Ostensibly, I have been way behind the eight ball on this subject. During the holidays when we all spend time with a lot of family that we don’t really see very often throughout the year, I had this experience I’d like to share with you.
While we adults were sitting around my living room drinking “special eggnog” and the kids of the family were playing on the floor with the array of new toys Santa was kind enough to leave with the good and not so naughty kids of our family, one of the kids yelled out, “Criss cross apple sauce” and all of the kids sat Indian style. I looked at one of the adults and said, “Hey, that’s cute.” Then I was informed that this was not some cute comment that the kids thought up, but rather another mission accomplished for the politically correct police.
I was told that years ago the public schools started using this term as not to offend Native American Indians. I was stunned. Apparently, I was the only one left in America who didn’t know this trepid axiom. It made me start to think about the fluid nature of language and how sometimes certain terms we were so fond of or used comfortably just fall into the ash bin of society’s evolution.
This one kind of seemed a little inscrutable to me. I mean, after all, the American Indian isn’t actually the “woe is me” crowd anymore. I rather look at them as a vast conglomerate of multi-billion dollar casino owners living in a tax free world of get-back. I find that when we get charged seven dollars for a cocktail and fifty dollars for some average steak dinner at one of their casinos, that my level of sensitivity wanes. Despite how it all started, the American Indian has found a niche in our culture that should wipe away clean any white-man stole our country guilt. I would love to not pay taxes.
How far should this political correctness go with all these different groups and where is all this sensitivity when it comes to the Christians living here in America? Christians, the only group left we can bash without the ‘word police’ showing up at the front porch of our consciousness. How on Earth is saying the term sitting Indian style offensive? It even has the word ‘style’ in it. Isn’t that how they really sat?
Then it made me think. Before the new world was created, before Ponce De Leon and Columbus made it here to the new world, what term did we use to describe sitting that way?
C. Rich
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Most European languages describe it as sitting “Turkish style,” so probably that. The PC movement generally strikes me as more prejudiced than the opposite – saying “sitting Indian style” is offensive seems to me more a way of saying that referencing Indians at all is offensive than anything else.
This was a great article!
This was an offensive article. Native-Americans deserve respect, and I think you should give them that! No wonder our world is so close-minded!
This is just silly. Saying the word “Indian” isn’t offensive. Sitting like an Indian would is NOT offensive. Get over yourself.
i dont like to think of myself as closed minded, i just dont understand what is disrespectful about sitting “indian style.” i have black, asian, mexican and gay friends. there are words that i dont use not because they (my non white friends) are around but because they are hateful and degrigating. i hope i am not coming across as a smartass but i honestly would like to hear why from a native american who is offended by the phrase “sitting indian style”
Scot-they are not offended. In everyone of these cases, the vast majority Indians are actually against the changes. Take the Florida St. Seminoles, whose name was almost changed, and several other college football programs that were forced to change their names. In every case, the Indians approved of the name as a sign of respect-they liked the names. Yet in every case, liberals, who think that they are above, smarter, and better than everyone else got it in their heads that we are offending the Indians with our phrases. Instead of listening and caring about the true opinion of the Indians, they decided to enforce their shortsighted, egoistic, self-satisfying changes.
No, no about the sitting “Indian style”. Does not refer to Native Americans. Indians from India. Also refered to as tailor style or Turkish style by other Euro countries or in India kahsahana “style” not to be confused with “lotus style” which is sitting with legs folded but palms of feet up. But yes, The PC movent is otherwise annoying.
I am American Indian.
Hi.
I would like to ask one question:
How does an American Indian person sit?
Well, let me ask MYSELF. I sit a lot of different ways. Sometimes, I like to sit with my feet up. Is that Indian style? Sometimes, I sit on my knees, gosh I guess that’s Indian style too.
The only reason I take offense to that is because it’s an outdated term. Some white person was like oh, Indians sit like this with their legs crossed, let’s generalize that, aka stereotype. It’s stupid. Let it go, we don’t need anymore kids with closed mindedness like you in the world.
