From above:
“Buck Dancing gets it's name from a dance a male deer performs during mating season. Blacks, Whites, and Native American's in the south all imitated the buck deer dancing…”

“The origins of buck dancing are unclear, but sources indicate that it has many elements in common with the Cherokee stomp dance. There is conjecture that it is also related to the ceremonial dances in which Indians braves would put on the antlers and skin of a male deer...”

From the Clogging wiki:
“The term "buck," as in buck dancing, is traceable to the West Indies and is derived from a Tupi Indian word denoting a frame for drying and smoking meat; the original 'po bockarau' or buccaneers were sailors who smoked meat and fish after the manner of the Indians.”


As taught to Mizz Moyer's dance classes c.1950s:

Buck = Old English for male deer. Most likely from the Dutch - bok; Germanic - bock &c. General usage could be most any male beast, ie: humans. “Going stag” used to apply to men only; buck party = stag party &c.
Buckskin = leather from the skin of the male deer.
Bucks = soft sole, derby style dance shoes with uppers of buckskin. Not Oxfords and no taps.
Buck dance = old style soft shoe (clog = hard sole, old style tap.)

And around the Bahamas they were called “buccaneers” because men were men and goats (ie: bucca) were scared.