Talk:Native countries of North America

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Contents 1 Some comments on the article 1.1 Re: Some comments on the article 2 Cleanup 3 Re: Cleanup

[edit] Some comments on the article

1. It's a little unclear what is meant by "traditional" here. I take it to mean "where they lived until driven away or destroyed as a result of European expansion". It would be helpful to clarify this point, however.
2. The information would be better conveyed in a table, since there are multiple "columns".
3. The repetitive use of "Country" on every line is unnecessary.

Another point for debate is the obvious one: does "country" refer exclusively to modern urbanised nation-states, or can it refer to these lands too?

I don't particularly see why not, but I think there are better words. I prefer "nation", as "nation" conveys the sense of social, linguistic, and political unity while not having as much confusing baggage as "country".

This could be a uniquely Canadian perspective, however, as we Canadians commonly use the word "nation" to describe aboriginal territories, e.g. First Nations and Six Nations. --Saforrest 17:31, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Some comments on the article

Thanks for the feedback.

1. The word "traditional" is not necessary, and I've deleted it.
2. If there's a clearer format, I would like to see the material converted to that. I am not yet fluent with the editting tools.
3. The idea is that these are typical English equivalents to the Native names, included along with other names for the countries, such as the Hispanoform "Papagueria" along with the Angloform "Papago Country" (both are attested). Some of these the "such-and-such country" names are in common use, such as "Iroquois country", "Cherokee country", and "Sioux country", with and without a capitalized "country"; and sometimes the name is preceded by "the", such as "the Cherokee Country". Googling will reveal that this is the case. This kind of name ("such-and-such country") is Anglo-America's equivalent of Anglo-Africa's "such-and-such-land" (like Basustoland, Swaziland, and Zululand), Hispano-America's "such-and-such-eria" (Pimeria, Comancheria, Apacheria), and Franco-America's "such-and-such-ie" (Huronie). While I feel it is reasonable to include the attested American English synonyms, some of the names in the list are unconfirmed (such as Ashiwi Country instead of Zuni Country) or artificial (such as "Abenaki-Maliseet-Penobscot-Passamaquoddy-Mi'kmaq Country"). Though the "country" part of these unattested or artifical names could be deleted, it might obscure the fact that this Wikipedia page includes only entries for territories and lands, not for peoples and tribes.

In regard to "country" versus "nation" - though popular usage has confused the two words, it is important to distinguish them. "Nation" (Latin "a birthing") originally referred to a group of people, while "country" (Latin "land spread before one") referred to a land. For more, see the Wikipedia article on "Nation" where this distinction is explicitly laid out: [1]. 130.86.14.71 23:01, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cleanup

This article needs serious format and content work. T Rex | talk 22:07, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Cleanup

What format and content changes do you suggest? The most recent edit deleted spaces between entries in an inconsistent way, leaving some of the entries bunched together, and others double spaced. 130.86.14.71 22:22, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

I went through and tightened up the spacing between rows, and bold-faced all of the first names. Thanks for the inspiration! 130.86.14.120 21:17, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps a table or something, something that makes it less cluttered. T Rex | talk 15:38, 16 September 2007 (UTC)