Tuesday, June 03, 2008

U insultum

So, in the old days the movies taught us that American Indians all had one language.
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And, it was very much like English, but the verbs all ended in "-um". And their adjectives were a little different. And they didn't really use articles.
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For example..
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U smokeum peace pipe.
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We heap big friend now.
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U missum bad man. Catchum next woo-woo (that was the train).
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U squaw hasum pretty face.
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In retrospect, I can see why Indians might have taken offence. But as a people we have - for the most part - removed these sterotypes from the land. I say for the most part because, as you can see from the picture below, the Olentangy Cave Mines still call pee wee putt by it's original Indian Name. U-Puttum Golf.
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