So I got a dislike of this video on YouTube. There was no comment attached just a dislike. I suspect that this particular chapter rated the dislike because it displays Twain at possibly his worst. He particularly disliked the "digger indians". The term "digger" is considered derogatory, of course. Twain made no attempt to actually identify who these people were, in fact he pretty much lumped all American Indians together, except for those from Fenimore Cooper's imagination. Those referred to in this chapter were either Paiutes or Shoshones. One of the illustrations mentions "Goshoot" indians. The Goshute Indians, according to Wikipedia, were "Western Shoshone", Goshute meaning "desert people".
Twain Chapter Comments
Mark Twain's Racism
So I got a dislike of this video on YouTube. There was no comment attached just a dislike. I suspect that this particular chapter rated the dislike because it displays Twain at possibly his worst. He particularly disliked the "digger indians". The term "digger" is considered derogatory, of course. Twain made no attempt to actually identify who these people were, in fact he pretty much lumped all American Indians together, except for those from Fenimore Cooper's imagination. Those referred to in this chapter were either Paiutes or Shoshones. One of the illustrations mentions "Goshoot" indians. The Goshute Indians, according to Wikipedia, were "Western Shoshone", Goshute meaning "desert people".