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→"Native American" vs. "native American": Some references.
::::: You are making some statements about how terms are "usually" used. I doubt that you are correct, and I don't see how the statements are helpful even if they are. So I don't agree with your proposed change. [[User:RSchlafly|RSchlafly]] 00:46, 27 May 2007 (EDT)
::::: You are making some statements about how terms are "usually" used. I doubt that you are correct, and I don't see how the statements are helpful even if they are. So I don't agree with your proposed change. [[User:RSchlafly|RSchlafly]] 00:46, 27 May 2007 (EDT)
[[User:RSchlafly|RSchlafly]], you are right - I shouldn't expect you to see my point of view without references. I did some looking - see below.
* native American –noun a person born in the United States. <ref>"native american." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 28 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/native%20american]></ref>
* Native American –noun Indian <ref>"Native American." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 28 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/native%20american]></ref>
* Native American n. A member of any of the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. The ancestors of the Native Americans are generally considered by scientists to have entered the Americas from Asia by way of the Bering Strait sometime during the late glacial epoch. <ref>"Native American." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 28 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/native%20american]> This entry includes the following usage note: ''"Many Americans have come to prefer Native American over Indian both as a term of respect and as a corrective to the famous misnomer bestowed on the peoples of the Americas by a geographically befuddled Columbus. There are solid arguments for this preference. Native American eliminates any confusion between indigenous American peoples and the inhabitants of India, making it the clear choice in many official contexts. It is also historically accurate, despite the insistence by some that Indians are no more native to America than anyone else since their ancestors are assumed to have migrated here from Asia. But one sense of native is "being a member of the original inhabitants of a particular place," and Native Americans' claim to being the original inhabitants of the Americas is unchallenged. · Accuracy and precision aside, however, the choice between these two terms is often made as a matter of principle. For many, Native American is the only choice for expressing respect toward America's indigenous peoples; Indian is seen as wrong and offensive. For others, the former smacks of bureaucracy and the manipulation of language for political purposes while the latter is the natural English term, its inaptness made irrelevant by long use. Fortunately, this controversy appears to have subsided somewhat in recent years, and it is now common to find the two terms used interchangeably in the same piece of writing. Furthermore, the issue has never been particularly divisive between Indians and non-Indians. While generally welcoming the respectful tone of Native American, most Indian writers have continued to use the older name at least as often as the newer one. · Native American and Indian are not exact equivalents when referring to the aboriginal peoples of Canada and Alaska. Native American, the broader term, is properly used of all such peoples, whereas Indian is customarily used of the northern Athabaskan and Algonquian peoples in contrast to the Eskimos, Inuits, and Aleuts. Alaska Native (or less commonly Native Alaskan) is also properly used of all indigenous peoples residing in Alaska."''</ref>
* Native American noun American Indian <ref>"Native American." Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary. K Dictionaries Ltd. 28 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/native%20american]></ref>
* native american adjective 1. of or pertaining to American Indians or their culture or languages; "Native American religions"; "Indian arrowheads" [syn: Indian] noun 1. any member of the peoples living in North or South America before the Europeans arrived [syn: Amerindian] <ref>"native american." WordNet® 3.0. Princeton University. 28 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/native%20american]></ref>
Our article currently says ''"Furthermore, the term Native American [with a capital N] literally means anyone who was born in American as an American, so it can also be used by any American who wants to distinguish himself from an American immigrant."'' While I agree that it ''can'' be used this way, the references above seem to back up my understanding that this is not at all common usage, and I think if we are to be encyclopedic we should make that clear. Of course, there may be contexts or communities where this usage is common, and I have not done extensive research - could you give some examples of where you see "Native American" (with a capital N) used to mean "native-born American"? --[[User:Hsmom|Hsmom]] 13:25, 28 May 2007 (EDT)
==References and Notes==
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