Taiwan-based German journalist Klaus Bardenhagen spotted this ad in the November 30 issue of the Taipei Times, the Taiwanese capital’s major English-language paper:
As Kerim Friedman noted on Twitter, “Native American” here refers not to the original inhabitants of the Americas but the descendants of the colonizers:
Note: the use of “Native Americans” in that advertisement means “White People” not Indigenous Americans. #TaiwaneseEnglish #fb—
Kerim Friedman 傅可恩 (@kerim) December 02, 2012
I wonder if I could pass myself off as “Native American” in this case. (Probably not.)
December 2, 2012 at 2:35 am
A version of this happens every semester in my ESL class. International students often misuse the term “Native American” in referring to Native English speakers.
December 23, 2012 at 9:20 am
Sounds like a great point in the term for a quick lesson on Native Americans!