Half-breed is a term used to describe anyone who is bi-racial. The term is widely used to describe people of mixed
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
(especially
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
n) and white
EuropeanA European American is a person who resides in the United States and is either from Europe or is the descendant of European immigrants or founding colonists. Spanish Americans are the earliest European American group, with a continuous presence since 1565...
parentage.
MétisItalic textA Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
is a French term for half-breed.
Prior to 1763 when Canada passed into British hands, most traders with the Indians in northern North America were French, thus half-breeds were usually half French. Later when trading became the province of the
Northwest Company of MontrealThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
, and, later, the
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world...
half-breeds were more likely to arise from men of Scottish or Orkney origins.
Discussion
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Half-breed is a term used to describe anyone who is bi-racial. The term is widely used to describe people of mixed
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
(especially
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
n) and white
EuropeanA European American is a person who resides in the United States and is either from Europe or is the descendant of European immigrants or founding colonists. Spanish Americans are the earliest European American group, with a continuous presence since 1565...
parentage.
MétisItalic textA Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
is a French term for half-breed.
Prior to 1763 when Canada passed into British hands, most traders with the Indians in northern North America were French, thus half-breeds were usually half French. Later when trading became the province of the
Northwest Company of MontrealThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
, and, later, the
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world...
half-breeds were more likely to arise from men of Scottish or Orkney origins. There were nearly no white women in the interior where these men spent their working lives. Their offspring, familiar with Indian languages and ways, found ready employment with the trading companies. In a few cases half-breeds became concentrated in communities such as the
Red River settlement in ManitobaThe Red River Colony was a colonization project set up by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811 on of land granted to him by the Hudson's Bay Company under what is referred to as the Selkirk Concession...
, and
Prince Albert in SaskatchewanPrince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks along the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...
.
Controversy
The term is considered an impolite and rude offensive slur by many.
Further reading
- Hudson, Charles. Red, White, and Black: Symposium on Indians in the Old South, Southern Anthropological Society, 1971. SBN: 820303089.
- Perdue, Theda. Mixed Blood Indians, The University of Georgia Press, 2003. ISBN 082032731X.
See also
- Anglo-Metis
A 19th Century community of the Métis people of Canada, the Anglo-Métis, more commonly known as Countryborn, were children of the fur trade; typically of Orcadian, Scottish, or English paternal descent and Aboriginal maternal descent. Their first languages would have been aboriginal and English...
- Half-caste
Half-caste is a term used to describe people of mixed race or ethnicity. Caste comes from the Latin castus, meaning pure, and the derivative Portuguese and Spanish casta, meaning race. The term originates from the Indian caste system, where a person of 'lesser' or half-caste would be deemed to be...
- Mixed Race Day
Mixed Race Day, June 27 is a reference in Brazil to the twenty-seven mixed race representatives elected during the 1st Conference for the Promotion of Racial Equality, which occurred in the city of Manaus, State of Amazonas, Brazil, from April 7 to 9, 2005, and also to the month of June, in which...
- Mestizo
Mestizo is a Spanish and Portuguese term that was used in the Spanish Empire and Portuguese Empire to refer to Latin people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in the Americas....
- Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent or a person who has both black ancestry and white ancestry. The term may be perceived as pejorative in some cultures and situations. Its current usage varies greatly.-Etymology:...
- Zambo
Zambo is a Spanish term used in the Spanish Empire and today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry . The word originated from the Romance and Latin language...
External links