First Nations

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English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From an attributive use of the noun First Nations.

Adjective

First Nations (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to a First Nation or First Nations collectively.
    1. (Canada) Of or pertaining to the indigenous peoples of Canada (typically not including the Inuit or Metis); Indian.
      • 2001, Benoit Prieur , “Portrait”, in Canada 2000–2001 (Ulysses Travel Guides), 3rd edition, Montreal, Que.: Ulysses Travel Guides, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 37, column 2:
        Generally speaking, the works of First Nations artists were made with materials such as wood, leather or cloth.
      • 2006 January 4, Scott Simon, “Formosa’s First Nations and the Japanese: From Colonial Rule to Postcolonial Resistance”, in Japan Focus: An Asia Pacific e-Journal‎, : Japan Focus, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2008-03-09:
        As "savages" become soldiers, and soldiers become social activists, the tribe has rapidly developed a First Nations identity as advocates of both stripes mobilize memories of past resistance in different contexts. Whether the state is green or blue, therefore, Taroko memories will continue to shape the relationship between state and tribe.
      • 2008 April 4, “Ontario Chiefs unite against jailing”, in Kenora Daily Miner and News‎, Kenora, Ont.: The Klein Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
        First Nation leaders in Ontario will support demonstrations and protests, until six band councillors are released from jail.
    2. (by extension, less common) Of or pertaining to the indigenous peoples of any country or region.
      1. (Australia) Of or pertaining to the indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) peoples of Australia; Indigenous Australian.
        • 2022, Stephen T. Garnett, Golo Maurer, Georgia E. Garrard, “Why Australian Common Bird Names should Respond to Societal Change”, in Emu: Austral Ornithology, volume 122, number 2, : Taylor & Francis for BirdLife Australia, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 150:
          Among the 1692 Australian species and subspecies on the BirdLife Australia Working List V3 (excluding vagrant and introduced taxa ), 18.7% derive from unrelated entities (e.g. shrike-tit that is neither shrike nor tit). Just 82 reflect First Nations names for birds (1.6%) or places (3.3%).

Usage notes

In Canada, First Nation and First Nations are the usual terms in official use, news media, and polite conversation. Indian has come to have a stigma attached to it because of its origin from the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) thinking he had arrived in India when he reached the Americas in October 1492, but it remains in common use officially (for example, in the name of the Indian Act (enacted in 1876) which provides for the exercise of federal jurisdiction over First Nations peoples; and in the name of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, replaced in 2019 by Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada), as well as informally by First Nations people themselves.

Alternative forms

Translations

Etymology 2

From First Nation +‎ -s (suffix forming regular plural forms of nouns).

Noun

First Nations

  1. plural of First Nation

Further reading

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