Definition

Noun: * A historical term for a white man who was married to a North American Indian woman, particularly during the period of westward expansion and frontier settlement.

Usage Notes

• Historical Context: This term is specific to a particular historical period and social context, primarily the 19th and early 20th centuries in North America.
• Modern Sensitivity: The word "squaw" is now widely considered an offensive and derogatory term for a Native American woman. Consequently, the compound term "squaw man" is also considered outdated, offensive, and inappropriate in modern usage. It should be avoided in contemporary speech and writing.
• Usage Restriction: It is used almost exclusively in historical texts, discussions, or fiction set in the relevant time period, and even then its pejorative nature is acknowledged.

Examples

• Historical accounts sometimes referred to fur traders who integrated into tribal communities as squaw men.
• The novel depicted the complex social position of a squaw man, caught between two cultures.

Advanced Usage

• The term often carried implications about the man's social status, suggesting he lived within or was associated with his wife's tribal community, sometimes to the exclusion of white settler society.

Word Origin and Related Terms

• Etymology: The term combines "squaw" (an Algonquian-derived word that became a pejorative) with "man."
• Historical Synonyms: While also problematic, terms like "Indian trader" or "frontiersman" were sometimes used in similar contexts but without specifying marriage.
• Modern Alternative: A neutral, descriptive phrase such as "a white man married to a Native American woman" should be used instead.

Important Note on Offensive Language

The primary definition of this term cannot be separated from its offensive component ("squaw"). It is categorized as a derogatory, ethnic slur. When encountering it in historical sources, it is crucial to understand it within its context and recognize why it is unacceptable today.

Noun

1. a white man married to a North American Indian woman