Word.ws English Dictionary

timber nigger

timber nigger noun: a Native American person, especially one of Ojibwe descent.

Noun

timber nigger (plural timber niggers)

  1. (derogatory, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur) A Native American person, especially one of Ojibwe descent.
    • Unfortunately, many people suffer from the Hollywood distortions of Indian history. While the Chippewa never waged hostility toward the United States, the feeling appears to be that they should conduct themselves as a vanquished people. Should the Chippewa fail to act vanquished and join in the...1987, James H. Schlender, quotee, “Written Testimony of James H. Schlender, Executive Administrator, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, November 4, 1987”, in Anti-Indian Violence...
    • Or like his neighbor Morriseau, who probably got a government subsidy because he was a timber nigger.2004, Mary Relindes Ellis, The Turtle Warrior, Penguin Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 161

Synonyms of timber nigger

Forms of timber nigger

pluraltimber niggers

Origin of timber nigger

From timber, presumably a reference to the stereotypical forest habitat of the Ojibwe people, and nigger. Arose in Wisconsin in the late 1980s during a public outcry and protest from outdoor enthusiasts over the Ojibwe exercising the right to spearfish in nonreservation lakes granted to them by treaties.

Questions about timber nigger

What does timber nigger mean?
Timber nigger means a Native American person, especially one of Ojibwe descent.
What part of speech is timber nigger?
Timber nigger is a noun.
What is the plural of timber nigger?
The plural of timber nigger is timber niggers.

Words near timber nigger in the dictionary

  1. Timber Lake
  2. timber line
  3. timber lines
  4. timber merchant
  5. timber merchants
  6. timber nigger
  7. timber niggers
  8. timber rafting
  9. timber rattlesnake
  10. timber rattlesnakes
  11. timber wolf

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: timber nigger (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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