Whenever I write articles about the Indigenous people of Canada, I struggle with the correct term to use in describing those who are members of the dominant culture. After all, they had and continue to have such a strong and continuing influence. I am speaking, of course, of those whose ancestors fled a land oppressed by fries dipped in mayonnaise and instead yearned for the equally artery-clogging freedom of a land of double-doubles.
The term “white people” seems a bit generic. It’s like saying just “cheese.” This (unlike cheese) is an issue the original people of this land are somewhat familiar with.
Members of the Indigenous population of Canada have been (and in some corners are still) known by many names of a collective nature. During my college years, I commonly heard questionable terms bandied about by classmates: “chug” (a less-than-charitable term for alcohol consumption), “wagon burner” (self-explanatory, though I myself have never burned a wagon), and the ubiquitous “chief,” which one guy in my class thought was a compliment. This young diehard hockey fan thought any Indigenous person would love to be nicknamed after George Armstrong, an amazing Ojibway player who captained the Maple Leafs for many years. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t masochistic enough to revel in the Leafs of another, more majestic, era.
As time passed, the monikers multiplied. The geographically inaccurate “Indian” was popular for a while. Then there was the more correct duo of “Aboriginal” or “Native.” Eventually people found fault with both, and those names were put on the shelf along with the rest of the GIN (good-intentioned names). Today, Indigenous or First Nations (not to forget Inuit and Métis) are the more preferred designations. In reality, we usually prefer to be called by our specific Nations: perhaps Anishinaabe or Haudenosaunee. But not everybody can handle those pronunciations — the horror stories I could tell you from various land acknowledgements I have heard.
But what to call these dispersed Europeans when you’re writing about them? You see the problem. They, too, have had less-than-complimentary titles over the years: “cracker,” “honkey,” “Casper.” It’s not pretty. I struggle with this as an Indigenous writer.
The one that is most often used these days is “settler.” The problem here is that many nouveau Canadians do not like the term. I’m told they find it inaccurate. They didn’t settle here — they were born here. Fair enough, but that raises the larger question of why so many of my First Nations friends have, over the years, been told by some of these people to “go back to where they came from.” Unlike most so-called settlers, we could get there by bus.
Moving on, there’s always the seemingly neutral “Caucasian.” But that’s a bit broad and clinical. I’ve heard of Irish bars and English bars, but “Caucasian bar” would have a bad connotation. There’s also “immigrant,” but, again, for many it does not fit. I know several people whose ancestors go back several hundred years — long enough to have as much Canadian mosquito saliva in their blood as any First Nation member.
“Colonizer” seems to come in and out of popularity. Somewhat accurate, but it’s an awfully aggressive term. I mean, would you let your daughter marry a colonizer? (And I know many have.)
Over the years, I’ve come up with several names or terms that I use in my writing and will keep using until something more definitive is agreed upon. “People of Pallor” seems to work. “Colour challenged” is popular. For those who put their toast in the woke toaster, there’s always “pigment denied.”
Some may find those suggestions rude, but in many Indigenous languages, the names for white people can be more descriptive, and thereby contentious. The Lakota use the term Wasicu which means “fat taker” or “greedy person.” A Mohawk woman told me that their language uses a word that means “white foam people,” in reference to the foam you find on top of lakes and the ocean. An Inuit man informed me their term is Qallunaaq, which can loosely be translated as “big bellies and eyebrows.”
I realize Canada is full of people other than Indigenous people and those of whom I speak. Those with Black, Asian, or Latin heritage would generate a much different conversation, as they had less direct involvement in the evolution of Indigenous peoples in the past several hundred years. One could even argue their introduction as Canadians was also massaged by the dominant culture.
I don’t know what the answer is. I never do. Maybe someday, there’ll be a Royal Commission to figure this out. But just for the record, I want people to know that some of my best friends are colour-challenged/Caucasians/crackers. We have one that comes and cleans our house twice a month. We just call her Helen.
She’s a good person.
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