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Glite Dictionary
🇮🇳 Indian character 🪶 Native identity
Indianness

Indianness

1 8.3
The culture, traditions, and way of life of Native American people
  • noun
  • /ˌɪndiˈænəs/
  • US
: indianidad
  • Many communities are working to preserve their Indianness by teaching young people their native languages and customs.
  • sense of Indianness
  • symbol of Indianness
  • own Indianness

Examples

  • Powwows are musical performances that designate a sense of "Indianness" based on the common history and dance traditions of Plains cultures.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Rather, they have attempted to reclaim their own Indianness through performance and protest.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Others did quite the opposite: they decided their entitlement to Indianness could earn them a place in the world.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Indians are all different; overarching Indianness makes them all alike.

    Academic text (2004)

  • However, SMEs in the textiles and jewellery sectors sell different understandings of their 'Indianness' through their products.

    Academic text (2018)

  • What was this anxiety held within my heart, mixed-blood hysteria, grasping at anything linking myself to Indianness, my Indianness?

    Academic text (2004)

  • Leftist political discourse often draws on "Indianness" and "Indian blood" to contest colonialism in all its dimensions.

    Academic text (1991)

  • However, Richard also betrays his inability to grapple with the complexities of Indianness that confront him in the museum.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Powwows celebrate the cultural identity and traditions of American Indians, expressing a strong sense of Indianness.

  • The artist's work reflects her deep connection to her heritage and explores the essence of Indianness through vibrant imagery.

Synonyms

indigeneity
vsIndianness
  • Formal
1 9.7

A state of being native to a place and keeping the culture and rights of the local people

is limited to the cultural identity of native peoples in the Americas
aboriginality
vsIndianness
1 9.8

Being part of the first people and their culture in a place

is specifically about the Americas native cultural identity rather than general original status

How Detribalized

detribalization
  • Specialized
9.9
assimilation
23 5.7
acculturation
  • Specialized
2 8.2
Indianness
  • US
1 8.3

Surface Forms

Indianness singular
Indiannesses plural

Morphology

Indianness = Indian (transparent) = Indian + ness

Formed by the adjective 'Indian' (meaning American Indian) plus the noun-forming suffix '-ness', indicating the state or quality of being Indian.

Etymology

The word Indianness comes from Indian, a name early Europeans gave to the native peoples of the Americas after Columbus wrongly thought he had reached India, plus the ending -ness, which means 'state of being'. So Indianness can mean the cultural identity, traditions, and character of American Indians as the 'state of being' Indian.