Now...not to make this more confusing, but wasichu or wasicun has another meaning....simply put....wasichu = a non-Indian person...but often meaning a white person or of the white culture.
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The following explains this fairly well (found here:
http://www.native-languages.org/iaq20.htm ).
Q: Does "Wasicun," the Sioux word for the white man, really mean "greedy person who steals the fat"?
A: No. Wasicun is a real word in both
Lakota and Dakota Sioux (variously spelled Wasicu, Wašicun, Wasichu, Washicun, or Washichu), and
it does mean "non-Indian." But its literal meaning is someone with special powers. Of course as American-Sioux relations went downhill, the word began to be viewed more negatively. But the claim that wasicu had a negative meaning like "steals the bacon" or "greedy" or "tells lies" is not actually true--if anything, the original meaning was a positive one. Today,
wasicu does sometimes have the connotation of a greedy or dishonorable person, because many Sioux perceive white people as being rather greedy and dishonorable
; however the word does not actually have this or any other negative meaning, and
it is used in ordinary contexts in spoken Lakota, not just derogatory ones.
An ordinary contextual example:
wasicun winyan = white woman
wasichu = white man
(found here:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/359023)
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The concept of wasichu can also be a generalizable concept...such as in reference to non-Indian or white medicine/medical care.....for it may be difficult to trust a medicine foreign to Indian values or which has little respect for Indian culture. Religion is also a wasichu concept...where in the name of religion, men, women, and children were once forced to surrender their spiritual beliefs in order "to become civilized". So, although the general concept of wasichu may not be negative...like any word, it may be used in a negative way in reference to another person or culture which rejects or does not respect the Indian way of life.
However, today, what is often viewed as "corporate" America is quite often viewed as the more contemporary version of (what I will refer to as) "negative Wasichuism".... a culture all its own which respects little but itself in order to fill its own pockets. The Enron scandal is but one small example of corporate wasichuism at its worst...for Greed was at its very core. Often nowadays, it matters little if the culture is Indian or non-Indian. In corporate wasichuism, it is often a disrespecter of all persons, for it will rape any culture to secure its resources....if the law and the ignorance of the people allow it. The catch 22 in medicine is that the more it becomes "corporate" in nature (regardless of outreach attempts), the more distant and less Indian friendly it may appear to the Indian. For medicine and nursing to become more effective, it may need to embrace more of what is Indian, not less of it.
So, in a nutshell and in summary....how can I as a non Indian become a respecter of the NAI way of life when in a caregiving role?....and how may I demonstrate this? Does my own culture blind me to the value found in another's culture, rendering me less effective as a caregiver? And how can I become more culturally healthy as a person, and more sensitive as a caregiver? Just some questions to ask ourselves from time to time. And by providing posts on Indian culture and values in this forum, it is hoped to make it easier to answer those questions for ourselves....to become a more effective caregiver to a NAI person, with a "genuine desire to earn respect" from those we serve....and to not be viewed as a civilizer/conqueror of persons who "feels entitled of respect" due to the nature of our person and thereby obtaining none. It is very doable, but it does entail humility on our parts.
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