[OT] Inuit? Eskimo?

[Andrew Dalke]

Floyd Davidson:
> The term "Native American" is a coined word that the US Federal
> government came up with to reference *all* indigenous people in
> the US and its territories.  Hence it includes American Indians,
> Eskimos, Aleuts, Hawaiians, Puerto Ricans, Guamanians, American
> Somoans and probably somebody I've forgotten to name.

When did the phrase come into use?  I'm thinking about the
indigenous populations of ex- US territories, like the 40 or so
years we held the Phillipines, or the time (times?) we took over
Cuba .. or our current control of Iraq (does that make it
a territory?  A protectorate?  Do I need a passport to enter
country?... I guess so.)

Anyway, there's something strange about the thought of
native Phillipinos all being called Native American.  I'm
also suprised about Puerto Rico in that list.  I thought
most of the people there came from European/African
lineage, with little of the local pre-Columbus genetics
or culture remaining.  But I can easily be wrong.  I am
definite that all the native Puerto Ricanos I know don't
think of themselves as Native American.

> indigenous to Alaska was to use the term Native.  Hence, they
> adopted the phrase "American Indian and Alaska Native peoples".
>
> You'll find that phrase has been widely adopted by the US
> Federal government when it refers specifically to that group of
> people, as opposed to the wider significance of the term Native
> American.

Interesting.  One of the local radio shows is "Native American
Calling".  It's a talk show, and people from Alaska call in.
They also include news from around the US and Canada.
I'll be on the lookout now to see if/when they say "Alaska
Native peoples"

There's also the low-grade complaints because some people
use the term "Indian Country" while others don't like that term.

Speaking of naming ethnicities, I've heard about Americans
applying the "African-American" to black people in the UK. :)

                    Andrew
                    dalke at dalkescientific.com