GOP904

Welcome, from Journalist

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• Since others have mistook me for a program or bot of some kind, Ill just like to start putting it out there that Im 100% real :)

  Journalist ^C./ ^{Holla @ me!}

United States

Howdy. I must apologize for my knee-jerk reaction to your edits. Being mostly ignorant (and certainly not a racist!) of the subject, I assumed that consensus had been formed on Wikipedia to use the term "Native Americans" and not "American Indians" as the actual article is at Native Americans, with a redirect from American Indians to that article. Obviously, this may not be the case, though Native Americans makes it pretty clear that no one term is universally found to be the perfect term. You may want to voice any objections you may have on Talk:Native Americans.

At any rate, my objection was more technical than content-based. Using Native Americans instead of American Indians avoids the use of a redirect. To fix that, I've changed the wikilinks in United States to use piped links instead: [[Native Americans|American Indians]] will show up in the article as American Indians but point to Native Americans instead.

I hope this makes sense. If it doesn't, feel free to leave another note on my talk page. Cheers, android79 21:47, September 6, 2005 (UTC)

American Indians

Hello, GOP904. I am certainly glad there are no hard feelings! I've long wondered about how American Indians feel about pro sports teams using their names and images as mascots, ever since protestors showed up at the 1991 World Series between the Twins and the Braves. It is interesting to hear your perspective. Now, about presenting your case.

You seem to have already gotten a start on Talk:Native American. This seems to me a good centralized place to have a discussion about the usage of the various terms in Wikipedia, though the discussion may well need to branch out to other American Indian (I almost wrote "Native American" there again, blame high school for conditioning me!) topics in order to involve more editors. Once you get a lot of editors involved, it may be worth your while to open up a Request for Comment (RfC) to bring in even more editors that don't normally pay attention to American Indian topics.

It is obvious that you are very passionate about this issue. While passionate language may help sway the opinions of those that are inclined to agree with you, you may want to distance yourself from your arguments a bit. I'll be frank: many editors may feel that you have an agenda. Using more neutral, calm language, and making arguments supported with facts, logic, and, most importantly, reliable sources will help you convince people. You were on the right track when you mentioned poll numbers to me on my talk page. Finding indisputable evidence that the phrase "American Indian" is preferred among a majority of people – preferably from diverse sources – will help make your case better than any emotional arguments.

There are a few fundamental rules you will need to know in order to get along – and not go completely crazy – here on Wikipedia. The first is civility. Politeness and respect go a long way, especially in a heated argument. Second is no personal attacks. Always attack the argument, and not the person. This is harder than it sounds, believe me. Third is assume good faith. Even if other editors get on your nerves and oppose everything you propose, we all have to operate under the assumption that everyone else is editing in good faith in order to build a better encyclopedia. Lastly, and probably most importantly, is the notion of consensus. Everything on Wikipedia operates by rough consensus. You will have to make concessions and compromises in order to get anything done here, make no mistake.

I hope I haven't rambled on too much and told you things you already knew, but I think this advice will help you greatly. Best of luck, and don't hesitate to ask me any more questions. Cheers, android79 01:24, September 7, 2005 (UTC)

I have read ur user profile and must say that you dont sound like one of us Gtwaa-Anishinabek, although it is nice if you are to stand up for our people, your statements regarding our history (BS Theory), names and the statement of "disappearing people" would seem to me to indicate that you are not who you say you are.If you are truly one of us, then perhaps you should think about these statements that you are putting out there demeaning your "own". If not then i expect that someone will inform those of us who truly are fighting for our people and make others aware of this situation

File source problem with File:Tranz2.JPG

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