Thread:User talk:CodeCat/Redskin

Hi CC. Regarding this, it is, on the balance of probabilities, unlikely. I've been involved in editing Redskin (slang) and have looked into the etymology there, extensively. The early uses of red/redskin originates as self-identification by Indians in the SE, with no indication that paint was their reason for doing so (although that is a possibility). I'm inclined to believe Shoemaker's suggestion that it comes from an origin story about god making them out of red clay, but that's not confirmed (nor is it confirmable).

Anyway, this is what the OED used to say, which supports your position: "‘Redskin’ is first recorded in the late 17th century and was applied to the Algonquian peoples generally, but specifically to the Delaware (who lived in what is now southern New York state and New York City, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania). Redskin referred not to the natural skin color of the Delaware, but to their use of vermilion face paint and body paint."

They've since changed that, on the back of research by Goddard.

This is what they currently say: "The use of the term redskin is first recorded in the 18th century, translating (via French) a term in the Illinois language meaning literally ‘person with red skin’."

The compound part of you revert is still fair (as that's what peaux rouges literally means), if you want to retain that.