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neoplastic_pleonasm t1_iu5le0p wrote

Reply to comment by remarkablyoblivious in TIL that when the French first arrived in North America they met the Ojibwe Indians who introduced them to other tribes but used nasty names. The Lakota/Dakota people were called "Nadowessiwag," which became Nadouessioux in French, then Sioux in English. It means "little snake." by marmorset

Exonyms VS endonyms. In OPs case they're called hostile exonyms. There are a lot of historical peoples we only know by exonyms. There are also many we know only by their native word for "people."

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