prairie nigger

prairie nigger

English

Etymology

From prairie, the chief habitat of Native American peoples of the Great Plains, and nigger.

Noun

prairie nigger (plural prairie niggers)

1. (ethnic slur, derogatory, slang) A Native American person, especially one from the nations native to Great Plains, such as the Apache, Sioux, Pawnee and Crow.
   • 1994, Louise Erdrich, The Bingo Palace, HarperCollinsPublishers (1994), →ISBN, page 71:

     As I turn away with my purchase, I hear him mutter something and I stop. I thought I heard it, but I wasn't sure I heard it. Prairie nigger.

   • 2004, Johnny D. Boggs, Spark on the Prairie, Thorndike Press (2004), →ISBN, page 293:

     "I know he's a damned Kiowa, mister, and that's all I have to know about that prairie nigger."

   • 2011, James Robb, Corona Rapture, iUniverse (2011), →ISBN, page 53:

     […] I don't have to listen to some prairie nigger whine about ethics. Go drink it out on a reservation," Amanda said, breaking for the stairs.

     "I'm Sicilian," Luca corrected.

     "I don't care what tribe you're from!" […]

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:prairie nigger.

Synonyms

• (ethnic slur for Native American person): red nigger,

redskin, timber nigger, timber nigger