References to indigenous Americans' skin being red can be found from the 1580s,[1] although not consistently (another European in 1584 described indigenous Americans as "yellowish");[2] in some cases the reference may be not to their skin color per se but to their painting themselves with red paint.[3] A letter ostensibly from 1699, which was formerly cited as the earliest reference to "red skins", was not published until 1900 and is now recognized as fake.[4]
The earliest documented instance of the term "redskin" is from a 1769 discussion between thePiankeshaw and John Wilkins,[5] this and other early uses appear to be translating terms meaningred +skin,flesh, orpeople that the tribes of the Illinois / Mississippi Valley area used to refer to themselves when communicating with the French (who translated such terms asFrenchpeau-rouge) and with English-speakers (whenceredskin).[6][7][4]
Piecewise doublet ofRauðskinna.
redskin (pluralredskins)
Previously used neutrally, the word began to be used as a term of contempt in the late 1800s; it is now often considered offensive.
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redskin (pluralredskins)
