Native

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term "native" can have many different social and political connotations, in different contexts. In some cases it is a neutral, descriptive term - as in stating that one is a native of a particular city or that a certain language is one's native language. However, in the context of colonialism - in particular, British colonialism - the term "natives", as applied to the inhabitants of colonies, assumed a disparaging and patronising sense, implying that the people concerned were incapable of taking care of themselves and in need of Europeans to administer their lives; therefore, these people resent the use of the term and consider it insulting, and at present Europeans usually avoid using it. Conversely, the original inhabitants of America - who during the process of being conquered and dispossessed were usually not called "natives" but "Indians" or "Red Indians" - have adopted at their own initiative the appellation "Native Americans", and bear it with pride. And in the context of Nativism, in some periods a potent political force, "natives" are defined as a (predominantly white) group deserving of a special privileged position in comparison to immigrants.

"Native" may also refer to:

• Native (comics), a character in the X-Men comics universe
• Native (band), a contemporary French R&B band
• Illegal tax-free cigarettes, generally grown and sold on Native Reserves.
• Native metal

[edit] Nationality and language

• Native language and native speaker (as opposed to foreign language and non-native speaker)
• Native born (as opposed to foreign born)

[edit] Computing

• In computing, software has a native mode when it is written for a specific processor (see native on Wiktionary).
• Native (processing), a CPU processing system
• In computing, an application has a Native format - its default method of storing data in files

[edit] See also

• Native Speaker, a book by Chang-rae Lee
• Native Language Music, a record label
• Indigenous (ecology), species present by nature, not introduced
• Indigenous peoples, sometimes referred to as "natives"
• Nativism (disambiguation)