A lot of this depends on the purpose ... and how finely you're looking to measure. There are, for instance, both visibly and culturally identifiable sub-groups within Native North America -- an obvious one being the division between Inuit and First Nations. I would guess, given the size of continental landmasses if one knew enough about the aboriginal peoples of each continent (and I can't say that I do) one could subdivide both North and South America and quite possibly also Australia in much the same way Africa is divided regionally.
Map issues: The indigenous people of Greenland would not identify as "North American". Likewise the indigenous peoples of Australia and New Zealand do not consider themselves the same people. My understanding is that the Maori identify more with Polynesian culture than with Aboriginal Australian cultures.
One plea, if these questions end up manifesting outside of thought experiment, consider that it should be a "check all that apply" rather than "pick the one that best fits". On a personal level, I'm quite fond of having a choice marked "Other" -- I've found it far more comfortable than "damndifino" and at least as precise as "most of the above."
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Date: 14 May 2010 10:18 pm (UTC)Map issues: The indigenous people of Greenland would not identify as "North American". Likewise the indigenous peoples of Australia and New Zealand do not consider themselves the same people. My understanding is that the Maori identify more with Polynesian culture than with Aboriginal Australian cultures.
One plea, if these questions end up manifesting outside of thought experiment, consider that it should be a "check all that apply" rather than "pick the one that best fits". On a personal level, I'm quite fond of having a choice marked "Other" -- I've found it far more comfortable than "damndifino" and at least as precise as "most of the above."