Named By Their Enemies

The Spanish asked the Zunis who those renegades were who were running off with all their horses and a Zuni said, “Enemies,” which sounded to the Spaniards like Apache. When the Navajo were asked who built the abandoned pueblos, they said, “ancient enemies,” which ended up as Anasazis. When the Pima were asked who their neighbors were, they said, as a joke, “the bean eaters,” which became Papago. The Pimas got their handle when they repeatedly answered “I don’t know” to the Europeans who were questioning them. By this standard, anglos should be called the Clueless.