Ward did address something related to George's point at dinner before the talk.
After mentioning the redskins bounty in the 1744 Pennsylvania document,
Ward said that the worst aspect of the term redskin is not the historical
meaning,
but the fact that many native americans currently find it offensive.
Tom

At 12:59 PM 1/28/2005, you wrote:
>More than referring to the historical practice, the term over the years
>became a rather standard insult used against Indians, often taking the form
>of, "you dirty r...).  This usage can still be found in towns around Indian
>communities.  I hear it in the upper peninsula regularly,  along with
>people's casual reference to "the savages."  I though Ward needed to
>address this in addition to the history. At 10:37 AM 1/28/2005, Tom Dutton
>wrote:
>>I've been thinking about Ward's talk last night and the term redskin.
>>He put his remarks right at the beginning of his talk, which I think
>>was effective.  If you were there, you heard him say that wearing a
>>t-shirt with the term redskin is like wearing one with the term
>>nigger on it.  Actually, I don't think that is quite the equivalent.
>>Because as Ward makes clear, redskin does not refer to skin color or
>>to a people, no matter how derogatory.  It refers to a practice--the
>>historical (traditional)  Indian-killing-practice where one would
>>receive a bounty by turning in that Indian's scalp or "bloody red
>>skin."  Hence the equivalent phrase on a t-shirt might be "hang
>>nigger" or "burn kyke."
>>
>>Ward's point is that the term redskin is a form of hate speech.
>>Hence, it is a hate crime, and not protected by the first amendment.
>>Fascinating.
>>
>>Tom Dutton
>
>George Esber
>Department of Anthropology
>Miami University Middletown
>4200 E. University Blvd.
>Middletown, OH 45042