Native American Slang, Jargon, and New Words from Double-Tongued Dictionary

Citations in the Category Native American

Native American. Associated with, special to, or from Native American (Indian) peoples or cultures. You can also see entries assigned to this category.

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new buffalo n. Among U.S. Indians, gambling advocates have taken to calling casinos the “new buffalo.” At last count, 224 American tribes had opened gaming operations, in 28 states, hauling in US$25-billion in 2006, more than double the take just five years earlier. In California alone, 51 tribes generate $4-billion in revenue and have created 40,000 jobs. [English Native American Slang] [full cite] (Feb. 18, 2008)

pogonip n. The foggy conditions are an aftermath of the heavy snowfall earlier this month. Moisture from the snow evaporates during the day, then crystalizes in the atmosphere when nighttime temperatures drop below freezing, meteorologists said. The effect creates a glistening winter wonderland when the fog freezes on trees, plants and shrubs. Many in northern Nevada refer to it as “pogonip,” a Shoshone Indian word meaning “white death.” [Native American] [full cite] (Jan. 18, 2005)

powwow bunny n. A self-proclaimed owner of the “gift of gab,” Simpson talks while she works—about the dreamcatchers she’s making for her Native friends serving in Afghanistan, about how, despite her fondness for powwows, she has never become a “powwow bunny,” the term for a young woman who attends a different powwow every weekend. [English Native American Slang] [full cite] (Apr. 22, 2007)

prairie nigger n. When a white student pushed an Indian student against a locker and called him a “prairie nigger,” the Indian student, a middle schooler, was arrested and jailed when he pushed back. [English Native American Race Derogatory Slang] [full cite] (Nov. 8, 2007)

rez car n. He described his “cat and mouse” tactics: he would purposely allow himself to be seen, and then flee as far as Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia in cars he picked up on the reservations. “Rez cars,” he called them. [English Automobiles & Transportation Native American] [full cite] (Apr. 7, 2007)

smudging n. Wendy Sarasohn, a broker with the Corcoran Group who has guided buyers away from apartments she felt had bad vibes and who has arranged smudgings (an American Indian practice during which smoke is used to cleanse a place of negative energy), said a broker should disclose if “something unharmonious” has taken place. [English Native American Religion] [full cite] (May. 1, 2006)

smudging n. During the ceremony, sage was burnt and wafted over the 65 or so people in attendance. The process is called smudging. And, Bobbi Piasecki said, its aim is to get rid of negative feelings or attitudes. The smudging ceremony should help get the new semester off to an upbeat start, she said. [English Native American] [full cite] (Sep. 7, 2006)

swamp nigger n. In Hayward, Wis., the white locals call the Indians ‘’timber niggers.’’ In my home state of North Carolina we are called “swamp niggers.” [English Native American Race Derogatory Slang] [full cite] (Nov. 8, 2007)

three-sister planting n. Imitating a traditional Iroquois practice called “three-sister planting,” the farm plants corn, beans and squash together. The beans fix nitrogen into the soil that corn depletes while the corn’s stalk enables the bean plant to grow upward. Squash keeps both hydrated. [English Agriculture Native American] [full cite] (Jun. 8, 2007)

timber nigger n. In Hayward, Wis., the white locals call the Indians “timber niggers.” [English Native American Race Derogatory Slang] [full cite] (Nov. 8, 2007)

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