"Native American" and variations thereof (2)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>The earliest usage of "Native American" that I know of occurs in "Native
>American Church", which according to the Encyclopedia Britannica (15th
>edition, 1987, volume 8 page 554 article "Native American Church") took that
>name in 1918.

"Native American" used as = "American Indian": this is older than one might
suppose. From a casual glance at MoA (Cornell):

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Noun:

<<Bishop Whipple says: "The Indian is the only human being within our
territory who has no individual right in the soil. He is not amenable to or
protected by law. The _man_ has no standing before the law. A Chinese or a
Hottentot would have, but the native American is left pitiably helpless.">>

-- W. J. Harsha, "Law for Indians", in "The North American Review",
134:288, March 1882.

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Adjective:

<<Equally untenable is the Jewish theory, (strongly advocated by the late
Lord Kingsborough, author of _Mexican Antiquities_), which refers the
entire native American population to the ten lost tribes of Israel ...>>

-- "Origin and Characteristics of the American Aborigines", in "The United
States Democratic review", 11:617, December 1842.

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I would speculate that one might find instances MUCH earlier still ....

-- Doug Wilson