On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 1:09 PM, John Cowan
<cowan@hidden.email> wrote:
And Rosta scripsit:
Prussian-speaking Balts, yes. I should also have mentioned the modern
cases of population displacement and/or genocide by Germanics, namely the
U.S., Canada, Australia. New Zealand is an intermediate case, perhaps
because there was only one non-Germanic language involved, somewhat as
on the U.S. Navajo Reservation (Navajo is now the most widely spoken
Native language in the U.S.)
IMO the single most important factor in the population displacement by Celto-Germanics in North America was disease. Notice that in Africa, where the diseases tend to kill Europeans more than Africans, the result has been that the continent remains nearly entirely native, except for the southernmost part.
I don't want to get into a political discussion over word choices, but it's worth mentioning, I think, that the Powhatan, Iroquois, Sioux, Comanche, and many others were tough, determined people who were martially adept and who did not flinch from using violence to defend their interests, or even to turn a profit. They weren't simply passive victims.
--