenous people attempt the same thing it's somehow this divisive political thing instead of a celebration. What, like what the hell did we do to deserve this, STILL, after all these years? Didn't die out? Aren't being killed by racist bureaucracy and poverty fast enough? Also how disgusting that some people think that Power with a capital P is the only thing that drives change. Know who else thought that? "It is blood which moves the wheels of history." - Benito Mussolini (not a good role model)

[Chief Joseph]

Many, many moons ago, mankind was not so easily offended, they had bigger issues to worry about...like where there next meal would come from.

[fourteen410]

[cambajamba]

Seriously? By even existing as a common part of speech it reinforces these concepts in your mind. If you can't grasp such a simple concept I don't know how to help you, I'm not an educator, I'm just a person trying to live my life without being reminded constantly that I'm perceived as a second class citizen by a large portion of our population - even if they themselves don't realize they see it that way. I'm tired and lost and have no hope for the future. I have been a part of this community for awhile and like a lot of communities that we built over the past decade(s) it's been tearing itself apart. An author once remarked that it is a terrible thing to find something out about a friend. Things you are told are curated, easy. Things you find out can be shocking. I found out over the past two years how a lot of my "peers" in the outdoor community think and feel about nature, each other, and who has a right to what kind of experience and I'm disgusted. This forum tolerates hate speech and consists of loud voices that condone it explicitly. I've spoken with other members who have left and I'm sorry to anyone who ever found value in my voice - but I'm done here. I wish I'd done what you all wanted in the first place and kept my mouth shut.

[Joseph]

[fourteen410]

[Kim Brown]

Hey how 'bout them Mariners! Edgar finally got his due, hey?

[joker]

FWIW I've read the term "many moons" described on a list of terms created by native Americans who were describing terms they saw as pejorative. In this case they described it as implying a mix of laziness and use of "pidgin" English. Since I'd like to try to avoid offending people unnecessarily it's a term I'll therefore avoid using. I realize that this could be a slippery slope wherein we could grant everyone the ability to write up such lists and soon all phrases would be eliminated from use, but I don't see this as a case of falling down that slope. YMMV

[fourteen410]

[Damian]

[Pyrites]

[Randito]

FWIW: In both the Jewish and Islamic calendars months align perfectly with moon phases (i.e. each month starts with the new moon). The Jewish calendar is a Hybrid between lunar and solar and includes a "leap month" inserted periodically so that the Passover holiday always occurs during the spring. The Islamic calendar is fully lunar, which is challenging in higher latitudes when Ramadan falls near the summer solstice and the number of hours of daylight and thus fasting is very long. The phrase "many moons ago" entered English usage after a pirate was stranded with the Kuna peoples in the 17th century for a time and was included in his journals when he returned to England. I suppose first people's might consider usage by persons of European ancestry to be cultural appropriation.

[joker]

I suspect current usage (and reaction to it) has more to do with portrayal of native Americans/first peoples in various westerns (movie genre) over multiple decades than anything else, though the etymology is nonetheless interesting.

[Chief Joseph]

[Ski]