How (greeting)

The word "How" is a pop culture Anglicization of the Lakota word hau, a Lakota language greeting by men to men.[1] The term how is often found in stereotypical and outdated depictions of Native Americans, made by non-Natives, in some Hollywood movies and various novels, e.g. those of James Fenimore Cooper or Karl May.

Frederic Remington: The Parley

Background
Jean de Brébeuf, French Jesuit missionary, ca. 1627

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) uses [haːʊ̯] ("how") for the spelling, and claims Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf had described the use of the term as an interjection of approval with the Wyandot (Hurons). De Brébeuf described individual speakers using Condayauendi Ierhayde cha nonhwicwahachen to signify the end of their speaking, which was answered by the community with a long "Hooow".[2]

Longman Webster[3] describes Howgh as a greeting of the Lakota, Dakota, and/or Nakoda peoples; giving "Háu kola" (Hallo friend) as a Lakota language greeting. However, it would be the only Lakota term using a diphthong and is possibly of external origin.[4] Dakota people and Omaha people use slightly different versions. Francis Parkman, in his book The Oregon Trail, gives a first-person account of three weeks spent hunting buffalo with a band of Oglala Lakota in 1846.[5] He mentions their use of "How". By 1900 "Good morning" was the preferred greeting among Omaha.[6]

Usage

Karl May uses Howgh[7] similar to the Schweizerdeutsch closing particle "Ha gschlosse", which is used by the speaker to indicate they are done speaking.[8] In both cases, the term expresses a strict Rule of Order, and a longing for consensus.[8]

"Howgh", "Uff!", Manitou and Lakota "Hoka Hey" have had a major influence on the popular image of Native Americans in German-speaking countries. Howgh gained popularity as symbols of Native Americans through Cooper's and Parkman's books. By 1917 it was so stereotypically accepted that it found its way into US World War I propaganda depicting Native American soldiers.[9]

[Wilhelm II] killum papoose und killum squaw, so Jo Fixum will find this Kaiser and stickum bayonet clear through. Ugh! [sic]

By 1953 it was so completely accepted that in Walt Disney's Peter Pan movie, the song "What Made the Red Man Red?" uses "How" and "Ugh" with the strong assumption that the contemporary audience would understand them as standard Native American speech.

Howgh found some applications in German songs depicting Native Americans, as in "Indianer" by Nena (lyrics by Carlo Karges) and Gus Backus "Da sprach der alte Häuptling der Indianer" (the old Indian chieftain spoke, covered e.g. by Wildecker Herzbuben and Wirtschaftswunder [10]). It was even part of the social media parodies of German minister of finance Peer Steinbrück's use of Western movie metaphors against Swiss tax policy 2009.[11][12] Raymond Steadman was irritated by the usage of what he viewed as a stereotypical phrase, and closed with "Reader gettum sick? Have-um enough?" [sic][13]

See also

Further reading
  • Wolfgang Hochbruck: "I have spoken." Die Darstellung und ideologische Funktion indianischer Mündlichkeit in der nordamerikanischen Literatur. Gunter Narr Verlag, Tübingen 1991, ISBN 3-8233-4553-2 (ScriptOralia 32), (Freiburg i. Br., Univ., Diss., 1990).
  • Raymond William Stedman: Shadows of the Indian. Stereotypes in American culture. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK et al. 1982, ISBN 0-8061-1822-9.
  • April Renae S. Watchman: Howgh!! I have spoken, uff, uff!: Karl May and 19th century representations of American Indians, Thesis (M.A.)--Arizona State University, 2001, DOI:oclc/49709527

References
  1. "Hau/Han". Sinte Gleska University. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  2. Jean de Brébeuf Jesuit Relation 10, 1636, see Wolfgang Hochbruck "I have spoken" p.36, and J. Axtell, The Indian People of Eastern America, Oxford 1981
  3. Longman Webster English college dictionary. Harlow: Longman, 1984
  4. Rood, David S., and Taylor, Allan R. (1996). Sketch of Lakhota, a Siouan Language, Part I Archived 2012-07-12 at Archive.today. Handbook of North American Indians, Band 17 (Languages), p. 440–482.
  5. see I have spoken, Hochbruck p.153
  6. The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 18. August 1898, Seite 3, von Laurence Laughlin, The Indians at Omaha,
  7. Der Wortschatz Karl Mays, von Joachim Dietze, Georg Olms Verlag Hildesheim, 1999, ISBN 3487105357
  8. Handbuch der Phraseologie, Harald Burger, Annelies Häcki Buhofer, Ambros Sialm, Brigit Eriksson, Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 1982, ISBN 3110080028, p. 116
  9. American Indians in World War I: At home and at war, Thomas A. Britten, Verlag UNM Press, 1999, ISBN 0826320902
  10. Youtube, see 0.51
  11. Süddeutsche Zeitung online, 18. 3. 2009, Gerd Zitzelsberger:Nervöse Indianer im Steuerreservat, Steinbrück: Streit mit Schweiz, Im Kampf gegen das Bankgeheimnis verärgert Finanzminister Peer Steinbrück die Schweizer mit "Wildwest-Rhetorik",
  13. Steadman p.71, in I have spoken, Wolfgang Hochbruck p. 153
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.