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by protomyth 1617 days ago
Slang wise, I've heard the phrase "beads not feathers". Generally, when talking on a reservation, its pretty obvious, but "Indians from India" was another. Depends on the crowd. You also have to remember that Native Americans talking about other Native Americans will use slang (not for outside use) or refer to the other's tribe.

1) I remember a band that I thought was called "Beads and Feathers" that had Native Americans and Indians.

3 comments

I've always seen "feather" contrasted with "dot", not "bead". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bindi_(decoration)

I've gotten the sense from Brown Pundits that among themselves they refer to themselves as Desi. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desi )

Dot works too. I heard beads at some meeting from an Indian from India speaker. I've heard Dot too.
In the movie, Good Will Hunting, clarification is made with “Dot, not feathers” which seems more accurate since both a dot mark and a feather are forehead ornamentations.
I have heard "Sari not sorry". Dunno where that came from, but I think I like it.