tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post4401871876230372291..comments2024-03-27T14:08:51.191-05:00Comments on American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL): Michael Steele, "Honest Injun," and, "Injun" in children's booksDebbie Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-31847158263890532952010-01-20T19:35:31.066-06:002010-01-20T19:35:31.066-06:00The expression "Indian corn" was once us...The expression "Indian corn" was once used to distinguish maize from wheat, I believe. <br /><br />Helen Schinskehschinskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10316478950862562594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-57434499846020855422010-01-15T01:05:31.302-06:002010-01-15T01:05:31.302-06:00I did a quick look through Google Books (a great r...I did a quick look through Google Books (a great resource for this sort of question) and the earliest use of "Injun" I found was in the 1837 novel Nick of the woods: a story of Kentucky by Robert Montgomery Bird:<br /><br />"His hirelings were vagabonds of all the neighbouring tribes, Shawnees, Wyandots, Delawares, and Piankeshaws, as I noted well when I crept among them; and old Wenonga is the greatest vagabond of all, having long since been degraded by his tribe for bad luck, drunkenness, and other follies, natural to an Injun."<br /><br />I think if you poked around a bit you might find some slightly older uses of the slur, but it does not seem to have been in circulation in the 1700s.<br /><br />I love your blog! I work quite a bit with teachers in Teaching American History projects and I will let them know about your important work here.Larry Cebulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16798046652983001155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-51941005462654100432010-01-12T10:27:52.955-06:002010-01-12T10:27:52.955-06:00Thanks, Matt! I wondered if there were older examp...Thanks, Matt! I wondered if there were older examples but didn't hunt for any. <br /><br />Maybe Benjamin Franklin DID use that phrase!Debbie Reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-60056702345804050662010-01-12T10:20:56.453-06:002010-01-12T10:20:56.453-06:00Debbie, thanks for this post. You have brought up ...Debbie, thanks for this post. You have brought up an interesting question. Over the years I've spent a lot of time looking at historical newspapers. Here are a few examples of newspaper headlines in the Chicago Daily Tribune and the New York Times that predate Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:<br /><br />"Injun Lost" Chicago Daily Tribune, Feb 12, 1864, p. 04<br /><br />"No More Ducks - No More Injun" New York Times, July 14, 1874, p. 2<br /><br />"Jeff Davis as a Big Injun" New York Times, Nov. 14, 1875, p. 9<br /><br />I would imagine that the term "Injun" goes back even further than 1864.Matt Sakiestewa Gilberthttp://beyondthemesas.com/noreply@blogger.com