From: gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo)
Subject: Call for Discussion on "alt.native" split
Reply-To: gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo)
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 22:37:19 GMT
Expires: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 00:00:00 GMT

As some readers of alt.native may realize, there has been for the past
several years a set of mailing lists which covers the topic of indigenous
peoples worldwide operated by an entity known as NativeNet.  For the past
couple of months, one of those mailing lists, known as NATCHAT, has been
linked with the alt.native newsgroup, and the link has operated quite well,
in my own estimation.  In fact, most of the articles posted to alt.native
recently have originated from the mailing list - written by people with no
access to Usenet, let alone to alt.native, which is only distributed to a
subset of Usenet itself.

I would like to propose a similar link up between the remainder of the
mailing lists with new newsgroups in an alt.native hierarchy, so as to
make the linkage more natural and more easily possible, and to provide
access to materials which are at present only available to those willing
to become part of the mailing list, which many people familiar with the
comforts of their news programs (rn, nn, trn, vn, vnews, etc.) tend to
be unwilling to forsake in favor of having NativeNet articles just land
in their mailboxes, where they have to be sorted out from normal email.

My initial proposal is as follows...

 list name   Usenet newsgroup  topic

  NATIVE-L   alt.native.info   general news and information
  NATCHAT    alt.native.chat   discussion and debate
  NAT-1492   alt.native.1492   Columbus quincent. / Year for Indigenous People
  NAT-EDU    alt.native.edu    educational issues (info and discussion)
  nn.lang    alt.native.lang   languages of indigenous peoples (info & disc)

Thus, I am proposing that "alt.native" become a point in the Usenet hierarchy
which is not used for the actual posting of messages, making it a node, under
which are created a series of newsgroup names which are actually used for that
purpose.

Just as the present alt.native/NATCHAT link presently works, any article
posted to one of the proposed new newsgroups would be passed on to the
moderator of the corresponding mailing list, and all articles posted to
the list would be passed on to the newsgroup.

I am trying to be careful in making this suggestion, and am cross-posting
this article to the "alt.config" newsgroup, so that we can make sure that
this change is approved by the readers, and those who are concerned about
the proliferation of newsgroups have an opportunity to make their thoughts
known.  There are no formal rules for the creation of newsgroups in the
"alt." hierarchy, but there are a few guidelines, posted regularly by
Christopher Samuel (ccs@aber.ac.uk) of the University of Wales to the news-
groups alt.config, news.groups, and news.answers under the title 'Creating
a new "alt" group -- guidelines.'  I refer anyone who is interested to
that article.

As per those recommendations, my suggestion is that the above-named news-
groups be created, and that their charters be (roughly) as follows:

  1. alt.native.info

     To carry information pertaining to indigenous populations in all
     parts of the world, particularly with regard to issues having to
     do with the well-being of current members of those populations.
     Subjects pertaining to the traditions and cultures (exclusive of
     language, which is dealt with in a separate newsgroup [see below])
     will also be appropriate to this newsgroup.  This newsgroup will
     be linked with the NATIVE-L list at TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU.

  2. alt.native.chat

     To carry discussion and debate concerning topics pertaining to
     indigenous peoples.  This newsgroup will be linked with the
     NATCHAT list at TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU.

  3. alt.native.1492

     To carry information and discussion pertaining to the five hundredth
     anniversary of the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas,
     and the effects on native populations which ensued, and to carry in-
     formation and discussion concerning the Year for Indigenous People,
     which will be formally opened at the United Nations in New York in
     December of 1992, and which will proceed throughout the year of 1993.

  4. alt.native.edu

     To serve as a forum for discussing the subject of educational courses
     and programs for native populations.  This newsgroup will be linked
     with the NAT-EDU list at INDYCMS.BITNET.

  5. alt.native.lang

     A forum for discussing and exchanging information about the languages
     of indigenous peoples.  This newsgroup will be linked with the nn.lang
     list at gnosys.svle.ma.us.

These newsgroups are proposed to replace the present alt.native newsgroup,
which is inadequate to handle the subject divisions of the above-mentioned
mailing lists, with which they would be linked.

I would like to solicit discussion of this proposal, to last through the
end of the week of 25 September, after which time an informal vote will be
conducted.  Unlike the rules for mainstream Usenet newsgroups, we would not
need a minimum number of voters or require that YES votes outnumber NO votes
by any set number or percentage in order for the movement to pass - a simple
majority would suffice.

Please send any comments about the names of these newsgroups or about the
idea of splitting alt.native or doing additional linking with the NativeNet
mailing lists as a followup to this article.

An alternative to this whole plan is to attempt a mainstream newsgroup
hierarchy (perhaps "soc.native.<groupname>" kind of arrangement).  If you
are in favor of making the attempt to create a trial mainstream newsgroup,
or of going through the formal voting procedure, please let us know, par-
ticularly if you're interested in helping to conduct the vote.  (We came
very close to creating a "soc.culture.native.american" a number of months
ago, and I suspect many or most of those who voted in favor of that motion
would be willing to vote in favor of such a proposal also.)

--
    Gary S. Trujillo                            gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts              {wjh12,bu.edu,spdcc,ima,cdp}!gnosys!gst
Newsgroups: alt.native