As far as your other highly outlandish comments generalizing all American Indian people, you couldn’t be more ignorant.
Not all Tribal Nations have casinos. So, no, we aren’t all a “conglomerate of multi-billion dollar casino owners living in a tax free world of get-back.”
And “Get-back”??? I’M SORRY but did your people get colonized unwillingly, were tricked into giving up their lands so that YOU might be where you are today? Did you have brutal genocide brought on your people? Had their women sterilized? Forced to move from their homes to unfamiliar shitty unusable land? Thrown into government run boarding schools to be more like the “white man”, beaten and abused?
Nothing bothers me more than ignorant people babbling about being PC.
Hey, maybe there is a reason behind it.
Go Read a book.
Ashley- sure, that sounds Indian. Well you stupid whore, Indians were savages that would ass fuck whites while the men were out to work and cut off the skins on their heads. They did that to woman and children. They were one with murder and sodomy not nature. Nice try you slut! Go back to your tax free casino and cry about how sad it was whites conquered you freaks!
Downunder33,
You are ignorant.
Downunder33,
You should be embarrassed a year later for posting this.
Ashley,
All things work together for good. If it were not for the European colonization of Indians and slavery of Africans, you would still be living in a teepee hunting food with sticks. Your people did not advance much at all after thousands of years living in the Americas. Thank the European for teaching you new ways to sit — like using a chair!
Likewise, the African American is in far better shape than the relatives left behind in Africa. Thankfully American black slaves provided a huge influence on our music or Europeans would still be sitting European-style listening to Mozart!
I agree. When will all the political correctness end??
Instead of criss cross apple sauce I think we should just call it “sitting pretzel style” from here on out. Coming from a native american point of a view!!
Happy Holidays folks.
Navajo Princess
Call it “Sitting PC Style”. That will send a message to the children!
And here I thought the indians they were referring to were people from Indiana. But let me offer my opinion seeing as how it was asked.
Any person who believes all indians are billion dollar casino owners, is quite ignorant.
Any person who lets events from 100 plus years ago effect them today is quite sad.
Europeans conquered America and killed, and ran off the Indians into neat little shitty plots of land, fine. But a native can actually choose to live anywhere they please the last time I checked into it. While its good for the natives to remember both the good and the bad of their history, they also need to realize (and this goes for jews too), that constant ‘woe is me’ attitudes get a person nowhere. Rather, the natives should accept what happened, seek a method of preventing it from happening again, and build a society for themselves in the way they see fit. The Amish have how they choose, and it works great for them. So too can the natives. Never forget the past, but if a person isnt prepared to build their own future, then what you get is a bunch of self-loathers running around (of any race).
The facts remain:
-The Native Americans Lost the War(s)
-The Jews, lost the War (WWII under Hitler)
-The Aztec lost to the Spanish.
-Rome itself lost to the Visguards.
-The Blacks became slaves.
There are winners and they are loosers. The past is the past, Perhaps looking at what the future can hold would be more beneficial for those who have lost the wars.
-Rome continued on through thte Catholic Church.
-The Aztec were killed off completely.
-The Jews got their Israel back.
-The Blacks got rap music and Oprah
-The Natives got some casino rights and check every now and then.
The Past is the past, history is history, but its those who get the short end of the stick in history have an opportunity to rebuild themselves stronger and better. As a people, the natives could easily pick themselves up and do some great things, or they can choose to sit back and wallow in their own collective misery, drinking themselves silly. Even in this somewhat free society, it is still their choice. Best of luck
I’d be happy to just call it “Criss-Cross”, and drop the stupid applesauce. Stupid PC police. Why make it longer to say? Is that the punishment for calling it “Indian Style” for so long?
I still don’t understand. I have said “sitting Indian style” since I was a child and never ever did it mean anything offensive. How is it outdated? What timeframe constitutes a word becoming outdated? It simply describes a style of sitting. Really, people this is ridiculous. And if the term originally came from the sitting style of the Middle Eastern Indians, then why in the world would Native Americans feel the need to be offended?
When will people stop looking for things to become offended about?