I am frequently asked about the expressions ‘First Nations’ / ‘First Peoples’. And Speccie reader Kay has raised it again, asking if these terms are really from Canada? Yes, Kay, it is indeed Canadian – making its first appearance in print in the Toronto Globe and Mail in 1980. Both these expressions use the adjective ‘first’ to mean the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of a place. Now, when I was doing philosophy at university (back in the 20th century) we were taught to look for any ‘unexamined assumption’ being made. And an analysis along those lines reveals that ‘First Nations’ and ‘First People’ are based on the unexamined assumption that all people should be defined by their family tree. This is the ancient idea of aristocracy, that a person’s place in society should be determined not by their personal characteristics, but by their family tree. So, the use of expressions such as ‘First Nations’ or ‘First People’ is an attempt to create an entitled aristocracy.