Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 121
ESCAPE Weekly
Nov. 5 - 11, 2010 – 16
Is this Indian summer?
It’s fall, it’s harvest time and it’s too hot — but
why should Native Americans take the blame for it
O
time you’re introduced to the neighbors,
K, so we’ve got highs in the
i.e., the Indians. And some of the
90s this week. Surprising for
speculations for how the term Indian
November? Not really. You
summer came to be include:
have to remember that the Santa Clarita
(1) “Indian summer” was the period
Marathon is set for this weekend, and
when First Nations/Native American
nothing goes together better than long
peoples harvested their crops.
distance running and high temperatures.
OK, this seems harmless enough, and it
I mean, it’s so much fun to see the vacant,
might put at least a neutral spin on things.
heat-stroked looks on the salt-crusted
But the settlers would have
runners as they cramp
toward the finish line.
harvested their crops at the
Good times.
same time, so why do the
But, be that as it may,
Indians have to carry the
since we are well into fall,
basket? Well, maybe because
you might consider this
the “crops” grown by the first
warm spell as a kind of
settlers really sucked, and
Indian summer — which,
they needed to tap into the
by definition, is “a period
Indian food bank to make it
of unseasonably warm
through the winter.
Jim Walker
weather in late autumn or
So then “Indian summer”
Don’t Take Me Seriously
early winter.” However,
really meant going on the
“unseasonably warm” doesn’t
dole, which seems to have
really fit because, in Southern California,
become a national pastime. And even
“fall” is only indicated by fewer hot days
though the Indians would have been
than summer — you know, plus the
on the giving side of this transaction,
toasting of the leaves on a handful of non- somehow, they get saddled with the blame.
native trees.
Hmmmm.
But, following our stream of
(2) Supposedly, Indian summers in
consciousness here, a question naturally
America were a bit hazy, and it is theorized
comes to mind. Where did the term
that this was caused by prairie fires
“Indian summer” come from, anyway?
deliberately set by Native American tribes.
And if you hang the responsibility for
Now this hypothesis definitely takes a
warm fall weather on Native Americans, is turn for the mean. You know, Indians as
that a good thing?
pyros and air polluters — which totally
Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on
goes against that 1971 TV commercial
the motivation behind it.
with Iron Eyes Cody crying when he sees
Now it would seem the term
litter. And my first thought is, “Did the
“Indian summer” first came into use
prairie fire smoke blow to New England?
when European settlers arrived in
Because, I believe our settlers hadn’t yet
America and noticed this late-warmmet the prairie Indians when “Indian
weather phenomenon.
summer” was coined.
Seriously? Like a fall hot spell never
(3) The term Indian summer
happened in Old England?
originated from raids on European
But, ignoring that glaring defect in
settlements by Indian war parties, which
the story, you’ve got this exciting “new”
usually ended in autumn.
weather event popping up at the same
This interpretation is also quite
Metro Creative Connection
You’ll soon be pitched this idyllic fairy tale for Thanksgiving. But, back in the day, things were rarely this cordial.
negative, and really makes no sense. Why
would the settlers bother giving a name
to the period of winding-down of Indian
raids? And if they did, what did they call
actual summer, when the locals were all up
in their faces for real?
Campaign season?
(4) And, finally, in keeping with the
negativity often associated with other
“Indian” terms, Indian summer might
have implied a belief in the falsity and
untrustworthiness of Native Americans,
and that an Indian summer was a false
copy of real summer.
Wow. That’s just nasty, and falls into
the category of “Indian giver,” which, to
my mind, is more about Europeans giving
false promises to Native Americans than it
is about Indians wanting their corn back.
But take heart. There is some payback
in the name game. Some forgotten terms
have recently come to light that might give
Native Americans a little satisfaction:
English eye — “the twitch that afflicts
one’s eye when he is not telling the truth.”
This is believed to have been a sure-tell
every time the European settlers fibbed to
the Native Americans.
Settler’s stew — “water boiling in
a pot, awaiting a handout of food to
put into it.” This was a common sight
when Indians visited the compounds
of the early settlers, and is meant to
indicate begging without speaking.
And when the Indians would ask the
settlers “Hey, Bro, what’s for dinner?”
and the settlers said “Stew,” the settlers
probably couldn’t help but show some
embarrassed English eye.
Pilgrim pants — the actual definition
we will leave to your imagination, but
the term indicated a common ailment
associated with starving pilgrims noshing
on wild roots and herbs that didn’t agree
with them. It is said the Indians got a lot of
laughs out of this.
There are others of these terms, of
course, but let’s not lose sight of the most
important fact. It’s hot out there.
jwalker@the-signal.com
