[knome]

The native peoples of north american were not a contiguous group. Plenty of first nations were allies of the US. Of those that were variously at war with the US, conflicts resolved in treaties dictating new borders, not some form of abject right stripping subjugation or medieval rent seeking.

The idea that as victors, the treaties you entered into with the opposing side are somehow not meant to be upheld is not a righteous notion. The US' repeated violation of promises made to the various first nations is a detestable part of our nation's history. That modern jurisprudence has starting to uphold treaties our country entered into and never formally revoked is a good thing. A nation should be its word, not merely a bludgeon.

[peyton]

Never heard of first nations but as somebody who grew up around Indian country I think we should approach this area with a little more scholarship and learn about what actually happened instead of jumping to conclusions.

[JohnFen]

You grew up in such an area and yet you've never heard the term "first nations"?

[vodkadin]

Isn’t it a more Canadian term? First time I heard it as an American was in relation to Canadian tribes.

[jaywalk]

Yeah, I thought it was a Canadian thing as well. Coming from an area that was heavily populated by Indians, it was a relatively large part of the curriculum back in my younger days. And I never heard that term in relation to Native Americans.

[JohnFen]

I don't know. I grew up in the US (Pacific NW) and it's been a common term for at least my whole life. Same with its synonym, "First Peoples".

[daveslash]

I'd be a bit reluctant to quickly judge someone's exposure to the various terminology around this topic. CGP Grey has a good video on the terminology as used in the US [0]. From the video: "Talking to people over the last [sigh] 5 years revealed a strong correlation: the closer a person had ever been to a reservation, the more likely they would be to use the word 'indian'. The farther, the more likely they would be to use the word 'Native American'." and also "At the time of writing [this video/2019], 'Indian' is used by Indians on Indian reservations to describe themselves"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh88fVP2FWQ

[knome]

I hate this kind of disingenuous bullshit response.