etymology - Why is it called an “Indian file”?


I recently came across a US phrase, Indian file. This is utterly unheard of in the UK, and probably outside North America; at least I’ve certainly never heard of it. The phrase would be expressed in British English as single file. Why is it called Indian file in the US? I’m guessing the phrase has something to do with the prevalence of Amerindians, but I can’t see any obvious etymology.



Answer



Presumably because this is the way the settlers thought American Indians walked on trails through the forest. They probably did; if you have narrow trails, this is the only comfortable way to walk them. By the way, in my experience, it's not "an Indian file"; unlike "single file", "Indian file" is not used as a noun.



They walked Indian file.
or ... arranged Indian file.



but not



*They formed an Indian file.



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