native--slighly off topic

[jgarvin]

Gary wrote:
"And just to add something else: English is not a "native" language in
the USA. That honor belongs to the various indigenous tongues
encountered by the European immigrants who brought English over (along
with French, Spanish, German, Norwegian, Italian, etc.,
and their various dialects, brogues, and whatnot) not all that long
ago."

This is politically-correct nonsense.  While it's popular these days to
define "native" as the "most ancient" it's really not very accurate or
practical.  English is the native language in Oregon because it is the
language spoken by the politically dominant majority, and has been for a
hundred and fifty years.  Does it really make any sense to define the
native language as one of twenty or so indian languages and dialects?
And why are the Rogue, Klamath or Yakima indian's the natives?  I'm
rusty on my neolithic history for this period, but I seem to remember
reading about dozens of protracted indian wars where hordes of "native"
people were continually displaced.  And before the politically-correct
politics of the day prevailed and shut down research on the subject, the
discovery in Washingon of the Kinnewick man, a 9000 year old human
skeleton with arguable caucasion features, threatened to redefine what
"native" meant.  Who knows what language he spoke.