On Sun, 19 Jan 2003, Eric Chomko wrote:
I dunno. I think that in the context where the term
"Native American"
is, the word "American" is always proceeded by a capitalized adjective.
Now I'm not sure about the forms that you've been looking at, but
are you a native American or a Native American?
Well, to call Native Americans that is to assume that this land was called
"America" before Columbus discovered it for the Europeans. So even the
title "Native American" is improper. I prefer "Indigenous Peoples of this
Land", but it's too long (and annoying) to say.
I coined the term "Indigen" as a good replacement but a friend who is
descended from the indigenous peoples of what is now known as North
America pointed out to me that it sounds too close to "indigent".
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at
www.VintageTech.com *