19 Jan
2003
19 Jan
'03
3:38 p.m.
Eric Smith wrote:
Right, you are a native American but not a Native American.
And there is no such things as Native Scots, just native Scots.
The proper noun in this case is the key.
Eric
what it said
was
"Belonging to the people inhabiting a country
originally or at the time of its discovery."
I have no idea what dictionary you're looking at, but dictionary.com
found several:
Originating and living or occurring naturally in an area or environment.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Lanugage, Fourth Edition
Native; produced, growing, or living, naturally in a country or climate;
not exotic; not imported.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1998
Originating where it is found
WorldNet, 1997
The idea of "inhabiting a country originally or at the time of its
discovery" may be *one* definition of indigenous, but it's clearly
not definitive. One example givin in the Webster's entry does seem
to substantiate the definition you've given, even though the Webster's
definition is more broad.
Anyhow, not all definitions of "native" require the noun to be
indigenous. In fact, most don't. For instance, definition two in
the American Heritage Dictionary (ibid.):
Being such by birth or origin: <i>A native Scot</i>.
I'm certainly an American by birth or origin, thus I'm clearly native
to America.