1) news subbers: I have a 20-some-part FAQ available
2) Derek Jarman has died; a reminder that he directed
"Jubilee", which as I recall has a cameo by S & the B;
I can recommend the movie, altho good luck finding it
on video.
3) This week the Guardian's crossword defined "banshee"
as "wailing spirit"; sounds about right.
4) and now to cut to the chase ..
The Guardian (UK), Wed 23 Feb:
TRIBES CAMPAIGN TO DROP NAME SIOUX
Martin Walker in Washington
The word Sioux, one of the proudest names in United
States history, may be consigned to the history books
after campaigns by the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota and
Wahpeton tribes to drop the appellation, which they
object means "snake" or "little adder".
"The name can also mean `cut-throat', and metaphor-
ically means `enemy'. It is the French rendition of
the Iroquois name for us," Victor Douville, chairman
of the Lakota studies department at Sinte Glaska
university in South Dakota, says. "We accepted it
for the sake of convenience until our people began
to realise what the name meant."
The clans have made a formal renunciation of the
name Sioux an issue in this year's tribal elections,
reflecting the renewed pride and sense of identity
that followed the Oscar-winning film about the Lakota
tribes, Dances with Wolves.
Sioux was the generic term used by successive groups
-- French, British, and American -- to describe the
alliances forged among groups of plains Indians in
response to the threat of white incursions.
The Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota, and the other smaller
clans, each speak a different dialect. They hope that
by redefining themselves as separate nations, they can
better distribute the new wealth of the Indian reserva-
tions -- the fruit of the proliferation of casinos since
the courts rules that lands deeded to the tribes by treaty
were exempt from state bans on gambling.
The outcome of the elctions is uncertain. The Navajo
Indians of the southwest defeated a similar proposal
last year to rename themselves the Dinee, which means
"the people", rather than Navajo, which means "thieves"
or "raiders".
[the article does not note any
comment from this group's totem]
-- * Fred Baube(tm) * Suomi == Euro-Mini-Nippon * GU/MSFS/88 * baube@optiplan.fi * #include <disclaimer.h>