I’m really glad someone finally thought to ask Indian people about the story of the pet dog who snatched a newborn from its crib and ran off with it. The baby is slowly recovering, but accounts of the incident – it happened in Kentucky – went nationwide, nearly every one of them naming the critter as a rare “Native American Indian dog.”

I’ve already grumbled about that (here) and, now, other people are, too. Quoting verbatim from this Lexington-Herald Leader story:

Charles Huddleston of Sadieville, vice president of the Kentucky Native American Indian Council of the Bluegrass, said using the term “Native American Indian dog” is “demeaning” and “a slap in the face to all the Native American Indians anywhere.”

“There is no such creature,” he said. “There may be a Native American dog. When you add the word ‘Indian’ to it, that denotes a person. …The dog itself would not be an Indian.”

He says using the term to describe a dog gives people “a negative feeling as far as Native American Indians.”

“People have been treated like dogs,” he said.

Thank you, Mr. Huddleston.

Alas, no animal story would be complete without an outpouring of sympathy for – wait, you thought I was going to say the baby, right? People are worried about the baby, and I’m happy and relieved to report that, according to this story, the baby – Alexander James Smith – is improving.

But this being a country that loves its critters, there’s now a petition circulating to make sure that Dakota, the dog in question, isn’t put down. As this story phrases it, “Dakota is in custody and scheduled to be executed.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Kentucky Native American Indian Council, Native American Indian dog, Native American news